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03/09 SIKORSKI MUSIC PUBLISHERS • WWW.SIKORSKI.DE • [email protected]

magazine

Music a nd Emigration

”Two times two is four in every country” - Emigrant, Cosmopolitan or Victim of Persecution? Twelve Questions on the Subject of “Emigration”

1. What were the most important reasons why you left your 01homeland?

2. What effect did emigration have on your02 work in general?

3. Are there direct references to the subject of emigration03 in your music?

4. Did the music help you come to terms with04 your personal fate? 03 Music and Emigration - Feature 5. What connections to your former 04 homeland have you been Franghiz Ali-Zadeh able to maintain, 06 Lera Auerbach emotionally05 and outwardly? 08 Xiaoyong Chen 6. Is music at all capable of 10 translating political, societal Elena Firsova and personal problems 12 Sofia Gubaidulina into the 06language of music? 13 Giya Kancheli 15 Milko Kelemen 7. What means are best suited to do this? 16 Krzysztof Meyer 07 17 Slava Ulanovski 18 8. Do you feel like a kind Lin Yang of ambassador for the country 20 Benjamin Yusupov of08 your birth?

9. Of the composers who have CONTENTS IMPRESSUM Quartalsmagazin der SIKORSKI MUSIKVERLAGE remained in your homeland, with erscheint mind. 4x im Jahr - kostenfrei which ones do you maintain contact? 09 VERLAG Internationale Musikverlage Hans Sikorski Briefanschrift: 20139 Hamburg, Paketanschrift: Johnsallee 23, 20148 Hamburg, Tel: 040 / 41 41 00-0, 10. How was your emigration evalu- Telefax: 040 / 44 94 68, ated by these composers at the time www.sikorski.de, [email protected] of your emigration? Fotonachweis: Cover: peepo, Yuri Arcurs, David Franklin, Jay Spoone / istock / Sofia Gubaidulina: Archiv Sikorski / Benjamin Yusupov: Archiv Sikorski / Lera Auerbach: 10 Christian Steiner / Ali Sade: Archiv Sikorski / Gija Kantscheli: Priska Ketterer / Xiaoyong Chen: Archiv Sikorski / Jelena Firssowa: J. Morgener / Milko Kelemen: Nenad Turklj / Krzysztof Meyer: Medienzentrum Düsseldorf / Christine Langensiepen / Slava 11. In which of your works, in your Ulanowski: Archiv Sikorski / Lin Yang: Xin Xien / Benjamin Yusupov: Archiv Sikorski

opinion, have you most vehemently Hinweis: Wo möglich haben wir die Inhaber aller Urheberrechte der Illustrationen expressed a longing for your ausfindig gemacht. Sollte dies im Einzelfall nicht ausreichend gelungen oder es zu original homeland? Fehlern gekommen sein, bitten wir die Urheber, sich bei uns zu melden, damit wir 11 berechtigten Forderungen umgehend nachkommen können. REDAKTION Helmut Peters 12. What influences since your ARTWORK emigration most strongly influenced zajaczek.com your further12 development? editorial FEATURE

Dear readers,

The concept of “homeland” Music and has been frequently discussed during recent times at many levels, including the political Emigration one. By no means should “Two times two is four in every country”- anything ideological be understood by this, but Emigrant, Cosmopolitan rather, at best, the perception or Victim of Persecution? of the environment and one’s own roots. Many people Emigration has many faces. Not only as regards have left their homeland, either by their own free will or the persons who have ever dared this step, but by force. This step has especially in view of the reasons which drove especially left deep traces in them to leave their homelands for the long term. the works of those composers who have emigrated. here have always been migration between 1930 and 1950; he returned to movements throughout human history, the Soviet Union and unified musical cultu- T res of both the East and the West within In our catalogues you will find either for reasons of existential threats or out of hope for better living con- himself. composers from Russia, ditions in another country. In the twentieth Alongside emigrants of earlier times, such countries bordering the century the political relations shifted so as Serge Prokofiev, Arnold Schönberg and Orient such as Azerbaijan and radically that individuals, some living and Igor Stravinsky, there are a large number of Georgia, as well as China and suffering under dictatorships, were forced living composers represented in our cata- logues who decided to leave their home- many other countries. to escape the pressure. It was none other than Arnold Schönberg who, questioned lands for the widest variety of reasons. Many of them have exciting about his emigration, made the following Some of them do not necessarily regard and moving stories to tell statements: themselves as emigrants, and even catego- about their emigration. We rically reject the term because they regard themselves as cosmopolitans, but also have asked them about their “Nothing comes out of a person that is not already inside him. because they are convinced that they feelings and experiences, and And two times two is four – in have left their country physically but not their responses have enabled every country.“ internally. us to make interesting con- We have asked these composers a series of nections to their music. Besides Germany during the period of questions pertaining to the subject of emi- National Socialism, other countries were gration. You can read theirs answers on the especially strongly affected by the emigra- following pages and become acquainted Read about the individual tion of intellectuals, artists and scientists. with the given biographical context. At the fates, life stories and back- After the 1917 October Revolution, nume- end of each contribution, we have introduced grounds of the creation of rous composers fled from Russia and that those compositions which the composers country’s music history was split into two themselves most closely associate with the their works, many of which currents – one taking part within the Soviet subject of emigration. have meanwhile been Union and the other outside of it. Stalin put frequently performed. a heavy damper on the euphoria of Russian We have slightly shortened the composers’ art in the 1920s. At the same time, Russian answers for the printed edition of Sikorski music established itself abroad, represented Magazine. The complete text can be found by names such as Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff on our website under www.sikorski.de. Dagmar Sikorski and Stravinsky. Serge Prokofiev revealed You can also register for our Newsletter Dr. Axel Sikorski himself to be a key figure in the period there.

SIKORSKI magazine|3 FRANGHIZ ALI-ZADEH

Franghiz Ali-Zadeh was born in 1947 in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, and studied piano and composition at the Conservatory there.

Already during her first year of study, she consciously bridged the East with the West by playing Paul Hindemith’s piano work “Ludus tonalis” at a piano examination. Ali-Zadeh enjoyed early success in the West as an interpreter of contemporary piano works. She laid the cornerstone for her international career in 1976 at the Pesaro Music Festival with her “Piano Sonata in Memory of Alban Berg.” After occupying herself intensively with the works of the Second Viennese School and serial techniques, she turned to the sounds of her homeland, following the example of the Mugam art cultivated in Islamic cultures for centuries. Ali-Zadeh achieved her international breakthrough in 1979 with the composition “Habil-sajahy” for violoncello and prepared piano. She was Secretary of the Azerbaijani Composers’ Guild from 1979, with brief interruptions. Although she was a respected artist and teacher in her own country, she decided to leave Azerbaijan in 1992, moving to Mersin, Turkey. Ali-Zadeh was strongly committed to the founding of the Conservatory in Mersin, where she later taught piano and composition. However, the exile situation and the fee- ling of being cut off in a variety of ways from cultural events burdened Ali-Zadeh more and more, which is why she returned to Baku, which was still plagued by crisis, in 1998. But it was precisely in this that she recognised a new calling, namely buil- ding up a new Azerbaijani musical scene, for which her presidency of the association “Women in Music” created a number of possibilities. Already a year later, she decided once again to leave Azerbaijan and moved to Berlin, where she received a year’s stipend form the German Academic Exchange Service. It was from here that her collaboration with the cellist Yo-Yo Ma began, who was to perform Ali-Zadeh’s works on several tours during the course of his “Silk Road Project.” Since then, the composer has lived primarily in Germany.

4|SIKORSKI magazine FRANGHIZ ALI-ZADEH replies:

01. There were several reasons for emigrant. I have never broken off my 07. In my family there was a Mugam my emigration from Azerbaijan in June onnections with Baku, because all my cult; my father played the tar passably well. 1992. First of all, I had received an official relatives have stayed there. I have often At the music school we got to know and commission to compose a ballet from the returned to my home city and even conti- play a great deal of classical music, from Turkish Ministry of Culture. On opera and nued to teach my music theory students at Bach to Shostakovich. During my student ballet theatre was to be opened there in the Conservatory there. years in the 1960s and early 1970s, which the city of Mersin, the fourth theatre of this coincided with the political thaw under kind after those in Istanbul, Ankara and Khrushchev, more and more information Izmir. The then Minister of Culture, Fikri 04. Of course composing has had an seeped into the Soviet Union (through Saǧlar, from Mersin, wanted to open the enormous influence on my life. And it was radio broadcasts, recordings, the Warsaw theatre with a new work especially compo- always the main reason for all of my decisi- Autumn Festival). One could observe a sed for this occasion. The choice fell upon ons having to do with work, moving, the regular dodecaphonic boom of Arnold me, and I went to Mersin – a beautiful city course of the day, my family life. This not- Schönberg. Of course I had always been on the Mediterranean, together with my withstanding, I did not spend my most enthusiastic about this music; I performed family. important younger years with creative it and composed the dodecaphonic Sonata Secondly, the summer of 1992 was the activity, but with pedagogical work at the No. 1 in memory of Alban Berg. climax of the conflict between Azerbaijan Conservatory because this was my only and Armenia over Karabach Mountain. The source of income. economical situation after the breakdown 08. It is a great honour to represent of the Soviet Union was also very difficult. one’s homeland to the listeners of other Thirdly, I sensed that my possibilities as a 05. Azerbaijan was never a “former countries. Especially the fact that I was composer and pianist were not needed in homeland” for me. My musical language recognised as the Cultural Ambassador of Azerbaijan at that time. My works were was formed precisely there, where the Azerbaijan was the reason that I was invi- performed in Germany, Switzerland and good old Soviet musical education on the ted to be Composer in Residence at the America, but in Baku they were hardly ever one hand and the national traditional music Lucerne Music Festival in 1999 and was played or recorded. on the other hand – the Mugam, the art of conferred the title “Artist for Peace” by For this reason, the invitation to Turkey the Aschugen and the folksong – were con- UNESCO in Paris in April 2008. was a great stroke of luck for me, if only nected with each other in an interesting from the economical perspective. way. Hindrances in attaining great successes Moreover, I had absolutely no intention of were: 09. I have always maintained contact emigrating from Azerbaijan or staying a) the lack of time for composition (I had to with my colleagues from the Azerbaijani abroad for many years. be pedagogically active); Composers’ Guild – Tofik Kuliyev, Gassan It was a great joy for me to come to Berlin b) the lack of outstanding soloists and Adigjosalsade, Ramis Sochrabov and in 1999 by invitation of the Academy of the ensembles in Azerbaijan who can interpret others. They are all excellent musicians and Arts and with the support of DAAD. For contemporary music. are masters of their craft in a truly profes the first time in my life, I could devote my sional way. entire time to composition. For this reason, my “German period” was my most fruitful 06. When a composer emigrates in period, at least qualitatively. his/her younger years, the musical langua- 10. The Chairman of the Azerbaijani ge is already formed in the new environ- Composers’ Guild, Tofik Kuliyev, treated ment and experiences great changes. At me very warmly and even came to Mersin 02. My work as a composer became present, for example, one can observe a for the premiere of my ballet “Bos¸ bes¸ik“ more intensive after leaving Baku. great onrush of Asian composers in Basically all friendly contacts to my collea- In 1992 in Turkey I composed the ballet Germany and sometimes it is difficult to gues have remained intact to the present “Bos¸ bes¸ik“ (The Empty Cradle). Then I determine from which country this or that day, despite my many moves. received a commission from the USA from composer comes from. This is the case the Kronos Quartet and composed the because a unified “Central European musi- piece “Muǧam Sayaǧi“ cal language” has crystallised. If a compo- 11. The cycle “From Japanese Since I was already 45 when I moved to ser carries a strong “genetic” memory of Poetry” on poems of Isikava Takuboku con- Turkey (I had to begin at zero in the musical his homeland within, as does Tan Dun for tains passages which directly express my life of Mersin), it is most likely that the example, then the movement in geogra- homesickness. move had no influence on my style at all. phical space does not principally change his musical language. The subjects of his pieces, the literary sources can change, but 12. The greatest influence on my music 03. Concretely, I have hardly allowed the melodic and rhythmic structures of his has been Mugam – the traditional music of the subject of emigration to flow into my pieces do not depend on where the com- Azerbaijan which crystallised in the 15th music, because I have not felt like an poser lives. century – a courtly music handed down orally.

SIKORSKI magazine|5 FRANGHIZ ALI-ZADEH LERA AUERBACH

ABOUT THE WORKS:

MUGAM-SAJAHY (1993) for String Quartet (with percussion and synthesizer)

The basis of numerous compositions of Franghiz Ali-Zadeh is the work with tonal spaces, the Makamat or Mugam, as these Arabic improvisation patterns are called in her homeland of Azerbaijan. This is an ancient Oriental musical tradition from the 16th century in which, originally, feeling and depicted which were considered taboo in Islam. All improvisations in it are always based on a given fundamental tone, as also found in Ali-Zadeh’s composition “Mugam-sajahy,” which, significantly, translates as “Mugam style.” Unlike traditional Mugam pieces, however, Ali-Zadeh composes every single note. It is her concern to combine the musical philosophy of her homeland with the European musical tradition. The piece “Mugam-sajahy” of 1993 begins soloistically as a static meditation, then builds up to a kind of explosion when the other instruments join in. The passion, at first hidden, breaks out in virtuoso cadenzas and a wild dance, the melody of which is determined by the violin and the rhythm by the percussion. After this expressive outburst, the cello is alone again at the end and intones a kind of sunset prayer.

FROM JAPANESE POETRY (1990) Vocal Cycle for Soprano, Flute, Piano/Celesta/Vibraphone to Texts of Ishikawa Takuboku

Sometimes sighing in lyrical legato, then softly pausing, accompanied by the tender bell sounds of the celesta, finally breaking out wildly in the high register – in short, hardly to be exceeded in terms of expressiveness, the soprano voice moves through Franghiz Ali-Zadeh’s vocal At the age of eight she played together cycle “From Japanese Poetry.” The three-part work for Lera with an orchestra for the first time. At the soprano, flute, piano, celesta and vibraphone was written Auerbach age of twelve she composed her first in 1990 and quotes three five-line poems by the Japanese was born on opera, which was immediately produced poet Isikava Takuboku which are about homesickness: 21 October and presented in many parts of the Soviet “My head is so strange! It thinks and thinks all the time, Union. As the winner of several piano com- about that which nowadays remains a distant dream” – 1973 in petitions, Lera Auerbach was invited to this is the nostalgic ending of the English translation. Tscheljabinsk tour the USA in 1990. She spontaneously Bound together by flowing transitions, the music lends (Ural) on the decided to stay in the USA, and is thus one expression to the moods changes of the poetic lines which of the last artists to leave the former tell of silent worry, bitter desperation and resigned aliena- edge of Soviet Union. On 1 May 2002 she made tion from the world. Siberia. She her debut in Carnegie Hall, where she Franghiz Ali-Zadeh dedicated her vocal cycle to the Tatar began played her own Suite for Violin, Piano and composer Sofia Gubaidulina. Both composers, who met in playing the String Orchestra, Op. 60 with Gidon Baku, Moscow, Heidelberg and Hamburg, share the fee- Kremer and the Kremerata Baltica. Lera ling of the loss of homeland. They have often talked about piano early Auerbach graduated from the New York this together. During the course of the downfall of the on and made Juilliard School in the subjects of piano Soviet Union, both emigrated to the West in order to be her firstpublic and composition. At the same time, she able to transport their musical messages freely and wit- appearance studied comparative literature at hout censor from state institutions. “From Japanese Columbia University. In 2002 she took final Poetry” was composed immediately before the at the concert examinations at the Music breakdown of the Soviet Union. age of six. Academy in Hanover.

6|SIKORSKI magazine LERA AUERBACH replies:

01. I left Russia at the age of 17. It mezzo-soprano, bass and boy soprano, is a ABOUT THE WORK: was the summer of 1991, six months befo- 90-minute work, which includes Russian re the Soviet union collapsed. I was invited Orthodox liturgical texts, prayers for the to travel to the USA with concerts as a pia- dead and prayers for the imprisoned, as nist. While in New York, I spontaneously well as secular Russian poetry. It includes decided not to return to the Soviet Union. texts from Pushkin, Derzhavin, Lermontov - At that time I felt it was an opportunity to Pasternak, Mandelshtam, Blok, Gippius, which may not be there again. Akhmatova - to poets of our time, inclu- ding Brodsky and Ratushinskaya, all sha- ring the common thread of repression 02. As a young musician, living in under intolerant regimes during different “RUSSIAN REQUIEM” New York, I had the opportunity to deve- times throughout Russian history. This for Large Orchestra, lop freely as an artist, to attend perfor- work is a quintessentially Russian work. My Bass, Mezzo Soprano, mances by the world’s best musicians, to intention was to capture the Russian spirit visit great museums, to have the vast and to build a monument to Russia and its Boy Soprano, mixed resources of the Juilliard School library, to history. Also, my Second Symphony uses Choir and Boys’ Choir study together with the most talented text by Marina Tsvetaeva and is very much young performers. Being completely on my a Russian work and rooted in its tradition. I Lera Auerbach’ s artistic activity is not own at an early age, in unfamiliar surroun- am currently writing an opera based on an limited to the area of music. In 1996, dings, was essential to the development of imaginary life of Russia’s most paradoxical at the age of just 23, she was named my character. These experiences allowed writer, Nicolai Gogol. In addition I continu- me to grow as a person and as an artist, to ously write poetry and prose in the Russian “Poet of the Year” by the experiment artistically without constraints, language. International Pushkin Society. Her love to discover who I am and, most important- of Russian literature is reflected in her ly, learn to be free. work “Russian Requiem” in a special Music is capable of translating 06. way. Here she quotes the great any emotion or concept. More importantly masters of worldly poetry such as 03. Direct? Probably not. Very few - it is capable of transcending it. Music is things can be direct references in music. the most abstract form of art and not limi- Alexander Pushkin, Boris Pasternak But without this experience my works ted by words. This is its mysterious power and Anna Akhmatova. Thus Auerbach would be very different. and its beauty. connects the generations and points out the eternal problem of repression and injustice in her country. Her 04. Music is my personal fate. 08. I don't view my work in such terms. Any creation is a private act and “Requiem” tells of the suffering of the should remain so. However, the world out- people under Stalin’s rule, which is 05. One of my most recent composi- side of Russia certainly sees my compositi- why the composer decided to tions, “A Russian Requiem” for large ons, poems and performances as an act of dedicate it to the victims of the orchestra, mixed chorus, boys´ choir, a cultural ambassador. After all, artists are communist regime of the former capable of bridging cultural gaps more Soviet Union. Introduced by loud bell effectively than diplomats. As only a few emigrant artists from the for- Recently Yefim Bronfman asked me which tolls, the orchestra begins in a dark mer Soviet Union have been able to do, country has been the best and worst for my timbre. With this timbre, Auerbach at Auerbach rapidly became accustomed to music. The answer was rather simple. times reminds the listener of the the special conditions and circumstances Germany has been the best, Russia has musical language of Shostakovich. of not only musical life in the West but the been the most indifferent. This is a source Auerbach’s Requiem received its American scene in particular. She intensi- of sadness for me. vely looks for contact to interpreters and world premiere in 2007 in Bremen audience, provides information about her and was commissioned by the festival works and method of working in discussion, 09. None. The only Russian compo- in that city, the Bremen Symphony interviews and public appearances. In her ser, and a well known one, whom I met at Orchestra and the Semana de Musica multi-functional role at pianist, composer the Lockenhaus Festival, came to me after Religiosa de Cuenca in Spain. All the and poet, she has adapted many influences a concert and told me that I must (!) stop bells of the city rang at the beginning and processed them in very different ways writing music for my own good. I politely in her works. Her spontaneous decision to thanked him for his advice. of the world premiere. In addition, use the visit to America in 1991 for emi- Russian bells were recorded. gration can be evaluated as a completely So that the cruel part of Russian personal motive for emigration. The desire 11. My collection of poems history does not repeat itself, the to widen her circle of contact and work “Hannover Notebook”, my novel “The composer believes that the living without restrictions were the driving forces. Mirror” and “A Russian Requiem“. Political pressure or repression in her must continue remind us of this homeland did not really drive Lera history and always Auerbach to take this step. 12. Discovering the world. commemorate the victims.

SIKORSKI magazine|7 XIAOYONG CHEN

The Chinese composer Xiaoyong Chen discovered Germany already during his student years.

Saddled with two heavy suitcases and serial music. Of fundamental importance following a one-week trip by Siberian rail- for Chen was the encounter with the music way, the then 30-year-old came to of Ligeti, with which he also first became Hamburg in 1985 in order to study with acquainted as a student. The gap between György Ligeti at the Academy of Music and Ligeti’s “Atmosphères” and simple Theatre. Chen’s musical origins, however, Chinese peasant music seemed unbridge- lie in this city of his birth, Beijing, where he able to Chen. At that point he had no idea had previously studied violin and composi- that he himself would become an important tion between 1980 and 1985. connection between Far Eastern musical In his youth Chen experienced the so-called tradition and Western contemporary “cultural revolution” in China at first hand. music. His parents were forced to work as farmers Today Chen, who settled in Hamburg, during the course of the re-education cam- belongs to a small established circle of paign. Before that, Chen’s father had been Chinese composers and conductors who active as a theatre author and producer, have found international recognition. He which is how Chen came into contact with has worked with renowned orchestras such Western literature early on. Although the as the SWR and NDR Symphony Chinese state only tolerated eight musical Orchestras, the London Sinfonietta and the works with Western instruments, Chen was Silk Road Ensemble in New York. Chen’s fascinated by these sounds, for his father compositions are orientated on the subtle possessed a record collection including melodic language and the fine pitch sense Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos and of Chinese language and music. In terms of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Chen later form, as he vividly describes the procedure, played the violin and viola in the Beijing he pursues the idea of a “spiral circulation.” Orchestra, where he got to know more What has been written observes itself and Western works. But it was only as a student develops further out of itself, with the at the Central Music Academy in Beijing result that his works have an open and sur- that he found out about twelve-tone and prising effect.

XIAOYONG CHEN replies:

01. In the early 1980s, China had just 04. Yes, one finds traces of many dif- 07. The words. opened itself up to the world politically. ferences in it and sees the developmental The country had a great need for current processes of a person and his thinking and information, innovative impulses, especial- statements. 08. Yes. ly in intellectual areas. My plan was to stay in Europe for two or three years. 05. My roots are deep in the earth of 09. Many, in the same generation my homeland. My most recent European and the younger generation. I travel to 02. When one personally lives in a experiences grow from this. There are some China several times a year. different culture for a longer period of factors that can be sensed, such as formal time, real confrontations take place. These, thinking, musical vocabulary, at times direct then, have a strong influence on the person applications of the instrumental ensemble. 10. It was accepted and even appre- and change that person, creating a “new None of this takes place intentionally, so that ciated due to its openness to the world, person.” The work is a reflection of my per- the music sounds “Chinese,” but is a natural also in favour of the musical development sonality in musical form. Put simply, it is a statement in musical form. of the country. It has never had any pro- mixture… and precisely put, it is an blem. “unknown being,” a “new being.” 06. If music could “deceive” people, then yes. In my opinion, it is of greater 11. Invisible Landscapes (1998), 03. One can find traces everywhere significance if music helps people to libera- Speechlessness, Clearness and Ease in the music of my culture, of European cul- te themselves from the personal desires (2004). ture and of other cultures. I have used tit- and disappointments of everyday life and les such as “Fusion” four times and the title to lift themselves up to a higher level, so “Invisible Landscapes” has just as much to that they could recognise another kind of 12. György Ligeti, Giacinto Scelsi, do with this subject. contentedness and happiness. Johann Sebastian Bach.

8|SIKORSKI magazine ELENA FIRSOVA

ABOUT THE WORKS: „INVISIBLE LANDSCAPES“ for Zheng, Piano, Percussion and Ensemble (1998)

With the 1998 composition “Invisible Landscapes,” Xiaoyong Chen refers to his home- “Composers – land in several respects. On the one hand, he uses a traditional Chinese instrument, the zheng. of course The zheng is a Chinese zither with 21 strings not all of them – which specially tuned for “Invisible Landscapes.” In addition, there are two Chinese drums among have much in the percussion instruments. The piano and small ensemble, on the other hand, are oriented on common with Western instruments. priests and The work bears the title “Invisible Landscapes” because Xiaoyong Chen was inspired by remote gardeners,” says memories of his childhood. On the other hand, the composer also processes mental images the Russian having to do with a particular place. “This music composer is a mediator between my feelings and the liste- ner – it is intended to lead him into the invisible Elena Firsova. world of listening beyond what is concrete, visible and clearly definable.” This is a surprisingly non-political statement, to which Firsova adds that composing for her „SPEECHLESSNESS, means self-deepening, tou- CLEARNESS AND EASE“ ching beauty and being con- for Ensemble [Di (Bamboo nected to the immaterial world. Flute), Sheng, (Mouth Organ), This explains why her works, usually short and always highly Pipa (Lute), Ruan (Lute), conscious of form, always have Yangqin (Hackbrett), Erhu an intimate and thoroughly lyrical (Knee Violin), Zheng (Zither character. language. or Chinese Harp) and several Placing the beauty of art at the In 1972 Elena Firsova married the composer centre, also in times of political Dmitri Smirnov. With him and Denissov, Percussion Instruments] (2004) crises and adverse living she founded the Association of circumstances, speaks in favour Contemporary Composers ASM, which In this work, too, Chen combines the tone of Firsova’s great artistic self- performed Russian works abroad with their colours of traditional Chinese instruments with confidence. Born in Leningrad own ensemble. In 1979, works of Firsova modern compositional techniques and playing in 1950, both her parents physi- were performed for the first time in methods. In the 2004 ensemble version of the cists, she began composing Cologne, Venice and Paris with great work, ( a chamber ensemble version was made in already at the age of twelve success. During the same year the composer 2006), the composer allows the bamboo flute di and received her first instruction experienced a bitter setback in her Russian and the sheng, a Chinese mouth organ, to sound in composition four years later. homeland: the Composers’ Union attacked prominently, with the knee-violin called erhu In 1970 Firsova became a pupil her works as “not worthy of the Soviet playing glissandi. Alongside several meditative of Alexander Pirumov at the Union.” moments, the piece sizzles and scrapes quite a bit, Moscow Conservatory. She In 1990 Firsova participated in the new and two Chinese lutes called the pipa and ruan, came into contact with contem- founding of the Russian Society for New the trapezoid-shaped Hackbrett called yangqin, a porary music through her private Music. But the fear of a political putsch and zheng and several instruments are used. teacher, Edison Denissov. of not being able to feed her two children The title “Speechlessness, Clearness and Ease” Through him and Philipp led to the decision of the couple to emi- refers to three individual Chinese written Herschkowitz, a pupil of Alban grate to England. From 1997 until 2001 characters. The words have several meanings, Berg and Anton Webern, she Firsova taught in Manchester. She has so however, and can thus conjure up different asso- assimilated the musical-aesthe- far composed well over one hundred ciations. The different characters and imaginings tical thinking of the Second works. In her vocal works she often uses are thus linked together or juxtaposed next to Viennese School which has texts by the Russian poet Ossip each other. Several brief quotations from the more or less marked her own Mandelstam, who was arrested by the book of the legendary Chinese philosopher Lao oeuvre up to the present day. Russian regime in 1937 and died one year Tse are integrated into the ensemble as sounds But the influences of French later on the way to a labour camp. Her and sonically distorted. The music vacillates bet- composers such as Olivier instrumental works are also almost always ween illusion and reality, between sounds and Messiaen and Pierre Boulez are connected with Mandelstam’s poetry, with noises, between real and artificial sound worlds. also found in Firsova’s musical his relationship to art and to death.

SIKORSKI magazine|9 K_print_090730_SikMAG3_ENGLISCH_k1:Layout 1 Kopie 30.07.09 10:44 Seite 10

ELENA FIRSOVA replies:

ABOUT THE WORKS:

01. It was for many different reasons. quartet op.48, ”Distance” op.53 for voice, The first one is connected with our family clarinet and string quartet and ”FAR AWAY” history - the parents of my father tried to ”Cassandra” for orchestra op. 60. emigrate to Germany just after the revolu- for Saxophone Quartet, tion of 1917, but died on the train from Op. 48 (1991) typhus on the way to Caucasus 04. Music is my personal fate. (Novorossijsk), from where they had inten- A melancholy cantilena played by the ded to go to Turkey first and then to 05. soprano saxophone opens the one- Germany (my grandmother was half When my parents were alive, I movement composition, in order to German). used to visit them almost every year, but I subject itself to the ensemble in excep- To move to the west – it had been my did it only for them. When they died I sto- tionally interesting colour mixtures. dream from my very early age, because my ped to go to Russia (since 2004 year). Dazzling, episode-like passages within parents (especially my father) explained to When I went to Russia I always felt myself unstable metric structures are opposed me when I was still a child that Russia was as a bird who returned to its cage with an to canonically entering chord layering, not a very good country to be born and to opened door, but this, too, could be shut whereby the alto saxophone receives live in, and I was convinced of this more down at any moment. And although I another soloistic task shortly before the and more during my own life experience. understood that this shut down is almost end as a pendant to the introductory April 1991 was a time when we (me, my unrealistic I never could get rid of this fee- solo. The title “Far away” is meant pro- husband and my children) finally had the ling. Russia has changed a lot since I emi- grammatically and symbolically. “Being opportunity to emigrate. Also, the political grated, to the good and to the bad and I remote” or “far away” stands like a situation was very dangerous at that don't feel at home there anymore. poetical motto above the animated- moment and music life very poor in expressive course of the brief move- Moscow. My father said to us: do it before 06. ment which illuminates the sonic variety it will be too late (as it had been too late Music can speak about every- of the saxophone family to the ultimate for his parents). thing, but music is always pure music too. degree. Elena Firsova comments: “I We went to England because at that time wrote the piece `Far away' during the we had very important commissions there 07. spring of 1991, shortly after my arrival (among them my ”Augury” for the All means of music are capable of from Moscow, when I felt very far away ”Proms” festival and a big cantata ”Songs this. from my homeland, far from friends and of Liberty” by my husband, Dmitri Smirnov, relatives.” for a concert in Leeds) and many forthco- ming performances of our music. We both 08. No, I don't feel like an ambassa- “CASSANDRA” were invited for the performances of our dor of any kind for any country. Sometimes music during the Southbank festival in I think I am a composer from Europe, but for Orchestra, London and it was for the first time we usually I don't think about that at all. Op. 60 (1994) were allowed to take our children with us. We had a friend, Gerard McBurney, who In the middle of preliminary conside- organised a kind of research grant for us in 09. With Alexander Vustin, Vladimir rations for a new orchestral work, Elena Cambridge for 3 months from January 1992 Tarnopolski, Alexander Knaifel, Victor Firsova received a commission from the and promised to help with accommodation Ekimovsky and Leonid Bobyliov. But there BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra in before that. So we decided to try (at that is only little communication between us. autumn 1992. This commission proved time you could easily go back to Russia) an incredibly strong motivation for and this try was very successful – we have Firsova’s work as a whole. The composer been happily in England for 18 years already. 10. I think they were very happy for was able to present the composition in us and regarded as absolutely right what fully sketched form at the end of 1992, we did. just a few months after receiving the 02. I began to write more music per commission. “I called it ‘Cassandra’,” year. In the beginning – because it was Firsova explains, “whereby I was not many commissions, then, when it was 11. ”Distance” op. 53. It mainly only thinking of the prophet of Troy, but already not so many commissions, just expresses my longing for all our friends also about the situation in present-day because it became normal for me. I think whom we had associated with in Russia. Russia, where the gloomy future pro- also because I have more time for compo- But this circle of friends does not exist any- spects give cause for worry concerning sing because my life became much more more - most of our friends have left Russia, the fate of the world.” isolated. This is both sad and good. too and live in different countries. My In Firsova’s orchestral work, also dedi- music is about this phenomen. cated to her Russian homeland in an extended sense, the ancient figure of 03. Maybe it partly was in four of my Cassandra is represented by a solo compositions - ”Seven Haiku” for soprano 12. I can't say. Life. Reading cello, whilst the inescapability of fate and lyre op. 47, ”Far Away” for saxophone Mandelstam, as it had always done before. finds expression in the bass drum.

10|SIKORSKI magazine SOFIA GUBAIDULINA

Sofia Gubaidulina was born in 1931 in Tschistopol and often accompanied her father, a Tatar surveying engineer, on his excursions.

Her mother was Russian and worked as an elementary school teacher. Gubaidulina experienced religious influences through her grandfather, a Mufti in Kazan. From 1936 until 1949 Gubaidulina attended the music college in Kazan, where she wrote her first vocal works. Then followed her pianistic training and, from 1954 until 1959, studies in composition at the Moscow Conservatory with Nikolay Peyko, an assistant of Shostakovich. Gubaidulina’s music grows out of deep meditation; composing becomes a kind of sacred act. The music points to something beyond itself. In addition, she often uses quotation and processes symbols of nume- rology and the cross. In 1975 Gubaidulina founded the improvi- sation group “Astreya” together with Viktor Suslin and Vyacheslav Artyomov. During this period a state sanctioned per- formance ban was imposed on her compo- sitions. In the West, however, she became ever better-known, also through the com- mitment of the violinist Gidon Kremer. He gave the premiere of Gubaidulina’s violin 01. IN REPLY TO OUR QUESTIONS: concerto “Offertorium” in Vienna in 1981 and thus achieved an international break- 02. through for the composer. After a long Sofia Gubaidulina requested not to have to answer the struggle with the Soviet music bureaucracy, 03. Gubaidulina was finally allowed to travel to questions in this issue, since she is intensively at work the West in 1986 as a result of perestroika. In 1989 she received a one-year stipend 04. from the Lower Saxon provincial govern- on her new Bayan Concerto. She emphasised in this ment and lived at the Barkenhoff for a sum- 05. mer, where Rilke had also stayed. In 1991 connection that she does not fell like an emigrant. the Paul Sacher Foundation bought her 06. manuscripts, upon which the composer It has always been for her to able to retain her Russian decided to settle in Germany. Since then, 07. the 2002 Polar Music Prize winner has lived passport, since she continues to belong to Russia in her in Appen near Hamburg. Concerning her 08. life decision, the composer once said: thinking, feelings and actions. At any rate, she is “Time and again, the motto ‘We are one 09. people!’ resounds in the historical life of a infinitely grateful to Germany for being able to live people. But each individual person is sear- ching, too. When he/she comes up against 10. limits or goes beyond the limits, he/she here, not only that but in a living environment which is looks for leitmotive, principles, his (her 11. own life melody – in short, for anything that almost ideal for her, even like a paradise, and which can help her/him to survive as a person. In 12. such ‘moments of truth’ arises a soft, inner has been extremely fruitful for her production. sound: ‘I am a human being.’”

SIKORSKI magazine|11 GIYA KANCHELI

GIYA KANCHELI replies: Giya Kancheli 01. I left the Soviet Union in 1991 for is the best one year on receiving a DAAD stipend. -known and most Due to later negative developments in my homeland I decided to prolong my stay successful first in Berlin and later in Antwerp, where in 1995 I was nominated a composer–in- Georgian residence of the Royal Flanders Symphony composer of the Orchestra present day. At the centre of 02. In general positive, but as I never changed my citizenship, I still feel like I am his production in some retreat. I usually go to Georgia for long periods of time and work there in are the peace. So, even if I am physically far away orchestral works. from my homeland, mentally I am still where I spent 56 years of my life.

03. I don’t think there are any direct references in my music.

05. First of all I don’t think that my The symphonies, composed between 1967 of Duke Ellington and Glenn Miller on the homeland may be called former. I visit and 1986 brought him the reputation of an piano. His studies in composition began in Georgia very often and as a result have avant-gardist during the communist period. 1959 at the State Conservatory in Tiflis; he maintained all the contacts I had had before. It seems to him that he is working on a single completed his studies in 1963 without ever work, begun during his youth and which will having heard of the Western avant-garde, end with his death, as Kancheli has said e.g. of Paul Hindemith. He earned his living 06. I think in general it is, but not in about his work as a composer. with music for films and theatre, which was my case. Kancheli’s music develops out of silence not as strictly censored by the aesthetic and is often determined by a tragic-melan- commissaries. Kancheli became music choly mood. Through the linking of the director of the Rustaveli Theatre in Tiflis in 07. Every author has his own means polyphonic melos of traditional singing of 1971. His collaboration with the producer and there are as many means as there are Georgia with modern components of Robert Sturua, who put on works by authors. Western contemporary music, Kancheli Shakespeare and Brecht, amongst others, creates unique sound worlds which shake also made Kancheli’s music known abroad. up the listener to the quick. Far removed From 1984 until 1988 Kancheli occupied 08. Sometimes, when a performance from the currents of serial music, his com- the office of First Secretary of the is extremely successful. positions reflect life experiences dominated Georgian Composers’ Union. by sadness and farewell. Kancheli himself The, in 1991, Giya Kancheli received a traces his artistic development back to a DAAD Stipend which made it possible for 09. As I had already noted above I kind of genetic code “which is given to one him to travel to Berlin and develop his have kept all my contacts. Unfortunately a at birth.” It is a question of individuality compositional ideas freely. In 1995 he great number of my colleagues have and many different conditions which go became composer in residence at the departed this life, but if we consider the way back to childhood, he continues. Royal Flemish Philharmonic in Antwerp. former USSR as my homeland I still have Giya Kancheli was born in 1935 in Tiflis, the Although Kancheli never planned to move close contacts with Arvo Pärt and Valentin capital of Georgia. His father went to war to the West, he has since lived in Belgium Silvestrov. as a physician and his mother remained with his wife and two children. His fame has with the children. In 1953, upon the death grown steadily thanks to commissions from of Stalin and his first compositional renowned institutions such as the Berlin 10. Positively. I was supposed to attempts, Kancheli’s first criticisms of the Festival and the International Music leave just for one year. system of the Soviet Union became mani- Festival in Lucerne. However, he does not fest. The problem of not being understood regard himself as a musician in exile, for “I and the certainty that the politic situation was always of the opinion that the problem 11. STYX in Georgia was hopeless became a part of of individuality in art is much more impor- Kancheli’s thought-world. Still isolated tant and fundamental than the specific cha- from the influences of Western contempo- racteristics which belong to a given national 12. A big range of contacts with rary music, Kancheli imitated the radio-jazz culture.” numerous superb orchestras and musicians.

12|SIKORSKI magazine MILKO KELEMEN

ABOUT THE WORK: Milko Kelemen was born in Podrawska Slatina, Croatia. In 1945 he studied com- „STYX” position and conduc- for Viola (Violin), Choir ting at the Music and Orchestra (1999) Academy in Zagreb.

Styx is the name of an underground He also taught there until 1965. river in Greek mythology, travelled by Following completion of his studies, he received a stipend in 1953 and studied Charon, the ferryman of the under- for one year with Olivier Messiaen at the world, with his boat, in order to bring Paris Conservatory. Already during his the souls of the dead into Hades’ student years he was conscious of the fact that, in any kind of music, “that cer- realm of darkness. tain something” cannot be analytically In 1999 Giya Kancheli wrote a concer- grasped. It has thus always been his concern to come to terms with the to for viola, choir and orchestra unconscious in his music. He designates bearing the gloomy title “Styx.” The his main concerns as preserving the age- occasion for this was the death of his old principle of communicating through music and recognising oneself in the friend Alfred Schnittke in 1998 and MILKO KELEMEN music, as well as preventing new music replies: the composer’s need to remain in from leading an existence in the noto- contact with people close to him who rious ivory tower. A lasting connection “Since I have lived in 01. with the new music scene in Germany many different countries were no longer amongst the living. arose as a result of Kelemen’s student during the course of my 02. The holy river from Greek mythology period in Paris: in 1955 he participated career, I have become a 03. for the first time at the Darmstadt is for Kancheli a symbol for the last true cosmopolitan. Any Holiday Courses for New Music, where 04. connection between the living and the he then became a constant employee idea of being an emigrant dead. Through travelling this flowing during the time thereafter. Between is foreign to me. 05. 1958 and 1960 he was a pupil of In 1961 I organised the river, the contact to the dead is not 06. Wolfgang Fortner at the Academy of Zagreb Music Biennale broken off, but the spiritual bond Music in Freiburg. In addition, Kelemen and also became its presi- 07. becomes still closer. worked at the Siemens Studio for Electronic Music in Munich. He nonethe- dent. It was the most diffi- Kancheli allows the choir in “Styx” to 08. less remained rooted in his homeland, cult period of communism sing the names of Georgian churches which he strengthened by founding the – every kind of avant- 09. and folksongs, and of spiritual songs Biennale for New Music in Zagreb in garde was forbidden. I 1961. As its President, he arranged 10. and names of deceased friends. had to fight very hard. numerous encounters between the 11. Different singing groups thus arise Eastern and Western avant-garde. This The most important thing for me was to bring which also resemble and are connec- was an extremely important activity in 12. terms of cultural politics, for it allowed German music to the fore ted to each other on the phonetic the Iron Curtain to be ventilated in the – the work of the level. Each group of words thus for- area of new music. Over the course of Hamburg State Opera, the over 20 years, over 3000 works by over med embodies eternal values. As the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the 400 composers were premiered, quintessence in the Finale, Kancheli amongst them all the trailblazing repre- Berlin Philharmonic, the quotes a line from Shakespeare’s sentatives of the American music scene. Deutsche Oper am Rhein In 1969 Kelemen took on a teaching and many others. The Winter’s Tale. The composer has position at the Robert Schumann cosmopolitan tendency meanwhile transcribed the “Styx” for Conservatory in Düsseldorf. Four years with a strong accent on violin as well. Here, too, the dark, later he went to Stuttgart, where he still lives today, and took over a composition Germany will continue to almost desperate mood of the com- class at the Academy of Music there be a strong characteristic position has been retained. until 1989. of the music festival.”

SIKORSKI magazine|13 KRZYSZTOF MEYER

Krzysztof Meyer, born in 1943, is, alongside Witold Lutoslawski, Krzysztof Penderecki and Henryk Mikolaj Górecki, one of the most important representatives of present-day Polish music.

Today the composer lives in Nordrhein- metrically different material. Westfalen, where he taught composition at After completing his studies at the Chopin the Music Academy in Cologne for many Music School in Krakow, he studied at the years. As the most influential pillars of his Music Academy there. In 1965 he received musical aesthetic, Meyer names the his diploma in composition as a pupil of composers Dmitri Shostakovich and Witold Krzysztof Penderecki and in 1966 his diplo- Lutoslawski. Meyer’s compositions do not ma in music theory. In the years 1964, 1966 avoid the incorporation of conventional and 1968 he studied for several months in forms and techniques, but they search for a France with Nadia Boulanger. From 1965 new structural expressive means. The until 1967 he performed as a pianist in the clarity of the musical course of events and “Ensemble for Contemporary Music MW2” careful, consciously introduced change of and gave concerts in Poland and in most impulse are typical of Meyer’s approach. other European countries. In addition, he The listener should be “led” without his was the soloist in performances of his own receptivity being overtaxed. The supposed compositions. transparency of his works hides a highly From 1966 until 1987 Krzysztof Meyer differentiated and precisely fixed composi- taught music-theoretical subjects at the tional will to formulate. For example, State Music Academy in Krakow and then Meyer speaks of a sound-centralisation, a went to Cologne. Meyer gave numerous previously fixed arrangement of sound lectures on new music in Germany and progressions which he always interposes abroad (including the Soviet Union, Austria with surprising effects such as irregular and Brazil). He was Chairman of the Polish rhythms, metric changes and layering of Composers’ Union from 1985 until 1989.

KRZYSZTOF MEYER replies: 01. Krzysztof Meyer, too, did not directly respond to the questions of this issue on the subject of “Music and Emigration.” Instead he wrote the following: 02. “The question of the ‘emigration of an artist’ is European at the same time. 03. both very exciting and important. It doesn’t matter to me at all if I live in Poland As for myself, I have never felt like an emigrant. or anywhere else. I can live and work in the 04. When I applied in Cologne, I was still President West just as well as in Poland if I can just find 05. of the Polish Composers’ Union. I kept this friends and interpreters of my music. But if I position until 1989, although I was already live in Germany I feel enriched because German 06. teaching at the Cologne Academy in 1987. musical life is so unbelievably extensive and it 07. After that, my contacts to Poland and my col- gives me all kinds of impulses. leagues there were just as close as before my The question of where I am at home is easy to 08. move. For years I organised the Festival ‘Posen answer. I am namely at home wherever my 09. Spring,’ for example, and was uninterruptedly family lives – my wife Danuta, my daughter active in various committees and societies. Maria (in Koblenz) – where I work (I still work at 10. And now I have founded a new festival (for the Academy), where most of my friends are 11. classical chamber music) in Kashubia, Poland. (and that is in Germany) and, to put it banally, By nature and conviction wherever I have a certain security. But I was 12. I am of course a Polish composer, but I am a never an emigrant.”

14|SIKORSKI magazine SLAVA ULANOVSKI SLAVA ULANOVSKI replies:

01. This question is not at all difficult to answer. Imagine several tanks driving back and forth under your window and then they start shooting and running over people. That was how it was at the time when I left Moscow with my family (my daughter was nine years old at the time).

02. I must honestly admit that I com- pose far less than in Russia. There are seve- ral reasons for this. First of all, I need a lot of time in order to teach (I must feed my family, after all). Secondly, several of my compositi- ons in Russia were inspired by interpreters, conductors and producers. My music needs mediators on the way to the listeners, and these mediators are music theatre and orchestra. I came to Germany at the age of 41 and had to form all my contacts and rela- tionships anew.

03. I don’t think there are any direct references, although it seems to me that emigration changed my musical language a little bit.

04. No.

05. Since 1993, when I came to Germany, I have been to Moscow thrice and during the last visit I was very sad to see that Despite the overwhelming success of a musical in the city had become completely different. I don’t want to say better or worse, but diffe- 1987, the Jewish composer Slava Ulanovski did rent. It is not the city of my youth. What could I retain? Musical intonations of not feel safe in Russia, which is why he emigrated the Russian-speaking world, or rather the to Germany with his family in 1993; since then he former Soviet Union, including all republics, e.g. Armenian and Georgian music, which I has continued to live there. always liked. And of course – Russian litera- ture. Ulanovski was born in Moscow in 1951, and tions, too, he places special value on work his musical education also took place for the up-and-coming generation. In the there. He studied clarinet at the year 2000 his children’s ballet “Snow White 06. If I understand the question cor- Tchaikovsky Conservatory from 1969 until and the Russian Prince” was premiered rectly, we could talk about compositions like 1973. After that, Ulanovski earned his living with great success at the 2nd European the Seventh Symphony of Dmitri as an orchestral musician, also playing in the Fairytale Festival in Tampere. Ulanovski’s Shostakovich or the Concerto for Orchestra Moscow Philharmonic. In 1978 he studied best-known symphonic work is the adapta- of Béla Bartók. Both works have something composition with Tikhon Khrennikov at the tion of Beethoven’s “Rage over a Lost to do with resistance against National Moscow Conservatory. The music of Penny” for percussion and orchestra, a cle- Socialism. Shostakovich had a particularly strong verly orchestrated adaptation of the classic As for myself, I have written the “Memories” influence on him. In 1993 Ulanovski decided work that is a great pleasure to audiences for violoncello solo dedicated to the victims to emigrate to Germany; he had meanwhi- and orchestral musician far removed from of the Holocaust. This is also that kind of le made a name for himself as a composer any old clichés. work, if one can designate Holocaust as a a symphonic works, chamber music and Alongside these entertaining works, political, social and personal problem. Only I music theatrical pieces. Ulanovski has also composed works which have not translated this problem but was Alongside his work as a composer and commemorate the history of suffering of very strongly impressed and inspired by the arranger, Ulanovski is also active as a teacher, the Jewish people. “Memories” for violon- atmosphere of the museum during my visit at the Music School of the City of Essen, cello solo, for example, is dedicated to the to the Holocaust Memorial Yad Vashem in amongst other institutions. In his composi- victims of the Holocaust. Jerusalem.

SIKORSKI magazine|15 SLAVA ULANOVSKI replies: LIN YANG

07. In my opinion, all means are alright, but the music has to sound very natural afterwards. I mean, when the bass drum drums and the cymbals crash, it doesn’t automatically mean that it’s about a big battle. Music can become ridiculous very fast in this way.

08. Probably not.

09. There aren’t very many. Mikhail Bronner, Alexander Tchaikovsky.

10. We have never talked about it.

11. There isn’t any such direct expression in my works, I don’t think.

12. I was and remain a great fan of Dmitri Shostakovich and, perhaps modern ballet has made my music more meditative in recent years.

ABOUT THE WORK:

“MEMORIES” for violoncello solo (1990)

The impulse for the work “Memories” was an influential experience in Slava Ulanovski’s life: “The year 1990. Jerusalem. The Holocaust Memorial Yad Vashem. There was profound darkness in the main hall; only a single candle reflected millions of small lights in the walls, a sym- bol for the destroyed human lives. Chamber music of unbelievable beauty softly sounded, with a male and a female voice naming the names of the Holocaust victims, the complete naming of which will require several years. “I only found this out later, however; at that time I stood in the middle of the hall in profound shock. This image burned in my memory for a long time. When the Israeli cellist Carmen Schiff one day asked me for a composition dedicated to the Holocaust victims, I had this image before my eyes again, which touched my soul with new power and served as the impulse fort he composition of this piece, the leitmotif of which is the heart- beat of the destroyed lives.”

16|SIKORSKI magazine LIN YANG replies:

“To go far away, 01. I had the opportunity to become dent of political social or personal messages completely alone into a acquainted with European music and and are not concerned with these. Thus music culture already at a very young age. Since has its own pure meaning and be a matter of darkness from which not then my curiosity was awakened and an course. It possesses a certain dynamic of its only you would be inner urge moved me to want to experi- own. excluded, but other ence real life as a musician in Europe. This was a big dream for me. shadows as well. And I believe that when one does not 07. There are many different means Only I alone shall sink experience another culture “live,” one which are concretely suitable for this. There into this darkness. annot understand one’s own any better. are many examples of this in music history. A In addition, it would have seemed like very good one would be the pieces of Hanns That world will belong to imprisonment to me to stay in the same Eisler or “A Survivor from Warsaw” of Arnold me alone.” environment. That is why I wanted to get Schönberg. out.

Not only, of course. Beyond that, I These poetic lines by Lu Xun, the founder of 08. In each of my pieces one can regard myself far more as an independent, modern Chinese literature, precede the 02. recognise a trace of my life’s path and furt- creative individual who wanders between score of composer Lin Yang’s work “The her development, from my way of cultures, crossing borders between them. Shadow Bids Farewell” for flute, violin, thinking to my manner of expression. violoncello, vibraphone and piano. Written But I have only been living in Germany for in 2004, this composition is concerned a short period of time, just two years. I 09. Jia Guoping, my professor and with the effect of the most minimal pitches don’t feel like an emigrant but identify spiritual mentor at the Beijing Central changes, sensitively lyrical harmonies and more with a wanderer, a guest. As a Music Academy. richly accented rhythmic sections. Lin Yang wanderer with a great interest in other confronts the idea of disappearance or cultures, I see Germany as a first station on departure with the help of these musical a long journey which I shall continue to 10. Jia Guoping was one of the most pursue. important supporters of my decision to means. The work was composed already in come to Germany. He was himself a pupil of 2004, three years before Lin Yang actually Helmut Lachenmann at the Music Academy left her homeland in order to study in 03. I can only answer this question in Stuttgart. In his view, too, it seemed to be Germany and establish herself there. with difficulty from the point of view of an the better way to get to know new music. Lin Yang was born in Beijing in 1982. emigrant. As a wanderer abroad, however, There is an old Chinese proverb concerning Following intensive musical furtherance at direct references are obvious. this: “Walk a thousand miles, read ten thou- the Beijing Music Middle School, she In each new piece, I have incorporated new sand books.” Travelling is a learning process. studied composition and music analysis sounds and techniques which I have lear- from 2001 until 2006 at the conservatory in ned. Thus references in my pieces are very her home city with Guoping Jia. In was visible and real. 11. Due to today’s possibilities of com- meanwhile possible there to occupy oneself munication and travel, I hardly have the feeling of distance and homesickness. with the major international figures in con- Of course. Music and emotions For that reason, I have not yet written a temporary music, which strongly motivated 04. form an indivisible unity for me. Music con- piece that expressed a longing for my home- Lin Yang. At the centre of her compositional stantly accompanies my life. Each life land. I express a connection to my homeland work is the search for the origin and transfor- consists of ups and downs and music is a in a different way. In the piece that I am now mability of sound. In this, she is also concer- special form of expression which makes it writing, for example, I would like to ned with the “noise behind the sound, the easier to come to terms with what one has communicate the spirit of the Chinese art of noise before the sound arises, the transition experienced. calligraphy. With this I would also like to pay between the two, the connection between respect to my father, who is himself a articulation and timbre, a movement calligrapher and whose work I personally like towards a tone and away from it.” 05. Emotionally I always maintain the very much. Deriving from that, one could Lin Yang moved to Germany in 2007 and connection to my parents and friends. speak of a kind of longing fort he culture of Externally I always remain connected with my homeland. became a pupil of Cornelius Schwehr at the good Chinese cuisine. the Music Academy in Freiburg. In the meantime, groups including the Dresden 12. First of all, the professional and „Ensemble Courage“ and the chamber 06. I believe that music as a form of diligent work organisation of German acade- ensemble Neue Musik Berlin have perfor- expression can also transmit messages which mics. The radiance and character of several med her compositions. In May 2009, can translate the problems named above. In people have influenced me, people who moreover, Lin Yang received a furtherance addition, there are yet other essences in have greatly enriched my life support me prize of the Ernst von Siemens Music music which are inherent to it and indepen- both morally-spiritually as well as materially. Foundation.

SIKORSKI magazine|17 BENJAMIN YUSUPOV

“I firmly believe that music should move the hearts of people.

Benjamin Yusupov’s music has this effect on me. ”That is why I look forward to playing his Cello Concerto as often as possible.” This is the euphoric statement of the Latvian cellist Mischa Maisky referring to the composer Benjamin Yusupov, resident in Israel, who wrote the Cello Concerto especially for him. Yusupov wants not merely to write music, but find an utterly original language for it. In so doing, he brings together all kinds of styles without compromise. from classical to rock – and also connects the most different cultures with each other. East European, African, Central Asian and South American elements are found in Yusupov’s pieces. Thus arise, on the one hand, impressive musical-folkloristic images of a certain culture which the composer, on the other hand, realises through the application of post-modern Western compositional tech- niques and places in a global context. This concern is also reflected in his instrumenta- tion, since he integrates exotic instruments into the symphonic orchestral sound. His main attention, however, is directed towards the development of a new “Israeli” musical style based on the diffe- rent musical styles existing in Israel. Benjamin Yusupov was born on 22 November 1962 in Duschanbe, the capital of the Russian colonial state Tadzhikistan. Between 1981 and 1990 he studied piano, composition, music theory and conducting at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. Already in 1989, at the age of 27, Yusupov became Music Director of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Duschanbe. In the position of director, the young musician seized the opportunity to perform compo- sitions of different genres, especially contemporary pieces by composers of the former Soviet Union. His own compositions were frequently performed at music festivals of the Soviet Union, in Moscow and Dushanbe, among other places, and later at the Biennale in Zagreb. In 1990 Yusupov emigrated to Israel.

18|SIKORSKI magazine BENJAMIN YUSUPOV replies:

01. The Moscow Conservatory, where world and our fate. The artist of today stri- loves his past. I have the responsibility to I completed my training as a composer and ves to reproduce this with the utmost pre- realise and continue the culture of which I conductor, is the worldwide centre of musi- cision and authenticity. am a child. cal culture. We had the opportunity to meet with the most important musicians, which is why I did not want to restrict myself to the 05. The world of eastern music – 09. Professionally speaking, I have far territory of the Soviet Union after comple- Makam – lives most deeply in my conscious- more intensive contacts to interpreters. ting my studies, but try my luck in the West. ness. I use this musical language frequently I believe that an artist must have complete in my works. And even if this is not directly freedom in such a choice. connected with the concrete material, I am 10. Many composers and musicians convinced that it is always present. left the Soviet Union during the early 1990s. That was not exactly easy for those who did so. 02. The subsidy of music in the Soviet Union had the result that music of lesser 06. Without question, composing quality was not eliminated, as it would have means transforming our world in all its forms of 11. “Nostalgia,” “Tanovor” and, been under the conditions of the free mar- appearance into music by means of tones. generally, this feeling is more or less present ket. After I came to the West, I was forced to Sometimes this is expressed directly, someti- in all of my works. find my own public and fight for my survival, mes very indirectly. The inner world does not which made my music more interesting from exist without the outer, constant interaction. a professional standpoint. 12. Today I see myself as part of a large world; I unite different musical cultures 07. In my music, I prefer a non-pro- and stylistics directions in my works. For 03. The emigration made me a part of grammatic and indirect reflection of political example, I have five different compositions Israeli culture. Two cultural streams are uni- and social problems. which bear the same title, “Crossroads.” I ted in my production: the culture of my use rock, jazz, tango and ethnic music of dif- “past” and of my “present” life. ferent peoples. Global communication has 08. Absolutely. Feelings which made made us part of a large world and I try very an impression during childhood have a life- hard to find a worthy place in it. 04. Music reflects our emotional long influence on us. I am a person who

ABOUT THE WORK:

„TANOVOR“ Decisive for the great public acclaim that into dialogue with its song of mourning. for Flute and “Tanovor” already found at its world Benjamin Yusupov enriches this with Chamber Orchestra premiere was the consistent and transparent modern playing techniques and intensifies (1994) application of an Oriental harmonic the sound through rough, abrasive chord language of a mourning character which layers in the strings and brass. The connection permeates the entire work. The title of traditional rules and melodies with the “Tanavor” is of Persian origin and refers to playing techniques of the modern orchestral traditional Makam music. The flute rises up apparatus and contemporary compositional in a melancholy manner, executing whirring, means is an aesthetic concern of Benjamin exulting figures, then singing of suffering Yusupov’s and runs through his oeuvre like in an almost simplistic and thus so authen- a red thread. tically moving melodic line. The first viola frequently accompanies the flute and entering

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