Nikolai Roslavets
Encyclopedia
Nikolai Andreevich Roslavets ' onMouseout='HidePop("34457")' href="/topics/Surazh">Surazh
, then in Chernigov Governorate
, Russian Empire
, now in Bryansk Oblast
, Russia
23 August 1944, Moscow
) was a significant Soviet
modernist composer. Roslavets was a convinced modernist and cosmopolitan thinker; his music was officially suppressed from 1930 onwards.
Among his works are five symphonic poem
s (three of them are lost), two violin concerto
s, five string quartet
s, two viola sonata
s, two cello sonata
s, six violin sonata
s, and five piano trio
s.
and in Kursk
, where he began to study violin, piano, theory of music and harmony in Arkady Abaza's musical classes. In 1902 Roslavets was accepted as a student at the Moscow Conservatory
where he studied violin under Jan Hřímalý
, free composition under Sergei Vasilenko, counterpoint, fugue and musical form under Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov
and Alexander Ilyinsky
. He graduated in 1912, gaining a silver medal for his mystery Heaven and Earth after Byron's poetic drama.
In the 1910s Roslavets' compositions were published in Russian Futurist
journals, and futurist artists designed some covers for his music. After 1917 the composer became one of the most prominent public figures of "leftist art" in Russia, together with Arthur Lourié
, Kazimir Malevich
, Vsevolod Meyerhold
and others. Roslavets taught violin and composition in Elets, Kharkiv
(then known as Kharkov, where he was director of the Musical Institute) and Moscow. He had a position in the State Publishing House, edited the journal Muzykalnaya Kultura and was one of the leaders of the Association for Contemporary Music.
As a musicologist
, Roslavets fought for professionalism, the best in Russian, Western classical and New Music; criticizing vulgar identifications of music with ideology (exemplified in his article ‘On pseudo-proletarian music’). He wrote the first Russian article about Arnold Schoenberg
's Pierrot Lunaire
. This led to him being harshly attacked in the 1920s by the "proletarian musician" movement, especially by the representatives of the "RAPM" Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians
and "Prokoll" (Production Collective of the Students at the Moscow Conservatory). Roslavets was accused of being a "counter-revolutionary" and "bourgeois
" artist, "alien to the proletariat", as well as "formalist", a "class enemy
" and in the late 1920s and early 1930s, a "Trotskyist
", "saboteur
"; etc.
In 1928 Roslavets' cantata
October was played in the concert in Moscow celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Revolution. In 1930 Roslavets was accused of being a "protector" of the Association of the Moscow Authors which according to the "proletarian musician" was (propagating "light music" and "spreading of the counter-revolutionary literature"). The "Roslavets case" constructed by Viktor Bely, Alexandr Davidenko, V. Klemens, Yuri Keldysh, Semion Korev, Zara Levina
, Georgi Polyanovsky, Alexey Sergeev and Boris Shekhter was crowned by a purge which resulted in a professional prohibition. In 1930 Roslavets was banned from obtaining a position as a political editor for two years. In order to save his life, Roslavets publicly repented his former "political mistakes".
During 1932-33 he worked at the Musical Theater in Tashkent
, now the capital of Uzbekistan
; in 1933 the composer returned to Moscow, where earned a meager living teaching and taking occasional jobs. A victim of the political purge
s; Roslavets could get no official position for the remainder of his life. Roslavets was not admitted to the Composers' Union, instead he became a member of the Musical Fund. Punitive measures against him had been planned in 1938, and the former "proletarian musicians" had already spread disinformation about him; however Roslavets suffered a severe stroke in 1939 and was a semi-invalid until his death following a second stroke in 1944. His last publication, a song, appeared in 1942.
He is buried in Vagan'kov cemetery in Moscow, and the authorities have now granted permission to mark his grave.
, and was close to artists such as Kasimir Malevich, Aristarkh Lentulov
, Vasily Kamensky
, David Burlyuk and others. Deeply influenced by the later works of Alexander Scriabin
and his mystic chord, Roslavets' quest for a personal language began not later than in 1907; it led to his propounding a "new system of sound organisation" based on "synthetic chords" that contain both the horizontal and vertical sound-material for a work (a concept close to that of Schoenberg
's twelve-tone
serialism
). Following an article of Vyacheslav Karatygin, published in February 1915, Roslavets was sometimes referred to as "the Russian Schoenberg," but in 1914 Nikolay Myaskovsky
had already stressed the original nature of Roslavets' style. In an article published in 1925 the critic Yevgeni Braudo pointed out that this was no more helpful than calling Schoenberg "the German Debussy." Although in the 1920s Roslavets criticized Scriabin because of his "over-simplification", the “new system of sound organisation” was first of all inspired by Scriabin's ideas and concepts were transmitted by Leonid Sabaneyev
, a close friend of both Scriabin and Roslavets.
Though the "new system of sound organisation" regulates the whole twelve-tone chromatic scale
, most of Roslavets’ "synthetic chords" consist of six to nine tones. In the 1920s Roslavets developed his system, expanding it to encompass counterpoint, rhythm, and musical form while elaborating new principles of teaching. In Roslavets' earlier romances
and chamber instrumental compositions those sets were already elaborated side by side with expanded tonality
and free atonality
. The mature forms of this "new system of sound organization" are typical for the pieces composed between 1913 and 1917, such as Sad Landscapes (1913), Three Compositions for Voice and Piano (1913), String Quartet No.1 (1913), Four Compositions for Voice and Piano (1913–14), and the Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 (1914) and 2 (1916, reconstructed by Eduard Babasian), etc.
After the Bolshevik revolution, Roslavets made an important contribution to the "revolutionary propaganda in music" in such compositions as the cantata October (1927) and numerous songs. However, his symphonic poem Komsomoliya (1928), demonstrates an extraordinary mastership, a very complex and highly modern compositional technique, far from the simplification typical for "propaganda works".
In Tashkent
, he turned for a while to working with folk material, producing among other works the first Uzbek
ballet, Pakhta (Cotton). The works of his last years in Moscow show a simplification of his characteristic language to admit an expanded conception of tonality (for instance in the 24 Preludes for violin and piano), but are still highly professional. Among Roslavets' later compositions, the Chamber symphony (1934–35) demonstrates one of the peaks of his "new system of sound organisation" in its later phase.
In 1967 the niece of the composer, Efrosinya Roslavets, undertook the first steps after the rehabilitation of her uncle; thanks to E. Roslavets, it has been found out that the composer had not submitted to the political repressive measures. This important step, that the refusal to play Roslavets's compositions was justified for the reason that Roslavets belonged "to the arrested peoples’ enemies," did not improve the situation; Roslavets's output was suppressed. In 1967 the employee of the Glinka-Museum, Georgi Kirkor, refused Efrosinya Roslavets access to the museum-cards; Kirkor declared Nikolai Roslavets "to be alien to the people" and accused the composer of "relations with the world of Zionism
." This dangerous accusation was caused by the fact that Leonid Sabaneyev
, a close friend of Roslavets, and a keen enemy of Soviets, had propagated Jewish music; the ASM had also propagted Jewish composers. Since late 1970s, Roslavets's researcher and publisher, Marina Lobanova, was accused and prosecuted because of "Zionist activities" too, not least because of her relationship to one of the founders of the state of Israel
. In 1967 the leading officials of the Soviet Composers' Union, Vano Muradeli
and Anatoly Novikov, as well as the union’s chief, Tikhon Khrennikov
, refused to meet Efrosinya Roslavets. For thirty years, Roslavets's name, expunged from the musical dictionaries, was hardly mentioned in Soviet musical literature; even after perestroika
began, scholars could only hear such comments as "Roslavets's works are not worth the paper they are written on." [16] His name reappeared in a Soviet musical dictionary in 1978 in a negative context. Typical of the highly negative official attitude towards Roslavets were sentences like those: "Roslavets is our enemy," "he is a composer whose music is not worth the paper on which it is written down," "Roslavets's tomb should be destroyed."
In the West, Detlef Gojowy (1934–2008) struggled for a long time for Roslavets. For his activities Gojowy was constantly ideologically attacked due to the guidance of officials of the Soviet Composers' Union, many times personally by Tikhon Khrennikov, as well as by powerful enemies of Roslavets, their comrades, and the magazine "Soviet Music." Until 1989, Gojowy was treated as a "warlike anti-communist," a persona non grata. The copies of his articles which the journalist sent to his Soviet colleagues were confiscated by the Soviet duty; he was not allowed to get a Soviet visa. As a result, Gojowy had to use secondary sources for his studies which did not always contain correct information. For example, conjectures appeared in some publications of Gojowy about the "Ukrainian" origin of Roslavets; non-critically reproduced by other writers, they became the basis for the distribution of one more myth about the composer.
On December, 27th 1980 a concert with M. Lobanova’s introductory took place place in Mark Milman's club for Chamber music; a section of this concert was devoted to Roslavets's music. According to Edison Denisov
, the leaders of the Composers' Union of the Soviet Union banned a concert entirely devoted to the composer. After the first publication about Roslavets's original theoretical concept, based on archival materials (Lobanova 1983) had appeared, M. Lobanova's lecture on Roslavets's musical-theoretical system , declared in the program of the international conference "Musica nel nostro tempo" (Milan) was forbidden in 1984: leading functionaries of the Composers' Union of the Soviet Union had accused the researcher of "illegal contacts to the West." After that, dismissal by Lobanova from the Moscow conservatory was attempted as well as deprivation of her scientific degree and rights for teaching; soon, they tried to use an application of retaliatory psychiatry with the dissident diagnosis against Lobanova.
In 1989 Efrosinja Roslavets requested the Moscow composer organisation, that had just proclaimed itself to be independent from Tikhon Khrennikov's Composers' Union of the Soviet Union, to reconstruct and publish Roslavets's works and to restore Roslavets's grave. Roslavets's niece entrusted officially M. Lobanova these tasks. In 1990, after a long struggle, including that against criminal structures, thanks to assistance of the head of the Moscow composer organisation, Georgi Dmitriev, Roslavets's grave was identified and restored according to Lobanova's plans authorised by the composer's niece.
In 1989 the Moscow publishing house "Music" printed the collection "Nikolai Roslavets. Piano compositions" ed. by Nikolai Kopchevsky, reproducing many typing errors of lifetime editions. The preface to the collection, written by Yuri Kholopov
, caused indignation of Efrosinja Roslavets. In her letters dated with 28.01.90 to director of the State Central Glinka-Museum for Musical Culture as well as to the director of the publishing house "Music" and the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Soviet music," the niece of the composer protested against slander, discredit of Roslavets's relatives, false information to archives, Roslavets's creativity, etc. E. Roslavets's special concern was caused by false data on Roslavets's creativity and conditions of archival materials: from her point of view, a reasoning on chaotic conditions of archival materials and careless relatives could excuse possible plunder of Roslavets's heritage and its further falsifications. After refusal in the publication in the USSR and in Russia one of the letters of Roslavets's niece, who has closed access to her personal materials in the Glinka-Museum, nevertheless, has been published in Germany in 1995.". The famous explorer of Russian avant-Garde, Nikolai Ivanovich Khardzhiev, expressed himself much sharper as E. Roslavets according Yuri Kholopov
's preface (a letter from 5.12.1990 to M. Lobanova).
In 1989 M. Lobanova found out in archive the score of the First violin concerto by Roslavets; the score was declared to be lost in the diploma paper by A. Puchina written at the Moscow conservatory under the direction of Edison Denisov in 1981. In order of the publishing house "Le Chant du Monde", Edison Denisov was going to orchestrate the version of the First violin concerto for violin and piano published in 1927; however, the discovery of the score crossed out those plans. Soon after the world orchestral premiere of the composition played by Tatyana Grindenko under Fedor Glushchenko (Moscow, on November, 18th, 1989) an article in "RMG" ("The Russian musical newspaper," 1989, № 12, p. 8) appeared, containing false information about the authorship of archival discovery. Later, the newspaper published a refutation with regrets towards Lobanova ("RMG," 1990, № 5, p. 4). In 1989 the world premiere of Roslavets's symphonic poem "In the hours of the New moon" reconstructed by M. Lobanova was sabotaged in Moscow: the prepared and paid material disappeared from the Bureau for propagation of Soviet music. The world premiere of the poem executed by symphonic orchestra of Radio Saarbrücken under Heinz Holliger
has taken place on June, 14th, 1990 in Saarbrücken in absence of the author of reconstruction: the Foreign commission of the Composers' Union of the USSR has forbidden Lobanova's travel, despite the official invitation of the publishing house B. Schott und Söhne (nowadays: Schott Musik International).
Although the discovery and introduction of Roslavets's earlier not known compositions as well beginning of publication of his heritage meant "Roslavets's revival," some of Roslavets's compatriots, among them composers of modern wing, stressed that Roslavets's work was of no interest for them: so, in an extensive discussion devoted to discovery of a heritage of Russian musical avant-garde (Heidelberg, 1.11.1991), it was Victor Suslin who categorically expressed that Roslavets's creativity was "of no importance" for him, and Elena Firsova
underlined that Roslavets's music was "of no interest" for her.
According to the Russian newspaper "Kommersant-Daily", the former editor in chief of the Moscow publishing house "Kompositor," Vladimir Pikul (*1937), helped in 1991 Efrossinya Roslavets by publishing of the works by Nikolai Roslavets in the publishing house B. Schott & Söhne. According to Vladimir Pikul he had received for his help a commission of 33,500 DM which he invested in the study of his children in Germany. When Tichon Chrennikov got to know that facts, he accused Vladimir Pikul of acquiring illegally 33,500 DM which would belong to the Soviet Composers' Union. On the 6th of May, 1991 a charge against W. Pikul because of "misappropriation of public money" was put by the Soviet Composers' Union at a Moscow district public prosecutor's office. Because a big sum in foreign currency was concerned and there was at that time still no moratorium for capital punishment in Russia, this accusation threatened Pikul the highest punitive measures up to the shooting. Further the inquiries against Pikul were stopped. Nevertheless, in March, 1992 the Composers' Union required new inquiries against Pikul, and a new penal procedure was carried out which was also stopped. At that time Pikul had lost his position to Grigory Woronow (1948–2008); he went to court and won two court procedures. In spite of these court decisions, Pikul did not get back his position, because it was "crossed out"; finally, Pikul required Pikul of Tichon Chrennikov compensation at the rate of 33,500 DM.
In 1991 the left pro-soviet publishing house "Le Chant du Monde", privileged in the Soviet Union as a member of so called "VAAP-family", declared seven unfinished compositions by Roslavets ostensibly completed by Alexander Raskatov
: the vocal cycle "A. Blok in memorian," the symphonic poem "In the hours of the New moon," "Music for string quartet," Sonata № 1 (1925) and № 2 (1926) for viola and piano, Piano sonata № 6 and "Chamber symphony" (1926), besides a trancription of the song "Knock!" for baritone and percussions was mentioned.
Actually, the vocal cycle "A. Blok in memoriam" and the symphonic poem "In the hours of the New moon" were finished by Roslavets himself. Archival materials to the Sixth piano sonata contain no end; that makes authentic reconstruction impossible. "Music for a string quartet" is nothing but invention: Roslavets never wrote and was never going to write such a composition. Declared in the program of "Le Chant du Monde" "Viola sonata № 1" (1925) is actually a sketch which Roslavets refused to finish. Original Viola sonata № 1, wrongly named "Viola sonata № 2" in the list of "Le Chant du Monde," was finished by Roslavets in 1926. The draught copy did not need to be completed: Viola sonata № 1 was reconstructed and published by M. Lobanova. The original Viola sonata № 2 was composed not in 1926 as it was underlined in the list of "Le Chant du Monde," but in 1930s; it also did not require to be completed and was published by M. Lobanova. "Chamber symphony" (1926) in the list of "Le Chant du Monde" is actually a sketch which Roslavets refused to finish. The sketch does not allow authentic reconstruction of the cycle as well as of its parts; doubtful it is the instrumentation which Raskatov used: the marks in particello specified neither the harp, nor a piano, and six percussion instruments are completely alien to Roslavets's stylistics. The original Chamber symphony by Roslavets (1934–1935) has been written for 18 instruments, indeed; in the sketch of 1926 less instruments were marked.
All those circumstances caused chaos and strongly complicated studying and propagation of Roslavets's heritage. Severe misunderstandings arose in connection with viola sonatas by Roslavets and its records. So, it was falsely proclaimed, that "Viola sonata № 1 and 2" had been recorded on a CD ("Roslavets. Musique de chambre" [Harmonia mundi, LDC 288 047]): actually, it was the above mentioned sketch of 1925 and Viola sonata № 1 (1926), finished by Roslavets himself: in the contrary to statements in the CD-booklet, this composition had never required to be completed. Information about the reconstruction of a symphonic poem "In the hours of the New moon" and other compositions by Roslavets were spread by musical critics. So, Gerard McBurney reported in 1990 about the poem "In the hours of the New moon" finished by Raskatov on the basis of the incomplete score sketch; reconstruction of the work finished by Roslavets himself, has also been realized by M. Lobanova on the basis of almost complete set of orchestral voices, while the absent ones were reconstructed on a basis of the score sketch. Anna Ferenc mentions Alexander Raskatov's reconstruction of the symphonic poem in a report on the state of Roslavets's rehabilitation in 1992. In the booklet to the CD Hyperion (CDA 67484) written by Calum McDonald the record of the poem "In the hours of the New moon" performed by the BBC orchestra Scotland under Ilan Volkov was again attributed as a work completed by Raskatov; actually, the record based on M. Lobanova's reconstruction. Besides, in this booklet-text by Calum McDonald the world premiere of a poem "In the hours of the New moon" in Saarbrücken was wrongly connected with Raskatov, too. On January, 30th, 2009 the decision of the Hamburg court (GZ: 1004/08JB01 GK: 175) placed a ban on saling of CD Hyperion (CDA 67484) with the booklet containing the above-mentioned false information. According to the above mentioned facts, Hyperion Records, Ltd., changed the data about a poem "In the hours of the New Moon" on its site, naming the author of reconstruction, M. Lobanova. Recently, the booklet-text by Calum McDonald was also revided according to the true facts.
Mistaken information on Roslavets's life and creativity is also found in other sources such as the site http://home.wanadoo.nl/ovar/roslavetz.htm (Nikolai Andreevich Roslavetz. Internet Edition compiled by Onno van Rijen).
Recently there has been a trend to use Roslavets's works for nationalistic purposes. These attempts contradict Roslavets's expressed view of himself as a cosmopolitan artist.
Today Roslavets's most important compositions have been published by Schott Musik International/Kompositor International, Mainz (See the site [1]), edited by M. Lobanova. For all her reconstructions M. Lobanova did not get any honorar. This edition aims to present an authentic reconstruction of Roslavets's heritage. A considerable part of this edition reproduces the works earlier stored in archives which required editorial preparation. Other parts are based on materials to the compositions, finished by the composer himself and supposing authentic reconstruction. By re-publication of compositions, published during lifetime of the author, typing errors have been corrected. The publishing program is far from end: many compositions are prepared for printing.
The concept of "New moon" and Roslavets's poem itself became cult status in recent years. The title "In the hours of the New moon" as well as Roslavets's poem was used in E. Kloke's musical-visual performance, realized in Germany in 2000 as a part of the EXPO 2000; a program title "New Moon" carried concerts of Basel Sinfonietta under Fabrice Bollon (on March, 21-23st 2009, Basel, Geneva, Zurich) in which Roslavets's poem has been executed.
Roslavets's creativity was not ignored by the notorious piracy portal "The Pirate Bay," which offered internet users some compositions by Roslavets, including the poem "In the hours of the New Moon" conducted by Heinz Holliger.
Vocal:
For voice and piano:
Orchestral:
Chamber music:
Violin and piano:
Viola and piano:
Cello and piano
Piano music:
Surazh
Surazh is a town and the administrative center of Surazhsky District, Bryansk Oblast, Russia, located on the Iput River southwest of Bryansk. Population: 1,599 ....
, then in Chernigov Governorate
Chernigov Governorate
The Chernigov Governorate , also known as the Government of Chernigov, was a guberniya in the historical Left-bank Ukraine region of the Russian Empire, which was officially created in 1802 from the disbanded Malorossiya Governorate with an administrative centre of Chernigov...
, Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, now in Bryansk Oblast
Bryansk Oblast
Bryansk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Bryansk. Population: 1,278,087 .-History:...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
23 August 1944, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
) was a significant Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
modernist composer. Roslavets was a convinced modernist and cosmopolitan thinker; his music was officially suppressed from 1930 onwards.
Among his works are five symphonic poem
Symphonic poem
A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music in a single continuous section in which the content of a poem, a story or novel, a painting, a landscape or another source is illustrated or evoked. The term was first applied by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt to his 13 works in this vein...
s (three of them are lost), two violin concerto
Violin concerto
A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin and instrumental ensemble, customarily orchestra. Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up through the present day...
s, five string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
s, two viola sonata
Viola sonata
The viola sonata is a sonata for viola, sometimes with other instruments, usually piano. The earliest viola sonatas are difficult to date for a number of reasons:...
s, two cello sonata
Cello sonata
A cello sonata is usually a sonata written for cello and piano, though other instrumentations are used, such as solo cello. The most famous Romantic-era cellos sonatas are those written by Johannes Brahms and Ludwig van Beethoven...
s, six violin sonata
Violin sonata
A violin sonata is a musical composition for violin, which is nearly always accompanied by a piano or other keyboard instrument, or by figured bass in the Baroque period.-A:*Ella Adayevskaya**Sonata Greca for Violin or Clarinet and Piano...
s, and five piano trio
Piano trio
A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music...
s.
Life
There are three autobiographies by Roslavets that differ considerably from one another. In one of them, published 1924, the composer deliberately stylized his life in order not to be attacked by the "proletarian musician" faction (see below). According to archive materials, Roslavets was neither born in Dushatyn, nor came from a peasant poor family. In the 1890s he was a clerk in the railway office in KonotopKonotop
Konotop is a city in northern Ukraine within the Sumy Oblast. Konotop is the center of the Konotop Raion , and is located about 129 km from Sumy, the Oblast capital. It is host to Konotop air base.-History:...
and in Kursk
Kursk
Kursk is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym Rivers. The area around Kursk was site of a turning point in the Russian-German struggle during World War II and the site of the largest tank battle in history...
, where he began to study violin, piano, theory of music and harmony in Arkady Abaza's musical classes. In 1902 Roslavets was accepted as a student at the Moscow Conservatory
Moscow Conservatory
The Moscow Conservatory is a higher musical education institution in Moscow, and the second oldest conservatory in Russia after St. Petersburg Conservatory. Along with the St...
where he studied violin under Jan Hřímalý
Jan Hřímalý
Jan Hřímalý Jan Hřímalý Jan Hřímalý (also seen as Ivan Voitsekhovich Grzhimali (Иван Войцехович Гржимали (13 April 1844 – 11/24 January 1915) was an influential Czech violinist and teacher, who was associated with the Moscow Conservatory for 46 years 1869-1915....
, free composition under Sergei Vasilenko, counterpoint, fugue and musical form under Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov
Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov
Mikhail Mikhailovich Ippolitov-Ivanov was a Russian composer, conductor and teacher.- Biography :...
and Alexander Ilyinsky
Alexander Ilyinsky
Alexander Alexandrovich Ilyinsky was a Russian music teacher and composer, best known for the Lullaby , Op. 13, No. 7, from his orchestral suite "Noure and Anitra", and for the opera The Fountain of Bakhchisaray set to Pushkin's poem of the same name.Alexander Ilyinsky was born in Tsarskoye Selo...
. He graduated in 1912, gaining a silver medal for his mystery Heaven and Earth after Byron's poetic drama.
In the 1910s Roslavets' compositions were published in Russian Futurist
Russian Futurism
Russian Futurism is the term used to denote a group of Russian poets and artists who adopted the principles of Filippo Marinetti's "Manifesto of Futurism"...
journals, and futurist artists designed some covers for his music. After 1917 the composer became one of the most prominent public figures of "leftist art" in Russia, together with Arthur Lourié
Arthur Lourié
Arthur-Vincent Lourié, born Naum Izrailevich Luria , later changed his name to Artur Sergeyevich Luriye was a significant Russian composer. Lourié played an important role in the earliest stages of the organization of Soviet music after the 1917 Revolution but later went into exile...
, Kazimir Malevich
Kazimir Malevich
Kazimir Severinovich Malevich was a Russian painter and art theoretician, born of ethnic Polish parents. He was a pioneer of geometric abstract art and the originator of the Avant-garde Suprematist movement.-Early life:...
, Vsevolod Meyerhold
Vsevolod Meyerhold
Vsevolod Emilevich Meyerhold was a great Russian and Soviet theatre director, actor and theatrical producer. His provocative experiments dealing with physical being and symbolism in an unconventional theatre setting made him one of the seminal forces in modern international theatre.-Early...
and others. Roslavets taught violin and composition in Elets, Kharkiv
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
(then known as Kharkov, where he was director of the Musical Institute) and Moscow. He had a position in the State Publishing House, edited the journal Muzykalnaya Kultura and was one of the leaders of the Association for Contemporary Music.
As a musicologist
Musicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
, Roslavets fought for professionalism, the best in Russian, Western classical and New Music; criticizing vulgar identifications of music with ideology (exemplified in his article ‘On pseudo-proletarian music’). He wrote the first Russian article about Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
's Pierrot Lunaire
Pierrot Lunaire
Dreimal sieben Gedichte aus Albert Girauds 'Pierrot lunaire' , commonly known simply as Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 , is a melodrama by Arnold Schoenberg...
. This led to him being harshly attacked in the 1920s by the "proletarian musician" movement, especially by the representatives of the "RAPM" Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians
Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians
The Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians or RAPM was a musicians' creative union of the early Soviet period.In 1932 it was disbanded, together with other unions, such as RAPP, by The Decree on the Reformation of Literary and Artistic Organizations on April 23, 1932....
and "Prokoll" (Production Collective of the Students at the Moscow Conservatory). Roslavets was accused of being a "counter-revolutionary" and "bourgeois
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
" artist, "alien to the proletariat", as well as "formalist", a "class enemy
Enemy of the people
The term enemy of the people is a fluid designation of political or class opponents of the group using the term. The term implies that the "enemies" in question are acting against society as a whole. It is similar to the notion of "enemy of the state". The term originated in Roman times as ,...
" and in the late 1920s and early 1930s, a "Trotskyist
Trotskyism
Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky considered himself an orthodox Marxist and Bolshevik-Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party of the working-class...
", "saboteur
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
"; etc.
In 1928 Roslavets' cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
October was played in the concert in Moscow celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Revolution. In 1930 Roslavets was accused of being a "protector" of the Association of the Moscow Authors which according to the "proletarian musician" was (propagating "light music" and "spreading of the counter-revolutionary literature"). The "Roslavets case" constructed by Viktor Bely, Alexandr Davidenko, V. Klemens, Yuri Keldysh, Semion Korev, Zara Levina
Zara Levina
Zara Aleksandrovna Levina , February 5, 1906 – Moscow, June 27, 1976) was a pianist and composer. She was from a Jewish family. Zara Levina studied piano in the Odessa Conservatory, which she passed with a gold metal...
, Georgi Polyanovsky, Alexey Sergeev and Boris Shekhter was crowned by a purge which resulted in a professional prohibition. In 1930 Roslavets was banned from obtaining a position as a political editor for two years. In order to save his life, Roslavets publicly repented his former "political mistakes".
During 1932-33 he worked at the Musical Theater in Tashkent
Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
, now the capital of Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
; in 1933 the composer returned to Moscow, where earned a meager living teaching and taking occasional jobs. A victim of the political purge
Purge
In history, religion, and political science, a purge is the removal of people who are considered undesirable by those in power from a government, from another organization, or from society as a whole. Purges can be peaceful or violent; many will end with the imprisonment or exile of those purged,...
s; Roslavets could get no official position for the remainder of his life. Roslavets was not admitted to the Composers' Union, instead he became a member of the Musical Fund. Punitive measures against him had been planned in 1938, and the former "proletarian musicians" had already spread disinformation about him; however Roslavets suffered a severe stroke in 1939 and was a semi-invalid until his death following a second stroke in 1944. His last publication, a song, appeared in 1942.
He is buried in Vagan'kov cemetery in Moscow, and the authorities have now granted permission to mark his grave.
Style
While still a student, Roslavets had been engaged in vigorous artistic debates provoked by Russian FuturismFuturism
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century.Futurism or futurist may refer to:* Afrofuturism, an African-American and African diaspora subculture* Cubo-Futurism* Ego-Futurism...
, and was close to artists such as Kasimir Malevich, Aristarkh Lentulov
Aristarkh Lentulov
Aristarkh Lentulov was a major Russian avant-garde artist of Cubist orientation who also worked on set designs for the theatre.- Biography :...
, Vasily Kamensky
Vasily Kamensky
Vasily Vasilevich Kamensky was a Russian Futurist poet, playwright, and artist as well as one of the first Russian aviators.Kamensky was born in the Perm district, where his father was an inspector of goldfields...
, David Burlyuk and others. Deeply influenced by the later works of Alexander Scriabin
Alexander Scriabin
Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin was a Russian composer and pianist who initially developed a lyrical and idiosyncratic tonal language inspired by the music of Frédéric Chopin. Quite independent of the innovations of Arnold Schoenberg, Scriabin developed an increasingly atonal musical system,...
and his mystic chord, Roslavets' quest for a personal language began not later than in 1907; it led to his propounding a "new system of sound organisation" based on "synthetic chords" that contain both the horizontal and vertical sound-material for a work (a concept close to that of Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
's twelve-tone
Twelve-tone technique
Twelve-tone technique is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold Schoenberg...
serialism
Serialism
In music, serialism is a method or technique of composition that uses a series of values to manipulate different musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though his contemporaries were also working to establish serialism as one example of...
). Following an article of Vyacheslav Karatygin, published in February 1915, Roslavets was sometimes referred to as "the Russian Schoenberg," but in 1914 Nikolay Myaskovsky
Nikolai Myaskovsky
Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky was a Russian and Soviet composer. He is sometimes referred to as the "father of the Soviet symphony".-Early years and first important works:...
had already stressed the original nature of Roslavets' style. In an article published in 1925 the critic Yevgeni Braudo pointed out that this was no more helpful than calling Schoenberg "the German Debussy." Although in the 1920s Roslavets criticized Scriabin because of his "over-simplification", the “new system of sound organisation” was first of all inspired by Scriabin's ideas and concepts were transmitted by Leonid Sabaneyev
Leonid Sabaneyev
Leonid Leonidovich Sabaneyev or Sabaneyeff or Sabaneev was a Russian musicologist, music critic, composer and scientist.-Biography:...
, a close friend of both Scriabin and Roslavets.
Though the "new system of sound organisation" regulates the whole twelve-tone chromatic scale
Chromatic scale
The chromatic scale is a musical scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone apart. On a modern piano or other equal-tempered instrument, all the half steps are the same size...
, most of Roslavets’ "synthetic chords" consist of six to nine tones. In the 1920s Roslavets developed his system, expanding it to encompass counterpoint, rhythm, and musical form while elaborating new principles of teaching. In Roslavets' earlier romances
Romance (music)
The term romance has a centuries-long history. Applied to narrative ballads in Spain, it came to be used by the 18th century for simple lyrical pieces not only for voice, but also for instruments alone. During the 18th and 19th centuries Russian composers developed the French variety of the...
and chamber instrumental compositions those sets were already elaborated side by side with expanded tonality
Tonality
Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center", or tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and was borrowed by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840...
and free atonality
Atonality
Atonality in its broadest sense describes music that lacks a tonal center, or key. Atonality in this sense usually describes compositions written from about 1908 to the present day where a hierarchy of pitches focusing on a single, central tone is not used, and the notes of the chromatic scale...
. The mature forms of this "new system of sound organization" are typical for the pieces composed between 1913 and 1917, such as Sad Landscapes (1913), Three Compositions for Voice and Piano (1913), String Quartet No.1 (1913), Four Compositions for Voice and Piano (1913–14), and the Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 (1914) and 2 (1916, reconstructed by Eduard Babasian), etc.
After the Bolshevik revolution, Roslavets made an important contribution to the "revolutionary propaganda in music" in such compositions as the cantata October (1927) and numerous songs. However, his symphonic poem Komsomoliya (1928), demonstrates an extraordinary mastership, a very complex and highly modern compositional technique, far from the simplification typical for "propaganda works".
In Tashkent
Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
, he turned for a while to working with folk material, producing among other works the first Uzbek
Culture of Uzbekistan
The Culture of Uzbekistan has a wide mix of ethnic groups and cultures, with the Uzbeks being the majority group. In 1995, about 71% of Uzbekistan's population was Uzbek. The chief minority groups were Russians , Tajiks , Kazaks , Tatars , and Karakalpaks and other minority groups include...
ballet, Pakhta (Cotton). The works of his last years in Moscow show a simplification of his characteristic language to admit an expanded conception of tonality (for instance in the 24 Preludes for violin and piano), but are still highly professional. Among Roslavets' later compositions, the Chamber symphony (1934–35) demonstrates one of the peaks of his "new system of sound organisation" in its later phase.
Posthumous reputation
Upon Roslavets's death his apartment was ransacked by a group of former "proletarian musicians" who confiscated many manuscripts. Luckily, Roslavets's widow succeeded in hiding many manuscripts; afterwards she handed them over to TsGALI (Central state archive for literature and art, Moscow; nowadays called RGALI, or Russian state archive for literature and art). Some manuscripts were kept by Roslavets's favourite pupil, P. Teplov; nowadays they are in the State Central Glinka-Museum for Musical Culture. According to Teplov, Roslavets's enemies were hunting for his manuscripts after his death and destroyed some of them.In 1967 the niece of the composer, Efrosinya Roslavets, undertook the first steps after the rehabilitation of her uncle; thanks to E. Roslavets, it has been found out that the composer had not submitted to the political repressive measures. This important step, that the refusal to play Roslavets's compositions was justified for the reason that Roslavets belonged "to the arrested peoples’ enemies," did not improve the situation; Roslavets's output was suppressed. In 1967 the employee of the Glinka-Museum, Georgi Kirkor, refused Efrosinya Roslavets access to the museum-cards; Kirkor declared Nikolai Roslavets "to be alien to the people" and accused the composer of "relations with the world of Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
." This dangerous accusation was caused by the fact that Leonid Sabaneyev
Leonid Sabaneyev
Leonid Leonidovich Sabaneyev or Sabaneyeff or Sabaneev was a Russian musicologist, music critic, composer and scientist.-Biography:...
, a close friend of Roslavets, and a keen enemy of Soviets, had propagated Jewish music; the ASM had also propagted Jewish composers. Since late 1970s, Roslavets's researcher and publisher, Marina Lobanova, was accused and prosecuted because of "Zionist activities" too, not least because of her relationship to one of the founders of the state of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. In 1967 the leading officials of the Soviet Composers' Union, Vano Muradeli
Vano Muradeli
Vano Muradeli was a Soviet Georgian composer.Born in Gori, Georgia, then part of Imperial Russia, he graduated from Tbilisi State Conservatory in 1931. From 1934 to 1938, he worked at the Moscow Conservatory. From 1942 to 1944, he served as a principal and artistic director of the Central Ensemble...
and Anatoly Novikov, as well as the union’s chief, Tikhon Khrennikov
Tikhon Khrennikov
Tikhon Nikolayevich Khrennikov was a Russian and Soviet composer, pianist, leader of the Union of Soviet Composers, who was also known for his political activities...
, refused to meet Efrosinya Roslavets. For thirty years, Roslavets's name, expunged from the musical dictionaries, was hardly mentioned in Soviet musical literature; even after perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
began, scholars could only hear such comments as "Roslavets's works are not worth the paper they are written on." [16] His name reappeared in a Soviet musical dictionary in 1978 in a negative context. Typical of the highly negative official attitude towards Roslavets were sentences like those: "Roslavets is our enemy," "he is a composer whose music is not worth the paper on which it is written down," "Roslavets's tomb should be destroyed."
In the West, Detlef Gojowy (1934–2008) struggled for a long time for Roslavets. For his activities Gojowy was constantly ideologically attacked due to the guidance of officials of the Soviet Composers' Union, many times personally by Tikhon Khrennikov, as well as by powerful enemies of Roslavets, their comrades, and the magazine "Soviet Music." Until 1989, Gojowy was treated as a "warlike anti-communist," a persona non grata. The copies of his articles which the journalist sent to his Soviet colleagues were confiscated by the Soviet duty; he was not allowed to get a Soviet visa. As a result, Gojowy had to use secondary sources for his studies which did not always contain correct information. For example, conjectures appeared in some publications of Gojowy about the "Ukrainian" origin of Roslavets; non-critically reproduced by other writers, they became the basis for the distribution of one more myth about the composer.
On December, 27th 1980 a concert with M. Lobanova’s introductory took place place in Mark Milman's club for Chamber music; a section of this concert was devoted to Roslavets's music. According to Edison Denisov
Edison Denisov
Edison Vasilievich Denisov was a Russian composer of so called "Underground" — "Anti-Collectivist", "alternative" or "nonconformist" division in the Soviet music.-Biography:...
, the leaders of the Composers' Union of the Soviet Union banned a concert entirely devoted to the composer. After the first publication about Roslavets's original theoretical concept, based on archival materials (Lobanova 1983) had appeared, M. Lobanova's lecture on Roslavets's musical-theoretical system , declared in the program of the international conference "Musica nel nostro tempo" (Milan) was forbidden in 1984: leading functionaries of the Composers' Union of the Soviet Union had accused the researcher of "illegal contacts to the West." After that, dismissal by Lobanova from the Moscow conservatory was attempted as well as deprivation of her scientific degree and rights for teaching; soon, they tried to use an application of retaliatory psychiatry with the dissident diagnosis against Lobanova.
In 1989 Efrosinja Roslavets requested the Moscow composer organisation, that had just proclaimed itself to be independent from Tikhon Khrennikov's Composers' Union of the Soviet Union, to reconstruct and publish Roslavets's works and to restore Roslavets's grave. Roslavets's niece entrusted officially M. Lobanova these tasks. In 1990, after a long struggle, including that against criminal structures, thanks to assistance of the head of the Moscow composer organisation, Georgi Dmitriev, Roslavets's grave was identified and restored according to Lobanova's plans authorised by the composer's niece.
In 1989 the Moscow publishing house "Music" printed the collection "Nikolai Roslavets. Piano compositions" ed. by Nikolai Kopchevsky, reproducing many typing errors of lifetime editions. The preface to the collection, written by Yuri Kholopov
Yuri Kholopov
Yuri Nikolaevich Kholopov was a famous Russian musicologist, music theorist, doctor of arts, and professor of the Moscow Conservatoire.-Biography:...
, caused indignation of Efrosinja Roslavets. In her letters dated with 28.01.90 to director of the State Central Glinka-Museum for Musical Culture as well as to the director of the publishing house "Music" and the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Soviet music," the niece of the composer protested against slander, discredit of Roslavets's relatives, false information to archives, Roslavets's creativity, etc. E. Roslavets's special concern was caused by false data on Roslavets's creativity and conditions of archival materials: from her point of view, a reasoning on chaotic conditions of archival materials and careless relatives could excuse possible plunder of Roslavets's heritage and its further falsifications. After refusal in the publication in the USSR and in Russia one of the letters of Roslavets's niece, who has closed access to her personal materials in the Glinka-Museum, nevertheless, has been published in Germany in 1995.". The famous explorer of Russian avant-Garde, Nikolai Ivanovich Khardzhiev, expressed himself much sharper as E. Roslavets according Yuri Kholopov
Yuri Kholopov
Yuri Nikolaevich Kholopov was a famous Russian musicologist, music theorist, doctor of arts, and professor of the Moscow Conservatoire.-Biography:...
's preface (a letter from 5.12.1990 to M. Lobanova).
In 1989 M. Lobanova found out in archive the score of the First violin concerto by Roslavets; the score was declared to be lost in the diploma paper by A. Puchina written at the Moscow conservatory under the direction of Edison Denisov in 1981. In order of the publishing house "Le Chant du Monde", Edison Denisov was going to orchestrate the version of the First violin concerto for violin and piano published in 1927; however, the discovery of the score crossed out those plans. Soon after the world orchestral premiere of the composition played by Tatyana Grindenko under Fedor Glushchenko (Moscow, on November, 18th, 1989) an article in "RMG" ("The Russian musical newspaper," 1989, № 12, p. 8) appeared, containing false information about the authorship of archival discovery. Later, the newspaper published a refutation with regrets towards Lobanova ("RMG," 1990, № 5, p. 4). In 1989 the world premiere of Roslavets's symphonic poem "In the hours of the New moon" reconstructed by M. Lobanova was sabotaged in Moscow: the prepared and paid material disappeared from the Bureau for propagation of Soviet music. The world premiere of the poem executed by symphonic orchestra of Radio Saarbrücken under Heinz Holliger
Heinz Holliger
Heinz Holliger Heinz Holliger Heinz Holliger (born 21 May 1939 is a Swiss oboist, composer and conductor.-Biography:He was born in Langenthal, Switzerland, and began his musical education at the conservatories of Bern and Basel. He studied composition with Sándor Veress and Pierre Boulez...
has taken place on June, 14th, 1990 in Saarbrücken in absence of the author of reconstruction: the Foreign commission of the Composers' Union of the USSR has forbidden Lobanova's travel, despite the official invitation of the publishing house B. Schott und Söhne (nowadays: Schott Musik International).
Although the discovery and introduction of Roslavets's earlier not known compositions as well beginning of publication of his heritage meant "Roslavets's revival," some of Roslavets's compatriots, among them composers of modern wing, stressed that Roslavets's work was of no interest for them: so, in an extensive discussion devoted to discovery of a heritage of Russian musical avant-garde (Heidelberg, 1.11.1991), it was Victor Suslin who categorically expressed that Roslavets's creativity was "of no importance" for him, and Elena Firsova
Elena Firsova
Elena Olegovna Firsova is a Russian composer.-Life:She was born in Leningrad into the family of physicists Oleg Firsov and Viktoria Lichko. She studied music in Moscow with Alexander Pirumov, Yuri Kholopov, Edison Denisov and Philip Herschkowitz...
underlined that Roslavets's music was "of no interest" for her.
According to the Russian newspaper "Kommersant-Daily", the former editor in chief of the Moscow publishing house "Kompositor," Vladimir Pikul (*1937), helped in 1991 Efrossinya Roslavets by publishing of the works by Nikolai Roslavets in the publishing house B. Schott & Söhne. According to Vladimir Pikul he had received for his help a commission of 33,500 DM which he invested in the study of his children in Germany. When Tichon Chrennikov got to know that facts, he accused Vladimir Pikul of acquiring illegally 33,500 DM which would belong to the Soviet Composers' Union. On the 6th of May, 1991 a charge against W. Pikul because of "misappropriation of public money" was put by the Soviet Composers' Union at a Moscow district public prosecutor's office. Because a big sum in foreign currency was concerned and there was at that time still no moratorium for capital punishment in Russia, this accusation threatened Pikul the highest punitive measures up to the shooting. Further the inquiries against Pikul were stopped. Nevertheless, in March, 1992 the Composers' Union required new inquiries against Pikul, and a new penal procedure was carried out which was also stopped. At that time Pikul had lost his position to Grigory Woronow (1948–2008); he went to court and won two court procedures. In spite of these court decisions, Pikul did not get back his position, because it was "crossed out"; finally, Pikul required Pikul of Tichon Chrennikov compensation at the rate of 33,500 DM.
In 1991 the left pro-soviet publishing house "Le Chant du Monde", privileged in the Soviet Union as a member of so called "VAAP-family", declared seven unfinished compositions by Roslavets ostensibly completed by Alexander Raskatov
Alexander Raskatov
Alexander Mikhailovich Raskatov is a Russian composer.-Life:Alexander Raskatov, a son of a leading journalist of the magazine Krokodil, studied composition under Albert Leman at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1990 he was composer in residence at Stetson University and 1998 in Lockenhaus...
: the vocal cycle "A. Blok in memorian," the symphonic poem "In the hours of the New moon," "Music for string quartet," Sonata № 1 (1925) and № 2 (1926) for viola and piano, Piano sonata № 6 and "Chamber symphony" (1926), besides a trancription of the song "Knock!" for baritone and percussions was mentioned.
Actually, the vocal cycle "A. Blok in memoriam" and the symphonic poem "In the hours of the New moon" were finished by Roslavets himself. Archival materials to the Sixth piano sonata contain no end; that makes authentic reconstruction impossible. "Music for a string quartet" is nothing but invention: Roslavets never wrote and was never going to write such a composition. Declared in the program of "Le Chant du Monde" "Viola sonata № 1" (1925) is actually a sketch which Roslavets refused to finish. Original Viola sonata № 1, wrongly named "Viola sonata № 2" in the list of "Le Chant du Monde," was finished by Roslavets in 1926. The draught copy did not need to be completed: Viola sonata № 1 was reconstructed and published by M. Lobanova. The original Viola sonata № 2 was composed not in 1926 as it was underlined in the list of "Le Chant du Monde," but in 1930s; it also did not require to be completed and was published by M. Lobanova. "Chamber symphony" (1926) in the list of "Le Chant du Monde" is actually a sketch which Roslavets refused to finish. The sketch does not allow authentic reconstruction of the cycle as well as of its parts; doubtful it is the instrumentation which Raskatov used: the marks in particello specified neither the harp, nor a piano, and six percussion instruments are completely alien to Roslavets's stylistics. The original Chamber symphony by Roslavets (1934–1935) has been written for 18 instruments, indeed; in the sketch of 1926 less instruments were marked.
All those circumstances caused chaos and strongly complicated studying and propagation of Roslavets's heritage. Severe misunderstandings arose in connection with viola sonatas by Roslavets and its records. So, it was falsely proclaimed, that "Viola sonata № 1 and 2" had been recorded on a CD ("Roslavets. Musique de chambre" [Harmonia mundi, LDC 288 047]): actually, it was the above mentioned sketch of 1925 and Viola sonata № 1 (1926), finished by Roslavets himself: in the contrary to statements in the CD-booklet, this composition had never required to be completed. Information about the reconstruction of a symphonic poem "In the hours of the New moon" and other compositions by Roslavets were spread by musical critics. So, Gerard McBurney reported in 1990 about the poem "In the hours of the New moon" finished by Raskatov on the basis of the incomplete score sketch; reconstruction of the work finished by Roslavets himself, has also been realized by M. Lobanova on the basis of almost complete set of orchestral voices, while the absent ones were reconstructed on a basis of the score sketch. Anna Ferenc mentions Alexander Raskatov's reconstruction of the symphonic poem in a report on the state of Roslavets's rehabilitation in 1992. In the booklet to the CD Hyperion (CDA 67484) written by Calum McDonald the record of the poem "In the hours of the New moon" performed by the BBC orchestra Scotland under Ilan Volkov was again attributed as a work completed by Raskatov; actually, the record based on M. Lobanova's reconstruction. Besides, in this booklet-text by Calum McDonald the world premiere of a poem "In the hours of the New moon" in Saarbrücken was wrongly connected with Raskatov, too. On January, 30th, 2009 the decision of the Hamburg court (GZ: 1004/08JB01 GK: 175) placed a ban on saling of CD Hyperion (CDA 67484) with the booklet containing the above-mentioned false information. According to the above mentioned facts, Hyperion Records, Ltd., changed the data about a poem "In the hours of the New Moon" on its site, naming the author of reconstruction, M. Lobanova. Recently, the booklet-text by Calum McDonald was also revided according to the true facts.
Mistaken information on Roslavets's life and creativity is also found in other sources such as the site http://home.wanadoo.nl/ovar/roslavetz.htm (Nikolai Andreevich Roslavetz. Internet Edition compiled by Onno van Rijen).
Recently there has been a trend to use Roslavets's works for nationalistic purposes. These attempts contradict Roslavets's expressed view of himself as a cosmopolitan artist.
Today Roslavets's most important compositions have been published by Schott Musik International/Kompositor International, Mainz (See the site [1]), edited by M. Lobanova. For all her reconstructions M. Lobanova did not get any honorar. This edition aims to present an authentic reconstruction of Roslavets's heritage. A considerable part of this edition reproduces the works earlier stored in archives which required editorial preparation. Other parts are based on materials to the compositions, finished by the composer himself and supposing authentic reconstruction. By re-publication of compositions, published during lifetime of the author, typing errors have been corrected. The publishing program is far from end: many compositions are prepared for printing.
The concept of "New moon" and Roslavets's poem itself became cult status in recent years. The title "In the hours of the New moon" as well as Roslavets's poem was used in E. Kloke's musical-visual performance, realized in Germany in 2000 as a part of the EXPO 2000; a program title "New Moon" carried concerts of Basel Sinfonietta under Fabrice Bollon (on March, 21-23st 2009, Basel, Geneva, Zurich) in which Roslavets's poem has been executed.
Roslavets's creativity was not ignored by the notorious piracy portal "The Pirate Bay," which offered internet users some compositions by Roslavets, including the poem "In the hours of the New Moon" conducted by Heinz Holliger.
Works (selected list)
Stage:- "Pakhta" (Cotton), ballet-pantomime (1931–32)
Vocal:
- Heaven and Earth, mystery after Byron (1912);
- On the Earth’s Death, symphonic poem after Jules LaforgueJules LaforgueJules Laforgue was an innovative Franco-Uruguayan poet, often referred to as a Symbolist poet. Critics and commentators have also pointed to Impressionism as a direct influence and his poetry has been called "part-symbolist, part-impressionist".-Life:...
(before 1919) - baritone, chorus and orchestra; lost; - October, cantata after Vasily Alexandrovsky, Vladimir, Kirillov, Sergey Obradovich—mezzo-soprano, mixed chorus and orchestra (1927);
- Komsomoliya, symphonic poem—mixed chorus and orchestra (1928), ed. by Marina Lobanova; Schott ED 8256;
- Black Town, symphonic poem after Alexandre Zharov—bas, chorus and orchestra (1929?), lost;
- To Mayakovsky’s Death (14. IV. 1930) after Pimen Panchenko—bas and orchestra (1930);
For voice and piano:
- 3 Volumes ed. my Marina Lobanova by Schott Music International; Schott ED 8435, 8436, 8437;
Orchestral:
- Symphony in C minor (1910), ed. by Marina Lobanova; Kompositor Internationa 51585;
- In the Hours of the New Moon, symphonic poem presumably after Jules LaforgueJules LaforgueJules Laforgue was an innovative Franco-Uruguayan poet, often referred to as a Symbolist poet. Critics and commentators have also pointed to Impressionism as a direct influence and his poetry has been called "part-symbolist, part-impressionist".-Life:...
(approx. 1912-13); reconstructed and ed. by Marina Lobanova; Schott ED 8107; - The Man and the Sea, symphonic poem after Baudelaire (1921), lost;
- Violin Concerto No.1 (1925); Schott ED 7823 (score); Schott ED 7824 (violin and piano);
- Violin Concerto No.2 (1936), ed. by Marina Lobanova; Kompositor International 52700;
Chamber music:
- Chamber symphony for 18 players (1934–35), ed. by M. Lobanova; Kompositor International 51581;
- NocturneNocturneA nocturne is usually a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night...
for harpHarpThe harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
, oboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
, 2 violas and cello (1913); Schott ED 8129; - 5 String Quartets: 1913 (Schott ED 8126); lost; 1920 (Schott ED 8027); 1939 (not complete score); 1941 (Schott ED 8128);
- 5 Piano Trios: lost; 1920 (reconstructed and ed. by M. Lobanova; Schott ED 8059); 1921 (Schott ED 8035); 1927 (identified and ed. by M. Lobanova; Schott ED 8036); lost;
Violin and piano:
- 6 Sonatas: 1913; 1917 (reconstructed and ed. by M. Lobanova; Schott ED 8043); lost; 1920 (Schott ED 8044); 1922-23 (lost); 1930s (identified and ed. by M. Lobanova; Schott ED 8431);
- Trois poèmes: Poéme doleureuex, Poème lyrique, Poème (1909–10); Schott (in preparation);
- Poème lyrique (1910s); Schott (in preparation);
- Poème (1915); Schott ED 8261;
- Three Dances (1923); Schott ED 8261;
- Seven Pieces in first position" (1930s); Schott VLB 131;
- Invention and Nocturne (1935); Schott (in preparation);
- 24 Preludes (1941–42); Schott ED 7940;
Viola and piano:
- Sonata No.1 (1926); reconstructed and ed. by M. Lobanova; Schott ED 8177;
- Sonata No.2 (1930s); ed. by M. Lobanova; Schott ED 8178;
Cello and piano
- Dance of the White Girls (1912), ed. by M. Lobanova; Schott ED 8045;
- Meditation (1921);
- Sonata No.1 (1921); Schott ED 8038;
- Sonata No.2 (1921–1922), ed. by M. Lobanova; Schott ED 8039;
Piano music:
- Three Etudes (1914); Schott ED 7907;
- Three Compositions (1914); Schott ED 7907;
- Two Compositions (1915); Schott ED 7907;
- Prelude (1915); Schott ED 7907;
- 6 Piano Sonatas: 1914 (Schott ED 7941); 1916, reconstructed by Eduard Babasyan (Schott 8391); lost; 1923 (lost); 1923 (Schott ED 8392); 1928 (not complete);
- Berceuse (1919); Schott (in preparation);
- Danse (1919); Schott (in preparation);
- Valse (1919), reconstructed by M. Lobanova; Schott (in preparation);
- Prelude (1919 or 1921), reconstructed by M. Lobanova; Schott (in preparation);
- Four Compositions (1919–1921): Prélude (lost); Poème; Prélude (lost); Prélude; Schott (in preparation);
- Five Preludes (1919–22); Schott ED 7907;
- Two Poems (1920); Schott ED 7907;
Literature
- Gojowy D. N. A. Roslavec, ein früher Zwölftonkomponist. "Die Musikforschung" 22 (1969), S. 22-38
- Gojowy D. Sowjetische Avantgardisten. Musik und Bildung 1969, S. 537-542
- Slonimsky N. Music since 1900. 4th edition. N.Y., 1971
- Gojowy D. Neue sowjetische Musik der 20er Jahre. Laaber 1980
- Foreman, Lewis. "In Search of a Soviet Pioneer: Nikolai Roslavets", Tempo, New Series, No. 135, (Dec., 1980), pp. 27–29.
- Lobanova M. L’eredità die N. A. R. ne campo della teoria musicale. "Musica/Realtà" 12 (1983), p. 41-64
- Wehrmeyer A. Studien zum russischen Musikdenken um 1920. Frankfurt/Main usw.: Peter Lang, 1991, S. 139ff.
- Gojowy D. Sinowi Borissowitsch im Keller entdeckt. Sowjetische Musikwissenschaft in der Perestrojka. "Das Orchester" 39 (1991), H. 11, S. 1224
- Gojowy D. Wiederentdeckte Vergangenheit. Die russisch-sowjetische Avantgarde der 10er und 20er Jahre rehabilitiert? – In: Neue Musik im politischen Wandel. Veröffentlichungen des Darmstädter Instituts für Neue Musik und musikalische Erziehung, Bd. 32. Mainz 1991, S. 9-22
- "Internationale Musik-Festivals Heidelberg 1991 und 1992. Russische Avantgarde. Musikavantgarde im Osten Europas. Dokumentation – Kongressbericht ". Heidelberg 1992
- McKnight Ch. Nikolaj Roslavets. Diss. Cornell Univ., Ithaca/N.Y., 1994
- Lobanova M. Nikolaj Roslawez. Biographie eines Künstlers—Legende, Lüge, Wahrheit. "Visionen und Aufbrüche. Zur Krise der modernen Musik 1908-1933". Hrsg. von W. Gruhn u.a. Kassel 1994, S. 45-62
- Lobanova M. Der Fall Nikolaj Roslawez. "Die Neue Zeitschrift für Musik" 1995, Nr. 1; S. 40-43
- Lobanova M. Nikolaj Roslavetz—Ein Schicksal unter der Diktatur. "Verfemte Musik. Komponisten in den Diktaturen unseres Jahrhunderts. Dokumentation des Kolloquiums vom 9.-12. Januar 1993 in Dresden". Hrsg. von J. Braun, H. T. Hoffmann und V. Karbusicky. Frankfurt/Main usw.: Peter Lang, 1995, S. 159-176; 2. Auflage: 1998
- Lobanova M. Nikolaj Andreevič Roslavec und die Kultur seiner Zeit. Mit einem Vorwort von György Ligeti. Frankfurt/Main usw.: Peter Lang, 1997
- Hakobian, Levon, Music of the Soviet Age 1917-1987, Stockholm 1998 ISBN 9197213349
- Roslawez N. "Pierrot lunaire" von Arnold Schönberg. Übersetzung, Einleitung (Roslawez und Schönberg) und Kommentar von Marina Lobanova. In: Dissonanz, 61/1999, S. 22-27
- Hust Chr. Tonalitätskonstruktion in den Klaviersonaten von N. A. Roslavec. "Die Musikforschung" 54 (2001), S. 429-437
- Lobanova M. „Das neue System der Tonorganisation" von Nikolaj Andreevič Roslavec. "Die Musikforschung" 54 (2001), S. 400-428
- Lobanova M. Nicolaj Roslavec und sein tragisches Erbe. "Musikgeschichte in Mittel- und Osteuropa. Mitteilungen der internationalen Arbeitsgemeinschaft an der Universität Leipzig", H. 10. Leipzig 2005, S. 241-272
- Lobanova M. Mystiker • Magier • Theosoph • Theurg: Alexander Skrjabin und seine Zeit. Hamburg 2004
- Gojowy D. Musikstunden. Beobachtungen, Verfolgungen und Chroniken neuer Tonkunst. Köln 2008
- Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart
- Lobanova M. Nikolai Andreyevich Roslavets i kultura ego vremeni. St. Petersburg: Petroglif, 2011. 352 p. ISBN 978-5-98712-059-0