Music  1010  Semester  Presenta+on  Karen  Johnson  

Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin

•  Born  December  16,  1932  in  Moscow.      

•  Married  Maya  Plisetskaya  in  1958,  a  Russian  Ballet  Dancer.  

•  Specialist  in  Russian  Folk  Music,  but  incorporated  Jazz  and  Pop  in  his  music.  

•  Virtuoso  pianist  and  organist.  •  Composed  over  125  works  in  his  career.  

Highlight Overview

•  1961  Not  Only  Love  Opera  –  cancelled  aQer  its  premiere.  

•  1967  Carmen  Suite  

•  1968  Refused  to  sign  an  open  leTer  in  support  of  the  invasion  troops  from  the  Warsaw  Pact.  

•  1972  Anna  Karenina  •  Chairman  of  the  Composers’  Associa+on  of  the  Russian  Federa+on.  

•  Succeeded  Dmitri  Shostakovich  at  Shostakovich’s  wishes  and  since  1989,  he  has  been  the  honorary  president.  

Not Only Love – An Opera

•  WriTen  in  Shchedrin’s  early  20s.  

•  World  Premiere  1961  in  Moscow.  

•  Cancelled  aQer  the  premiere.  

•  Concept  was  a  middle-­‐aged  woman  falling  for  a  17-­‐year-­‐old  boy.  

•  Shchedrin  felt  it  failed  because  the  director  wasn’t  courageous  enough  to  use  a  middle-­‐aged  woman.  He  used  a  younger  woman.  

Carmen Suite – A Ballet

•  WriTen  by  Shchedrin  at  the  request  of  his  wife,  Maya.  

•  Based  on  the  opera  “Carmen”  by  Georges  Bizet.  

•  Arranged  for  strings  and  percussion.  •  Originally  banned  by  the  Soviet  Union  as  it  

was  considered  “disrespec`ul:  to  the  opera.  •  Become  his  best  known  work  and  has  had  

much  success  in  the  West.      •  A  highly  entertaining  retelling  of  Bizet’s  

opera.  

Anna Karina – A Ballet

•  World  Premiere  in  1972.  •  Based  on  Leo  Tolstoy’s  famous  novel.  •  Choreographed  by  Shchedrin’s  wife  Maya,  

who  also  starred  in  the  ballet.  

Life as a Composer

His  Works:  

•  6  Operas    •  5  Ballets  •  Over  125  Composi+ons  

 

His  Thoughts  on  Composing:  

•  Tries  to  be  interes+ng  when  composing.  

•  He  looks  first  to  the  reac+on  of  the  orchestra  on  if  they  like  a  piece.  AQer  that,  he  looks  to  the  audience.  

•  He  doesn’t  look  to  the  reac+on  of  the  cri+c.  

•  He  wants  musical  power  over  the  audience  and  the  orchestra.  

•  1976    Correspondent  member  of  the  Bavarian  Academy  of  Fine  Arts  •  1983    Honorary  member  of  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts  of  the  GDR  •  1984    Recipient  of  the  Lenin  Prize  •  1985    Honorary  member  of  the  "Interna+onal  Music  Council”  •  1989    Member  of  the  Berlin  Academy  of  Arts  •  1992    Russian  State  Prize    •  1993    Dmitri  Schostakowitsch  Prize  and  Crystal  Awards,  World  Economic  Forum,  Davos  •  1997    Honorary  professor  at  the  Moscow  Conservatory  •  2001    Final  nomina+on  fort  the  "Grammy  Awards"  for  the  best  contemporary  composi+on  ("Concerto  Cantabile")  •  2002    "Composer  of  the  Year"  of  the  PiTsburgh  Symphony  Orchestra  and  Medal  for  Service  to  the  Russian  state  •  2005    Honorary  professor  at  the  St  Petersburg  State  Conservatory  •  2007      "Order  of  merit  of  the  Russian  Federa+on"  second  degree  •  2008    Honorary  professor  at  the  Central  Conservatory  of  Music  in  Beijing    and  The  German  Music  Award  "Echo  

Klassik  2008"  for  the  choral  opera  "Boyarina  Morozova"  in  the  category  "Opera  recording  of  the  year  -­‐  XX-­‐XXI  century”  

•  2009    The  Russian  Theatre  Award  “Golden  Mask”  in  the  category  “Best  composi+onal  work  for  opera”  for  the  opera  "The  Enchanted  Wanderer”  

•  2010    Nomina+on  for  the  “Grammy  2011”  in  the  category  “Best  Classical  Contemporary  Composi+on”  (A  Composer’s  Award)  for  the  opera  "The  Enchanted  Wanderer”  

•  2012  „Moscow  Award  in  Literature  and  the  Arts  2012“  for  the  Russian  choral  opera  „Boyarina  Morozova“  and  Awarded  with  the  Russian  Order  “For  Merit  to  the  Fatherland”  4th  Class  A

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Bibliography

hTp://www.schoT-­‐music.com/shop/persons/featured/rodion-­‐shchedrin/  hTp://www.sikorski.de/340/en/shchedrin_rodion.html  hTp://www.shchedrin.de  hTp://www.kcstudio.com/shchedrin3.html  hTp://www.theartsdesk.com/classical-­‐music/theartsdesk-­‐qa-­‐composer-­‐rodion-­‐shchedrin    Miscellaneous  photographs  from  the  internet    

Naughty Limericks – Concerto for Orchestra

Naughty  Limericks  was  composed  when  Rodion  Shchedrin  was  30  years  old  and  was  one  of  the  earliest  of  his  works  to  be  performed  outside  his  country.    It  was  given  its  first  performance  in  September  1963  by  the  Moscow  Radio  Symphony.  Walter  Hendle  conducted  the  Na+onal  Symphony  Orchestra’s  first  performance  of  this  work  in  1967.  Of  interest  is  when  Walter  Hendle  conducted  at  NSO  for  the  first  performance  of  the  piece,  he  stopped  and  indicated  that  according  to  a  note  in  the  piece  the  end,  “may  be  performed  at  the  op+on  of  the  conductor,  in  the  event  of  a  public  success—at  which  +me  the  audience  erupted  in  applause.    It  is  now  a  permanent  conclusion.          It  has  been  billed  as  “Mischievous  Diqes”  or  “Mischievous  Melodies”.        

0:00 Music starts out with harmony of multiple instruments in a fast paced. The piccolo at 0:14 is very sing-songy. Reminiscent of a bird singing.

0:45 The music melds miscellaneous instruments to create an arc. Then goes into the lower sounds creating some drama.

1:42 Drums are being beat and there are little snippets of sound then it sounds like trumpets begin to play.

2:28 A high-energy sound is created by strings, with harmony being played.

3:30 A beat created by brass with some tapping in the background increases the dynamics.

4:16 The background instruments slow down the beat, then other instruments come back in and increase the tempo.

5:17 There are quite a few different instruments playing all together to let you know that something is reaching a climactic point.

6:04 Increase in the rhythmic energy and keeps steady for approximately :25 until it crests.

6:42 Staccato sounds, then builds to the arc with multiple instruments playing. 7:35 Reminiscent of circus music. The way the beats are put together.

8:08 The drums are playing in the background, increasing the speed of the piece, going faster and faster until it stops, then one last beat after a pause.

Naughty Limericks – Concerto for Orchestra

In the Style of Albeniz, Op. 52 for Violin and Piano

The  piece  was  composed  when  Mr.  Shchedrin  was  at  the  Moscow  Conservatory  studying  composi+ons  and  piano.    The  structure  of  the  piece  is  ABA  form.    Mr.  Shchedrin  wrote  the  piece  when  he  was  20  years  old.    Shchedrin  dedicated  the  piece  to  his  future  wife.    It  was  originally  one  of  a  set  of  ten  pieces  that  was  wriTen  for  solo  piano.    It  has  also  been  transcribed  for  cello  and  also  piano  and  trumpet.    

   

The  piece  has  a  Spanish  flair,  reminiscent  of  tango  dance  music.        

0:00 The music starts with the piano playing the first part of the piece. The sounds are similar to a dum, dum, da, da, da, dum. At approximately 0:12 the violin enters. The music has high intensity.

0:49 The rhythm speeds up to a fast rhythm using the same harmony as before.The violin plays a long note prior to next increase.

1:02 The music goes down the scale both with the piano and the violin. Then pauses briefly and goes back to the same melody as before.

1:57 The music progresses into a tango dance music. The violin and the piano mesh to do a few "steps", then slows down for what I imagine to be a slow and close dance number, then the music increases in intensity to the crest.

3:02 The violin appears to be plucking at the strings. Then the piano joins in. The speed starts to increase.

4:07 The music starts to build intensity, the same notes as the beginning, when it crests and goes back up and down the scale.

In the Style of Albeniz, Op. 52 for Violin and Piano

The End.