Yuri Khanon
Encyclopedia
Yuri Khanon is a pen name
of Yuri Feliksovich Soloviev-Savoyarov , a Russia
n composer
. Prior to 1993, he wrote under a pen name Yuri Khanin, but later transformed it into Yuri Khanon, spelling it in a pre-1918 Russian style
as ХанонЪ. Khanon was born on Juny 16, 1965 in Leningrad
. In 1988 he became a laureate of the European Film Awards (“Felix” Award, the European analog of the Oscar Award), and in 1989 he won “Nika”, a Russian cinema
tographic award. Due to his numerous concerts throughout Russia as well as to TV and cinema appearances Khanon reached the peak of his popularity in 1988-1992, but in 1993 decided to stop performing in public.
, specializing in composition
. He named Erik Satie
and Alexander Skryabin as his teachers and predecessors, worshipping their ideology
and originality.
Yuri Khanon is not just a composer; he is also a writer, a philosopher, a painter
, a studio pianist, and a botanist-selectionist
. Khanon is author of libretto
and texts of almost all his works. His grandfather was Mikhail Savoyarov
, a comic actor and composer, who was very famous in St.Petersburg (Petrograd) on the eve of the Revolution of 1917.
Khanon became famous in 1988-1991. During this period he composed soundtracks to three films, gave numerous concerts, had several appearances on TV and published a series of articles and interview
s. Many of his performances yielded public scandals, especially his concerts “Music of Dogs” (Moscow, December 1988) and “Dried Embryo
s”, where he performed with Erik Satie (Leningrad, May 1991). In 1992 produced CD "Olympia" (England), symphonic works of Khanon (as a Yuri Khanin): "Five smallest orgasm
s", "A Certain Concert for piano and orchestra" and "Middle Symphony".
After 1992 Khanon ceased his public and TV appearances, as well as interviews and concerts, and stopped publishing his music works
. Instead he decided, in his own words, “...to work and live in his own company ”. Khanon never participated in any professional organizations and is notable for his independent ideas and reclusive way of life.
Among Khanon’s works for theatre the most famous is “The Middle Duo” ballet (the first part of his “Middle Symphony”), put on the stage in Mariinsky theatre
in 1998 and short-listed for the Golden Mask
Theatre Award in 2000, then put on the stage in Bolshoy Theatre and in New York City Ballet
theatre in 2006. As a concert number “The Middle Duo” is performed around the world by almost all soloist
s of Russian ballet
, though for 10 years Khanon’s music has been used without his permission.
From the very beginning of his career Khanon deliberately evaded calling himself a composer, a writer, or an artist. Creative work is the least important for him, because, according to his ideas, there’s more than enough composers and artists in our world. “It’s impossible to walk down the street without bumping into just another writer or composer,” – Khanon ironically
wrote in one of his articles in 1993. He viewed his main mission not in creating works of art, but in promotion of certain concepts put to life by the means of art.
only for a short period between 1988 and 1991. He composed his first soundtrack (for “Days of Eclipse
” by Alexander Sokurov
) already as a Conservatory
student.
The film “Days of Eclipse
” won the “Euro-Oscar” ("Felix Award") of the European Film Academy
in November 1988 in West Berlin
in the “Best Music” special nomination
. In spite of his great success, after 1991 Yuri Khanon never returned to writing music for the cinema.
Filmography :
technique. The novel is written as a stylization
of literary and spoken language of the beginning of the 20th century
.
In the year 2010 Center of Average Music and the publishing house “Faces of Russia” released another thick work of music history: “Erik Satie
, Yuri Khanon. Antedate memories”. The book has a volume of 700 pages and it is not accidentally written in a provocative and free form. It includes all literary works, critical essay
s, notes and even notebooks of Erik Satie, as well as almost all the letters, more than sixty drawings and all his entire life, from birth to death. This is the first book of Sati on Sati in Russian
.
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
of Yuri Feliksovich Soloviev-Savoyarov , a 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...
n composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
. Prior to 1993, he wrote under a pen name Yuri Khanin, but later transformed it into Yuri Khanon, spelling it in a pre-1918 Russian style
Reforms of Russian orthography
The reform of Russian orthography refers to changes made to the Russian alphabet over the course of the history of the Russian language.- Early Changes :...
as ХанонЪ. Khanon was born on Juny 16, 1965 in Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
. In 1988 he became a laureate of the European Film Awards (“Felix” Award, the European analog of the Oscar Award), and in 1989 he won “Nika”, a Russian cinema
Cinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
tographic award. Due to his numerous concerts throughout Russia as well as to TV and cinema appearances Khanon reached the peak of his popularity in 1988-1992, but in 1993 decided to stop performing in public.
Biography
In 1988, in spite of an opposition of his old-fashioned professors, Yuri Khanon managed to graduate from the Leningrad ConservatorySaint Petersburg Conservatory
The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory is a music school in Saint Petersburg. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members and 1,400 students.-History:...
, specializing in composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
. He named Erik Satie
Erik Satie
Éric Alfred Leslie Satie was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde...
and Alexander Skryabin as his teachers and predecessors, worshipping their ideology
Ideology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
and originality.
Yuri Khanon is not just a composer; he is also a writer, a philosopher, a painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, a studio pianist, and a botanist-selectionist
Selection (genetic algorithm)
Selection is the stage of a genetic algorithm in which individual genomes are chosen from a population for later breeding .A generic selection procedure may be implemented as follows:...
. Khanon is author of libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
and texts of almost all his works. His grandfather was Mikhail Savoyarov
Mikhail Savoyarov
Mikhail Savoyarov is a Russian chansonnier, composer, poet, comic actor and mime. In the first quarter of 20th century he was a famous satirical singer-songwriter. His popularity peak was in the years of war when he began to be called the King of eccentrics. It was also the time when he became...
, a comic actor and composer, who was very famous in St.Petersburg (Petrograd) on the eve of the Revolution of 1917.
Khanon became famous in 1988-1991. During this period he composed soundtracks to three films, gave numerous concerts, had several appearances on TV and published a series of articles and interview
Interview
An interview is a conversation between two people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee.- Interview as a Method for Qualitative Research:"Definition" -...
s. Many of his performances yielded public scandals, especially his concerts “Music of Dogs” (Moscow, December 1988) and “Dried Embryo
Embryo
An embryo is a multicellular diploid eukaryote in its earliest stage of development, from the time of first cell division until birth, hatching, or germination...
s”, where he performed with Erik Satie (Leningrad, May 1991). In 1992 produced CD "Olympia" (England), symphonic works of Khanon (as a Yuri Khanin): "Five smallest orgasm
Orgasm
Orgasm is the peak of the plateau phase of the sexual response cycle, characterized by an intense sensation of pleasure...
s", "A Certain Concert for piano and orchestra" and "Middle Symphony".
"Five Smallest orgasms, oc.29 (1986) were written as a direct response to Scriabin’s Poem of Ecstasy. A “Certain Concerto” for piano & orchestra, oc.31 (1987) was written in the genreGenreGenre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
of “false concerto”, concerto/deception, where the listener is constantly deceived, having his/her expectations crowned with emptiness. The theme of deception is one of the main features of Khanin’s creations. “Middle Symphony”, oc.40 (1990), with a text by the composer, is a large, quite extraordinary work with a rather unnatural and affected structure. It ends with a canonCanon (music)In music, a canon is a contrapuntal composition that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration . The initial melody is called the leader , while the imitative melody, which is played in a different voice, is called the follower...
in which the three singers sing the same text backwards for 81 barsBar (music)In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the top number of a...
. The text is very abstruse, in fact almost absurdAbsurdismIn philosophy, "The Absurd" refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any...
; it becomes necessary to overturn one’s impression of the whole symphony just listened to… Does this discussion exhaust the subject of this disc? I don’t know – I doubt it".
After 1992 Khanon ceased his public and TV appearances, as well as interviews and concerts, and stopped publishing his music works
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
. Instead he decided, in his own words, “...to work and live in his own company ”. Khanon never participated in any professional organizations and is notable for his independent ideas and reclusive way of life.
"... Beyond all doubts, Yuri Khanon came into the history of musicHistory of musicMusic is found in every known culture, past and present, varying wildly between times and places. Around 50,000 years ago, early modern humans began to disperse from Africa, reaching all the habitable continents...
as “the most closed and enigmatic composer”. He was 23 when he won fame in Europe and made a sensation in Russia, but, after only three years of performing in public he stopped any public appearances contrary to the standards of a composer’s careerCareerCareer is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life ". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work ....
. MetaphorMetaphorA metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
ically speaking, he stormed out and started a life of a recluse, thus having declared: “I’m done! You’d better think I exist no more!” And we, his contemporaries, have nothing to respond"...
- — prof.V.Tikhonov, “White Mask Empire” (Khangёre Simnun, Seoul
SeoulSeoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, 2003).
Among Khanon’s works for theatre the most famous is “The Middle Duo” ballet (the first part of his “Middle Symphony”), put on the stage in Mariinsky theatre
Mariinsky Theatre
The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. The...
in 1998 and short-listed for the Golden Mask
Golden Mask
The Golden Mask is a Russian theatre festival and the National Theatre Award established in 1994 by the Theatre Union of Russia. The award is given to productions in all genres of theatre art: drama, opera, ballet, operetta and musical, and puppet theatre. It presents the most significant...
Theatre Award in 2000, then put on the stage in Bolshoy Theatre and in New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
theatre in 2006. As a concert number “The Middle Duo” is performed around the world by almost all soloist
Soloist (ballet)
In ballet, a soloist is a dancer in a ballet company above the corps de ballet but below principal dancer....
s of Russian ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
, though for 10 years Khanon’s music has been used without his permission.
From the very beginning of his career Khanon deliberately evaded calling himself a composer, a writer, or an artist. Creative work is the least important for him, because, according to his ideas, there’s more than enough composers and artists in our world. “It’s impossible to walk down the street without bumping into just another writer or composer,” – Khanon ironically
Irony
Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions...
wrote in one of his articles in 1993. He viewed his main mission not in creating works of art, but in promotion of certain concepts put to life by the means of art.
"...Yuri Khanon is a doctrinaDoctrineDoctrine is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system...
ire and an adherent of canons. This means he is not a composer. For Khanon the art of composing music is just a way of expressing his dogmas. Other ways he uses are literature and performance. Khanon plays Erik Satie’s and Alexander Skryabin’s piano works for he sees them as his teachers, and he calls other composers “just some composers”. He himself writes a lot of music which can be either “middle” or “extreme”. <…> Khanon is a unique personality of our (and probably, some other) times, a strange and interesting person…"
- — ( Viktor Ekimovsky, “Auto-mono-graphy”)
Works
Yuri Khanon works almost in all sphere of academic music.- BalletBalletBallet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
s:
- “One step forward – two steps backward” (oc.24, 1986, based on a famous article by Vladimir LeninVladimir LeninVladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
). - “L’Os de chagrin” (oc.37, 1989, “The ShagreenShagreenShagreen is a type of leather or rawhide consisting of rough untanned skin, formerly made from a horse's back or that of an onager . Shagreen is now commonly made of the skins of sharks and rays....
Bone”, based on BalzacHonoré de BalzacHonoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....
's novel “La Peau de chagrinLa Peau de chagrinLa Peau de chagrin is an 1831 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac . Set in early 19th-century Paris, it tells the story of a young man who finds a magic piece of shagreen that fulfills his every desire. For each wish granted, however, the skin shrinks and consumes a portion of...
”). - “The Nutcrackle” (oc.43, 1990, based on Pyotr Tchaykovskii’sPyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
ballet “The NutcrackerThe NutcrackerThe Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
”). - “Sigelle” (oc.55, 1993, based on Adame’sAdolphe AdamAdolphe Charles Adam was a French composer and music critic. A prolific composer of operas and ballets, he is best known today for his ballets Giselle and Le corsaire , his operas Le postillon de Lonjumeau , Le toréador and Si j'étais roi , and his Christmas...
ballet “GiselleGiselleGiselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine...
”).
- OperaOperaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
s:
- “L’Os de chagrin” (oc.38, 1990, The Shagreen Bone opera-interludeEntr'acte' is French for "between the acts" . It can mean a pause between two parts of a stage production, synonymous to an intermission, but it more often indicates a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production...
from the ballet L’Os de chagrin). - “Dull Life” (oc.54, 1993, dull opera, librettoLibrettoA libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
of Yuri Khanon). - “The Force of Destiny” (oc.59, 1995, opera omonima based on opera La forza del destinoLa forza del destinoLa forza del destino is an Italian opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on a Spanish drama, Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino , by Ángel de Saavedra, Duke of Rivas, with a scene adapted from Friedrich Schiller's Wallensteins Lager. It was first performed...
of Giuseppe VerdiGiuseppe VerdiGiuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
). - “The Norm” (oc.65, 1997, opera incognita, based on opera “NormaNorma (opera)Norma is a tragedia lirica or opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after Norma, ossia L'infanticidio by Alexandre Soumet. First produced at La Scala on December 26, 1831, it is generally regarded as an example of the supreme height of the bel canto tradition...
” of Vincenzo BelliniVincenzo BelliniVincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
). - “What Zarathustra Said Indeed” (oc.68, 1998, clerical operette, based on “Thus Spoke ZarathustraThus Spoke ZarathustraThus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None is a philosophical novel by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, composed in four parts between 1883 and 1885...
” of Friedrich NietzscheFriedrich NietzscheFriedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
).
- Pieces for OrchestraOrchestraAn orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
:
- “The Symphony of Dogs” (oc.35, 1989).
- “The Middle Symphony” (oc.40, 1990).
- “Three Exreme Symphonies” (oc.60, 1996).
- “The LaughingNitrous oxideNitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas or sweet air, is a chemical compound with the formula . It is an oxide of nitrogen. At room temperature, it is a colorless non-flammable gas, with a slightly sweet odor and taste. It is used in surgery and dentistry for its anesthetic and analgesic...
Symphony” (oc.70, 1999). - “Leafing People Through” (a 5 hours long orchestral frescoFrescoFresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
oc.54, 1992), “The Inner Requiem” (albigenian), the “AgoniaAgoniaAgonia may refer to:* Pain* Passion , also called the Agony of Christ* Contest, competition, public contesta historical region between troad and mysia north of mt...
Dei” mystery and many other pieces of symphonic, chamberChamber musicChamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
, and piano musicPiano MusicPiano Music is a suite of four short pieces composed by Alexina Louie in 1982 for the Alliance for Canadian New Music Projects. The four pieces are The Enchanted Bells, Changes, Distant Memories, and Once upon a time....
.
«...Although Khanon calls Satie and Skryabin his teachers, it is not the music of these composers that attracts him but their tendency to link – some would say subordinate – their music to an ideaIdeaIn the most narrow sense, an idea is just whatever is before the mind when one thinks. Very often, ideas are construed as representational images; i.e. images of some object. In other contexts, ideas are taken to be concepts, although abstract concepts do not necessarily appear as images...
. According to Khanon, a composer is an ideologist with regard to his musical material. Elements of play (both semantic and phonetic), paradoxParadoxSimilar to Circular reasoning, A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition...
, the absurdAbsurdAbsurd or The Absurd may refer to:* Absurdity, general and technical usage - associated with extremely poor reasoning, the ridiculous, or nonsense....
and nonsense (word inversion and inventionInventionAn invention is a novel composition, device, or process. An invention may be derived from a pre-existing model or idea, or it could be independently conceived, in which case it may be a radical breakthrough. In addition, there is cultural invention, which is an innovative set of useful social...
, pseudo-quotation and limerickLimerickLimerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
) all lend Khanon's aesthetic a desire to outrage the listener…»
Works for the Cinema
Yuri Khanon worked for the cinemaCinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
only for a short period between 1988 and 1991. He composed his first soundtrack (for “Days of Eclipse
Days of Eclipse
Days of Eclipse is a 1988 Soviet film directed by Aleksandr Sokurov. Screenplay written by Yuri Arabov and Pyotr Kadochnikov based on a screenplay by Arkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky and very loosely based on their novel Definitely Maybe...
” by Alexander Sokurov
Alexander Sokurov
Alexander Nikolayevich Sokurov is a Russian filmmaker. His most significant works include a semi-documentary, Russian Ark , filmed in a single unedited shot, and Faust , which was honoured with the Golden Lion, the highest prize for the best film at the Venice Film Festival.- Life and work...
) already as a Conservatory
Saint Petersburg Conservatory
The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory is a music school in Saint Petersburg. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members and 1,400 students.-History:...
student.
"...Yuri Khanin, a young composer, this year a graduate of the Leningrad ConservatorySaint Petersburg ConservatoryThe N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory is a music school in Saint Petersburg. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members and 1,400 students.-History:...
managed to do everything about the orchestration, arrangement and choice of instruments in a very precise way. It was done with an ideal exactitude. Never before had I worked with composers so much, and I was really struck by his understanding. <…> I think that sound, no less than the image, should produce not only emotional impact, but is to have an altogether independent semantic meaning. The spirituality of the film as if finds its expression through the sound. And spiritualitySpiritualitySpirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
would not emerge by itself. If you might sometimes fail to keep alive the memory of a visual imageImageAn image is an artifact, for example a two-dimensional picture, that has a similar appearance to some subject—usually a physical object or a person.-Characteristics:...
in your mind and in your heart the soul would never forget soundSoundSound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...
s…"
- — ( Alexander Sokurov, from press-conference on September 26, 1988)
The film “Days of Eclipse
Days of Eclipse
Days of Eclipse is a 1988 Soviet film directed by Aleksandr Sokurov. Screenplay written by Yuri Arabov and Pyotr Kadochnikov based on a screenplay by Arkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky and very loosely based on their novel Definitely Maybe...
” won the “Euro-Oscar” ("Felix Award") of the European Film Academy
European Film Academy
The European Film Academy is an initiative of a group of European filmmakers who came together in Berlin on the occasion of the first presentation of the European Film Awards in November 1988.- European Film Academy :...
in November 1988 in West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
in the “Best Music” special nomination
Nomination
Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to an office, or the bestowing of an honor or award.In the context of elections for public office, a candidate who has been selected by a political party is normally said to be the nominee of that party...
. In spite of his great success, after 1991 Yuri Khanon never returned to writing music for the cinema.
Filmography :
- 1988 — “Days of EclipseDays of EclipseDays of Eclipse is a 1988 Soviet film directed by Aleksandr Sokurov. Screenplay written by Yuri Arabov and Pyotr Kadochnikov based on a screenplay by Arkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky and very loosely based on their novel Definitely Maybe...
” (composer) - 1989 — “Save and Preserve” (composer), (the film is based on “Madame BovaryMadame BovaryMadame Bovary is Gustave Flaubert's first published novel and is considered his masterpiece. The story focuses on a doctor's wife, Emma Bovary, who has adulterous affairs and lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life...
” by Gustave FlaubertGustave FlaubertGustave Flaubert was a French writer who is counted among the greatest Western novelists. He is known especially for his first published novel, Madame Bovary , and for his scrupulous devotion to his art and style.-Early life and education:Flaubert was born on December 12, 1821, in Rouen,...
). - 1990 — “The Petty Demon” (composer), (the film is based on “The Petty Demon” – a novel by Fyodor SologubFyodor SologubFyodor Sologub was a Russian Symbolist poet, novelist, playwright and essayist. He was the first writer to introduce the morbid, pessimistic elements characteristic of European fin de siècle literature and philosophy into Russian prose.-Early life:...
). - 1992 — “L’os de chagrin” (“Shagreen Bone”, Chagrenevaia Kost (ru), 38 min.) (a pseudodocumentalMockumentaryA mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...
opera-film, where Khanon acted as a composer, a script writerScreenwriterScreenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
- in collaboration with Igor Bezrukov - and also performed the leading part).
Literary works
Since 1983 Khanon writes fiction and non-fiction as an essayist and novelist. His most famous work is 700 pages long memoir novel “Skryabin As a Face” (1995) based on the 20 years long Khanon’s close acquaintance with the great Russian composer Alexander Skryabin. Part of the edition is a true polygraphic artwork produced with a natural leather binding, hand-made according to a 19th century19th century
The 19th century was a period in history marked by the collapse of the Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Holy Roman and Mughal empires...
technique. The novel is written as a stylization
Stylistics (linguistics)
Stylistics is the study and interpretation of texts from a linguistic perspective. As a discipline it links literary criticism and linguistics, but has no autonomous domain of its own...
of literary and spoken language of the beginning of the 20th century
20th century
Many people define the 20th century as running from January 1, 1901 to December 31, 2000, others would rather define it as beginning on January 1, 1900....
.
"...For the first time in the history of musicHistory of musicMusic is found in every known culture, past and present, varying wildly between times and places. Around 50,000 years ago, early modern humans began to disperse from Africa, reaching all the habitable continents...
the narrator is not a biographer or a critic, not even a writer or a philosopher, but Alexander Skryabin’s counterpart and colleague and in a way a person of no less originality and uniqueness. This must explain why the memoirMemoirA memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
is absolutely free of banalities and literary clichéClichéA cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning,...
. Even ten years after his death, Skryabin is still a bosom friend of the author, a neighbour, an internal brother-in-arms…"
- — Annotation from the “Faces of Russia” (“Liki Rossii”) Publishing house
In the year 2010 Center of Average Music and the publishing house “Faces of Russia” released another thick work of music history: “Erik Satie
Erik Satie
Éric Alfred Leslie Satie was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde...
, Yuri Khanon. Antedate memories”. The book has a volume of 700 pages and it is not accidentally written in a provocative and free form. It includes all literary works, critical essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
s, notes and even notebooks of Erik Satie, as well as almost all the letters, more than sixty drawings and all his entire life, from birth to death. This is the first book of Sati on Sati in Russian
Ru
Ru, ru, or RU may refer to:* ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code for Russia* Rù , the entering tone in Chinese language phonetics* Rú , a Chinese language term for Confucianism...
.
Liens
- Khanon d’Empire (ru)
- Yuri Khanon par prof. Tikhonov
- Mirage of the Opera (ru)
- «Middle Duet» (video) music of Yuri Khanon
- Encyclopedie of Russian cinema (ru)