PYOTR IL'YICH TCHAIKOVSKY 1840-1893. & Octobre: Chant d'automne (
October: Autumn Song), Op. 37 No. 10 from Les Saisons (The Seasons). 5'12.
RUSSIAN MUSIC FOR OBOE TCHAIKOVSKY • MUSSORGSKY • GLINKA RACHMANINOFF • AND MORE Nuttall • Sitsky
RUSSIAN MUSIC FOR OBOE 1
MIKHAIL IVANOVICH GLINKA 1804-1857 Mazurka in C minor
1’54
2
GENARI KARGANOV 1858-1890 Mazurka in B-flat minor, Op. 8 No. 2
5’33
3
ALEKSANDR NIKOLAYEVICH SKRYABIN 1872-1915 Mazurka in F-sharp minor, Op. 3 No. 2
2’12
4
ANTON STEPANOVICH ARENSKY 1861-1906 Nocturne, Op. 36 No. 3
4’04
5
ANATOLY KONSTANTINOVICH LYADOV 1855-1914 Prelude, Op. 11 No. 1
3’46
6
ANTON GRIGORYEVICH RUBINSTEIN 1829-1894 Romance, Op. 44 No. 1
3’10
7
CÉSAR ANTONOVICH CUI 1835-1918 Orientale, Op. 50 No. 9
3’14
8
VLADIMIR IVANOVICH REBIKOV 1866-1920 Idyll, Op. 17 No. 2
1’39
9
ARSÈNE KORESTCHENKO 1870-1921 Menuet à la Mozart, Op. 22 No. 5
3’01
0
VASILY SERGEYEVICH KALINNIKOV 1866-1901 Élégie
6’02
!
NIKOLAY ANDREYEVICH RIMSKY-KORSAKOV 1844-1908 Chant Hindou (Song of the Indian Guest) from Sadko
3’35
@
MODEST PETROVICH MUSSORGSKY 1839-1881 Gopak from Sorochïntsi Fair
2’04
2
£
ALEKSANDR ALEKSANDROVICH IL’YINSKY 1859-1920 Berceuse (Cradle Song) from Nur i Anitra Suite
2’40
$
MODERT PETROVICH MUSSORGSKY Impromptu passionné (Passionate Impromptu)
3’57
%
VLADIMIR IVANOVICH REBIKOV Nereid, Op. 15 No. 4
3’24
^
CÉSAR ANTONOVICH CUI Causerie (Gossip), Op. 40 No. 6
5’07
PYOTR IL’YICH TCHAIKOVSKY 1840-1893 Octobre: Chant d’automne (October: Autumn Song), Op. 37 No. 10 from Les Saisons (The Seasons)
5’12
*
ALEKSANDR PORFIR’YEVICH BORODIN 1833-1887 Intermezzo from Petite Suite (Little Suite)
4’09
(
ANTON STEPANOVICH ARENSKY Le Coucou (The Cuckoo), Op. 34 No. 2
1’43
)
SERGE RACHMANINOFF 1873-1943 Sérénade, Op. 3 No. 5
4’10
¡
ALEKSANDR SERGEYEVICH DARGOMÏZHSKY 1813-1869 Valse mélancolique (Melancholy Waltz)
2’28
™
MISCHA LEVITZKI 1898-1941 Valse (Waltz)
1’57
&
Total Playing Time
75’01 David Nuttall oboe Larry Sitsky piano
All works transcribed for oboe and piano by Larry Sitsky.
3
This recital begins with a set of mazurkas, the triple-time dance of the Polish Mazur people, with accents occurring on the second or third beats of the bar (unlike the waltz where they invariably happen on the first beat). These accents on the ‘off’ beats were often held in a lingering kind of way as well, and this built-in irregularity attracted composers everywhere to compose in this form. The first Mazurka is by Mikhail Glinka, the acknowledged founder of the Russian nationalist school. This charming piece came to be nicknamed by us the ‘Hesitation’ Mazurka because we chose to make a feature of the up-beat pause that occurs a number of times. Genari Karganov (sometimes also known as Korganov), the composer of the second Mazurka, was born in Georgia and trained in Europe. As a composer he was strongly influenced by Rimsky-Korsakov and often used themes from the Caucasus, as is evident in this piece. This is quite an extensive work with an energetic middle section. The final Mazurka is by Aleksandr Skryabin, that fascinating and enigmatic figure of Russian music. This is a very direct example of his early ‘Chopinesque’ style of composition. The second group of pieces concentrates on forms dear to composers in 19th-century Russia: the nocturne, the prelude and the romance. The nocturne was especially favoured, no doubt because its inventor, John Field, lived and taught in Russia for many years. Thus, in the Nocturne in D-flat by Anton Arensky the influences of Field and Chopin, that other major exponent of this form, are combined. Here, oboe and piano engage in a kind of melodic dialogue. The prelude became an independent musical form in the 19th century, in so far that ‘prelude’ no longer necessarily implied that it would be the first of a brace of pieces (as in ‘Prelude and Fugue’, for example). It was not uncommon for composers to follow Chopin’s lead in composing cycles of preludes in varying keys and moods, as did Anatoly Lyadov, a pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov. Lyadov’s Prelude in B minor is a particularly beautiful example of the genre. Finally, in this second group, we have the famous Romance in E-flat by Anton Rubinstein. This piece was so famous in its day that arrangements of it were published for every conceivable instrument and combination of instruments (except of course oboe and piano!) and the composer was even prevailed upon to issue a vocal version, matching words by Pushkin to the melody. As well as being counted one of the most formidable pianists of his age, Rubinstein was also the founder of the Russian music education system and jointly, with his brother Nikolay, founded the St Petersburg and Moscow Conservatories. Anton Rubinstein gave Lyadov his first teaching job.
4
The next group consists of a selection of dance pieces, beginning with music by César Cui, the now largely forgotten member of the Kuchka (the group known as ‘The Five’ or ‘The Mighty Handful’ that also included Mussorgsky, Balakirev, Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov). Like most members of the Kuchka, Cui was not a professional composer; he was a military man, and an expert on fortifications. His Orientale, an example of Russian exoticism, is a sensuous depiction of a harem scene. In sharp contrast is Vladimir Rebikov‘s Idyll which depicts, as indicated at the top of the score, a very different scenario: ‘In the darkening woods two little fauns are dancing to the joyous tunes of a flute, played by an old faun. A dryad is lounging nearby in the soft grass, enjoying the happy scene.’ Although Rebikov is barely remembered today, he was experimenting with whole-tone sounds and scales well before European musical Impressionism, and also had some interesting ideas concerning the future of opera. The third dance, Arsène Korestchenko‘s Menuet à la Mozart, is an affectionate and nostalgic glance back to the Classical era. After these, mostly short, pieces it seemed appropriate to program something rather more substantial. Vasily Kalinnikov is now known only for his symphonies, particularly the first. During his short life he battled poverty and tuberculosis and was helped, both financially and in finding a publisher, by Rachmaninoff and Il’yinsky. Kalinnikov moved to the more clement climate of the Crimea in an effort to prolong his life, and his Élégie in B-flat minor was a product of that southern/oriental exposure. Next we hear two transcriptions from the world of Russian opera. The Chant Hindou, from RimskyKorsakov’s Sadho, speaks of far-away climes whilst Gopak, from Modest Mussorgsky‘s Sorochïntsi Fair, depicts the tuning of the village fiddler who accompanies the ensuing drunken peasant dance with its attendant thrills and spills. Mussorgsky, like Cui, was a professional military man (and later a civil servant): undoubtedly, he was the most gifted of the Kuchka composers. Three highly melodic pieces follow. First comes the Berceuse from Aleksandr Il’yinsky’s Nur i Anitra ballet suite, then Impromptu passionné, another piece by Mussorgsky. The third piece, Rebikov’s Nereid, is once again descriptive, with the following scenario: ‘The Nereid is playing her harp on a beautiful moonlit night. A Triton appears, emerging from the depths of the sea. A silent ship, bathed in the silvery rays of the moon, crosses the distant horizon.’ Rebikov believed in a new kind
5
of art – the marriage of aural, visual and balletic forms – and the two pieces by him on this CD are examples of this attempted synthesis. César Cui’s Causerie in a sense provides a balance to Kalinnikov’s larger-scale Élégie. The transcription transforms the light-hearted conversation (or gossip) suggested by the title into a somewhat darker piece, with low tolling bells. No collection of Russian music would be complete without a piece by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. His Octobre: Chant d’automne, is the tenth of a set of piano pieces collectively called Les Saisons (The Seasons), although in fact there are twelve movements, one for each month of the year. Aleksandr Borodin was a successful professor of chemistry who, like other Kuchka members, was only a parttime composer. From his Petite Suite we hear the Intermezzo, with its tinge of exotic colouration. Arensky‘s Le Coucou follows: here the oboe has only two notes to play, while the pianist scampers around the keyboard. Three waltzes complete the recital. The waltz form was another preoccupation of the Romantics, and the highly stylised genre took on many guises. Firstly, an example from Serge Rachmaninoff, who studied with Tchaikovsky and Arensky: the piece is actually called Sérénade, but there is a subtitle ‘Tempo di Valse’. What’s more, as if to complicate things, the piece inclines to a slightly Spanish, or perhaps Moorish, flavour. Aleksandr Dargomïzhsky was, with Glinka, the founder of the Russian nationalist school. His Valse mélancolique seemed reminiscent of Kurt Weill. However, not wishing to leave our listeners in any state of despondency, we conclude, in the true tradition of the Romantic recital, with Mischa Levitzky‘s brilliant little Waltz in A major. Larry Sitsky
6
Recording Producer & Editor Ralph Lane OAM Recording Engineer Allan MacLean Booklet and Cover Design Imagecorp Pty Ltd Recorded 22-24 December 1997 in the Eugene Goossens Hall of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Ultimo Centre, Sydney. David Nuttall plays a Rigoutat ‘Evolution’ oboe. Piano tuning by David Kinney. ABC Classics would like to thank Linda Coops, Eamonn Kelly, Greg Dobbs, Nina Apollonov, Matt Gray, Caroline Waller, Maryanne Del Gigante, the Canberra School of Music and the Canberra School of Art. David Nuttall and Larry Sitsky would especially like to thank Chris Nuttall and Magda Sitsky. In memory of Lois Adsett (Dunn) 1999 Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 훿 2011 Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Universal Music Group, under exclusive licence. Made in Australia. All rights of the owner of copyright reserved. Any copying, renting, lending, diffusion, public performance or broadcast of this record without the authority of the copyright owner is prohibited.
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