Lesser known Russian/Soviet composers

[Irons]

There is also this now:

The Tishcenko was released on LP under license by EMI with a not particularly apt coupling.

[André]

And this, too:




By and large, I might consider the symphonies disc, not the concertos.

[Irons]

Lyatoshinsky: String Quartet No.2 Op.4.



I think Lyatoshinky has come up recently in possibly a Chandos release. The 2nd Quartet is lyrical and tuneful and can stand with the two Borodin quartets which is high praise. The recording (1977) by the Lysenko quartet is excellent. Unlike the Czech ensembles there is not a tradition of Soviet Quartets, I have not heard of the Lysenko but am impressed. The coupling is a Lyatoshinky piano trio which I have not heard yet.

[vandermolen]

Lyatoshinsky: String Quartet No.2 Op.4.



I think Lyatoshinky has come up recently in possibly a Chandos release. The 2nd Quartet is lyrical and tuneful and can stand with the two Borodin quartets which is high praise. The recording (1977) by the Lysenko quartet is excellent. Unlike the Czech ensembles there is not a tradition of Soviet Quartets, I have not heard of the Lysenko but am impressed. The coupling is a Lyatoshinky piano trio which I have not heard yet.

Interesting Lol. I don't know the string quartets. This was a fine recent release featuring two of Lyatoshinsky's finest works:

[Roy Bland]

Yuri Butsko Organ Music:
https://my-shop.ru/shop/product/3496860.html

[Irons]

Interesting Lol. I don't know the string quartets. This was a fine recent release featuring two of Lyatoshinsky's finest works:

Yes Jeffrey, that is the issue I was thinking of.

[vandermolen]

Yes Jeffrey, that is the issue I was thinking of.

A few years ago, whilst on holiday in the UK, I was being dragged round a shop somewhere (probably a garden centre - most of my life is spent in garden centres) which had the radio on. I was very impressed by the music I heard and made sure that I stayed in the shop until it ended to hear what it was. It turned out to be 'Grazhyna' by Lyatoshinsky.

[vandermolen]

Copied over from the WAYLT thread. I enjoyed the searching and eloquent Symphony No.3 very much indeed (immediately having to play it again). However, I found the Double Concerto a bit too 'plink-plonk-crash-bang-wallop'.
Added later. I was quite wrong about the Double Concerto - it is much better than I thought with a very moving last movement, a bit like Shostakovich's Piano Quintet.

Grigori Frid (great name) Symphony No.3 for String Orchestra and Timpani.
I'm enjoying this work very much (from 1964). It should appeal to admirers of Shostakovich and also those who respond to Martinu's Double Concerto for Strings, Piano and Timpani and to those who like Honegger's Second Symphony. The opening movement is rather Neo-Classical and reminiscent of Shostakovich. This is followed by a reflective and darkly moving slow movement and an upbeat finale which nevertheless winds down to a quiet conclusion. This movement at times reminded me of Weinberg, especially the eloquent closing section. He wrote an opera 'The Diary of Anne Frank' and one on 'The Letters of Van Gogh'. He lived from 1915-2012. An interesting discovery:

[Roy Bland]

Lyatoshinsky's Third played by Sladkovsky and TSO

[André]

On sale for 44€ at JPC, the 10 cd set of wartime music:



Comtents here: https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/wartime-music-vol-1-10-1941-1945/hnum/9278385

[Roy Bland]

A good resource on this subject:
https://mus.academy/en

[vandermolen]

On sale for 44€ at JPC, the 10 cd set of wartime music:



Comtents here: https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/wartime-music-vol-1-10-1941-1945/hnum/9278385

That sounds like very good value.

[Irons]

That sounds like very good value.

Talking of good value, Rob Cowen in this month's Gramophone gives a thumbs up on a box set release of the self-recommendable Myaskovsky string quartets from The Taneyev String Quartet.

[vandermolen]

Talking of good value, Rob Cowen in this month's Gramophone gives a thumbs up on a box set release of the self-recommendable Myaskovsky string quartets from The Taneyev String Quartet.

Good to know. Thanks Lol.

[pjme]

Cross posted from "Pieces that have blown you away recently":

https://www.youtube.com/v/pyfnU5Bd5HI

There's more Butsko on YT - albeit often in older recordings.
Symphony nr.3 : https://youtu.be/E_l2kLmVJYo
Symphony nr 4 : https://youtu.be/DM8Q33snlxE
Symphony nr 5 : https://youtu.be/SfoCapHkf9w
Symphony -suite "Old Russian paintings" : https://youtu.be/5ccxYccZLw0
Symphony- suite nr . 2: https://youtu.be/wIqhrQHXAW8
Canon to the Guardian Angel : https://youtu.be/1444GDE8spo

A Russian maverick!? Very intriguing, big, craggy, Romantic...

Yuri Butsko has devoted his life and art to adapting the old Russian chant (called "znamenny rospev") to modern times, while at the same time preserving its context and religious meaning. The znamenny chant is interpreted by Butsko as "the ideal of spiritual perfection, a goal to be constantly pursued." The composer has constructed an original system determining the "method of working with znamenny chant." The underlying principle of the system is a melodic scale extracted from znamenny chant (the ancient Russian tone-row). Although the scale is limited by the compass of a human voice, Butsko extends it in by adding tri-tones [or trichords] above and below until the initial starting pitch is restored. The system is open and contains twelve tones. Boutsko describes it as a kind of Russian dodecaphony, applying a twelve-tone row extracted from Russian material. Butsko's religious approach determines specific qualities of his music: extended durations, a continuous elaboration of each image or motive, and an absence of sharp contrasts. The ever intense 'tone' and the need to shape an exhaustive statement generate the quality of "extended time," sometimes to the extent of meditation.

Source: https://uiowa.edu/cnm/festival-composers

[Roy Bland]

Cross posted from "Pieces that have blown you away recently":

https://www.youtube.com/v/pyfnU5Bd5HI

There's more Butsko on YT - albeit often in older recordings.
Symphony nr.3 : https://youtu.be/E_l2kLmVJYo
Symphony nr 4 : https://youtu.be/DM8Q33snlxE
Symphony nr 5 : https://youtu.be/SfoCapHkf9w
Symphony -suite "Old Russian paintings" : https://youtu.be/5ccxYccZLw0
Symphony- suite nr . 2: https://youtu.be/wIqhrQHXAW8
Canon to the Guardian Angel : https://youtu.be/1444GDE8spo

A Russian maverick!? Very intriguing, big, craggy, Romantic...

Yuri Butsko has devoted his life and art to adapting the old Russian chant (called "znamenny rospev") to modern times, while at the same time preserving its context and religious meaning. The znamenny chant is interpreted by Butsko as "the ideal of spiritual perfection, a goal to be constantly pursued." The composer has constructed an original system determining the "method of working with znamenny chant." The underlying principle of the system is a melodic scale extracted from znamenny chant (the ancient Russian tone-row). Although the scale is limited by the compass of a human voice, Butsko extends it in by adding tri-tones [or trichords] above and below until the initial starting pitch is restored. The system is open and contains twelve tones. Boutsko describes it as a kind of Russian dodecaphony, applying a twelve-tone row extracted from Russian material. Butsko's religious approach determines specific qualities of his music: extended durations, a continuous elaboration of each image or motive, and an absence of sharp contrasts. The ever intense 'tone' and the need to shape an exhaustive statement generate the quality of "extended time," sometimes to the extent of meditation.

Source: https://uiowa.edu/cnm/festival-composers

He had its own page
http://www.yuributsko.com/ru/news    English version in building

[pjme]

Thanks Roy, let's hope a translation will follow.
How do you feel about Butsko's music?

I'm drawn towards that feeling of "extended time", but I may lack a Russian (orthodox) soul to fully grasp his intentions.
The "Novgorod the Great" suite benefits ,imho, from a very committed performance (even if the sound isn't perfect on YT). I have middle European roots myself (Hungarian, Polish, Moravian) and think I understand the weeping, sobbing & crying. The prayers and litany-like  invocations ....with lots of incense...

[Cato]

From New Releases topic: in case you missed it!   0:)

Nikolai Tcherepnin will have a new recording of two wonderful works: thank you CPO !


Nikolai Tcherepnin's ballet Narcissus and Echo and the tone-poem The Faraway Princess are being released after Christmas (?) in January.




It would be nice if other things by Nikolai Tcherepnin, which have never been recorded, follow soon!


With some difficulty I found a page with more information:

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/nicolai-tscherepnin-narcisse-et-echo-op-40/hnum/8977574

A German reviewer (apparently given a copy to write a review, since the release date is January 3, 2020) from the above website has given it a 5-star review:

Große Klasse!
Diese Komposition ist nur - wenn überhaupt - mit Ravels "Daphnis et Chloe" vergleichbar: die oft ähnlich impressionistisch flirrende Klangsprache, der Rausch an Klangfarben und Effeklten, verstärkt durch einen - wie bei Ravel - vokalisierenden Chor.
Bislang gab es nur eine Aufnahme im Katalog: eine sehr eindrucksvolle Chandos-Aufnahme mit Rozhdestvensky aus dem Jahr 1998. Nun hat cpo nicht für Ersatz, sondern für Konkurrenz gesorgt. Und was für welche! Setzte der russische Dirigent bei Chandos noch ganz auf kompakten Klangrausch, so fächert der Pole Borowicz mit seinem Bamberger Orchester den Klang auf, interpretiert deutlich durchsichtiger und luftiger, ohne der Musik seinen besonderen Reiz zu nehmen. Zudem ist die Musik bei cpo deutlich mehr "durchgetrackt", was die Anspielmöglichkeit einzelner Teile deutlich erweitert. Außerdem gibt es mit dem Sinfonischen Vorspiel op.4 noch eine achtminütige Zugabe. Im Ganzen eine tolle CD mit toller Musik, tollen Interpreten und einer rundum gelungenen Präsentation. Sehr zu empfehlen!

The CHANDOS CD of this work mentioned above is indeed excellent, but is unfortunately difficult to find.

[Symphonic Addict]

Good news: A revival of this composer by CPO.

(Relatively) Bad news: Those works already have been recorded before.

I know La Princesse Lointaine and Le Royaume Enchanté in a DG recording. Lustrous stuff.

[Cato]

Good news: A revival of this composer by CPO.

(Relatively) Bad news: Those works already have been recorded before.

I know La Princesse Lointaine and Le Royaume Enchanté in a DG recording. Lustrous stuff.

Yes indeed!  The ballet though, recorded on CHANDOS with Rozhdestvensky conducting, is no longer readily available, and the above CD on Amazon costs a rather steep $30.00 new (or is available as an Mp3 download), so this CPO CD is welcome.