Overture “Maslenitsa“ | Увертюра “Масленица“ by Airat Ichmouratov

Airat Ichmouratov Overture “Maslenitsa“ (fragment) Айрат Ишмуратов Увертюра “Масленица“ соч .36 (фргагмент) состав/ orchestration: 2222-4231-T 3-Hp-Str длительность/ duration : 11 мин/min This portrayal of the week prior to Lent is meant to represent an array of Carnival-like festivities, including folk dances, disguises, troika rides, ice sculptures, and blini – the crêpes that adhere to the protocols of the meatless diet already required of the faithful. The beginning, however, establishes the religious context of the celebration with a solemn chorale in woodwinds augmented by tubular bells that might put the listener in mind of Mussorgsky’s pictorial expressions of Russian grandeur in Boris Godunov. A lonely oboe leads to unison horns sounding a fanfare starting with an assertive rising fifth and spanning an octave, which is soon modified slightly to define a major seventh – an interval the composer regards as his personal fate motif. Sombre music returns but is swept away by scurrying figures in the woodwinds and a crisp theme for strings that frankly pays tribute to the spirit and the key – D Major – of the Overture to Glinka’s Ruslan and Lyudmila. Material returns for development, sometimes in cinematic splendour. Noble trumpets are heard at the start of a section marked moderato maestoso but the lively principal theme returns presto festivo to leave the merriment of Maslenitsa distinctly in the ascendant. The “Maslenitsa” Overture was commissioned by the Orchestre symphonique du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, which gave the first performance in Chicoutimi, Quebec on Feb. 25, 2013 under the direction of Jacques Clement. *********************************** Airat Ichmouratov is Russian / Canadian classic composer, conductor and klezmer clarinetist. (Modern Classical Music) Twitter: Instagram: Facebook: #overture #russianoverture #ichmouratov #maslenitsa #russianclassicalmusic #orchestra #modernclassicalmusic #русскаяувертюра #увертюрамасленица #ишмуратов