1.

Boris Tchaikovsky 
 Passacaglia and Fugue for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Violin, Viola, Cello & Double Bass (1940s)

Boris Tchaikovsky "Anyuta"
 Suite from film music for Two Flutes, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Cello & Piano (1960)

Stanislav Prokudin -  Three Nocturnes for Clarinet & Piano (2003)

Alexey Vershinin - Two Pieces  for Flute, Clarinet and Bassoon (2001)

Ksenia Prassolova - Five Canons  for two Clarinets (1997)

This CDs could be ordered through the distributor sonimex@hispeed.ch (Switzerland) or through Musikwelt (Muenster, Germany) or through Wilhelm Weiss (Mцdling/Vienna, Austria).

UK distributor of the Relief's CDs - Codaex Ltd: Unit 1
61 Mill Corner
Soham
CB7 5HT
+44 (0)1353 722223
+44 (0)1353 863563
sales@codaexuk.co.uk

From the booklet:

Anyone familiar with orchestral music of Boris Tchaikovsky (1925 – 1996) can’t help but notice his bright, fresh, and expressive use of wind instruments. Just think of the solo flute in Sebastopol Symphony; the charged, trumpet-like French horns in the Piano Concerto; the cold flashes of the flutes and clarinets in “The Wind of Siberia”; or even whole movements of his compositions performed just by the wind section (“The Wires Sing”, for example, from “Music for Orchestra”). At the same time, Tchaikovsky wrote very few pieces specifically for wind instruments. Besides the rather popular Clarinet Concerto, such compositions are comprised only of the March for Military Band and a few chamber scores. However, one should not forget about the musical numbers performed by various combinations of wind instruments, written by Tchaikovsky for radio and film.

A special place among these compositions (and, indeed, in all of the composer’s work) is held by Sextet for Winds and Harp, completed in 1990. Along with Symphony with Harp, written in 1993, the Sextet comprises the core of the composer’s latest works (besides these two major compositions, Tchaikovsky wrote only a few chamber miniatures in the 1990s). It is symbolic that these two pieces complete his path as a composer. For decades, the distinct areas of chamber and orchestral music have rivaled in his work. During the periods of deep transformation in his musical language, in the 1960s and 80s, orchestral works were favored, whereas during the periods of crystallizing accumulated ideas and maturing fresh ones (in the 50s and 70s), the composer paid more attention to chamber music. Tchaikovsky’s last two major works – Symphony with Harp and the Sextet – harmoniously marry the two branches of the composer’s creative path, while the harp, an instrument whose sound is more associated with some ideal world then with reality, lends these works a feeling of transitioning to a new spiritual plane.

It is interesting, also, that in the late period of Tchaikovsky’s creative work, his chamber music (previously associated exclusively with string instruments and the piano) gives an increasing role to the more “objective” wind instruments. Besides the Sextet, this is seen in vocal cycle “Last Spring” (1980), where voice and piano are accompanied by flute and clarinet.

The Sextet is filled with that enlightened mysterious contemplation characteristic to many “late” compositions of famous composers, from Beethoven’s last quartets to scores of 80-year-old Richard Strauss, in particular his concertos for wind instruments and his “Four Last Songs.” Based on simple intonations, often seeming youthfully guileless, Tchaikovsky’s composition seem to echo the line “Life is secretly beautiful,” from Vladislav Khodasevich’s poem “If I Were Only to Live Long”. The music of the Sextet is full of light, not with the blinding noonday sun of Sebastopol Symphony, but with the soft rays of a setting sun in autumn.

The first movement of the Sextet, Allegro, is written in a sonata form. The main subject contains many various musical images. They are like the kaleidoscope effect of glancing “at the surface” of the surrounding world. The unhurriedly unfolding secondary theme, performed by French horn at first and by clarinet in the reprise, is full of mystery, as though it is peering “past the surface” of an unsteady reality. 

In the second movement, Andante Sostenuto, Tchaikovsky divides the instruments into three independent timbre groups in an interesting way. The main part is performed by the trio of oboe, clarinet, and bassoon. Short phrases played by harp mark the milestones of the theme’s development. The Andante is finally fleshed out by some faint sounds that seem to echo the main theme. These are performed by flute, muted French horn, and harmonics of the harp, which underscores the otherworldly feeling created by these echoes.

The third movement, Allegro, is a Scherzo. It is particularly strange, marked by an unusually orchestrated main theme, where single notes are played by different combinations of instruments.

The melodic line in the Sextet’s fourth movement Largo is reminiscent of the unhurried development of church hymns, and this is important, if rare, evidence of Tchaikovsky’s undemonstrative and deeply sincere conversion to Orthodox Christianity. 

The exact completion date for Passacaglia and Fugue for Octet (comprised of flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, violin, viola, cello, and double bass) is unknown. The manuscript of this composition was discovered in the composer’s archives after his death. It is thought to have been written during the early years of his study at the Moscow Conservatory. Tchaikovsky himself never included this piece in the official list of his works. However, the mature using of musical forces and the brightness of his creative approach to writing a polyphonic composition (possibly a class assignment) draw serious attention to the “Passacaglia and Fugue”. Besides its musical attributes, the piece is also interesting as it helps to understand the development of Tchaikovsky’s style during the first half of the 1940s, a period from which most of his works are unavailable. The music of the Octet reveals the influence of Shostakovich, one of Tchaikovsky’s professors at the conservatory. Nonetheless, much of it also reflects the young composer’s own, more philosophical and introspective worldview. This is reflected, for example, in the detached, mysterious finale of the Passacaglia, and in the Fugue’s first theme, the charged intonation paradoxically compliments its almost flippant mood, the same mood that often displays the deeply personal revelations seen in Tchaikovsky’s later works.

In 1959-60, B. Tchaikovsky wrote the score to the short film “Anyuta” (based on the short story of the same name written by A. Chekhov), directed by M. Anjaparidze. Afterwards Tchaikovsky spoke positively of his own work, and this lead the Boris Tchaikovsky Society to begin searching through the archives of the Orchestra of Cinematography. Luckily, the score, intended for its original performers (2 flutes, clarinet, bass-clarinet, cello and piano), had not been lost, and was worthy of the composer’s self-estimation. Unfortunately, the film itself is unavailable for viewing, so it is impossible to judge how well the music corresponds to the events on the screen. However, the five nameless miniatures of which it is comprised make up a whole and compositionally complete suite. This is aided by the personification, through genre and timbre, of the first three numbers (“hand organ” waltz, played by wind instruments in the first movement; the melancholy cantilena by solo cello in the second; and the saloon romance for piano in the third), which are synthesized in the fourth number. The last number, resembling an excerpt from a bright little lilt, is an unexpected compositional way out from the enclosed world created by the images of the first four pieces.

© Petr Klimov, 2007

(Translated from Russian by Tatyana Klimova)

Andrey Golovin (born 1950) had close personal relations with Boris Tchaikovsky for many years. From 1989 both were professors in the composition department at Russian Academy of Music (Gnessin’s Academy). Golovin is doubtlessly one of the most interesting composers of his generation. Consciously avoiding the experimentalism so present in the music of the second half of the 20^th century, Golovin’s music is attractive in its individuality. Golovin’s musical language, nostalgically connected with the classics of Russian music, is completely independent despite being apparently quite traditional. This is revealed in his music’s intonation as well as its musical development, remarkable in its flexibility and, especially, its naturalness. Golovin’s works include the opera First Love (1996), based on the novel by Ivan Turgenev by the same name; cantata “Plain Songs” on poems by N. Rubtzov(1988); “Eight Poems by Count Vassiliy Komarovsky” for Soprano and Orchestra (2006); four symphonies (1976, 1981, 1986, 1992); “Canto d’Attesa” for Violin and Orchestra (1999); String Quartet (1982) and many others. “Spring Song” for Trombone and Piano was written in 1993 for Valery Golikov (to whom it is also dedicated). Golikov, a remarkable example of the Russian school of trombone, was a soloist in the Russian National Symphony Orchestra, Bolshoi Theater Orchestra and the National Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. A particularly impressive point of the “Spring Song’s” structure is the sudden tragic climax crowning the unrushed, pastoral development of the main theme.

Alexey Vershinin (born in 1964) specialized in piano at the musical college in the city of Perm in the Ural region. In 1994, he completed his education as a composer at the Russian Gnessin’s Academy of Music under professor Kirill Volkov. His compositions include a Symphony (1994); Elegy for String Orchestra (1996); String Quartet (1992); Sonata for Viola and Piano (1992); Suite for piano on Udmurt folk songs (1991) and many other works. Vershinin teaches composition at Tambov State Institute for Music and Pedagogy and at the Lipetsk Musical College. Two Pieces for Flute, Clarinet, and Bassoon was written in 2001.

Ksenia Prassolova (bornin 1970) graduated from the Russian Gnessin’s Academy of Music in 1995 under Golovin’s instruction. She is the author of such works as the opera Temptation (2005) based on the poem by Daniil Kharms; “Circle of Happiness” for orchestra (1995); “Music for Piano, Flute, and Trombone” (1991); “Sunny Dreams” for flute, violin and viola (1994); Duet for Cello and Piano (1993); and “Ineffable Light Has Spread over the Land” for piano (1992). Prassolova is a professor at the Gnessin State Musical College, teaching polyphony among other subjects. Her talent in this area is reflected in her Five Canons for Two Clarinets, written in memory of Alexey Stanchinsky in 1997. A. Stanchinsky (1888-1914), a tremendously talented Russian composer and student of Sergey Taneyev, died very early. His works mostly comprise pieces for piano, among them the Preludes in the Form of Canon.

Petr Klimov (born in 1970) also received his musical education under the instruction of Andrey Golovin, and graduated from the Russian Gnessin’s Academy of Music in 1994. His most important works include Cello Concerto (1994); Concertino for Piano and Chamber Orchestra (1997); “Three Poems by Nikolai Zabolotsky” for Chorus and Chamber Ensemble (2004); Sonata for Violin and Piano (1991) and Suite for Solo Cello (2000). In 2006, he was commissioned by the Pyotr Tchaikovsky Foundation to edit and orchestrate Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s unfinished Es-Dur Symphony. Klimov’s Little Fantasy for Solo Clarinet was written in 1998 and dedicated to the memory of B. Tchaikovsky, with whom Klimov had had the opportunity of becoming closely acquainted during his years as a student at Gnessin’s Academy. Moment Musicaux was written in 2004 on request from the pianist Olga Solovieva, to whom the piece is dedicated.

Stanislav Prokudin (born 1970) became Boris Tchaikovsky’s first student when the latter began teaching at the Russian Gnessin’s Academy of Music. He graduated from the Academy in 1994 along with Alexey Vershinin and Petr Klimov. Prokudin has written a large number of works for various instrumental forces. Among his works are Piano Concerto (1994); Clarinet Concerto (1996); Sinfonietta for String Orchestra (1993); Three Pieces for Chamber Orchestra (2000); Piano Trio (1995); Two Pieces for Cello and Piano (1998) and Piano Suite (1989). Three Nocturnes for Clarinet and Piano, one of his most interesting compositions, was written in 2003. 

Anton Prischepa (born 1983) is the youngest composer on this disc. He is both an exceptional clarinetist and an interesting composer. He started to study composition at the age of eight with Vladimir Dovgan, himself a pupil of Boris Tchaikovsky. In 2006, Prischepa graduated from the Russian Gnessin’s Academy of Music under the instruction of Nikolay Volkov for clarinet and Kirill Volkov for composition. Many of this young composer’s works, such as Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra (2006), Quintet for Wind Instruments (2003), “Music of Moods” for two Pianos and Duet for Clarinet and Vibraphone have attracted the attention of those interested in modern music. His debut in the recording industry came with his performance of the Boris Tchaikovsky’s Clarinet Concerto with the Russian Academy of Music Orchestra, directed by Timur Mynbaev. This recording was released by Naxos in 2006. Prischepa’s “The Two” for Clarinet and Cello was written in 2004 and is dedicated to its first performer, Ekaterina Gubernatorova.  

© The Boris Tchaikovsky Society, 2007

(Translated from Russian by Tatyana Klimova)