liner notes
POSTLUDIA
Music of Valentine Silvestrov has inspired this recording.
Composers represented in Postludia have something in common - an ability to recreate moments of beauty, moments of perfection that could be realized as such only after they are lost... Composers of Postludia share a lyrical, poetic gift of subtle understatement, gift of expressing through the language of music the most universal and intimate human emotions and feelings that are common to all and "unique" in every individual experience. That universality and uniqueness follows the Law - all in one and one in all.
This music does not belong to anybody, it has no beginning or end, no before or after - it simply is. It is one language, one vocabulary that is spoken here.
This recording was conceived as one composition that unfolds in itself continuously. One could look at this as a tea party, which brought together several composers that lived during the last four centuries... These composers are talking to each other, sharing their stories and very soon it becomes apparent that this story is one and same, simply told in different ways... This music was rather remembered and overheard then composed. It comes from silence and resolves into it.
FRENCH SUITES
Bach composed three sets of clavier suites-6 English Suites, 6 French Suites, and 6 Partitas. The English Suites are the earliest, written mostly during the Weimar period, with the French Suites occupying the middle period, written between 1722-1725, and the Partitas being the latest, written during the Leipzig period and published as a first book of Clavierübung as a collection of all 6 Partitas in 1738. The French Suites are smaller, more modest works than the English Suites and the Partitas. They are less dramatic, less contrapuntal, and more transparent than the English Suites, less ambitious and embellished than the Partitas. The French Suites are more "gallant," more idiomatic in style and execution. The textual history of the French Suites is a little complicated. There are several sources: two manuscripts by Bach’s hand, both in a "Clavier-Büchlein vor Anna Magdalena Bach." The first book, dated 1722, contains the first five Suites. The second book is dated 1725. The earlier manuscript is believed to be a wedding gift from Bach to his new wife.
In addition to these two manuscripts, there are at least three more versions which stem directly from Bach’s circle and are considered by many as being quite authentic. In some instances, there are five different versions of the same movement-different lengths, different harmonic lines, different bass and different ornamentations. Nowadays, the French Suites are often published in two versions-A and B. Version B is a later one and comes from Altnikol. It contains, among other things, additional ornamentations. Regarding ornamentations, it is good to remember that no set of ornamentations and embellishments, no matter how authentic it might seem, should be considered definitive and final. Bach himself used ornamentation very freely and lavishly, adding it in a variety of ways according to the needs and moods of the moment. Ornamentation is an open-ended art. That practice was an essential part of Baroque performance. In the final analysis, it was (and is) left to those who actually play the music to bring their personal touch to the pieces, arranging and embellishing them to make the music more expressive. Certainly this process should not be frivolous. It requires an understanding of baroque culture in general and baroque music in particular, an understanding and "familiarity" with baroque performance procedures and an appreciation of the creative and truly "evocative" spirit which is the very foundation of the baroque culture. Baroque art is an art of emotions; the variation of ornamentations ,articulations,phrasings,dynamics and registers are necessary tools that bring up the expressiveness of rhetorical figures which are so important in Baroque music and help to enhance in the words of Bach "the enjoyment of music lovers and those eager to learn." The French Suites have no introductory movement - no prelude, so all of them start with an allemande. Suite no. 1 in D minor is likely the earliest of the set and is closer to the English Suites than to the remaining five French Suites. Most of the movements are filled up with relatively strict counterpoint. The Gigue is in a double dotted time throughout, which leaves this Suite without any fast movement. Time signatures are important for understanding a particular type of the dance and their tempos. However, it is the number of pulsations which provides the structural time foundation, the time frame in which music unfolds itself. The opening Allemande reminds one of the corresponding movement of the first English Suite. Both Allemandes are improvisatory-a tradition of earlier German composers such as Froberger. The Courante here is the only one in the French Suites which uses a traditional meter for the French version of the dance -3/2. Harmonically, there are similarities with the Allemande-the opening pedal point and the Neapolitan harmony in the closing phrase. The Sarabande is written in four parts without embellishments such as might be found in "later" versions, especially in Gerber’s copy. There are two Menuets, the second being in da capo form. The Gigue is in dotted duple time. Bach wrote two such Gigues, another being the Gigue from the Partita in E-minor no. 6. Dotted rhythm, as in the French Overture, was quite common in 17th-century gigues, but not at the time when Bach composed his Suites. It was a powerful gesture. It brings to attention a strict contrapuntal, symmetrical design and a certain severity of writing. Twenty years later Bach will use the material of these Gigue in his Art of Fugue.
The Second Suite in C-minor is more gallant, more benign in nature, less dramatic than the First Suite and is closer to the style of the remaining works of the set. In the Second Suite Bach added an "Air" after the Sarabande. The term "air" could not be identified with any dance. Like other airs by Bach, it is not of a vocal, cantabile character, but rather more instrumental in nature and lively in tempo. There are two Menuets, the first being repeated twice-da capo. The Gigue uses the dotted figures typical for the French type of the dance. It is in 3/8 time, which means quite fast with clear accents to enhance the skipping rhythms. This rhythm would become quite popular in the 19th century-many composers would use it, most notably Schumann in the final movement of the Kreisleriana-the rhythm of Siciliana.
Suite no. 3 in B-minor opens with one of the most beautiful and delicate allemandes which possesses a special "speaking" quality, which Bach valued so much. The courante is in 6/4 and is close to later French courantes. The Sarabande is an arioso type, as is its counterpart in the C-minor Suite, but retains a certain imitative texture. The theme is broadly spaced-it takes the whole octave, with voices interchanging, and occasionally the bass replaces the treble-soprano as the leading melodic voice. There is a variety of "additional" movements, additional dances which are "optional" and placed usually between the Sarabande and the Gigue. In the French Suites there are menuets, gavottes, anglaises, airs, bourrées, loures, polonaises. In the B-minor Suite there are an Anglaise, originally called a Gavotte, and two Menuets which had been written down separately in the 1722 Clavier-Büchlein. The Gigue is in two voices and has little in common with the traditional rhythm of the gigue. The first three Suites are written in minor keys; the remaining three are in major keys. Suite no. 4 in E-flat was composed earlier than Suites 2 and 3. The autograph is a "clear copy," which means that the first version had been completed somewhat earlier. The Allemande is similar to the arpeggione prelude. The Courante is in two voices.
It is the Sarabande which is a bit unusual and different in texture. In the third bar there is an unexpected gesture-the theme becomes inverted and goes to the bass. Between the Sarabande and the Gigue there are a "gentle" Gavotte, an Air closely related to the Gavotte, and a short Menuet found in some later copies and therefore not included in many editions. The Gigue is a real fugue, mainly in two voices. The horn calls of this Gigue were very popular and were used and recycled frequently. In the Friedemann copy of the Clavier-Büchlein there is a fugue by Telemann which uses the same "horn call." Suite no. 5, probably the most popular of the French suites, is unquestionably one of Bach’s most elegant and finely crafted harpsichord works. There is more singing and less imitative counterpoint. This Suite in G was composed somewhat later. Only the first few bars of the Allemande were sketched in the 1722 Clavier-Büchlein, and the score was not completed until after Bach came to Leipzig.
Both the Allemande and the Courante follow a very similar plan, in spite of the differences in texture. The Courante is especially close to the harmonic structure of the Aria of the Goldberg Variations. This Courante is a two-part invention, with the inversion appearing after the double bar and the theme itself in the last phrase. The Sarabande is an expanded version of the dance. Bach later added a varied final phrase, which goes up to a high C before the end. There are a Gavotte, a Bourrée, and a Loure sometimes mislabeled as Bourrée 2, which is absent from most authoritative sources. The Gigue is a masterpiece. Time signature is 12/16, meaning fast. This Gigue is an elaborate figure built on somewhat violinistic arpeggios, which resemble some works by Vivaldi. It has a distinct flavor of "country fiddling." The texture is rich and inventive, filled with humor and wit, full of joy, spinning up a tremendous energy--a truly brilliant gigue.
The last Suite, no. 6 in E, was completed last in 1725. It is the "lightest" work in the collection. The Courante is rather special, although it looks usual: strongly emphasized triple-time rhythm, transparent in texture, full of running scales and light in character. The Sarabande is quite simple, almost austere, with an obvious strong second beat. The Gavotte is of the gallant variety with an expressive "sigh" figure. The Bourrée is a fast and rather challenging piece to play . The Gigue opens with an imitation on octave avoiding therefore a traditional fugal answer which is usually in gigues. The Polonaise is also "gallant." Polonaise or "polonoise" as it was spelled, was a popular dance in the 18th century and usually an easy piece to play. It resembles a menuet. Polonaises of the 18th century had very little in common with the 19th century version of the dance apart from the triple meter.
The French Overture or, as it is sometimes called, a French Partita, is the second of two large keyboard works contained in the Second Book of Clavierübung, the first being the Italian Concerto. The French Overture is the largest, most extended instrumental suite Bach ever composed. It has 11 movements. The opening movement and the last require a two-manual harpsichord; the nine movements in between could be played on one manual. The French Overture is a synthesis of an orchestral suite, concerto grosso, and an instrumental partita blended together. The first movement dominates this piece. Any work of Bach which has been "graced" with the B-minor key is very special indeed. It was a key saved for special occasions. The earlier version of the French Overture was written in C-minor, but later Bach moved it half a tone down to B-minor and it surely works better in that key. The Overture opens with the powerful introduction filled with dotted rhythms and written in a double-time alla breve. There is a never-ending discussion of how to play the dotted rhythms and what should be the real value of dotted 16th notes. It seems that no real "scientific" answer which would apply to all occasions could be found. However, it seems that shortening of the 16ths would be a good idea so that the 16ths become more like 32nds. It gives additional impetus sharpening of the rhythmical structure. The middle section is an expanded concerto grosso type of fugue with three "solo" episodes. The middle section closes with the Ritornello of the exposition which brings back the opening section. Bach used this particular form quite frequently in his orchestral suites. There are more dances in the middle, with the Sarabande being an emotional, dramatic high point of the work. The Sarabande is written in four strict parts and is densely contrapuntal. It is one of the most distinct and radical of Bach’s Sarabandes. The Courante is also quite special. It opens with the tonic pedal which returns every four bars, articulating a hemiola. A combination of triple time with hemiolas is a very original, ingenious idea. The theme of the Sarabande calls to mind the opening Aria of the second part of the St. Matthew Passion and probably should be slurred in a similar way. The smaller dances which follow the Sarabande, possibly, were not intended to be played in that particular order. The Gigue, which is usually the last movement of Bach’s Suites is of the French type and not fugal. It uses a skipping rhythm with constant mordents or downbeats. The final, closing movement is an "Echo." It is incredibly smartly written. Bach is playing (one is tempted to say fooling) around with gestures, dynamics, harmonies, and syntax. No full bars are repeated as an echo. Dynamics are overlapping and so are the hands. En echo ends with a rolling down B-minor chord. The French Overture opens with the B-minor chord rolling up, so the closing is an inversion of the opening. En echo is a worthy conclusion to the Second Book of Clavierübung, which explores and utilizes the orchestral qualities and opportunities of the harpsichord.
PARTITAS
In 1726, Bach had announced in a Leipzig newspaper the publication of a large Suite with Prelude. This Suite was followed by others published separately until all six of them appeared in 1731 as a collection in a single volume. Bach himself engraved and printed his Partitas at his own cost, marking them as Opus 1. The title reads, “Clavier-Übung, Consisting of Preludes, Allemandes, Courantes, Sarabandes, Gigues, Menuets and Other Gallantries Composed for the Pleasurable Diversion of Music Lovers.” The fact that Bach marked the Partitas as Opus1 does not mean that it was his first composition, but simply that it was the first work he had published. “Clavier-Übung,” (“Keyboard Exercises”) would be expanded in time to include three more volumes. The second book contains an Italian Concerto and a French Overture, the third book contains works of for organ, and the fourth book includes the Goldberg Variations. The “Clavier-Übung” collection represents the most popular musical forms, genres and styles of keyboard music of that time. The Partitas represent the Gallant Style, which means, predominantly, French; the Italian Concerto represents the Grand Italian Style, Tutti-Soli-Ritornellos; the French Suite is an expanded model, a blend of Partita and Orchestral Suite; and the Goldberg Variation are a highly contrapuntal German experiment.
In composing “Clavier-Übung,” Bach was following the example of his immediate predecessor in the cantorship of the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, Johann Kuhnau. Kuhnau published his own collection of Partitas entitled “Clavier-Übung,” consisting of two volumes with seven Partitas in each. Bach composed three sets of Suites, the earliest being the six English Suites. They are filled with imitative counterpoint and are somewhat archaic in style. Bach also composed six French Suites, which were written in the Gallant style (without Preludes), and finally, six Partitas. In the Partitas, Bach found a supreme style. There is a perfect balance of traditional dance movements, gallant melodies, harmonic foundation and a ‘new’ sophisticated keyboard texture. His treatment of movements is inventive and innovative. Every opening movement traditionally called Preludia is original in form, substance and name. Bach gave a new, original opening to every Partita – Praeludium, Sinfonia, Fantasia, Overture, Praeambulum and Toccata. Allemandes, Courantes and Sarabandes retain their titles but are treated with great diversity. Allemandes range widely from simple and traditional in the third and fifth Partitas to the ‘grandest’ of them all in the fourth Partita. In Courantes he artfully explores all the possible combinations of three time. Sarabandes range from austere simplicity in the fourth Partita to an elaborate richness of Baroque rhetoric in the sixth Partita. The closing movements are Gigues, with the exception of the second Partita which ends with the Capriccio also receiving a special treatment. They range from the joyful and playful Gigue in the first Partita with its hands crossing inspired by Rameau, to a highly dramatic and expressive ending of the sixth Partita written in double dotted rhythm full of chromatic tension and immense energy.
As a true son of his age, Bach was very much aware of different levels and layers of meaning possible in music. He was a master of numerology – the meanings of numbers and their permutations, the numerological values of letters and names, the symbolism of intervals and intonation, the number of bars and pulsations in the construction of musical forms were all known to him. This is a fascinating topic. In connection with the Partitas there are two aspects that could be pointed out. First is the meaning of the number six. All of Bach’s collections of Suites, Partitas, Sonatas and Concertos are set in groups of six. Six English Suites, six French Suites, six Partitas, six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, six Brandenburg Concertos, and three Sonatas and three Partitas for solo violin. Why? There are two plausible reasons for that. Seven is a number of fullness and perfection. Bach, indeed, was a truly humble man. Composing music was an act of worship and offering. At the end of his most important works he always put three letters, instead of his signature –S.D.G. – Soli Deo Gloria (To The Glory of God). And S.D.G. became his ‘true’ signature. Perhaps Bach felt that composing sets of seven works would be immodest on his part. There is another explanation for the number six – six Days of Creation, six Days of work and on the seventh Day, rest.
The second point is the harmonic design and structure of the Partitas. The first Partita, Prima, is in B Flat; the second partita, Seconda, is in C, which is two (seconda) up from B Flat; the third is in A, three down from C; the forth Partita is in D, four up from A; the fifth Partita is in G, five down from D; and the sixth Partita is in E, six up from G. Within this structure, harmonic design works like a pendulum with B(ach) at the center. If we were to continue this logic, the swing of pendulum would unavoidably come to F – it would be seven (septima) down from E. The second book of “Clavier-Ubung” opens with the Italian Concerto, which is written in F Major. The book of “Clavier-Ubung”, which contains the Goldberg Variations, is a bridge – a connection of sorts to his later ‘final’ works – to the enigmatic beauty and mystery of Music Offering, to the infinite possibilities of Art of Fugue and to the absolute perfection of the Credo from the B-Minor Mass.
Bach was working with different musical forms, style and genres. He had an extraordinary ability to integrate and utilize different traditions, diverse ideologies and styles. He was a Master of Synthesis – a Great Unifier. One can easily recognize the source of influences in his music – French Gallant Style, Italian Concerto Grosso Style, German strict counterpoint. In his works, these different traditions have been renewed, transformed and have found their most clear, eloquent and powerful expression. One can look upon Bach’s music in its totality as one of the true miracles of nature – as a manifestation of Grace – and simply feel grateful and reassured that he was.
The 15 Two Parts Inventions came from the “Clavier-Buchlein’ (“Clavier-Book”) for Wilhelm Freidman Bach. The pedagogic purpose of these creations is very clear. Bach’s general tile opens with the words ‘Candid Instructions.’ He addresses his works to ‘lovers of music and to those eager for instructions.’ Inventions, therefore, serve a dual purpose: they help to learn how to ‘invent,’ compose and work with basic musical material, and they help to learn how to develop a singing ‘cantabile’ manner of performance. These pieces are studied by children at very early age. As a rule, they are the very first works of Bach to which young pianists are exposed.
UNDERGROUND
Underground...what is it? What makes an artist become an underground artist? What is avant garde and what is the connection between underground and avant garde? As long as “culture” has existed, there has been an underground culture. There have always been those who were different, those who refused to accept a “given norm” of their culture, refused to follow the only right way. Those who refused to adopt what was suppose to be “the truth” instead of what they believed it was. It is also a rather special way of perceiving reality, a special way of seeing - a tunnel vision of sorts which is putting an author in an underground position. So, underground needs a certain context, points of reference, and a certain concrete culture within which it develops and functions. Goya, Blake, Dostoyevsky, Poe, and Shostakovich could all represent an underground tradition, an underground personality...
Avant garde, on the other hand, is less concerned with concrete existing culture and more with developments of new languages, new aesthetics, new means of expressions, and ultimately, new reality all together. Avant garde is more universal and cosmopolitan in its nature, and underground is always connected to a certain culture within which it exists. Debussy and Stravinsky, Kandinsky, Prokofiev, Joyce and Pound could represent avant garde artists. Both of them - underground and avant garde are the most potent forces which are constantly moving culture “forward”. The relationship between “official” commonly accepted cultural norm, avant garde, and underground are complex and intricate. It is a kind of triangular dance in which partners, the different sides of a triangle, are constantly moving and changing their respective positions. Underground becomes officially accepted, avant garde becomes a new norm, a new standard, and creates its own establishment and official culture- a previous norm becomes outdated and obsolete...Until the next round, until the next dance.
The beginning of the 20th century had witnessed a cultural revolution in a very real sense of the world. New movements, new artistic philosophies and styles had been formed which defined and shaped the developments of the 20th century culture. In Russia, the cultural explosion of that time is truly staggering and unprecedented. Kandinsky, Malevitch, Schagal, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Mayakovski, Mandelstam, Pasternak - to name just a few, had lived and created in Russia in that time. Diaghilev’s “Ballet Russe” has been at the very top of avant garde theater- setting up new standards, new criterias, and a new art form. It was an incredible, liberating time for Russian culture, for the world culture. From the beginning of the 20th century, underground was taking a back seat and avant garde came into play in full force and colors. During the 19th century, the situation was quite different. Historically, Russian culture, namely literature, has been concerned and occupied sometimes rather obsessively with moral and ethical issues. Russian artists of the 19th century were “critics of reality,” and the dominating artistic ideology of most of the 19th century is “critical realism”.
A work of art was obliged to carry a certain socially and morally meaningful message. The formal perfection, the craft itself, was less important than the message. Russian artists, as the whole of the culture, carried a collective and personal responsibility for solving such questions as how to live a good and moral life, how to reconcile a reality of Russian life with Christian values, and most of all, the responsibility for the destiny of Russia. The role and status of the artist in Russia went far above and beyond just being an artist. It was responsibility, a duty of the artist to defend the innocent, to expose injustice, to show the way, to tell the truth. The influence that such writers as Pushkin, Gogol, and Dostoyevsky have had on their countrymen and contemporaries was profound and extensive. The moral stature of Lev Tolstoy in his late years was unmatched in Russia and beyond. Certainly, any truly great artist always transcends any ideology and manifesto by sheer magnitude of their personalities, gifts, and universalities of their thoughts. The existential experiments and psychological intensity of Dostoyevsky, creative imagination and wit of Gogol, supreme equilibrium and clarity of Pushkin, ontological insights of Tolstoy, and emotional impact of Tchaikovsky’s music are as universal in nature as the works of Shakespeare, Goethe, and Beethoven.
The 19th century witnessed the beginning of Russian culture in exile. This “trend” will continue until the very recent past. The matter of control and censorship has always been a serious issue in Russia. Both Imperial Russia, and afterwards Bolsheviks Russia, tried to control and manipulate the public opinion, and used “creative intelligentsia” to direct them in the right, needed direction. Obedience and cooperation were rewarded, disobedience and stubbornness were punished. The mechanism of “carrots and whips” remained largely the same in Imperial and Soviet Russia. Only the “whip” part (punishment) had became not a matter of risking your social status, not a matter of being exiled and going through hard times, but a matter of life and death.
History of the 20th century is dramatic and bloody. Even on that background, the history of Russia is shocking with the magnitude and scope of its ruthlessness, barbarism, and tragedies which were inflicted on millions of people and which have affected the whole of Russian culture, and the collective consciousness of Russia. After the revolution of 1917 (which was more of a coup d’etat), there were relative freedoms of expression for some time. Bolsheviks had more important and urgent matters at hand to worry about. But as soon as the system and infrastructure of power were put in place and firmly established, authorities started to "take care" of culture. It became abundantly clear that culture and its creators would have to follow a strict party line - to glorify and glamorize the reality of the first "just and perfect" society in the history of the world. Previous freedoms had been destroyed and ruthless totalitarian mechanisms of terror and intimidation were established. Stalinist systems of terror were universal in nature. Nobody was safe; no one was exempt from the "grinder". The terror was total and affected all and every level of Soviet society. All of these facts are well known and well documented by now.
When Soviet authorities were introducing their new ideology to their subjects, they actually were not inventing anything new. Ideas of patriotism and loyalty to the Motherland had always been very appealing and worked very well in Russia. Certainly, Soviet methods have been more blatant and extreme, but the process of appealing to the patriotic feelings, the obligation to defend and protect their first socialist state against all enemies from within and outside and to preserve the purity of Russian culture, had found a desirable response from the majority of people. One must say that Soviets have been skilful manipulators and were successful in selling their ideology, not only to their own people, but to the outside world also. Ideology has one very special feature - the more primitive, more primal, and explicit it is, the better it works.
After the death of Stalin in 1953 (Prokofiev and Stalin died on the same day), the situation started to change. In the early 60’s, a brief period of Khrushev’s "Thaw" had opened some previously tightly closed doors. Literally magazines started to publish "unimaginable" earlier works, exhibitions were showing unimaginable earlier art, and composers were composing music never heard before. The "Thaw" did not last for long, but it created a new fresh atmosphere, and it gave a faint taste of freedom. It created some cracks in the monolith of politically correct Soviet culture which, as it turned out to be, was impossible to close. The genii of freedom was out. Certainly an official cultural establishment was not going to give up its positions of privilege and power easily. Those who were in charge, those who were setting up cultural policies, did all they could to prevent a new generation of creative artists from being known, recognized, published, and performed. During Brezhnev’s time, an era of stagnation, the mechanism of carrots and whips was still very much in place. "Good guys" were rewarded with free apartments and country homes (dachas), good cars, titles, and medals and... special foods. It is rather difficult for a westerner to imagine that getting good quality food without standing in lines could be a compelling incentive. But it was just that. In spite of the resistance of the Soviet system, the new generation of authors were steadily gaining ground. After decades of being fed ideologically pure products of "social realism," the appetite for new nonconformist art was quite voracious. Theatrical premieres were becoming cultural happenings- most notably in the theater on Taganka. New publications of such previously forbidden writers as Bulgakov, Platonov, Pilnyak or poetry of Pasternak, Tsvetava, Akhmatova, Mandelshtam, as well as new works of such young poets as Yevtushenko, Voznesensky, and Akhmadulina, were instantly sold out. Musical premieres of such composers as Schnittke, Denisov, Gubaidulina, and Paart where eagerly anticipated. The fact that all of these were happening in spite of the efforts of Soviet authorities was very telling. Soviet ideology, the whole of the Soviet system was rotting at its roots. The Soviet empire was on the way to self destruction. New non-conformist art and its creators had become known and recognized in the West. Exhibitions of new art had taken place in the West as well as performances of new Russian music. Actually, during the 70’s and 80’s, Russian new music had been more often performed outside Russia than inside. For example, the first symphony of Alfred Schnittke had to wait for nearly 20 years before it was performed in Moscow. The fact that many non-conformist artists had difficult times with authorities and had been accused of formalism, modernism, cosmopolitism, and other "mortal sins," was very helpful for the development of their reputations and careers in the west. Let's not forget - it was a Cold War.
"The masterpieces of Russian underground" project puts together some of the most significant composers who lived and worked in Russia in the second half of the 20th century. Unavoidably, the format of this project, 3 concerts, has put limitations on a number of composers it could represent. However, it gives an overall view, a panorama of sorts which is as representative and diverse as it could be. Fourteen composers, starting with Shostakovich, are different in their philosophies, techniques, and artistic styles. Shostakovich had enormous influence in Russian music. After the death of Prokofiev in 1953, he became a leading figure in Russian music and a symbol of sorts. Russian composers of the next generations went their own ways, but most of them had been influenced in some degree by Shostakovich’s music.
Since its very beginning in the early 60’s, the second wave of Russian musical avant garde effectively coincided with the underground. In other words, avant garde was underground and underground became avant garde. Most of these composers went through the dodecaphonic techniques stage and through a period of experiments with different cutting- edge techniques and styles before the 70’s during which they found there own voices, their own universes. Valentine Silvestrov remembers these times-"from very beginning Alfred (Schnittke) and I used to show each other what we have written. It was impossible to play it, so we just looked at the scores. Then, some times later we could actually play what was written and even later still we could simply sing what was written". So, it moved from complexity to simplicity, from being rebels to being just composers, from avant garde ideology to an open all inclusive space of sound. One could look at the history of Russian avant garde-underground as an experiment, as an attempt to find the roads less travelled, a search for new meanings -a search for Freedom.
Russian artists and those who lived and worked in the former Soviet Union have produced incredible art. This art has been created in spite of all political and ideological dogmas, all limitations and difficulties, in spite of almost everything simply because, as Schnittke once said, “I write the music which has to be written.” The Russian underground project is a testimony to the creative human spirit, to inborn dignity of any true artist which is emerging ever victorious over all ideologies, all lies...
There is a new era in Russian history. It seems for the time being, that there is an atmosphere of creative freedom; it seems that there is an opportunity to create and produce whatever the artist desires. It might turn out to be the hardest test of them all - the test of freedom. Let us wish to a new generation of artists to live up to their heritage, to carry on, to be true to themselves. Let's wish them well.