Sergei Eduardovich Bortkiewicz (1877 - 1952), 10 Preludes, Op.33 (1926)
Performed by Jouni Somero (2014)
00:00 - No. 1 Maestoso
06:08 - No. 2 Vivace
07:23 - No. 3 Andantino
09:04 - No. 4 Sostenuto
10:19 - No. 5 Andantino semplice
11:37 - No. 6 Sostenuto, con espressione dramatica
15:25 - No. 7 Andantino
19:31 - No. 8 Andante sostenuto e cantabile
25:03 - No. 9 Andantino
28:45 - No. 10 Patetico
I'd recommend No's 5 to 10 if you want to hear what these preludes at their best.
Bortkiewicz was Ukrainian (he was born in Kharkov, 16 February 1877) and studied at the St Petersburg Conservatory-in his spare time at first, for his father insisted that he study law. ‘I inherited my mother’s pleasure in music-making’, he wrote. ‘And what a blessing it was that we made much music when I was young. My mother played the piano very well and I was passionately fond of music.’
Unlike some of his Russian contemporaries (Rachmaninov, Medtner, Scriabin) Bortkiewicz was not a sufficiently gifted pianist to make a career as a soloist, though after his debut (Munich, 1902) he made several European tours.
‘I am a Romantic and a melodist’, he wrote in an essay towards the end of his life, ‘and as such and in spite of my distaste for the so-called ‘modern’, atonal and cacophonic music, I do hope that I composed some noteworthy works without getting the reputation of being an epigone or imitator of composers who lived before me.’ Bortkiewicz’s compositions are dominated by those for his instrument and many are well worth investigating. Perhaps they lack profundity and originality in the widest sense. But does the only music we appreciate have to be by the great composers who overturned systems, struck out for the unknown, and challenged their muse? One hopes not. There must always be a place for those like Bortkiewicz who reflect so elegantly and expertly on what has gone before, rather than shake us by the ears and grab us (sometimes screaming) into the future.
7 июн 2024
