Boris Tishchenko (1939 - 2010)

[relm1]

Which works do you love? I didn't hit it off with the Dante symphonies. I do have Symphony 5, I think, on Olympia so must have another listen to that.

I really love the Violin Concerto (I think No. 2 sorry going off memory but its a very long one, maybe the longest violin concerto?).  Symphony No. 9 fragment is very lyrical.  Some of his ballet music as well.  The piano sonata No. 5 is very good.  I guess I like him in his more traditional mode.

[kyjo]

I don't believe I've ever heard a note of Tishchenko's music, but the ever-dependable Amazon reviewer G.D. has much praise for the 7th Symphony on Naxos and my interest has been piqued:


"One to blow you away! If you are on the lookout for a post-Shostakovichian symphonic tradition, there is actually much to choose from. Little of it reaches the quality of Boris Tishchenko's seventh, however. Tishchenko (b. 1939) himself emphasizes the influence of Shostakovich but while the connections are obvious, Tishchenko doesn't really sound that much like Shostakovich. As a pointer to his style, think late Shostakovich or Vainberg, but eschewing the slow, brooding music - Tishchenko's music is driven, energetic, powerful, often fast and often spitefully sardonic (but sometimes genuinely optimistic as well). His ideas are often strikingly memorable; they are developed with ingenuity and the music is always superbly scored. The seventh symphony opens pastorally, but the nightmarish undercurrents seem just a second away from bubbling to the surface - and indeed, Tishchenko subtly alters the mood to something menacingly urgent by just a few rhythmic twists. From there on, the dark, haunted and sarcastic music pours forth, often erupting in almost maniacal intensity with much use of percussion. Still, the music isn't all darkness throughout - much of it is genuinely joyful and buoyant, if in a somewhat raucous manner; and it holds together surprisingly well. But I'll refrain from trying to describe it completely - if the style appeals you are very strongly encouraged to check it out yourself. The performance by the Moscow Philharmonic under Dmitry Yablonsky is ferocious and powerful even if there are parts where the music stretches the players to their limits and beyond. The sound quality is generally clear and full. A superb release, strongly recommended."


Sounds right up my alley!

[Symphonic Addict]

I've heard his VC 2 and it seems to share the features of the 7th Symphony according to the notes above. I'll be taking a listen to that symphony at some point.

[Mirror Image]

FWIW, Tishchenko's 7th is fantastic the best I can remember. Definitely worth a listen. I have the Yablonsky recording, but I'd like to hear the recording on Northern Flowers, too, at some point.

[vandermolen]

I really love the Violin Concerto (I think No. 2 sorry going off memory but its a very long one, maybe the longest violin concerto?).  Symphony No. 9 fragment is very lyrical.  Some of his ballet music as well.  The piano sonata No. 5 is very good.  I guess I like him in his more traditional mode.

Correction - it's this CD that I have - so I must listen to it again:

[kyjo]

I've heard his VC 2 and it seems to share the features of the 7th Symphony according to the notes above. I'll be taking a listen to that symphony at some point.

Did you like the VC 2?

[Symphonic Addict]

Did you like the VC 2?

What do you think? 

That's what I call a quite turbulent concerto.

[Mirror Image]

I've got to say that I'm going to have to take a pass on Tishchenko in general. I seem to have run into the same problem as relm1 and I'll just leave it at that. I ended cancelling all the Tishchenko I had ordered as a result. His music can be fun, but it just doesn't have any staying power, IMHO. Like I mentioned before, he has never been a top-rank Russian/Soviet composer in my estimate anyway.

[relm1]

Correction - it's this CD that I have - so I must listen to it again:

Yes, that's the one I was talking about.  Very good work.

[vandermolen]

Yes, that's the one I was talking about.  Very good work.

Thanks 

[Roy Bland]

novelty on cd

[André]

Good to know, thanks Roy !

[Maestro267]

Can't see it on Spotify and they've got most of the Northern Flowers/Olympia releases that I can tell so I assume this is a new or upcoming release?

[Roy Bland]

Can't see it on Spotify and they've got most of the Northern Flowers/Olympia releases that I can tell so I assume this is a new or upcoming release?

https://altocd.com/northernflowers/product/nfpma99149/

[T. D.]

Have been listening to string quartets on eBay, since I've been considering the "complete SQ" set on Northern Flowers for a while.
What I've heard is certainly not bad, but the Shostakovich influence is rather strong, even too much IMO. Thus unlikely to purchase the set.

[relm1]

Have been listening to string quartets on eBay, since I've been considering the "complete SQ" set on Northern Flowers for a while.
What I've heard is certainly not bad, but the Shostakovich influence is rather strong, even too much IMO. Thus unlikely to purchase the set.

I think Shostakovich's influence on the subsequent soviet composers was very big.  He cast a huge shadow that was hard to escape because he ticked off so many checkboxes.  Immediacy, popularity, profundity, artistry, integrity, all while finding his inspiration in the reality of Soviet life, reasserting and developing in his imagination the arts of socialist realism.  To many, he defined what a composer should look like after him.  It is not hard to be influenced by him in some way all these years later, just imagine if you grew up in the 1930's through 60's Soviet system.

[Mirror Image]

I think Shostakovich's influence on the subsequent soviet composers was very big.  He cast a huge shadow that was hard to escape because he ticked off so many checkboxes.  Immediacy, popularity, profundity, artistry, integrity, all while finding his inspiration in the reality of Soviet life, reasserting and developing in his imagination the arts of socialist realism.  To many, he defined what a composer should look like after him.  It is not hard to be influenced by him in some way all these years later, just imagine if you grew up in the 1930's through 60's Soviet system.

Of course, many of the later generation Soviet composers took much different paths. Look at Ustvolskaya, Schnittke, Gubaidulina, Denisov et. al. for example. You couldn't find a more diverse group of composers. While I'm sure the shadow looms large over post-Shostakovich composers, the afore mentioned ones have done a fine job of breaking free from this particular stylistic shackle.

[relm1]

Of course, many of the later generation Soviet composers took much different paths. Look at Ustvolskaya, Schnittke, Gubaidulina, Denisov et. al. for example. You couldn't find a more diverse group of composers. While I'm sure the shadow looms large over post-Shostakovich composers, the afore mentioned ones have done a fine job of breaking free from this particular stylistic shackle.

That's debatable.  Collage is typically defined as the playful usage of contrasting musical material of different periods and styles of music history, as well as combining fragments of the works by different composers for creating a new piece.  That's a major element of the composers you quote and Shostakovich's No. 15 which references multiple eras like Bach, Rossini, Wagner, Glinka, and Shostakovich's earlier periods.  This is a major part of Schnittke too though sometimes taken simultaneously like other composers such as Ives did. 

[Mirror Image]

That's debatable.  Collage is typically defined as the playful usage of contrasting musical material of different periods and styles of music history, as well as combining fragments of the works by different composers for creating a new piece.  That's a major element of the composers you quote and Shostakovich's No. 15 which references multiple eras like Bach, Rossini, Wagner, Glinka, and Shostakovich's earlier periods.  This is a major part of Schnittke too though sometimes taken simultaneously like other composers such as Ives did.

I didn't refute Shostakovich's influence, but did list composers that I believed found their own way out of Shostakovich's shadow. I'm certainly not going to debate with you on something that I feel isn't worth arguing about.

[relm1]

I really enjoyed this new release of Tishchenko's early ballet, "The Twelve".  Well worth seeking out.  Fans of mid century Soviet music should find much to enjoy here.  Think early/mid Shostakovich, early Prokofiev, Mosolov, etc.  It's exciting music and I think he was only maybe 22 when this was composed.