Spectrums / Symphony No. 2 / Cantata / Meditation / “Farewell, O World …!”

This CD is dedicated to early works by the Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov: “Avant-garde is an attempt to break out of an enclosed space into a more open one. [...] In the attempt to break out of this space, the fireworks of avant-garde artists are like the outbursts of the Romantics. [...] In my first works, I made it my goal [...] to achieve a lyrical atmosphere.” As early as 1967, Silvestrov – who calls himself a “lyricist and poet in music” – formulated with these words his compositional Credo, which has remained unchanged throughout the years.

The symphony for chamber orchestra “Spectrums” was originally created as music for the film “Kiev Frescoes" by the famous director Sergei Paradschanow – a project that could never be realized, however.

According to Silvestrov, the “Symphony No. 2” for flute, percussion, piano and strings is like “a madrigal without words, through which a melodic wind blows.” To this end, the flute plays a major role, since it can always be heard through the curtain of clusters in the strings and percussion.

The composer did not interpret the title of his “Meditation” for violoncello and orchestra in the postmodernist “Eastern” sense, but in the traditional “Western” sense, as a “synonym” for a symbolically interpreted sonata form that also strives for unity.

For the “Cantata” for soprano and chamber orchestra based on poems by Fyodor Tyutchev and Alexander Blok, Silvestrov chose two remarkable texts, visions of night landscapes which he merged into a strange “nocturne”.

In “Farewell, O World …!” sopilka (Ukrainian flute with a wind cap) and bandura (Ukrainian lute-like plucked instrument) are used in addition to the string quartet – they clearly emphasize the folk-like nature of the song.