I wonder if the Russian term for MODERNISM triggers the suspicions of todays cultural authorities who have a long history of punishing composers who strayed from the official line.
Yeah from what I can tell Zhdanovshchina is very much back in force
GD
05-21-2022 02:03 PM
I think Alexander Scriabin deserves a shout in this thread. Might seem strange to describe him as a "modernist" since he belonged to the pre-WW1 generation of Russian composers, but many of his works are really innovative, especially the late ones that flirt with polytonality and even atonality.
Spoiler for Prometheus: The Poem of Fire:
Spoiler for Deux Poèmes, op. 71:
Spoiler for Vers la flamme, Op. 72:
jadis
05-22-2022 05:42 AM
Absolutely. The late Scriabin comes closer to atonality than most of Prokofiev's or Shostakovich's works that I know. These preludes are another great example
I think Alexander Scriabin deserves a shout in this thread. Might seem strange to describe him as a "modernist" since he belonged to the pre-WW1 generation of Russian composers, but many of his works are really innovative, especially the late ones that flirt with polytonality and even atonality.
Spoiler for Prometheus: The Poem of Fire:
Spoiler for Deux Poèmes, op. 71:
Spoiler for Vers la flamme, Op. 72:
Thanks for posting those links. My organ teacher made a transcription of those pieces I found almost impossible to get right. Even just reading them now is scary. Great work though (with a subtle undertow of madness?)
Not Russian but I’m reminded of Alkan whose originality, eccentricity and scary technical difficulty is too often ignored.
jadis
05-23-2022 03:15 AM
The only thing Alcan has in common with Scriabin is that they both feature prominently in the repertoire of Marc-André Hamelin.
GD
05-23-2022 09:57 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by jadis
(Post 2205548)
Absolutely. The late Scriabin comes closer to atonality than most of Prokofiev's or Shostakovich's works that I know. These preludes are another great example
Nice one! I'm also into a lot of Scriabin's earlier stuff but it's maybe not so relevant for this thread
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ayn Marx
(Post 2205585)
Thanks for posting those links. My organ teacher made a transcription of those pieces I found almost impossible to get right. Even just reading them now is scary. Great work though (with a subtle undertow of madness?)
Not Russian but I’m reminded of Alkan whose originality, eccentricity and scary technical difficulty is too often ignored.
I've actually been meaning to check out more from Alkan but have heard very little so far. Feel free to start a dedicated thread for him if you would like to share some of his music, because I don't think we have an Alkan thread on MB yet.
__________________
On-topic:
One of my favourites from Shostakovich's output: Begins with a prelude in his familiarly sardonic style and then goes absolutely insane in the following fugue and it is something to behold
jadis
05-23-2022 01:47 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by GD
(Post 2205635)
One of my favourites from Shostakovich's output: Begins with a prelude in his familiarly sardonic style and then goes absolutely insane in the following fugue and it is something to behold
Love it. This is another of my favorites (the third one of the three, at 11 min 13 sec in case the time code in the embed doesn't work)