Roslavets' Rig

[sonic1]

Didn't see any love for Roslavets. Just discovered this guy.

[haydnguy]

Didn't see any love for Roslavets. Just discovered this guy.

Yes, he's very good. I have 3 of his CD's. Here is another good one I recommend:

[some guy]

I first heard of Roslavets when someone over at CMG was trashing his chamber symphony, which turned out to be just as charming as f*ck,* of course. Too "harsh" and "atonal" for the someone, but just delightful for me.

I might put that on again right this minute, because I can.

I keep hearing about those violin concertos, but from the descriptions (and from a few clips I've heard) they might be just a trifle too sweet for me. I'd buy them anyway, but I just sent in a $300+ order to emprientes DIGITALes and am feeling poor. (I'm not poor, but I'm feeling that way right this minute, the same minute I'm about to put Roslavets on my already purchased CD player.)

*because we're not supposed to say "fu(k" on the internets.

[haydnguy]

I might put that on again right this minute, because I can.

haha I decided to listen to him too. Was going to listen to his concertos but ran into his violin sonatas on Naxos first, so that's what I'm listening to now. 

[snyprrr]

Iused to have that old Wergo recording of some violin concerto...something "Moon" maybe...with chr. Erdinger, I believe. Ultra late Romantic stuff as I remember.

His SQs I like, both being around 10mins. of Bergian Debussyisms. Alittle chromatic up, a little chromatic down. I also have one of the cello sonatas (though, not THE cello sonata, the other one...) which goes on similarly.

He certainly has a very integrated style



I would have rather seen "Roslavets" Rostov", haha!

[schweitzeralan]

Didn't see any love for Roslavets. Just discovered this guy.

I have a couple of Rosllavets' works on Cd's.  Much of his piano works are derivative of late Scriabin and tend to be considerably more modernist. From what little I read about him, that despite his musical propensities toward the  avant-garde, he survived Stalin's regime.  I like his music very much, and I have some sheet music; some of his preludes and poems.  His orchestral work "In The Hour of the New Moon" is impressionistic and mystical.  Exactly my type.

[Dax]

Roslavets is undoubtedly a MAJOR composer. Look for stuff on youtube (Hexameron) with the notations.

[haydnguy]

One thing about Rolsavet that's rather interesting is that his music evolved in the opposite direction than a lot of composers.

Roslavet's early works are more dissonant than his later works. The later works are more "Romantic" in style. The reason is that the state put pressure on him about his dissonant style and so he "lightened" up a bit. 

[Luke]

Yes, early Roslavets has strong similarities with Scriabin and his thorough-going use of synthetic chords, but taken to the nth degree. Off the top of my head he's the only composer I can think of who uses triple flats/sharps in his music. You sometimes see this notation in the work of theorists like Riemann, and I suppose this fact (that he placed such importance on consistency of notation) gives some idea of the importance Roslavets placed on cogency and logic of his harmonic language.

[Dax]

he's the only composer I can think of who uses triple flats/sharps in his music.

Alkan has a couple of triple sharps - one in Quasi-Faust. Where do Roslavets' appear?

[Drasko]

One thing about Rolsavet that's rather interesting is that his music evolved in the opposite direction than a lot of composers.

Roslavet's early works are more dissonant than his later works. The later works are more "Romantic" in style. The reason is that the state put pressure on him about his dissonant style and so he "lightened" up a bit. 

Interesting but not unique, quite a few composers in Soviet Union got 'persuaded' by The Party to abandon their original more avant-garde styles for idiom more common people friendly. Biggest losses on this plan were Mosolov and Popov, huge potentials crushed.

Off the top of my head he's the only composer I can think of who uses triple flats/sharps in his music.

I could be wrong since I actually couldn't read music if my life would depend on it, but this looks pretty flat-tened:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oTHIb2akJg

[Luke]

No, that's not what I meant - that's a piece with a five flat key signature, but no double or triple flats (that I could see).

Dax - I'd forgotten the Alkan; I do dimly recall noticing that at some point in the past, but it had quite slipped my mind, thank you! Re triple accidentals in Roslavets, the page I always remember is in one of the first two piano sonatas, the first I think. There are others too, I think, but I can never remember where - it's been a while since I looked through any Roslavets scores bar those first two sonatas.

[The new erato]

Yes, he's very good. I have 3 of his CD's. Here is another good one I recommend:

The Chamber symphony is absolutely marvelous, one of my major discoveries in 2008 - and now I've just found this disc at 6 Euros at abeille....

[haydnguy]

The Chamber symphony is absolutely marvelous, one of my major discoveries in 2008 - and now I've just found this disc at 6 Euros at abeille....

Yes, the Chamber Symphony is very good. Here is what that cover looks like in case anyone is wanting to search for it:

[snyprrr]

bump- for post-Scriabin pre-Szymanowski swooning...

Master of the Scriabinesque single-movement piece?

[amw]

Roslavet's early works are more dissonant than his later works. The later works are more "Romantic" in style. The reason is that the state put pressure on him about his dissonant style and so he "lightened" up a bit. 

Roslavets was more or less "unpersoned" by the Soviet regime due to his dissident politics (he was a founding member of the rival composers' organisation to the one that eventually prevailed): shipped out to some remote outpost, works effectively banned from performance, etc—he tried to simplify his music to appease the authorities, but to no avail. After his death his home was ransacked and many of his manuscripts were destroyed. In the post-Stalin thaw of the 1950s Shostakovich was threatened with censure and dismissal for mentioning Roslavets in one of his composition classes. As late as the 1980s, when his family and German musicologists started pushing for a revival of his music, there were still Soviet authorities responding with harsh criticism of Roslavets's "non-music". (Tikhon Khrennikov's continued control over Russian musical life could offer a partial explanation. Even today Roslavets's music is probably better-known in the West than in the former Soviet Union.) That's my understanding of things anyway.

I quite like the piano and chamber music, a good deal of which is now available on cd. It's sort of like Scriabin except actually good.

[Daverz]

The Chamber Symphony reminds me of what Toch and Hindemith were doing in the 20s.  I can imagine someone coming to this thinking "Russian composer", and not getting anything like what they expected.

[snyprrr]

The Chamber Symphony reminds me of what Toch and Hindemith were doing in the 20s.  I can imagine someone coming to this thinking "Russian composer", and not getting anything like what they expected.

Yes, he sounds like a Russian Frenchman! The opposite of the more Germanic sounding Taneyev?

[Mirror Image]

Been getting into Roslavets recently. I've known the composer's name for many years, but I have never bothered to explore any of his music for whatever reasons. Big mistake! Such brooding, shadow laden music. You can feel his frustration in almost every note. As a result of this, I bought these recordings:

[vandermolen]

Been getting into Roslavets recently. I've known the composer's name for many years, but I have never bothered to explore any of his music for whatever reasons. Big mistake! Such brooding, shadow laden music. You can feel his frustration in almost every note. As a result of this, I bought these recordings:

Just discovering Roslavets. The Chamber Symphony is great - it reminds me of the kind of music associated with the Bauhaus in Germany. In the Hours of the New Moon is a fine, poetic score. Have just ordered the violin concerti and the Viola Sonata.