3 Bagatelles, Op. 1 for solo piano (2005) - V. Silvestrov (b. 1937)

#lisamoore

In 1974 the Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov (b. 1937, Kyev) famously walked out of a composer’s meeting, to protest the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia. He immediately withdrew from the spotlight in the USSR - not only in protest, but also as a reaction against ‘the official precepts of modernism and social realism’. Up until this time, Silvestrov had been composing European modernist music - thorny, atonal, complex works. Haunted by a question he was once asked as a student in the Kyev Conservatory - “do you like your music?” - the withdrawal prompted a change in musical direction. He began composing tonal works such as Kitsch-Music for solo piano. In the 1990’s, following the fall of the Soviet Union, he produced liturgical music influenced by Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox music.

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of the Ukraine, Silvestrov moved from Kyev to Berlin, where he now resides. He writes “I do not write new music, my music is a response to and an echo of what already exists”.

When Roger Benedict and I were discussing the underlying Eastern European theme of this program, he proposed this set of Bagatelles. I did not know them, but quickly fell in love with them - for their ghostly lyricism, delicacy and intimacy, and their tonal and modal twists and turns.

© Program note by Lisa Moore, 2022

Lisa Moore
New-York based Australian musician Lisa Moore is a multifaceted pianist, recording artist, and avid collaborator. Her performances combine lyricism and virtuosity with expressive and emotional power – whether in the delivery of the simplest song, a solo recital, a concerto, or a fiendish chamber score. Given a special passion for the music of our time, Moore won the silver medal in the 1981 Carnegie Hall International American Music Competition. She has performed hundreds of commissioned works and world premieres, having worked with more than two hundred living composers while residing and collaborating in the vibrant new music scene of New York City since 1985. Moore has played throughout Europe, the UK, USA, and Asia on many of the world’s great stages including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Sydney Opera House, La Scala, Royal Albert Hall, and the Musikverein.

13 November, 2022
Verbrugghen Hall