Rodion Shchedrin, the celebrated Russian composer and pianist, passed away on August 29 in Munich, Germany. He was 92.
Reflecting a colorful blend of influences from the archaic to the avant-garde to Russian folklore, Shchedrin’s works include the ballets Carmen Suite (1967) and Anna Karenina (1971), the opera Lolita (1993), three symphonies, and five concertos for orchestra. Shchedrin created many of his ballets for his wife of 57 years, prima ballerina Maya Plisetskaya.
Succeeding Shostakovich as the chairman of the Composers’ Union of Russia, Shchedrin was, at times, both honored and sanctioned by Soviet authorities.
Publisher Boosey & Hawkes writes that Shchedrin’s “sweetly beautiful, almost cinematographically illustrative music is juxtaposed with polyphonic and complexly constructed compositions.” Conductor Lorin Maazel wrote, “The artful sophistication of his tonal language leads us into the depths of a sparkling music, filled with perspicacity, irony, humor, joie de vivre and genuine comedy.”
Concerto for Orchestra No. 1 “Naughty Limericks” (1963)
Shchedrin’s Concerto for Orchestra is an exhilarating, clownish romp filled with virtuosity. A cast of zany instrumental “characters” take the stage in a drama propelled forward by a jazzy rhythm section. The Russian chastushka is loosely translated as “Naughty Limericks.”
The composer provided the following program note;
In a chastushka there is always humor, irony, and a sharp satire of the status quo, its defenders and the ‘leaders of the people.’ Even such powerful or dreaded names as Marx, Lenin, and Stalin have been ridiculed in chastushki. Everything that occurs in the life of the people, from events of historic importance to the most intimate sensations, finds its way intochastushki on the same day or—through extemporizing—at the very moment. Brevity is the chief characteristic of the chastushka. Its specifically musical traits are a four-square and symmetric structure, a deliberately primitive melody of limited scope, driving syncopated rhythm, improvisation, numerous repetition involving variation (chiefly shifting the strong and weak beats) and—which is a must—a sense of humor pervading both the words and the music.
Unfortunately, the word chastushka is associated in the minds of many musicians with simple tunes of eight bars, suggesting nothing but boredom. I think, however, that this modest and unassuming form may be likened to a door opening, like an old fairy tale, upon a world of most varied and inexhaustible musical riches. In Ozornïye Chastushki, conceived as a virtuosic orchestral work, I treat only the comic and dance chastushka tunes. The concertante style and virtuosic effects are, to my mind, inherent in this type of chastushka.
Concerto for Orchestra No. 1 is filled with mischievous surprises right up to its final “encore” chord.
Carmen Suite (1967)
Scored for strings and percussion, Shchedrin’s one-act ballet, Carmen Suite, is a musical homage to Bizet’s famous opera. Unfolding in thirteen movements, the opera’s Spanish-flavored dances emerge in colorful new harmonic and instrumental garb. Rather than constituting an arrangement, the work uses Bizet’s themes to create something new.
It was Shchedrin’s wife, acclaimed ballerina Maya Plisetskaya, who conceived the idea of a ballet based on the opera. She approached both Shostakovich and Khachaturian, both of whom turned the project down. Shchedrin worked in collaboration with Cuban choreographer Alberto Alonso. Following its premiere at the Bolshoi in 1967, Carmen Suite was attacked by Soviet authorities on charges of indecency and plagiarism. Eventually, it would become one of the Bolshoi’s most successful ballets.
24 Preludes and Fugues for Piano. Book I “Sharp Keys”, Op. 29: II. A Minor
Composed between 1964 and 1970, Shchedrin’s 24 Preludes and Fugues follow in the footsteps of Bach and Shostakovich. This recording of the A minor Prelude and Fugue features the composer as pianist:
Recordings
- Shchedrin: Concerto for Orchestra No. 1 “Naughty Limericks,” Mikhail Pletnev, Russian National Orchestra Amazon
- Shchedrin: 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 29, Rodion Shchedrin Amazon
Featured Image: photograph by David Nelson