Requiem for Larisa

“Requiem for Larisa” represents Silvestrov’s very personal approach to this traditional genre. It is a very intimate service and an act of remembrance for his wife, Larisa Bondarenko, who died young, and for their life and what they did together. Only parts of the traditional text of the Requiem are used, and they dissolve into the great vocal and instrumental textures which cite fragments of those of Silvestrov’s works in which Larisa participated and the performances of which she attended. Thus Symphony no. 1 is cited in the “Tuba mirum”, whereas the fourth movement cites part of a setting of Taras Shevchenko from the song cycle “Quiet Songs” (no. 5, “World, farewell, o hard and thankless earth”). A work for piano, “The Messenger”, is transformed into the “Agnus Dei”. (Tatiana Frumkis)