M.P. Belaieff

This one-movement work consists of an unusual set of double variations in which two contrasting textures take the place of what would normally be two themes. The subdued metrical and rhythmic dissonan...

The idea for this composition was suggested by part of a poem by Anna Akhmatova: Only the mirror dreams of the mirror / Silence watches over silence . . . Two soloists (bass flute and cello) stare at...

The work was composed in 1999 at a time when a close member of the composer's family was seriously ill. The ode of lamentation, which is about seven minutes in length, is assigned to the two instrumen...

Silvestrov thinks that a coda is more than something which brings a work to an end. It is one of the most important parts of a composition, or at least just as important as the other sections. His can...

There are two actors in the Partita: Mozart's piano, which is heard out in the open, and a harp, which acts as its backlight. A poetic idea emanates from these water-colour acoustics. It traverses thr...

In this, as in some of his other works, Raskatov strives to attain to a kind of timelessness. The music of 'Kaddish' (Prayer), which owes a great deal to its Hebrew origins, has certain archaic traits...

This composition is both a milestone and an interface in Silvestrov's work: it is the end of his 'avant-garde period' and the beginning of what he later calls 'metamusic'. The structure of the work is...

Nikolai Tcherepnin, a pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov, composed this Divertimento in 1943. The work was first published after his death. As the title suggests, the piece is both playful and serene, though it...

Alfred Julius Swan (1890-1970) comes from an English family who has been engaged in the rubber business in Russia for generations. He attended the Conservatoire of St. Petersburg, studied law, music a...

Solstice (for 21 instrumentalists) is an evocation in a single movement using sounds both mellow and acidic, always beautifully contrived. What it is an evocation of, hardly matters; it is music of se...

Le va et le vient is a suite de ballet which might well one day return to the stage as a ballet. Originally commissioned by Merce Cunningham and performed under the title Set, Hold, Clear and Squelch...

Metamusik is not only the title of this work, but also a concept with which the composer has attempted to describe his style. He considers Metamusik to be 'a semantic overtone above music'. 'Meta', Si...