Sofia Gubaidulina Turns Eighty - sikorski.de · CONTENTS editorial Dear Readers, Sofia...

01/10 SIKORSKI MUSIC PUBLISHERS • WWW.SIKORSKI.DE • [email protected]

magazine

BIRTHDAYS AND COMMEMORATION DAYS 2011

With the Directness of a Natural Phenomenon

ULRICHLEYENDECKER’S65TH BIRTHDAY

Sofia Gubaidulina Turns Eighty

Yervand YerkanianIn the Shadow of the Great Khachaturian:

k4_091101_SikoHeft_01-2010_englisch_#4c 02.12.09 10:23 Seite 1

CO

NTEN

TS

editorial

Dear Readers,

Sofia Gubaidulina’s remark that she

allows a work to grow like a plant

reveals a great deal about her perso-

nality and the way she works. In her

opinion, something perfect can only

be created when one calmly allows it

to thrive. The Russian composer will

turn eighty next year and can look

back upon a truly gigantic catalogue

of works. Many colleagues and

friends have made statements in this

issue about Gubaidulina and her uni-

que oeuvre.

The music world has an important

anniversary to celebrate in 2001 with

the 200th birthday of Franz Liszt.

This great pianist and composer was

a cosmopolitan whose portrait was

more famous in the 19th century

than some historical personalities.

Other cosmopolitans were the

“Italian in the States,” Gian Carlo

Menotti and the creator of the hit of

the century “Lili Marlene,” Norbert

Schultze. Both would have turned

100 in 2011.

As always, you will find a detailed

calendar with all the upcoming birth-

days and commemorative days of the

New Year as well as a preview of the

most important anniversaries in

2012.

Let yourself be inspired to find out

more about our composers,

Dagmar Sikorski

Dr. Axel Sikorski

2|SIKORSKI magazine

03 With the Directness of a Natural Phenomenon- Sofia Gubaidulina Turns Eighty

05 Music is a Language The 200th Birthday of Franz Liszt

06 65th Birthday Ulrich Leyendecker

06 New at Sikorski:Daniel Smutny

07 In the Shadow of the Great KhachaturianYervand Yerkanian


he is the Grande Dame of the NewMusic, the most important Russian

composer of the present day and a pen-sive person whose spiritual horizon doesnot end with music: Sofia Gubaidulina.Perhaps it is this interest in the world,people and the spiritual that is thesecret of the direct effect of her music.Her works have a very special radiance,are highly emotional, move the listenerat the first hearing and nonetheless havea complex structure. Gubaidulina isalways searching for the spiritual anduses music as a kind of medium toapproach the inexplicable. In so doing,she is always concerned with the “totali-ty,” the elementary quality, the power ofmusic that can change human existence.

“In my opinion, the most importantaim of a work of art is the transfor-mation of time,” says Gubaidulina.“Mankind has this other time – thetime of the lingering of the soul inthe spiritual realm – within himself.But this can be suppressed throughour everyday experience of time.”

SHE IS THE GRANDE DAMEOF THE NEW MUSIC, THEMOST IMPORTANT RUSSIANCOMPOSER OF THE PRESENT DAY AND A PENSIVE PERSON WHOSESPIRITUAL HORIZON DOESNOT END WITH MUSIC: SOFIA GUBAIDULINA

COVER

SIKORSKI magazine|3

Gubaidulina writes music that speaksdirectly to the soul. Her pieces live fromsound, which penetrates into the listenerwith the directness of a natural pheno-menon, without any detour via artisticforms. Gubaidulina has continued todevelop this language ever farther, andmost recently, for example, with her “St. John Cycle” and the violin concer-to “In tempus praesens” premiered byAnne-Sophie Mutter, reached manypeople, including those not at all predis-posed to the New Music. Sofia Gubaidulina was born in Chistopolin 1931. In 1959 she completed compo-sition studies with Nikolai Peyko, anassistant of Dmitri Shostakovich, at theMoscow Conservatory. Since the begin-ning of the 1980s, her works rapidlyfound a place in western programmes,thanks especially to the commitment ofthe violinist Gidon Kremer. Commissionssoon followed from renowned institutions(including the BBC, the Berlin Festival,Library of Congress, NHK, New YorkPhilharmonic) as well as CD recordingswhich made her known throughout the

world. Gubaidulina, who has been livingnear Hamburg since 1992, is a memberof the Academy of the Arts in Berlin, theFree Academy of the Arts in Hamburgand of the Royal Music Academy inStockholm. In 1999 she was receivedinto the order “Pour le mérite.”Gubaidulina received numerous prizesfor her works, e.g. the Prix de Monaco(1987), the Koussevitzky InternationalRecord Award (1989 and 1994) and theJapanese Emperor’s Prize PraemiumImperiale (1998).The following quotation is surely alsoindicative of Gubaidulina’s thinking: “Asan ideal, I consider a relationship to tradition and to new means of compositionin which the artist masters all means –both old and new, but in such a way thathe would not pay special attention toone or the other. There are composerswho construct their works very consciously;I am among those, however, who inste-ad “cultivate” their works. And for thisreason, the entire world that I assimilatemore or less forms the roots of a tree,and the work growing from it are its

S

“With the Directness of aNatural Phenomenon”

- Sofia GubaidulinaTurns Eighty


4|SIKORSKI magazine

branches and leaves. One can call themnew, but they are leaves nevertheless,and from this standpoint they are alwaystraditional, old. Dmitri Shostakovich andAnton Webern had the largest influenceon my work. Although this influence hasnot appeared to have left any traces onmy music, it is nonetheless true that boththese composers taught the most important thing: to be myself.” Sofia Gubaidulina will celebrate her 80thbirthday on 24 October 2011. Meetingthis composer has been a notable eventfor many friends, companions, composingcolleagues and interpreters ofGubaidulina’s music, performed all overthe world. The Russian-American compo-ser Lera Auerbach, 42 years younger, forexample, calls Gubaidulina a sound magi-cian whose art is rooted in a deeply reli-gious conviction and great truthfulness.Gubaidulina is at the same time a compo-ser and a philosopher who ponders theeternally existing problems – the meaningof life, the fate of today’s civilisation andabout the purpose of the artist in thisworld, says Ivan Monighetti, cellist andcommitted interpreter of the works ofGubaidulina. Gubaidulina leaves nothingto chance. Her works are intended togrow, as she so graphically formulates,“grow” like the branches and leaves of atree. It is precisely this aspect that createsthe great depth of the musical messageand the infinite beauty of Gubaidulina’ssound landscapes, emphasises theRussian composer Elena Firsova who, likeGubaidulina, suffered terrible repressionduring the post-Stalinist era of the SovietUnion.The violinist Gidon Kremer set off the great wave of enthusiasm for thiscomposer in the West with his premiereof Gubaidulina’s violin concerto“Offertorium.” In his eyes, Gubaidulina’smusic and personality are still today full ofsecrets. For him, this composer is a kindof mediator between the “secret myste-rious” and the “human – taking flight,” hesays without pathos and continues: “Most

compositional ‘techniques’ have been allused up today. But when a creative per-son – like Sofia - takes them up, some-thing ‘new’ is created. With Gubaidulina,however, ‘technique’ is not the point – it’sabout a personal voice which is uniqueand therefore ‘new’ for precisely that reason.” “Secret” seems to be a term that manypeople use to offer a better descriptionof Gubaidulina’s music. Ivan Monighettieven believes that Gubaidulina is capableof hearing sounds from other worlds,translating these into a language accessi-ble to our understanding. From this, anoeuvre has been created that is to beunderstood as a great, indivisible unity. “Gubaidulina’s music is a true portrayal ofher personality,” states Viktor Suslin,Russian composer and friend ofGubaidulina’s for many years. “Her musi-cal language has many roots. What isimportant is that there is a ‘visible’ and an‘invisible’ side. The externally perceptiblesonic components are not as ‘new’ as,above all, the way she deals with time. Itis not merely about rhythm in the tradi-tional sense, but also about the external-ly hardly visible, but nonetheless genuine-ly existing rhythm of the musical formalrelationships as a whole, which have aneffect upon consciousness. But it also hasto do with the rhythm dictated by therelationship between pitch and toneduration.”Whoever has the privilege of personallymeeting Gubaidulina immediately noticesthe gentleness, calmness and seriousnessof her extraordinary personality. Whenshe is happy, her face often lights up.Viktor Suslin already sensed this at theirfirst meeting in 1963. “It took place at thehome of our composition professorNikolai Peyko in Moscow,” he remem-bers. “I can no longer remember the indi-vidual details of this meeting, but I stillhave the memory of the form of a reser-ved and elegant young woman in darkclothing. Also unforgettable were herpenetrating ‘oriental’ eyes.”

Sofia Gubaidulina

GUBAIDULINA’S MOSTIMPORTANT WORKS- "De profundis" for bayan solo- "In croce" for violoncello

(or bajyn) and organ- "Garden Of Joys and

Sadnesses" for flute, viola, harp and speaker (ad lib.)

- String Quartets Nos. 1-4- "Hommage à T.S. Eliot"

for soprano and octet- "On the Edge of the Abyss"

for seven violoncelli and two aquaphones

- "Concordanza"for chamber orchestra

- "Seven Words" for violoncello, bayan and orchestra

- "Offertorium:" Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1

- "In tempus praesens:" Concertofor Violin and Orchestra No. 2

- Concerto for Viola and Orchestra- "Fachwerk" (Framework) for

bayan, percussion and stringorchestra

- "Hour of the Soul:" Music for Percussion, Mezzo Soprano and Orchestra

- "Glorious Percussion:" Concertofor Percussion Ensemble andOrchestra

- "And: The Festival is in Full Swing"for violoncello and orchestra

- "Stimmen ... verstummen ..."(Voices... Falling Silent):Symphony in TwelveMovements for Orchestra

- Meditation on the Chorale "Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit" (BWV 668) for chamberensemble

- "Night in Memphis:" Cantatafor Mezzo Soprano, Men's Choir and Orchester on AncientEgyptian Texts

- "Sun Song" for violoncello,chamber choir and percussion

- "Now Always Snow" for chamberensemble and chamber choir

- "Alleluia" for mixed choir, boysoprano, organ and largeorchestra

- St. John Passion and St. JohnEaster for soprano, tenor, baritone, bass, two choirs organ and orchestra

Her works are intended to grow,

as she so graphically formulates,

“grow” like the branches

and leaves of a tree


NEWS

SIKORSKI magazine|5

ot only was his piano music revolu-tionary in the technical demands it

made on the pianists of his time; hiscompositional style, harmonic languageand the expansion of many romanticforms were equally revolutionary.Originating in the conviction that musicis a language, the musical work of art forLiszt – who was also a music critic – wasalways the formation of a poetic idea, apoem in tones. Liszt’s incomparable production, attimes free of all compromise, bridgedmany styles and schools. Modern composers always considered Liszt tobe an essential provider of impulses. There are various works by Liszt in theSikorski catalogues, including the piece“Malédiction” for piano and stringorchestra, the three-act ballet“Mayerling” modelled by JohnLanchbery on Liszt’s original music, aswell as the orchestral version of thepiano piece “Lyon” by Frank Heckel.Franz Liszt composed “Lyon” for pianosolo in about 1834, inspired by therevolts of the Lyon silk weavers, as partof his “Album d’un voyageur.” Duringthe later revision of the cycle into thefirst part of the “Années de pèlerinage,”

Lyon was replaced by “La chapelle deGuillaume Tell” and was forgotten. Heckel succeeded in orchestrating “Lyon”exactly in the style of Lisztian symphonicpoem, using only the orchestral possibili-ties of Liszt’s time. For example, the fifthstring of the double basses is not used. Toproduce the characteristic Lisztianorchestral sound, Heckel composedsome new material and modified thevery “pianistic” passages as similarlyfound in works that Liszt composed bothfor piano and for orchestra.

LISZT’S WORKS ATSIKORSKI:

- “Malédiction” for piano and string orchestra

- “Mayerling:” Ballet in threeacts by John Lanchbery basedon music by Franz Liszt

- “Lyon” for orchestra (arr.: Frank Heckel)SIK 1727 (score)

N

Franz Liszt

“Music is aLanguage” -The 200th Birthday of Franz Liszt

HE IS ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANT AND SCANDAL-RIDDEN PERSONALITIES OF THE 19TH CENTURY. ON 22 OCTOBER 2011 THE MUSICAL WORLD WILL COMMEMORATE THE 200TH BIRTHDAY OF FRANZ LISZT

Shostakovich, Prokofievand Abrahamsen on the

of German RecordingCritics’ Best List 4/09

Three productions with music of Sikorski Music Publishers were awarded prizes on the German Recording Critics’

Best List (4/09):Orchestral music:

· Serge Prokofiev: Cello Concerto in EMinor, Op. 58; Symphonic Concerto in E

Minor, Op. 125. Alban Gerhardt (violoncel-lo), Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, cond.:

Andrew Litton. Hyperion CDA 67705(Codaex)

Opera:· Dmitri Shostakovich: The Nose. Vladislav

Sulimsky, Alexei Tanovitski, TatianaKraftsova and others, Maryinsky Soloists,

Choir and Orchestra, cond.: Valery Gergiev.Maryinsky 2 SACD MAR0501 (Note 1)

Contemporary music:· Hans Abrahamsen: Snow – Ten Canons

for Nine Instruments. Ensemble Recherche.Winter & Winter 910 159-2 (Edel)

Requiem and SymphonicMovement:

Lera Auerbach’s“Requiem for Icarus”

The Requiem for Icarus by LeraAuerbach will receive its world premiereon 18 February 2010 in Washington withthe National Symphony Orchestra under

the direction of James Gaffigan. This isthe final movement of Auerbach’s

Symphony No. 1 “Chimera.”

“Engel Prize 2010” forBenjamin Yusupov

Benjamin Yusupov has been awarded the Engel Prize 2010 of the city of

Tel Aviv for his Concerto for Violoncelloand Orchestra. The award is endowed

with 5,000 Euros and was presented on 10December at the Einav Hall in Tel Aviv.Kristina Cooper Reiko (violoncello) and

Benjamin Yusupov (piano) musically framedthe ceremony with Yusupov’s Cello Sonata.

The prize is named after Joel Engel, anemigrated Russian composer, and has

been awarded every three years since 1944to outstanding Israeli composers. The juryincluded Prof. Josef Bardanashvili (compo-

sition), Prof. Jonathan Zak (piano) and Robert Moses (violin).


6|SIKORSKI magazine

65th Birthday Ulrich Leyendecker

e has been able to pass on a greatdeal to his pupils during a long

period as Academy Professor inHamburg and Heidelberg-Mannheim. Orchestral works, chamber and pianomusic, as well as vocal compositions,sometimes in quite widely varyingensemble formations, dominateLeyendecker’s catalogue of works. Titlesof works often point to an extra-musicalinspiration processed and reflected bythe composer in a variety of ways.Characteristic of Leyendecker is hisadherence to older genre designationsof music history such as the symphony(he stills spells the term in its oldGerman form) concerto and trio.Whoever suspects traditionalism or anybackward-looking tendencies, however,is on the wrong track. Arnd Richter comments: “The relationship of tensionbetween the given work designation andthe emotional, formal, and technicalsolution of the problem posed createsmusic of emotional comprehensibility.The broad arcs characteristic of many ofhis works and which decisively determinethe essence of his process of creationare not romantic traits, but expressivemeans in a manner of composing whichsearches for and prefers large-scale continuity without forgetting attentionto fine details.”

Two of his principal works, the ViolinConcerto premiered by RolandGreutter, concertmaster of the NDRSymphony Orchestra, and the 3rdSymphony, have been issued by Naxos(Naxos 8.557427) on a highly recommendedCD with the NDR under the direction ofJohannes Kalitzke.Another piece, given the mysterious titleof “Evocazione” by Leyendecker, wascomposed during the Mozart Year of2006. “For me, Mozart, Haydn, Bach andBeethoven belong to the best that our

ULRICH LEYENDECKER WILLTURN 65 ON 29 JANUARY 2011.HARDLY ANOTHER COMPOSEROF HIS GENERATION HASDEVELOPED HIS STYLE ASSTRINGENTLY AND PRECISELYAS LEYENDECKER, WHO HAILSFROM WUPPERTAL

culture has produced,” Leyendeckeronce said. His Evocation, however,should not be considered a literal homageto Mozart. “Evocazione is my very ownpiece in terms of rhythmic language,sound and harmony, as well as in styleand form. There exists, however, a relationship to Mozart’s Don Giovanni:the rhythmic and melodic elementsdistilled from a characteristic quotationfrom the Commendatore scene form thebasis of the thematic development, butwith the means of my own language andformal development.”Following György Ligeti’s “HamburgConcerto,” Ulrich Leyendecker wrote apiece entitled “Mannheim Concerto.”The concerto for “double chamberorchestra,” also performable by a divided symphony orchestra, was commissioned by the KurpfälzischesKammerorchester Mannheim. The worldpremiere took place on 7 January 2007at the Mannheim Rose Garden. The desired ensemble of “double chamberorchestra” arose because, at this concert,the Munich Chamber Orchestra was performing alongside the ensemblefrom Mannheim.

We now eagerly anticipate the world premiere of Leyendecker’s

Concerto for Viola and Orchestra on 19 March 2010.

UPCOMING WORLD PREMIERE:

19.03.2010KaiserslauternUlrich Leyendecker:Concerto for Viola and OrchestraWolfram Christ, violaDeutsche Radio PhilharmonieSaarbrücken Kaiserslauterncond.: Christoph Poppen

Ulrich Leyendecker

H

mutny has already gained successesat the most famous and important

new music festival, the DonaueschingenMusic Days. His latest works reveal a unique variety.Born in 1976 in Mannheim, Smutny in earlyyears already won prizes and awards for hisfirst compositions. Already during his stu-dies with Hans Zender and BernhardKontarsky in Frankfurt am Main, he receivedinvitations from renowned interpretersand organisers such as Ensemble ModernForum, SWR, Academy of the Arts inBerlin and the International Biennale forNew Music. He won the Stuttgart Composition Prizetwice (1998, 2009), made his debut with commissioned works at theDonaueschingen Music Days and theStuttgart State Opera. In addition, he wonthe renowned BMW Composition Prize of“musica viva” and commissions for theKlangforum in Vienna, the SWR VocalEnsemble and for his first full-length musictheatrical work (Festival Hall of theEuropean Centre of the Arts in Hellerau).The German Music Council will be presen-ting a portrait of the music of DanielSmutny on an edition CD. Smutny lives inLeipzig as a freelance composer.

SOMETIMES HIS MUSIC SOUNDSSPHERICAL, THEN AGAINNOISE-LIKE, INTERNALLY AGI-TATED OR MYSTERIOUS. THEREIS MUCH TO DISCOVER IN DANIEL SMUTNYS MUSIC

CURRENT PROJECTS:

- Auf den Flügeln des Gesangs(On the Wings of the Song) for clarinet soloWorld premiere: 22.02.2010 in Munich (musica viva, Museum Villa Stuck, Christopher Corbett)

- So zaghaft diese Worte der Nacht (So Timid These Words of the Night) for String QuartetNext performance: 14.02.2010in Stuttgart (Eclat, Stadler Quartet)

- Velouria: Madrigal Book for 24 VoicesWorld premiere: 14.02.2010 in Stuttgart (Eclat, Theaterhaus, SWR Vocal Ensemble Stuttgart)

Daniel Smutny

New atSikorski:

S


NEWS

SIKORSKI magazine|7

Escuela rusa de pianoThe “Russian School of Piano-Playing” is the

most successful pedagogical work for pia-

nists. Meanwhile, along with the two volu-

mes of the teaching work (SIK 2353 and

2354) and the tape (SIK 2379), there are also

accompanying CDs with the recorded pieces

for demonstration purposes and individual

study.The latest high point is now the trans-

lation of the standard work into Spanish:

Escuela rusa de piano.

2353a (ES)

Arcs of Light on theOrchestral Horizon: Jörn

Arnecke’s New PieceOn 19 February 2010, the Göttingen

Symphony Orchestra under the directionof Christoph-Mathias Mueller will performthe world premiere of the new orchestralwork “Lichtbogen” (Arc of Light) by JörnArnecke. In this piece, Arnecke says, hecombines, so to speak, “two electrodes

which are under sufficiently high tension.The arc of light bridges over an area.

It contains an entire spectrum of colours.And, most importantly: it shines!”

Finnish Premiere ofShostakovich’s

“Battleship Potemkin”Frank Strobel’s congenial adaptation of the

film music “Battleship Potemkin” byDmitri Shostakovich will be presented inFinland for the first time on 22 February

2010. The Finnish Radio SymphonyOrchestra will perform under the

direction of Frank Strobel.

Peter Ruzicka Awardedthe “Rienzi” Prize

The composer, conductor and artistic directorPeter Ruzicka was awarded the “Rienzi”

prize of the Cultural Academy and theNational Opera ofLatvia on 24 October

2009. The presentation of the award, namedafter Richard Wagner’s opera, took place inthe Latvian capital of Riga. The prize is awardedevery other year.“Ruzicka’s achievements as

a cultural manager are being honouredwith this prize,” says the Honorary

onsul of Latvia in Hamburg,Sabine Sommerkamp Homann.

Yervand Yerkanian

In the Shadow of the Great Khachaturian:

Yervand YerkanianWHOEVER WANTS TO BECOME ACQUAINTED WITH MODERN ARMENIAN MUSIC, RECOMMENDS THE MUSICOLOGIST TATIANA PORWOLL, SHOULD GO TODILIJAN, WHERE THE ARMENIAN COMPOSERS’ UNIONAND THE SO-CALLED “HOUSE OF CREATION” ARE FOUND

rmenian Composers’ Union andthe so-called “House of Creation”

are found. “From the small houses bor-dering on the slopes of the forest-coveredhill,” tells Porwoll, “one hears tones thatseem to be in harmony with the unspoiltnature. According to legend, planks ofNoah’s Ark were found here at the footof the Ararat.”The music of Armenia is still associatedfirst and foremost with the great, pre-eminent Aram Khachaturian. The musicallife of the country is very rich and varie-gated, however, and is worth discover-ing from many perspectives. Twomeanwhile world-famous names inArmenian music are Avet Terterian,whose opera “The Earthquake” was asensational success in Munich, andTigran Manssurian, born in 1939 inBeirut. The works of many contemporaryArmenian composers are characterisedby a striving towards originality and thedesire to bare the roots of their own cul-ture and free themselves from the folklo-ristic interpretation of the sources ofArmenian music. Much younger thanTerterian and Manssurian is YerwandYerkanian, who will celebrate his 60thbirthday on 5 November 2011, and isalso an example of these tendencies. Yerkanian was born in Leninakan,Armenia. He first attended the Kara-Murày Music School in Leninakan andthen studied composition and violin atthe Yerevan Conservatory. In his music,Yerkanian combines modern, classicalelements with the stylistic characteristics

of folkloristic and medieval music fromhis homeland, which lends his pieces anarchaic atmosphere comparable toworks of Arvo Pärt. In addition, in 1978,he worked as an editor on the completeedition of the works of SoghomonKomitas, a composer who represents amilestone for him and for modernArmenian music. Since 1985 Yerkanianhas been Chairman of the Department ofOpera/Symphonies/Chamber Music ofthe Armenian Composers’ Union.Yerkanian is surely one of the most pro-ductive younger composers in Armenia.In his piece “Intenzia” for string orchestrain memory of Aram Khachaturian writtenin 1981, he consciously carries severaltypical rhythmical formulas of the“Armenian classic” ad absurdum. Theincessant repetition of the same motifwas ultimately felt to be an ordeal,“from which one wished to free oneselfas if from a spell,” comments Porwoll.

THE MOST IMPORTANT WORKS OF YERWAND YERKANIAN

- Quintet in memory ofAnton Webern for flute, clarinet, violin, violoncelloand piano

- Sonata for Bass Clarinet and Piano

„A


Sofia Gubaidulina Turns Eighty - sikorski.de · CONTENTS editorial Dear Readers, Sofia...

Documents

Transcript of Sofia Gubaidulina Turns Eighty - sikorski.de · CONTENTS editorial Dear Readers, Sofia...