BRIEF STATEMENT ABOUT MY WORK
I belong to the direction in Russian music which, independently of
the composers style, usually turns to very serious subjects: philosophical,
religious, moral, problems of spiritual life of a person, one's relationship with the
external world, the problem of the relationship between beauty and reality, as well as the
relationship of the spiritual and the anti-spiritual. All this means that most of my
works were not written for fun and that then can in no way be classified as
entertainment. As much as possible, I strive to ensure that every one of my works
contains a message to each listener and that my music leaves no one indifferent but arouses
an emotional response in them. I even accept that sometimes my music arouses negative
emotions - as long as it is not indifference.
I compose various types of music: the dramatic and lyric,
the ecstatic and calm, the humorous and tragic. Everything depends on the aim of the
specific piece. Some of my pieces are composed using contrasting material, the
others (without contrasting material) emphasizing a single emotional state. I strive
to make my music have many interpretations rather that one meaning. This difference
of character produces a multi-layered complexity and a polyphony of texture in whatever
instrumentation I use.
Most of my pieces last from 20 to 40 minutes. A prolonged
dynamic, a large culmination and an attempt to create monumentalism and sound color are
typical of my music. Often the form of a piece represents a dynamic wave or a set of
such waves. In my music, I employ different types of contemporary composing
techniques; I also attempt to synthesize elements of different styles and trends,
sometimes opposite to each other. I do this because I believe that our time is the
time of synthesis and that all the treasures accumulated during the centuries of musical
cultural existence should be used. That is why my music reflects medieval chorale,
elements of modern rock music, folk music and underground music. It also
contains elements of romantic music, European vanguard music, and American
minimalism. I seek to use and work out all of these elements, however, in my
own way.
I work in various genre but mainly in symphonic and chamber music,
using both traditional tendencies (for example: Symphonies # 1, 2, 3 and 4, opera
MR ("Marina and Rainer"), brass-quintet and string trio) and
nontraditional tendencies. In symphonic pieces, I prefer to use a large instrumentation
that enables me to create an extended sound, rich in volume. In chamber music, I
frequently employ nontraditional instrumentation (for example, Confessiones, Amoroso,
Primitive Music, Movements, Let the Earth Bring Forth, Get Out!!!). I repeatedly
return with special interest to the genre of the instrumental theater, where the
performers and even the instruments are the characters (Yes!!, ...si muove,
The Dance in Metal in Honour of John Cage, Merry Music for Very Nice People). I also
use the traits of an instrumental theater (dance and movements of the performers on stage
or in the auditorium) in some of my chamber pieces (Confessiones, Primitive music,
Mozart-variationen, Get Out!!!). Sometimes I combine live and recorded sound
(Singing, Yarilo, Movements). I like to use the performers in unconventional
ways: instrumentalists as singers, singers as instrumental performers, the conductor, too,
as an instrumental performer (Yes!!, Victor, string Quartet, Welcome, Amoroso, Music
for Owen Underhill and His Magnificent Eight). Although I seek to solve a different
problem in each new work, and not to repeat myself, there is, of course, inheritance
in some of my works (Prologue and Epilogue). Other works represent a
different approach as to the same musical material (Hymns I, II and III). Some
pieces are written in two versions, each for a different instrumentation (Welcome!
for chorus and for 6 performers, Lullaby as a version of Con Sordino).