V. Zaderatsky - 24 Preludes & Fugues: 1-12 (Jascha Nemtsov, piano)

Vsevolod Zaderatsky (1891–1953) 24 Preludes & Fugues Composed in Gulag (Kolyma), 1937-1939 Part 1: *** Many thanks to Jascha Nemtsov, a humble man and an incredible musician, who allowed me to use all his recordings of Zaderatsky’s music for my videos here on YouTube. *** “Magadan – for Russians the name of this port in north-eastern Siberia has a special resonance. For decades this town was the administrative centre of the regional Gulag, the so-called “Sevvostlag” (North East Camps) in one of the most inhospitable regions of Russia. Magadan also served as a transit camp for countless slave labourers during the Stalin era. They were transferred from there to the vast valley of the Kolyma River, where, under barbarous conditions, they were forced to mine gold, diamonds or uranium from the permafrost and almost all perished within a few months. It was here that my father was brought ashore from a prison ship, and it was in this town that I myself was born 25 years later. Only a very few ever returned to the town from the Kolyma valley camps. In August 1939, when the short polar summer was already drawing to a close, there appeared in Magadan a man whose emaciated body and ragged clothing immediately marked him out as a former prisoner. In his pocket he had a document that officially certified his right to life: “This is to certify that Citizen Zaderatsky Vsevolod Petrovich was held from 17 July 1937 to 21 July 1939 in a camp in the Sevvostlag of the Commissariat for Internal Affairs, and has been released because his case has been closed.” The photograph on the certificate showed the haggard face of the 47-year-old, already looking like an old man. In addition to this document Zaderatsky was carrying a pile of telegram forms and sheets from a narrow notepad, all covered with musical notation. This music, written down in pencil, was his own composition – 24 preludes and fugues for piano in all keys – which he had written while in the camp. His sudden release from the Gulag was a rare, fortuitous event. But it was an act of unparalleled courage and singular mental strength to create this work (the first of its kind in the 20th century) in the Gulag in 1937-1939. It was written in the face of almost certain death and without any of the basic material requirements such as manuscript paper, pens, musical instruments or opportunities for performance – a phenomenon that deserves to take its place in the annals of 20th-century music.” Jascha Nemtsov. “Vsevolod Zaderatsky and His 24 Preludes and Fugues for Piano.” Mount Dela. Published October 9, 2016.