Modern Russian Composers

[thalbergmad]

Need some help from you knowledgable people.

My teacher wants to do a Russian tour and has asked me for living Russian composers (or very recent) to play.

I have no idea about modern composers as my field of interest ends about 1900.

Therefore, what composers do you suggest and what works.

Nothing too  "atonal" if possible.

Thanks in advance.

[stevie]

one name springs to mind -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodion_Shchedrin

his music is awesome, not atonal, unique, and very accesible

also check out kapustin - jazzy stuff

[thalbergmad]

Ta Stevie.

I must drag myself out of the Romantics.

[g_s_223]

Schnittke wrote a Piano Sonata, though I haven't heard it.

Ustvolskya has written a number of Piano Sonatas which explore extreme dynamics: they don't sound technically unreasonably difficult.

[etudes]

Kapustin -- etudes,variation,sonata
Sofia Gubaidulina ...chaconne?

[etudes]

actually i like Lyapunov transcendental etudes...but he isnt alive now.

[thalbergmad]

Thanks People,

I will grab some scores and have a look.

Thal

[flontarna]

are there any mp3 files of this Shchedrin?

[brahmsian]

I second the Kapustin.

Great stuff

[mmccarthy]

How about Sergei Slonimsky?

For recordings:
https://www.gamingforce.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1656351#post1656351

For infomation about him:
https://www.conservatory.ru/personal/slonimsky_s.shtml

[pianistimo]

just listened to arvo part's summa.  it's beautiful.  don't know if there's a transcription of it. 

also at https://store.brianhanke.com/sheetmusic.htm  there's a transcription of the first movement of shostakovich's 7th symphony - by himself (brian).  unfortunately, the price is high $59.?  sounds kinda high - so maybe you should e-mail (e-mail is on the site) and talk him down - telling him your teacher going to russia, etc.  would be good for his name - to have it played.

also, dmitri smirnov is a contemporary russian composer.  haven't listened to any of his work so i don't know if it is atonal or not.

[mikey6]

Schnittke wrote a Piano Sonata, though I haven't heard it.

Schnittke wrote at least 3 i'm aware of - Boris Berman played the second a couple of years back - not exactly what you'relloking for if you want something no to "atonal" - there's about 10 minutes of clusters! He died in 1994 I think - don't know if that qualifies or not.

[Kassaa]

Medtner?

[pianistimo]

just looked into dmitri smirnov and found he teaches music russian studies through goldsmiths college in london.  his e-mail is dmitrismirnov@lineone.net  he is a contemporary composer.  www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/departments/music.crm  click on 'department' (on left) then 'music' then on the right side click 'Centre for Russian Music.'

he is a very interesting composer and has composed several things around the poetry of william blake.  he also wrote some preludes and fuges based on bach's - but very conceptualized.  (well tempered piano?) and, he came up with an idea for using morse code for music.  https://homepage.nt/world.com/dmitrismirnov/MorseMusic.html

interestingly, his wife and his daughter compose, too.  elana is his wife and alissa firsova, his daughter.  alissafirsova@hotmail.com    she has also studied composition and is quite adept - and wrote some stuff for piano.

[ravel]

schedrin is gooooooooooodddd
i really like his concerto's for orchestra, specially the "naughty limericks "
his piano concerto is also good. the third movement is .... well i dont have the word, the moments when it shifts back and forth between jazz and classical , as if u have switched radio stations.. its good...
kapustins piano sonatas are good as well.