The opus is not exciting — it is shocking, tormenting, releasing one from a world of common human emotions, makes one to shudder; tortures and inspires, purifies one's heart. It lasts in one's memory — makes one to keep thinking of music, of oneself, of one's place in the life, of moral criteria.
The composer has dedicated this work to "Martyrs of the Long- Suffering Russia" and, on a scale commensurate to the immensity of the tragedy, has created a gigantic sound epic, a majestic monument with meticulously elaborated details, fine treatment of each feature and all the same immense. A grandiose painting, it provides a subject for a long close "contemplation", going into and taken by semantic meaning of each phonotic particle. But one can contemplate it from a distance as well — and then it amazes one with its majesty, the might of its general dramatization, dynamics of its emotional development, with the powerful authority of its artistic impression.
The requiem… It is by no means a metaphor here, but that unique in the history of musical culture form, which contains an unlimited volume of historic "memory", having absorbed all collisions of global catastrophes, sufferings — hope, despair, conscience clearing, humbleness, forgiveness, and having acquired an importance of universally human generalizations. Requiem is a confession to Mankind. Composer's choice of the Requiem was symbolic to him for the complicity of the Russian tragedy with tragedies of the world history, for its joining with eternal spiritual values, the eventual cognition of which takes place only on the borderline between life and death.
With all this the composer interprets traditional text of the requiem in different way, projecting it at the events of national history, comprehending it as an onlooker, an eyewitness. Canonical text becomes an impulse, a source of pictures, images, appearing in the creative mind of composer. A common interpretation of many parts, such as "Kyrie eleison", "Dies irae," "Tuba mirum", "Benedictus" has been abandoned here. The text is filled with new meaning of our own experience, the "subject" acquires a special emotional power. Thus a complex, multiple conception of the work is born, where all musical images are subject to individual program of the author and simultaneously correlated with the eternal charter of prescription of the mourning ritual.
Requiem starts with a question — brief and passionate one. What will be an answer to it! Radiant light of the "Sanctus" or the farewell song of purification from the last "Requiem aeternam"! But before that the composer will have us lead along a thorny road of co-suffering to the tragedy, with abysses of despair and flights of hope, of infinite sorrow, sweeping through all the range of human grief — from a strictly personal pain to universal mourning.
Sad, unidentified, vague bewilderment ("Requiem aester-nam"): Not at all an "eternal peace", but an anxiety, indefinite and possessing one. Thick and slow in its movements is the mass of orchestra voices, stripped of any special individuality, personal emotions. True, the violin voice solo is interrogating — but whom and on what! Does it interrogate its own soul or the world overcast with the thin veil of grief!
The state of anxiety is getting more acute ("Kyrie eleison"). An anxiety, which is getting more and more tense, as a tightly drawn string, resounding every time to a higher and higher register. And on its background — haunting, fixed "obstinata" repetitions, disappearing and coming again in
flash. In this way a strange and scaring play of signs, symbols, subjects and faces goes in the subconscience of the confused soul… The chime is haunting — remote and calling nowhere…. The picture is fading, a new sequence comes onto the surface ("Dies irae"), starts acquiring reality, physical image of an aggressive, consolidating evil. One hears distinctly the scaned pace of the deformed marching movement, a mass recital. A union over the evil, a mass insanity. An evil outside of the person, but by no means alien to him (as for example, in the Seventh Symphony by Shostakovich). The evil sits in ourselves, senseless and destructive, astounding and petrifyingly shocking of the committed. And here the same "day of fury" ("Dies irae") turns to be quite a different image — the organ is freezing one's heart, solo voices are low in their moaning and the sorrowful violin keeps interrogating, - interrogating without getting an answer. Were those we! History of music has not had such an interpretation of the "Dies irae" before.
An open, loud cry of despair ("Tuba mirum") — a mass despair, sounding every time more intense, follows this freezing, comes into frenzy and fades without hope in a hollow emptiness, in the boundlessness of the icy space. From there, hardly perceptable ("Recordare"), as if gradually coming in the resolution, acquiring counters, flesh, power, pleading voices, sorrowful and lyrical began to sound. They are scattered voices, lost and hopeless. But the evil is here, strong and persistent ("Confutatis"). And again horrible "ostinatos",, in insane scanned deslametion of the "Dies irae". As a call from an abyss in flame — hardly distinguishable human sufferings come, absorbed by the vortical mass of Evil wiping off everything on its way. Here comes a turn in the drama composition of the work. "Lacrimosa" opens a new page. The melody of violin pours out a subdued, heartbreaking grief. Far distant chime announces the coming eternal peace. Requiem ("Domine Jesu Christie") sounds as a great symbol of this peace in the always vain, never peaceful world. A solemn aloofness of the ritual, of the mourning, behind which walls the world is rushing about, keeps going on in its insanity.
From an "objective" form of expression the grief is translated into strongly personal plan. "Hostias et preces" — is the part, where every voice is a moan. The universal tragedy is reflected by the light of individual soul. And, finally, the first exit. "Sanctus" leads to the world of "unspeakable light". It leads there slowly, the sound getting every time lighter. Moaning intonations of "Recordare", "Lacrimosa", "Hostias", put into brightened up timber of children's voices, are relieved from the burden of passions, acquiring confidence and a timid naivity, quietly disappearing in the radiant play of distinct sound hues.
One circle done. With the "Benedictus" the second starts. It starts with a transition from an illusory, irreal light towards the quiet, humble, but still a despair, with a plea, a hope. The sound gets every time more and more finer, acquiring a touching beauty of intonation ("Agnus Dei"). The evil intrudes for the last time ("Libera me") — the culmination, involving confusion of "Kyrie eleison", despair of "Tuba mirum", an impassionate horror of "Confutatis" and, excelling all of them, the Coming tragedy of the "Doomsday". And here is the acme — the "Requiem aeternam", a perennial exceptionally beautiful song of purification. The epilogue — "In Paradisum". Outside of the hero, outside of the personal conscience; irreal picture of the supreme other being, liberated of all human passions. An "absolute truth" of the Good and of the Light.
This is how we see the most general, inner canvass of the philosophical and emotional "subject" of the composition. The volume of associations hidden in the deep of this piece is unlimited in historic projection of the theme, as unilimited is the "subject of the Reqiuem in earthy criteria. Everyone can hear it in ones own way.
Besides, the music itself suggests this multiple perception, being abundent of ramified system of semantic signs, symbols. The symbol here is the Russian requiem, sounding in the "Domine Jesu," that "concrete" detail which is interrogating without reply in the first part, grieving in the "Lacrimosa", dying with plea in the "Benedictus", echoing in the dialogue with the heavenly farewell song in the "Requiem aeternam". Intonations of minor second are full of semantic meanings and permeated the whole opus, each of its parts. We perceive the continuity of the Vyacheslav Artyomov's "Requiem" with the best works of this genre in the world music, a deep, basic connection with the Bach music. An illusion of a boundless soundspace, of the cosmic scale of "action" has a zone of associative analogies — with Scriabin's cosmos. The radiant light of the "Sanctus" addresses the Listener's memory to pages of "The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh" by Rimsky-Korsakov. And the very conception of the composition — the redemption, quiet forgiveness, the rise of the spirit in the face of the eternity — is not it here the healing conception of the whole great Russian art!
At the same time the dynamic contact of various musical and semantical layers, intonation and harmony devices, appealing to musical experience of the Listener and encompassed by a clear dramatic conception — is of profoundly contemporary character.
One more thing should be mentioned here — the integrity of the artistic language of the composition, the beauty as original ethical provision of all means, all devices of expression. Hence is so exceptionally strong an impact of the musical piece. It is beautiful in all its length. No extreme devices are used to affect the audience, no pressure, no excessions! Strictly classical conception of the art! The Listener is moved by the deep cognition of the meaning, by the accuracy of the employed artistic means, by the veracity of the transitions of psychological states, by the everlasting sincerety of intonation.
To which row of artistic masterpieces will this work belong! Will it be fitting to stay among Requiems of Mozart, Verdi, Berlioz, Brahms, Dvorak! Or with historic epics of Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov! Or rather with symphonic dramas of Shostakovich! The future will, probably, provide the answer. But you, the Listener, do not miss it. May be you will hear your own voice there, your own destiny in this work! As you encounter here a sounding monument to the tragedy of Russian people.
Yu. YEVDOKIMOVA, Doctor in History of Arts, Professor.