Concert Idea

My second doctoral concert, Between Love and Hate, was dedicated to clarinet music from the Moscow and St Petersburg composers’ schools. Between the two largest cities of Russia a historic rivalry raged over supremacy and power. Moscow and St Petersburg alternated even in the role of capital of the vast territory of Russia, giving this conflict a special dimension. In music, this juxtaposition traditionally also occurs in the form of judging the significance of the two main composers´ schools, though there also were innumerable interactions and deep personal relations among the two musical circles.

In the compositions of this concert, I was searching for different levels from which to interpret the topic Between Love and Hate. The works of Grigory Krein and Elena Firsova can, for example, illuminate various aspects of difficult socio-political circumstances. Other compositions we can see from the perspective of personal relations, independence and artistic struggle for recognition, as is the case with Galina Ustvolskaya and Grigory Frid. Boris Tishchenko discloses inner conflicts and sharp musical contrasts in his work. Special attention goes to the musical connections between the clarinet compositions, playing manners and styles.

However, my main motivation in titling this concert Between Love and Hate was to explore the vast variety of emotions and expression in the performed compositions.