Strength of Materials

Conductor Philip Chizhevsky finds points of intersection between the extreme sound worlds of Galina Ustvolskaya and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Programme

Galina Ustvolskaya (1919–2006)
Composition no. 2, “Dies irae” (1972–1973)
for eight double basses, cube and piano

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
Symphony no. 5 (1808)
I. Allegro con brio
II. Andante con moto
III. Allegro
IV. Allegro

The Fifth Symphony (1808) achieved great popularity during Beethoven’s lifetime and has gone down in history as one of the most revolutionary works of the symphony genre. The composer radically expands the range of sound compared with all that had gone before. Highest-register instruments (piccolo) and those of the lowest register (trombone and contrabassoon), which previously had only met in military bands, are heard together. According to musicologist Larisa Kirillina, the Fifth Symphony marks “a complete break with the previous view of the symphony as a chamber music genre suitable for performance in a private circle. Beethoven is uncompromising in treating the symphony as something meant for large venues and for broad public resonance.”

Performed by

Philip Chizhevsky conductor
Sergey Kasprov piano
Questa Musica Orchestra

Hosted by Yaroslav Timofeev

Illustration: Danila Travin

The specific weight of each of her compositions, of each note, is so great that it makes one think of distant stars where, as scientists tell us, the density of matter is such that a thimbleful of it would weigh several tonnes on earth.

— Composer Boris Tishchenko on Galina Ustvolskaya

At the end of the twentieth century, the work of Saint Petersburg composer Galina Ustvolskaya (1919–2006) gave a new impetus to renewal of the symphonic genre. Like Beethoven, Ustvolskaya was apt to break conventions, going against the tide and working in the face of resistance. In both composers, concentrated language, extreme compression of the material and rejection of all that is superfluous endow the musical gesture with enormous suggestive power and extraordinary intensity of expression.

Most of Ustvolskaya’s works were composed for eccentric instrumental ensembles whose sound texture breaks out of the philharmonic canon. Composition no. 1, “Dona nobis pacem,” was written for piccolo, tuba and piano; Composition no. 3, “Benedictus, qui venit” for four flutes, four bassoons and piano; Symphony no. 4 (Prayer) for contralto, trumpet, piano, and tamtam. However, these pieces qualify as chamber works only due to the small number of performers: Ustvolskaya operates with symphonic scale, conflictual dramaturgy and rigour of musical form.

Composition no. 2, “Dies irae” (1972–1973), is written in the same spirit. Its title refers to one of the key parts of the Catholic mass or requiem, evoking scenes of the Last Judgement. The twenty-minute score is written for eight double basses, a piano and a wooden cube played with wooden mallets—an instrument designed specially for Ustvolskaya. The imaginative world of Composition no. 2 was captured in a review by the Dutch critic and composer Elmer Schönberger, who heard “nothing but the merciless pounding of the hammer on the anvil of truth.” Her words curiously echo Beethoven’s description, as reported by his biographer, of the famous opening of the first movement of the Fifth Symphony: “Thus fate knocks at the door.”

Philip Chizhevsky (b. 1984, Moscow) is a conductor. He graduated from the Moscow Conservatory where he studied choral conducting with Stanislav Kalinin and operatic and symphonic conducting with Valery Polyansky. Since 2011 he has been a teacher at the Conservatory as well as conductor of the State Symphony Capella of Russia. Since 2014 he has been a guest conductor at the Bolshoi Theatre, where he led the world premiere of Sergey Nevsky’s opera Francis (2012) and the Russian premiere of Jacques Offenbach’s La Périchole (2019). Other operatic productions under Chizhevsky’s baton include the series Drillalians (2015) and The Nonsensorics of Dreems (2022) at the Stanislavsky Electric Theatre, as well as Georges Bizet’s Carmen (2021) and Richard Wagner’s Flying Dutchman (2023) at the Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre. Philip Chizhevsky won the prize for best work by a conductor in Russia’s Golden Mask National Theatre Awards and the BraVo International Music Award in the Opera of the Year category for his production of Handel’s The Triumph of Time and Disillusion. Since 2024 Philip Chizhevsky has been Artistic Director of the Svetlanov State Symphony Orchestra.

The Questa Musica Orchestra, created in 2008 by Philip Chizhevsky, performs music by Russian and foreign composers ranging from the Renaissance and Baroque periods to contemporary works. The ensemble performs in Russia and abroad. Appearances by Questa Musica in opera and drama productions include Francis by Sergey Nevsky on the New Stage of the Bolshoi Theatre for Opergruppa creative association (2012), The Passion According to Nicodemus by Alexander Manotskov for the Platform project (2013), Drillalians (2015), Galileo (2017) and The Nonsensorics of Dreems (2022) at the Stanislavsky Electric Theatre, and Handel’s The Triumph of Time and Disillusion directed by Konstantin Bogomolov at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre (2018).

Yaroslav Timofeev (b. 1988, Novgorod) is a musician, musicologist, concert presenter, and lecturer. He is a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory, chief editor of Musical Academy magazine and has worked since 2010 at the Moscow Philharmonia (Russia’s largest concert organisation) where he leads a number of projects: Mum, I’m Crazy about Music (since the 2017/2018 season), The Language of Music (co‑author and presenter since 2018/2019), Thing-in-Itself (author and presenter since 2021/2022), and All Stravinsky (author and presenter since 2022/2023). He performs as a pianist with the Russian indie group OQJAV.

Sergey Kasprov (b. 1979, Moscow) is a pianist, harpsichordist and organist. He studied historical performance on keyboard instruments at the Moscow Conservatory under Alexei Lyubimov and organ under Alexei Parshin. He completed postgraduate studies as a pianist, also at the Moscow Conservatory, and trained at Schola Cantorum in Paris under Igor Lazko. In 2005–2007, he was awarded a special prize at the International Competition for Young Pianists in Memory of Vladimir Horowitz in Geneva, the Grand Prix at the Maria Yudina International Competition for Young Pianists in Moscow, and the first prize at the Rubinstein and Scriabin competitions in Paris. He is a regular participant of piano festivals in Europe and Russia, including La Roque-d’Anthéron (France), Klarafestival (Belgium), Chopin and His Europe (Poland), Arts Square (Saint Petersburg), December Evenings, and Antiquarium (Moscow).