EINKLANG

Anthology of the Musical Avant-garde of the XX Century in the Russian regions
(Kaluga, Tver, Volgograd, Ryazan, Rostov-na-Donu, Saransk, Vladimir, Voronezh, Orenburg. 2005-2007)

The EinKlang project presents a first attempt to demonstrate the development of the Russian avant-garde in various countries of the world as a unified process, to give an integral overview of the development of music in the 20th century. On the other hand the EinKlang project helps the audiences from the Russian projects to familiarize themselves with contemporary Russian art. The cycle’s concert programs are grouped together according to the decades of the 20th century — from the first experimental compositions of Charles Ives and Yefim Golyscheff to world premieres by contemporary composers. Special emphasis is made on the music of the Russian avant-garde hitherto practically unknown in the Russian provinces. Moreover, the project included several concerts held by the ensemble in various cities in Germany. In these concert programs the German public was introduced to the little known Russian avant-garde of the 1920s and 1930s as well as contemporary Russian music. The project lasted for three years, during the course of which the Studio for New Music ensemble presented about 30 concerts in various cities in Russia. The ensemble’s performances were accompanied by brief comments by musicologists and composers, while a number of musicians from the ensemble gave master classes to students of the local music schools and colleges.

The new project of Moscow Conservatory's Center for Contemporary Music and the Studio for New Music ensemble is unique in several aspects at once. First of all, it presents a first attempt at demonstrating the development of the musical avant-garde in various countries of the world as a single process. The determining moments of this process are in two most important phenomena — the immanent self-development of the musical language and the inseparable connections of the music of the 20th century with its history. These phenomena exist in a tense interaction and form a distinct «double spiral» of evolution of all 20th century music, which is inseparable as a DNA spiral.

The other distinct feature of the cycle is in the fact that such a complex and large-scale musical educational project is addressed not to experts from the capital city, but is directed for the first time to an audience from the Russian regions. Keeping in mind the deplorable state of affairs in the provinces in regards to performing even the established classics of the 20th century our project is aimed at breaking the «repertoire stereotypes» of provincial orchestras and to demonstrate that contemporary music could be accessible and interesting even to an average listener.

The concert programs of the cycles are grouped approximately according to the decades of the 20th century, starting from the first experimental compositions by Charles Ives and Efim Golyscheff, composed at the very beginning of the previous century, to world premieres by young composers. Special emphasis will be made on the music of the Russian avant-garde, which is al but practically unknown in the provinces: the programs include not only the recognized masterpieces by Stravinsky and Prokofiev, but also the lesser-known works by Denisov and Schnittke and, of course, the compositions from the archives of the Russian avant-garde, written by Arthur Lourie, Nikolai Roslavets, Aexander Mosolov, Gabriil Popov and others.

Moreover, as part of this project a few of the ensemble?s concerts are expected to take place in several cities in Germany. In these programs the German public will be presented with the lesser-known Russian avant-garde of the 20?s and 30?s as well as contemporary music.

The project is expected to last three years, during the course of which the Studio for New Music ensemble presented about 30 concerts in various Russian cities. The ensemble?s performances were accompanied by short commentaries by musicologists and composers, and the musicians from the ensemble conducted master-classes for the students of the local musical education institutions.

The project EinKlang sets out as its aim the enhancement of the processes of integration of Russian culture into the general European context. Its goal is to overcome the historically evolved estrangement of the audiences of the Russian provinces from contemporary art, to overcome the conservative established cliché that the only truly national forms of art are only in its traditional forms. The directedness of the project inside Russia, the broad sweep with one program over various regions of the country are also aimed at enhancing the process of the cultural and spiritual consolidation of Russian society on the base of forming common cultural values.

Vladimir Tarnopolski

Program

The concerts were held in the following cities:
Vladimir, Volgograd, Voronezh, Kazan, Kaluga, Orenburg, Rostov-on-Don, Saransk, Smolensk, Tver, Dresden, Berlin

Compositions of 65 composers from 12 countries were performed:
Charles Ives, Louis Andriessen, Béla Bartók, Luciano Berio, Alban Berg, Harrison Birtwistle, Olga Bochikhina, Pierre Boulez, Edgard Varèse, Anton Webern, Andrey Volkonsky, Alexander Wustin, Ivan Wyshnegradsky, Yefim Golischeff, Gerard Grisey, Sofia Gubaidullina, Edison Denisov, Vladimir Deshevov, Franco Donatoni, Piter Maxwell Davies, Alexey Zhivotov, John Cage, Iannis Xenakis, György Ligeti, Mauricio Kagel, Faradj Karaev, Igor Kefalidis, Hanspeter Kyburz, Nikolai Korndorf, Gyцrgy Kurtag, Helmut Lachenmann, Roman Ledenev, Arthur Lourie, Witold Lutoslawsky, Olivier Messiaen, Alexander Mosolov, Tristan Murail, Luigi Nono, Martijn Padding, Krzysztof Penderecki, Gavriil Popov, Sergey Prokofiev, Francis Poulenc, Steve Reich, Nikolai Roslavetz, Peter Ruzicka, Svetlana Roumiantseva, Kaija Saariaho, Igor Stravinsky, Alexey Sioumak, Vladimir Tarnopolski, Morton Feldman, Hans-Werner Henze, Nikolai Khrust, Paul Hindemith, Heinz Holliger, Salvatore Sciarrino, Arnold Schoenberg, Stefen Schleyermacher, Alfred Schnittke, Dmitry Shostakovich, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Rodion Shchedrin, Philippe Hurel

Partners:

Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung,
Kulturstiftung des Bundes (Germany)