Valentin Silvestrov

Hymn - 2001

This work is a noble song of praise with a fanned-out texture on a tonal and harmonic basis. 'My hymn is enveloped in silence although it looks like a normal string setting on the outside. The paradox of Cage's ('4:33') is also present in a latent form. But this is the 'silence of new music'. Everything melodic from my other compositions can be found here as well.A rest not only is a missing sound but also a state of retardation, of paralysis or a stop in time. In early music, there was the occasional need for silence, but here it is a fundamental feature.' (V. Silvestrov)