M.P. Belaieff

Alexander Glasunov's famous Saxophone Quartet Op. 109 (1932) is one of his last works and, at the same time, one of the earliest quartets for this instrumentation at all. The work is virtually a littl...

The work was composed in 1999 when a close member of composer's family fell seriously ill. The ode of lamentation is assigned to the two instruments in such a way that they play singly in swift succes...

Quasi Vc-solo means that the two cellists shall communicate with each other in a very careful and gentle way, shall respond to each other in a sensitive way, to sound as only one instrument, a cello '...

The work Path (1987) unfolds so to say from top to bottom. The descending line is metonymic with the path through life - from birth to grave. The beginning flageolets of the cellos and the simple moti...

Grechaninov (1864-1956), mostly known for his piano pieces, songs and operas for children, had his first successes within the circle of the St. Petersburg publisher and patron M. P. Belaieff who award...

Mansurian studied Beethoven's 6 Bagatelles Op. 126 and coupled them with thoughts by Proust and T. S. Eliot: The smallest things in life, the little, seemingly useless facts of everyday life are given...

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...

Prince André Volkonsky (1933-2008) was a rather charismatic figure in the Russian post-war music scene. His role as a 'pioneer' in the field of twelve-note music in Russia cannot be overemphasized. Hi...

Hymn for violin and cello was commissioned by violinist Edna Mishell for her international musical project 'Compassion Through Music' which was dedicated to the memory of Yehudi Menuhin. The main idea...

The String Trio by the Armenian composer Tigran Mansurian has been premiered in 2009 at Dilijan Chamber Music Series, Glendale, California. 'Mansurian's new trio is in three short movements. In the fi...

The String Trio by the Armenian composer Tigran Mansurian has been premiered in 2009 at Dilijan Chamber Music Series, Glendale, California. 'Mansurian's new trio is in three short movements. In the fi...

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincerest gratitude to Eamonn Quinn, Artistic Director of Louth Contemporary Music Society in Ireland, for his deep empathy, appreciation and great...

Written for the Kronos String Quartet, this piece contains Irish accents and some simple ideas that both convey the composer's enthusiasm for Ireland, the historical fate of which reminds him of his n...

After I had dedicated my first quartet (1983/84) to the memory of a friend and musician who died young, I had to mourn the death of yet another friend: Eduard Khagagortyan. To him, I dedicated my seco...

String Quartet No. 1 is one of the most successful and most frequently performed works by Silvestrov. It can be described as a work standing on a threshold between avant-garde and post-avant-garde and...

The edition contains two string quartet miniatures which are 43 years apart. Quartetto piccolo (1961) is Valentin Silvestrov's first twelve-note composition which consists of three little movements me...

The title is a quote from the essay 'The Rose of Paracelsus' by Jorge Luis Borges. This parable is about the secret of the creation of a miracle, the disappearance and reappearance of the rose as well...

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...

The work was written for the saxophonist Margarita Shaposhnikova, professor at the Gnessin Institute (now Russian Academy of Music), and was performed by her in 1987 in the Great Hall of the Academy....

The present publication is based on an earlier vocal composition by Mansurian with the same title Four Hayrens for mezzo-soprano and piano (1967). Forty years later, in 2007 (and again revised in 2010...

This music was created in memory of Larissa Bondarenko, the late wife of the composer. The work is a hybrid combination of strophic lied form and Baroque lamento (more or less chaconne). The exquisite...