Hi everyone,
My name is Aleksey Nikolsky and I am a realistic classical composer and a scientist specializing in the perception and evolution of music.
I have just completed a symphonic poem, "Trump and Circumstance" with a programme that depicts the entire saga of the Trump presidency, highlighting the Russian collusion, the investigations of Trump's corruption, the story of his impeachment, his attempts to unleash civil unrest in America, and the horrors of COVID.
Through this work I am trying to restore the tradition where classical music was used to trigger public discourse on important societal issues - just as many composers of the past did in regard to the atrocities of WWII (Shostakovich, Britten, Messiaen, Schoenberg, Nono, Gorecki - to name a few). If we are to prevent a new escalation of authoritarian and supremacist ideologies, it is imperative that people emotionally weigh all the ramifications of Trump's policies.
I have combined the compositional skill which I acquired at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory (where I studied under Edison Denisov) with my own research-based knowledge of how listeners normally react to specific musical patterns, to make my audience live through the storyline of this music.
I'd be very interested to see if you think I've succeeded in my intentions, and if there's anything that can be improved.
I believe that music has the power to express things that matter in our lives. It is unfortunate that this aspect of music has been lost and outshadowed by the proliferation of "cool" popular music and abstract "experimental music" whose main purpose seems to be to sound complex and unlike anything written by great composers of the past.
I have created a video clip of the MIDI/sample playback of the score for this piece which I have enhanced with the help of a few mastering plugins and have added captions of the programme at the beginning of each section of music. Although far from the sound of a real symphonic orchestral, it gives a relatively faithful representation of my intention.
https://youtu.be/819uSibG5VY
I'd really appreciate it if you or anyone you know would refer me to someone who knows a conductor or an administrator of a symphonic orchestra to have this music performed.
I hope you enjoy the music! :)
Aleksey Nikolsky
https://www.alekseynikolsky.com