The Department of composition, history and theory of music was found in 1932. The first Head of the department was composer Nickolai Aladov and the teachers were M.Matison, T.Shnitman. During the prewar years there also worked Yu.Dreizin, V.Efimov, M.Shifrin. In 1993 the department was headed by V.Zolotaryov who’s a graduate of St. Petersburg Conservatory, a student of N.Rimski-Korsakov, M.Balakirev, A.Lyadov, who became one of the founders of modern national composition school. The firs post-war graduation was in 1952. In the 1950s-1960s composers V.Belyi, E.Degtyarik, V.Efimov, S.Ninsevich, V.Olovnikov, P.Podkovyrov, G.Pukst taught at the department.
The Department of composition, history and theory of music was divided in March 1967, and the Department of composition became an independent crative department. .The head of the department from the moment of its creation was People’s Artist of the BSSR, Professor A.Bogatyrev, the teachers were People’s Artist of the BSSR, Professor N.Aladov, Honored Artist of the BSSR, Associate Professor PPodkovyrov, People’s Artist of the BSSR, Professor V.Olovnikov, People’s Artist of the USSR, Professor E.Glebov, People’s Artist of the USSR, Professor I.Luchenok. From the moment the department was founded until 2014, one of the leading teachers was People’s Artist of Belarus, Professor D.Smolsky. People’s Artist of Belarus, Professor A.Mdivani, People’s Artist of Belarus, Associate Professor Sergei A.Cortes taught at the academies for many years.
In November 1997 the department was headed by the graduate of Leningrad State Conservatory named after N.Rimskyi-Korsakov, Honored artist of Belarus, professor V.Dorokhin; since 2013 the leadership of the department was taken by the Honored artist of the Republic of Belarus G.Gorelova.
In August 2015, the department was merged with the department of instrumentation. The expediency of this decision was explained by the fact that the majority of teachers taught the main disciplines of the academic cycle for many years. After the merger the composition department obtained new associate professors. This association strengthened the position of the composition department, because over 25 years of its existence the composition department became authoritative scientific and methodological center in the field of the art of instrumentation and arrangement. In order to create strong academic foundation for a modern school of instrumentation the teachers of the department organized 17 competitions for the best arrangement of folklore theme for a folk orchestra and also a range of concerts with predomination of one of academic or folk instruments. Since 2017, teaching of instrumentation is held on the department of Orchestral Conducting and Instrumentation.
The main direction of Composition Department is education and training of composer profession in all its areas including instrumentation, arrangement (inc. computer). Teachers of the department do serious scientific and methodological work such as teaching programs and courses of lectures on the main special subjects such as instrumentation, composition, reading scores, polyphony, harmony, musical form, solfeggio etc. They are developed with taking modern tendencies in world compositor’s practice into consideration.
Teachers of the Department are engaged in creative activities. Over the years they created works that were included in treasury of Belarusian musical art: operas, symphonies and oratorios of A.Bogatyrev, symphonies of N.Alladov, concert and chamber-instrumental works of P.Podkovyrov, lyric and patriotic song of the classics of this genre V.Olovnikov and I.Luchenok, operas, ballets and symphonies of E.Glebov, opera “The Gray Legend”, symphonies and instrumental concerts of D.Smolskyi, operas and oratorios of S.Kortes, ballets and symphonies of V.Kuznetsov and O.Khodosko, ballet “Rogneda, and symphonies of A.Mdivani, symphonic and chamber-instrumental workd of V.Voitik, V.Dorokhin, V.Korolchuk, G.Gorelova, chamber music of M.Kruglyi, E.Gutina, L.Sytko and I.Komar. These compositions are not only included in repertoire of leading groups of our republic, but also sounds in international festivals, on concerts programs of foreigh performers: only in the last decade and a half music of the teachers of the department of composition was performed in Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Holland, France, Italy, Finland, Serbia, the USA, South Korea, New Zealand, Cuba, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela etc.
Among the graduates of the department there are People’s Artists of Belarus G.Wagner, Yu.Semenyako, S.Kortes, D.Smolskyi, A.Mdivani, E.Zaritskyi, L.Zakhlevnyi, V.Ivanov, Ya.Poplavskaya, V.Rainchik, Honored Artists of the Republic of Belarus I.Tsvetkova. Students of the department successfully work at the Belarusian state university of Culture and Arts, Belarusian State Pedagogical University named after M.Tank, in music schools, colleges, in creative groups of Belarus, Russia, the USA, France, German, Italy, China, Jordan etc.
Currently the department is stuffed by Honored Artist of the Republic of Belarus, laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Belarus, professor V.Kuznetsov, Honored Artists of the Republic of Belarus, professor V.Voitik, Associate Professor V.Korolchuk, Associate Professor, laureate of the Special Prize of the President of the Republic of Belarus O.Khodosko, young composer L.Sytko.
