Credits:

Sebastian Knauer

Description:

Valentin Silvestrov (1937-), a composer of "postmodernism," is popular for his music that uses traditional tonalities and melodies and a slow tempo to evoke feelings of nostalgia and retrospection in the listener. However, it was not until the 1970s that he turned to this style, and before that he had written avant-garde works that were highly praised by Maderna. This album contains Silvestrov's works from the 1980s onward, including three world premiere recordings. The opening piece, "Ode to a Nightingale," is the most "progressive" sounding piece on the album, using a poem by John Keats (translated from the Russian). Originally a song with chamber orchestral accompaniment, Silvestrov tried and tested it into this form. 2014's "Cantata No. 4" and 2015's "Piano Concertino" use some common material: 2003's "Poetry and Music. Moments" uses fragments of Paul Czeran's poetry to evoke imagery for the listener.Symphony No. 7, also written in 2003, begins with a cacophonous storm, but the piece soon settles down and quietly fades away as if in remembrance of something lost. Naxos Japan