Customer Reviews

Valentin Silvestrov: Symphony No. 6

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I confess I have only just received this CD, and so my comments are based pretty much on just a couple of hearings. I can only justify this rather prompt, and possibly insufficiently considered review, by pleading guilty to an overwhelming surfeit of enthusiasm!
Also, much of what I say here could be construed as a simple rewrite of my reaction to the superb Sony recording and performance of Silvestrov's 5th.
The first impression again, is that in a sense the language is very much the same as in the 5th, intense and impassioned, and achingly beautiful. Mahler is again to the fore, especially the 'adagietto' from his 5th Symphony, but the main difference is that there is much more dynamic contrast in the 6th. Shattering moments that are aided by a superb recording and performance by the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra under Andrey Boreyko.
In this symphony there are 5 linked movements, clearly tracked by ECM, the central one being easily the longest at 25 minutes, and during the total duration of 54 minutes there are several passages marked 'vivace' and 'allegro'. In other words, while this work provides a similar listening experience to the 5th, there is greater variety in tempo and dynamics, and therefore the 'journey' is more eventful.
Less sympathetic reviewers may claim that this is the '5th all over again'. Some say that about Bruckner's symphonies, but that misses a point, namely that, yes, the music palpably comes from the same source and is written with the same inspiration and using the same language, but each work manages to achieve its own greatness.
Like the 5th, this is a symphony that takes you on a journey, one you will wish to repeat again and again. I have lived with Mahler's symphonies for 42 years now, - I think these symphonies of Silvestrov contain something of the same 'richness' to sustain a good few more years of listening, (if not 42, unfortunately!). You can't really ask for more!
Terrific.

Silvestrov is a very enigmatic composer. I admit, i owned his Postludium and Metamusik for almost four years before I really "heard" it for the first time.
This disc, as does much of Silvestrov's music, starts out almost identically with a fff violent sound block that could be from a horror movie, which, at its peak employs the "Silvestrov echo," usually on a piano, or harp.
Unlike almost any other composer I can think, Silvestrov will benefit from a patient audience and one that can Listen slowly. If you are willing to lay back, light a cig, turn down the lights and let the music envelope you, you will be in for a treat and something specific to Silvestrov. His pieces are like musical journeys through harsh violent waters to a beautiful and call moon filled evening(alright enough of that)---basically it is extrememly dynamic--often oscillating between violence and beauty, but it takes time to get there and the melodic development is very subtle(almost like minimalism in a sense) You will hear a single note on a horn and then ten mintues later the melody on the horn has transformed the entire soundscape.
This symphony is a good place to start for those new to Silvestrov, especially those unaccustomed to modern music. The first two movements represent the violent silvestrov while the monumental third movement is like a trip through history where we visit Berg, late Mahler(of the tenth adagio and ninth outer mvmts and specifically the adagietto of mahler five which is often hinted at)----
This is typical Silvestrov-though the third movement might be statement of things to come in later music, but we'll have to wait and see. Either way--this is an enjoyable journey and I would recommend it to those affiliated with this new generation of music, the post avant-garde. Enjoy. Also recommended by Silvestrov--symph 5, Postludium for Piano and Orch(ECM), Post Scriptum for violin and piano, String quartet 1, cello sonata, bagatelles and serenades(ECM), and the Drama Trilogy.

Somber but tender. Grand but intimate. Assertive but inviting. These are some of the contrasts that could be used to describe this fascinating music. Similar terms have been used to describe the music of Mahler, and the ghost of Mahler certainly hovers over this symphony. But Silvestrov is no imitator. He has his own symphonic voice, which we have heard on previous recordings.

This music heaves and sighs, slowly drawing us in if we can get past our initial apprehension. What at first seem to be only sounds become melodies as we listen longer. What seemed forbidding becomes beguiling. When the brass sounds fade away and we enter the world of the strings, we realize we are walking with Silvestrov down Mahler's path, but seeing it with new eyes. The sheer beauty of it all is simply overwhelming.

There will be many who will listen to a minute or two of this recording and decide they have heard enough. For those who press on, though, the rewards will be many. If you enjoy Mahler, you may well enjoy this music. Press on, press on! Fear only that your heart will melt.

By the early 1980s, after an early career as a serialist and a long hiatus, Valentin Silvestrov had developed a highly individual style. The Ukrainian composer was doubtful about the ability to create new music in this day and age, seeking instead to write "postludes" to the Romantic era, the last common language of Western music. These works feature a perpetual succession of melodies, but without any direction, while the lush tonality is undermined by Webern-like jumps of minor seconds and major sevenths. The composer's Fifth Symphony was an important culmination in this style.

The Symphony No. 6 (1994-95, rev. 2002) has sometimes been called an unimaginative retread of the Fifth, but I don't think that's fair. True, Silvestrov's stylistic concerns have not changed all that much; we continue to find a nostalgia for a common musical heritage and there's no development towards any hitherto unheard goal. In form, however, the Sixth shows Silvestrov exploring new territory. Unlike the long single-movement works of the 1980s, the composer has cast this symphony in five movements with a symmetrical shape.

The first movement opens, like all late Silvestrov, with a dissonant chord. But where Silvestrov was previously keen on launching into melodies straightaway, the music here wanders for a long time through this mist of unstable harmonies. The music is sparse, unsteady, almost as if Silvestrov were following Schnittke's turn to a grim, ghostly pace. Things find some steady ground in the second movement, but not too much. The third movement is the longest of all, making up nearly half of this 55-minute work. It opens as a lush, poignant meditation that has often been compared to the famous "Adagietto" of Mahler's Fifth, though this has its stormy movements. It is only with the third movement that comparisons to Silvestrov's previous symphony seem appropriate. The short fourth movement reduces the coherence somewhat, while the last movement returns the piece to the sparse textures of the beginning.

Silvestrov's Symphony No. 6 is not, I would say, an especially great work. I have great reservations about most of this composer's output. But for fans of the composer, it does show a progression of sorts and is worth hearing. I've heard only this recording by Andrey Boreyko conducting the SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, but there's another on an MDG disc.

I heard so much discussion about this recording of Valentin Silvestrov's Sixth Symphony (1994-5, revised 2000) that I decided to buy it without having heard one note. The deep impressions left behind motivated further listenings to where I am now convinced this is one of the most significant symphonies of the last 35 years. Of course, much of the discussion revolves around the question of whether this really is or isn't a symphony, in spite of the composer's intentions. The listener is left to grapple with the lack of sonata form and any development of themes: in fact the best description of the music contained within might be "floating motifs".

There is no discernible distinction between the first two movements (8:39/6:31). Low groaning strings underscore both loud and quiet gestures in the brass and woodwinds. We hear not so much themes as phrases reverberating and fading, like waves rolling in on a shoreline. One detects a disconnected flow and pulse that the conductor (credit: Andrey Bereyko) must work to keep going. This is the music that has earned Silvestrov the labels of "avant garde romantic" and "Ukrainian Messiaen". The composer himself describes his art as consisting of both verbal and pictorial imagery, or "metamusic". Tuba, contrabassoon, piano, harps, celesta, and vibraphone all have their moments in the aural spotlight before the pace slows and the strings grow more prominent over a low tympani roll.

The long third movement (24:58) and the intermezzo-like fourth movement (5:26) have drawn repeated comparisons to the Adagietto of Mahler's Fifth Symphony. Tension lurks beneath the surface of slow but rhythmic string phrases, lush as Rachmaninov. All dissonances have disappeared and the liner notes rightly suggest that the orchestra turns into a clangorous harp. This is not quite an idyll: snatches of melody are answered by fluttering flutes and woodwinds, growling brass fanfares grow louder and louder. The climax erupts with violent percussion before receding to the lighter phrases that opened the movement. As everything dissolves with tam-tam over rumbling pedalpoints, we come to the "dreamlike" bridge. Piano, harp, celesta, and very faint string harmonics make these the quietest moments of the symphony.

Then abruptly with the fifth movement (8:43) we're back where we started as the previous gestures and patterns from the first two movements return. Waves of sound surge in and out, tubular bells and rising arpeggios are added and one senses the imminent arrival of a grand summation. Dynamics decrease to the low string groanings the work began with, whistling sonorities fade to silence, and suddenly, it's over. We have spent 54:20 in another world, and now we're back.

While Andrey Boreyko and the SWR Stuttgart Radio Symnphony Orchestra are to be commended for a rivetting performance, the question must be asked, "What is one to make of all this?" As a purely abstract work, there are no hints, cues, or signposts to guide the listener to a pre-conceived response. Descriptions and imagery can be helpful, but ultimately it will all come down to whether one "gets it" or doesn't. For this listener, I am re-amazed everytime I hear the piece, and never fail to discover something new, be it sounds, timbral relationships, or perspectives. Like all great symphonies, this will be a lifetime listening experience.

I must warn the potential purchaser, however, about the embarrassingly pompous liner notes (credit: Herbert Glossner) with the inevitable allusions to Proust. Starting in the early 1990s, many ECM releases (especially the classical recordings) were burdened with liner notes of the absolute worst of pedantic academicism: long, philosophical dissertations that have little (if any) connection to the music. When Glossner writes that "Silvestrov's compositional devices and stylistic elements are gathered together paradigmatically as if in a parabolic reflector", he clearly has no idea how boorishly solemn and unintentionally hillarious he is. Herb, listen to the music! And just what on earth is Sascha Kleis's cover image supposed to signify?

Halfway through the first movement of this large piece, I'd added several Silvestrov compositions to my wish list. Halfway through the second hearing, I removed them all. How could that be?

The first impression as this piece opens is of mass and substance. The large, nearly percussion-free, orchestra is heavily-weighted with low brass. This is a formula that Silvestrov never abandons. At least my subwoofer was happy. Formally, the piece is something of a palimpsest. In one direction, it's a pastiche of older music--primarily Mahler. In the other direction is a more dissonant music composed primarily of quartal harmony. Whatever tension the piece holds is varied by how much of either type of music comes through more clearly. Five minutes of it is quite lovely. Nearly an hour of it is another thing entirely. The composer claims that the arpeggio is a primary feature. That is true. Nearly every note is orchestrally sustained. The effect is like playing a piano with a brick on the pedal.

Most symphonies have the characteristic of learning from themselves as they go along. Initial material is teased apart, transformed. After multiple hearings, the listener can see how small early features telegraph later developments. Silvestrov appears complete un-self-aware. This is music that is devoid of humor (even Mahler is imbued with a bitter and sarcastic laugh now and then). Nothing breaks free of the glacial pace of the piece, and no section sounds much different from any other section. While I'm sure this music will find its adherents, they won't be among those who want a symphony to actually go somewhere.