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Karamanov - Symphonies Nos. 22 & 23

又名: 卡拉玛诺夫《第22与23交响曲》

表演者: Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin/Vladimir Ashkenazy

介质: CD

发行时间: 1997

唱片数: 1

出版者: Decca

条形码: 0028945285023

专辑简介


CD booklet. by Diana Rodell
  
  "In the long run, art is also life, spiritual life, and any life is tragic in its essence." Thus Alemdar Karamanov, whose own life parallels the tragic story of his music. His close friend and colleague Alfred Schnittke said of him: "He's a phenomenally gifted person who lives somewhere in the country, virtually unknown... He's not simply a talent, but a genius".
  
  Karamanov's refusal to conform to the norms of official culture and his persistence in writing on themes that were banned led to severe opposition from the Soviet authorities and the virtual suppression of his music. Born on 10 September 1934 in Simferopol, Crimea, the son of a Russian mother and a Turkish father who was imprisoned by the Soviet authorities and died in exile, Karamanov began to compose at the age of five and wrote an opera when he was nine. He came to Moscow in 1954 to study at the Conservatory under Bogatyrev and Kabalevsky. At this time Dmitri Shostakovich took a special interest in him, referring to him as "... one of the most original and unique composers of our time."
  
  Karamanov has had two distinct periods of creativity. In his late twenties he moved away from an avant-garde style in order to pursue musical ideas linked to his spiritual beliefs. He wrote on Christian themes at a time of religious persecution, when priests were being sent to prison camps and asylums for the insane. At the height of the cold war he entitled a symphony "America", which destroyed any chanceshe might have had for a successful career, and even involved a risk to his personal safety. Forced to withdraw from the center of cultural life in Moscow, he returned in the early 1960s to his homeland in the Crimea, where he has since lived as a recluse, composing a huge number of large-scale compositions.
  
  Among his works are 24 symphonies, including 3 symphonic cycles; 4 overtures; 3 oratorios; 3 piano concertos; 3 violin concertos; a symphonic suite; 2 symphonic poems; 3 ballets, 1 concerto for trumpet; cantatas, choral suite; romances, songs, instrumental ensembles, piano music and music for films.
  
  The 6 symphonies 18 to 23, composed between 1976 and 1980, together form a cycle on themes from the Apocalypse with the collective title "Let it be". Karamanov conceived the idea of such a cycle in 1974, when he came across a medieval manuscript of the Apocalypse which he studied day and night, attempting to penetrate its mysteries, seeking historical links with the present and an understanding of the subject in relation to contemporary events. The individual titles are as follows: Symphony No.18 "To He who loves us"; No.19 "Blood of the Lamb"; No.20 "Blessed are the Dead"; No.21 "The Great City"; No.22 "Let it be"; and No.23 "I am Jesus".
  
  The composer was anxious to hear the first of these symphonies ("Blood of the Lamb", which eventually became the second of the cycle), as he had developed new musical principles in its composition. The score calls for a very large orchestra, and the music is at times written in up to forty separate instrumental strands. Karamanov wanted to assess the result before continuing with the cycle, but since works with religious titles could not be submitted to the Ministry of Culture, a friend suggested that he should temporarily alter the title. Karamanov was at first reluctant, but his friend persuaded him that such a change would not affedt the true ideals or substance of the music. Thus in 1977 a performance took place in Kiev of Symphony No.19, for the occasion entitled "Born for Victory". The authorities interpreted this title as a referecne to the communist victory over fascism. Similarly, when in 1982 Vladimir Fedoseyev performed Symphony No.23 "I am Jesus", its title was changed to "Risen from the Ashkes", and the whole cycle renamed "Poem of Victory".
  
  Symphony No.23, the last work in the cycle, was in fact the fifth to be written. Karamanov began its comopsition at sevastopol, a closed military town on the Black Sea, but his inspiration came from an earlier period of the town's history. THe place where he chose to write was in the ruins of Chersonese, an ancient Greek city, where the first Christians had arrived across the Black sea from Byzantium. Working in this location, Karamanov felt strongly that their spirit was influencing and nourishing his music. It seemed to him also that "I am Jesus" reflected a historical parallel: the bloodshed during the Nazi occupation of 1942 recalling the blood of those early persecuted Christians of Byzantium.
  
  The theme of "I am Jesus" is the revelation of Christ and his concept of a Great City -- the New Jerusalem -- of the future. Towards the end of this symphony karamanov quotes (on a solo double bass) the melody of Dvorak's "Songs my mother taught me" as a "symbol of absolute beauty". This section (dominated by the double basses) also serves as a musical description of St. John on Patmos and his slow, tormented death. The course of the symphony as a whole depicts St. John, then Christ, then the fate of John and his glow after death as a saint.
  
  Symphony No.22 "Let it Be" was the last of the Apocalypse cycle to be written, although Karamanov placed it fifth in the cycle. Its composition was inspired by a thunderstorm, and its theme is the fall of Babylon. Having already completed five scores he imagined that the final symphony would create no problems, but from the first bar he realized he had a difficult task, particularly with regard to the orchestral textures. To convey the tragic substance of the symphony he needed to modify his earlier sketches, altering not only the notes, but also using new methods of orchestration with different timbres. the composer had taken to writing his music in the peace of the Crimean countryside, returning to his home each evening in Simferopol. His involvement in the music led eventually to a state of despair that affected his physical health. His concentration on this tragic theme generated such mental tension that the composer felt a physical "ring" around his head which became so intense that he knew he had to complete the symphony whilst under this pressure which would enable him to write about the fall of Babylon with the right degree of intensity. Asked about where in the symphony he first felt this "ring" around his skull, Karamanov referred to the first climax, when judgement is passed on Babylon, and to the passage (just before the funeral march section) when a clash between two horsemen is reflected in a "clash of metal".
  
  After he had completed the score of Symphony No.22, Karamanov found respite in the exotic surroundings of the Crimean coast, where natural remedies helpedto restore him to health. His days then became more systematic, the pattern of his life falling into line with the cosmos, a subject he was to pursue in depth in later scores.

曲目


Alemdar Karamanov (1934 - )
Symphony No.22 "Let it be"
1. Vivace infernale --
2. Meno mosso molto --
3. Lento --
4. Grave funebre - L'istesso tempo: Lagrimoso --
5. L'istesso tempo --
6. Allegro non troppo, risoluto

Symphony No.23 "I am Jesus"
7. Andantino --
8. L'istesso tempo --
9. L'istesso tempo --
10. Vivo --
11. Adagio --
12. Allegretto tranquillo
关键词:Karamanov Symphonies Nos 22 23