Vladimir Rebikov (1866 - 1920), Une Fête (A festival), Op. 38 (1907)
Performed by Anthony Goldstone
00:00 - No. 1 Vivo
00:30 - No. 2 Vivo
01:20 - No. 3 Allegro
01:45 - No. 4 Vivo
02:13 - No. 5 Presto
02:36 - No. 6 Vivo
03:04 - No. 7 Andante
Une Fete (A Festival), Op. 38, written in Dresden in June 1907, contains seven pieces; most are less than half a minute long, only the second approaching a minute, and anticipate the music of Webern in their extreme brevity, if not in concentration. The presto number five is remarkable for two reasons: at sixteen seconds (plus resonance) it must be one of the shortest pieces of music ever written, and in its blatant use of bitonality it predated Stravinsky's Petrouchka by six years. Appropriately for a festival, the character throughout is high-spirited and dance-like, although the second number could be an equestrian ride. Rebikov makes much use of ostinato figures, abrupt unresolved 6 endings, the whole-tone scale and strange modes. Only the third is in a conventional key - F sharp minor.
Rebikov was already a forgotten figure by the time of his death at age 54. He was bitter and disillusioned, convinced wrongly that composers such as Debussy, Scriabin, and Stravinsky had made their way into public prominence through stealing his ideas. Ironically Rebikov is best known by way of his insubstantial music in salon genres. Rebikov's role as an important early instigator of twentieth-century techniques deserves to be more widely recognized.
16 июн 2024
