NOTES FROM THE PODIUM
by Virko Baley
Of recordings, fame, freedom of information
CONCLUSION
Now I will discuss in detail the three discs mentioned in the last column. First a little about the music, then about the performances.
SILVESTROV: Three Sonatas for Piano ERATO 2292-45631-2 DDD; Sonata for Violoncello and Piano; Ivan Monighetti, violoncello, Alexei Lubimov, piano.
The non-linearity of Ukrainian culture has affected Ukrainian artistic mentality, producing a way of thinking that often defies the logic of "Western music." It is the dream state, the passive resistance, of a person in a vulnerable position. The non-linear quality of Ukrainian life has resulted in "mytho-poetic realism," similar to the "poetic realism" found in South American writers. Uncommon events become everyday - are seen as everyday. Often such an attitude toward reality and unreality is marked by a kind of wild humor. A hyperbolic atmosphere pervades, in which events that are strange and fantastic somehow seem quite natural. Art becomes introspective, in a way "anti-rational" - not anti-rational in the sense of opposing the intellect, but in the sense that it allows "feelings" to dictate shape. (Dovzhenko, asked about what he was thinking when he made a particular film, said "I wasn't thinking, I was feeling.")
The dominant emotional state in Silvestrov's music is its metaphorical motion trapped in immobility. This kind of stasis, also found in Ukrainian literature, contrasts with the basic properties of Russian, French or American arts, which tend to aim towards a point and to have a certain underlying aggressive intellectuality.
The three piano sonatas and the violoncello sonata occupy an important place in Silvestrov's creative history, since they are centrally located within the most critical stages of his creative life. At the same time, all four are part of an ongoing process that established certain aspects of his rebellion against the avant-garde of the 60s. This rebellion took him away from singleness of style into a pantheistic realm where several musical styles are contained within a single style, where seemingly competing stylistic polyphonies modulate into one another and become a sort of musical allegory for the state of music in the second half of the 20th century.
Piano Sonata No. 1 (1960-1970, final revision in 1972) is an example of simplification and cutting, and of establishing the stylistic fingerprints of his style. The work is in two movements (Moderato, con molta attenzione and Andantino). Although its final revisions were done in 1972, it originates from 1960 and betrays the influences of its progenitors (Liatoshynsky and Shostakovich). Yet, it already foreshadows the elements that were soon to occupy Silvestrov. The work's idea can best be expressed by quoting from an interview that this author had with the composer in 1974.
The composer-stated: "I want the piece played con sordino from beginning to end. I want the whole piece sounding like an overtone. I wrote it originally a long time ago, as a reaction against 'hammer music.' I wanted to write a piece that didn't force itself on the listener, didn't hit the listener over the head all the time. I needed to write it at the time, but soon after rejected it. But recently I 'rediscovered' it, simplified it, cut it..."
There is a wonderful performance of this sonata recorded by Mykola Suk on the Melodiya label. I highly recommend it - although finding it may be next to impossible.
Written in 1975, Sonata No. 2 is dedicated to the pianist Alexei Lubimov, who premiered it in Kyyiv during the 1976 season. The sonata is in one movement, and, although clearly in definite sections, its over-all structure is dominated by a variety of triplet patterns and a mysterious chord that serves as a leit-motif of sorts. A very beautiful section is a long arioso evoking a sopilka (wooden flute) played over a drymba (mouth drum). This work evokes Antonin Artaud's words about "...a mind ceaselessly taking its bearings in the maze of its unconscious."
Valentin Silvestrov began as a genuine avant-garde composer, taking many creative risks in the process. This sonata, as many of his more recent compositions, reflects a desire to synthesize some of the contradictory aesthetic positions of the 1960s and 70s, many of which he helped develop. As a result, his has become a completely original voice.
Sonata No. 3 was written in 1979 and is dedicated to pianist and director of the chamber ensemble Kiev Camerata, Valery Matiukhin. If Sonata No. 1 is the Prelude of the "mature" Silvestrov and Sonata No. 2 is the exposition and development, then this Sonata is the Postlude, the coda of this pianistic trilogy. In three continuous movements (Preludio, Fuga, Postludio) it is the most complex and at the same time the most texturally transparent of the sonatas.
The Violoncello Sonata of 1983, written for Ivan Monighetti, continues the form as developed by the second and third piano sonatas, but now adds to it the element of theatricality. In that sense, but without the overt elements of music performance that was brilliantly parodied in "Drama," he invests the music with the same kind of dramatic intensity that was already apparent in Symphony No. 4 (1976) and was to be further developed in Symphony No. 5 (1982).
The triplet (which in most of Silvestrov's music is a characteristic rhythm and structural device), here has virtual monopoly and, in the final minutes of the piece, becomes a relentless perpetuum mobile that deconstructs into eternal silence. The work is full of ornate passages invested with sensitive lyricism (characteristic of many of Silvestrov's compositions).
The important structural and aural aspect of this sonata is that it is not written for cello and piano, but rather for a new sort of instrument a cello-piano, that is somehow played by a single performer. The texture is one in which there is no feeling of solo and accompaniment, nor is there a feeling of opposition; rather, one feels a unity of intent, by which each instrument is a reflection of the other, neither, and at the same time both, occupy the primary position, the source of the originating idea. The support the piano provides by means of its hammer-like quality gives the cello at times stronger rhythmic definition, and the cello covers the piano with lyrical incandescence.
These four sonatas form an important link with other works of Silvestrov and are an excellent introduction to a composer who is gaining recognition as one of the most original voices of the second half of the 20th century.
The performances by Mr. Lubimov in the piano sonatas and Messrs. Lubimov and Monighetti in the cello sonata are exemplary and authentic - the composer was present at the recording sessions in France. Mr. Lubimov is very well-known as a pianoforte player and has recently finished recording for ERATO his cycle of complete piano sonatas of Mozart. His approach to Silvestrov is very classical: proportional, unsentimental and greatly athletic.
The verve that he brings to the compositions does not allow the music to become static, always a danger in the so-called meditative style. As result, the coloristic element is less evident and more subtle, so that the relationship with impressionism (especially in the second sonata) is hidden. Mr. Monighetti's performance is quite stunning.
This is a virtuoso performance of a very dramatic work. I strongly recommend this CD. It presents in a unified way four important works of the second half of the 20th century in authentic performances, well recorded and beautifully produced.
* * *
SCHNITTKE: Violin Concertos No. 3 & No. 4, BIS CD-517 Digital; Oleh Krysa, violin, Malmo Symphony Orchestra, Eri Klas, conductor;
Cello Concerto No. 2, BIS CD-567 Digital, Concerto Grosso No. 2; Torleif Thedeen, cello, Oleh Krysa, violin, Malmo Symphony Orchestra, Lev Markiz, conductor.
I will spend much less space on discussing the Schnittke works for two reasons: space limitation and the fact that information about Schnittke is easily available in North America. But a few words will be necessary.
All four works deal with the opposition between the tonal and atonal. Yet this opposition is worked out in a very musically organic manner, so that, as Schnittke writes, "Atonality can be reached from any point in tonality (and vice versa)." All four works operate on the principle that all historical styles are currently in practice and thus available for the composer to use at will. The Third Violin Concerto is written for a chamber orchestra, the fourth uses a normal symphony size ensemble. The Cello Concerto was written for Mstislav Rostropovich and Concerto Grosso No. 2 uses in a thin disguise, F.X. Gruber's Christmas carol "Silent Night," a work that has a special meaning for Schnittke.
Oleh Krysa's performance of the two violin concerti is stunning. His professional and personal relationship with Schnittke goes back many years and he has not only premiered a number of his compositions, but has had a few dedicated to him. Thus the relationship is of the profoundest kind. At the same time, that does not guarantee a quality performance. What we have instead is a unity between the composer's very elegant style and the equally elegant manner of violin playing that is Mr. Krysa's identifying stamp.
At the end of the second movement of the Fourth Concerto, Mr. Krysa is able to make audible in the recording the gradual fade-out of the violin solo, what Schnittke calls the "cadenza visuale": the soloist performs with utmost passion, but is barely audible, only gradually regaining his "voice" (this idea was borrowed by Schnittke from Toshiro Mayuzumi's "Metamusic," written in the early 1960s). The orchestra is very good, the sound clear and full bodied, and both recordings are highly recommended.
So, to return to our initial question: Why aren't there more recordings of Ukrainian music in the West? We must wonder whether (a) we are being purposely ignored by "our enemies," or (b) there is still very little interest throughout the rest of the world.
Actually, the reason is much simpler: it is funding. All recordings, be they done in England, France, Germany, the United States or any place else, of contemporary composers are done because of special funding. If you look at many record or CD jacket covers and read the fine print, you will find a version of the following: "this recording has been made possible in part by funds provided by..." and the name of the foundation, endowment or patron is given. Often it is the state that provides such help.
We in North America must recognize this reality. One of the most popular orchestral works written in the 1980s, John Adam's "Harmonielehre," was recorded and released by Nonesuch because that recording was underwritten by the Meet The Composer Orchestra Residency Series, which is funded by the Exxon Corp., The Rockefeller Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
To hasten the recording of Ukrainian music and Ukrainian artists we must in turn find such financial support to interest various orchestras and recordings labels in issuing Ukrainian compositions. This has been done with books (such as Ivan Dzyuba's "Internationalism and Russification"), by Harvard and various churches. Why not with music, that most portable and international of the arts?
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 17, 1993, No. 3, Vol. LXI
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