Rodion Shchedrin, the celebrated Russian composer and pianist, handed away on August 29 in Munich, Germany. He was 92.
Reflecting a colourful mix of influences from the archaic to the avant-garde to Russian folklore, Shchedrin’s works embrace the ballets Carmen Suite (1967) and Anna Karenina (1971), the opera Lolita (1993), three symphonies, and 5 concertos for orchestra. Shchedrin created a lot of his ballets for his spouse of 57 years, prima ballerina Maya Plisetskaya.
Succeeding Shostakovich because the chairman of the Composers’ Union of Russia, Shchedrin was, at occasions, each honored and sanctioned by Soviet authorities.
Writer Boosey & Hawkes writes that Shchedrin’s “sweetly stunning, nearly cinematographically illustrative music is juxtaposed with polyphonic and complexly constructed compositions.” Conductor Lorin Maazel wrote, “The suave sophistication of his tonal language leads us into the depths of a glowing music, full of perspicacity, irony, humor, joie de vivre and real comedy.”
Concerto for Orchestra No. 1 “Naughty Limericks” (1963)
Shchedrin’s Concerto for Orchestra is an exhilarating, clownish romp full of virtuosity. A forged of zany instrumental “characters” take the stage in a drama propelled ahead by a jazzy rhythm part. The Russian chastushka is loosely translated as “Naughty Limericks.”
The composer supplied the next program notice;
In a chastushka there may be at all times humor, irony, and a pointy satire of the established order, its defenders and the ‘leaders of the folks.’ Even such highly effective or dreaded names as Marx, Lenin, and Stalin have been ridiculed in chastushki. All the things that happens within the lifetime of the folks, from occasions of historic significance to essentially the most intimate sensations, finds its method intochastushki on the identical day or—by way of extemporizing—on the very second. Brevity is the chief attribute of the chastushka. Its particularly musical traits are a four-square and symmetric construction, a intentionally primitive melody of restricted scope, driving syncopated rhythm, improvisation, quite a few repetition involving variation (mainly shifting the sturdy and weak beats) and—which is a should—a humorousness pervading each the phrases and the music.
Sadly, the phrase chastushka is related within the minds of many musicians with easy tunes of eight bars, suggesting nothing however boredom. I believe, nonetheless, that this modest and unassuming kind could also be likened to a door opening, like an outdated fairy story, upon a world of most diverse and inexhaustible musical riches. In Ozornïye Chastushki, conceived as a virtuosic orchestral work, I deal with solely the comedian and dance chastushka tunes. The concertante fashion and virtuosic results are, to my thoughts, inherent in any such chastushka.
Concerto for Orchestra No. 1 is full of mischievous surprises proper as much as its last “encore” chord.
Carmen Suite (1967)
Scored for strings and percussion, Shchedrin’s one-act ballet, Carmen Suite, is a musical homage to Bizet’s well-known opera. Unfolding in 13 actions, the opera’s Spanish-flavored dances emerge in colourful new harmonic and instrumental garb. Somewhat than constituting an association, the work makes use of Bizet’s themes to create one thing new.
It was Shchedrin’s spouse, acclaimed ballerina Maya Plisetskaya, who conceived the thought of a ballet primarily based on the opera. She approached each Shostakovich and Khachaturian, each of whom turned the challenge down. Shchedrin labored in collaboration with Cuban choreographer Alberto Alonso. Following its premiere on the Bolshoi in 1967, Carmen Suite was attacked by Soviet authorities on costs of indecency and plagiarism. Finally, it could grow to be one of many Bolshoi’s most profitable ballets.
24 Preludes and Fugues for Piano. E-book I “Sharp Keys”, Op. 29: II. A Minor
Composed between 1964 and 1970, Shchedrin’s 24 Preludes and Fugues observe within the footsteps of Bach and Shostakovich. This recording of the A minor Prelude and Fugue options the composer as pianist:
Recordings
- Shchedrin: Concerto for Orchestra No. 1 “Naughty Limericks,” Mikhail Pletnev, Russian Nationwide Orchestra Amazon
- Shchedrin: 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 29, Rodion Shchedrin Amazon
Featured Picture: {photograph} by David Nelson
