Selected Letters Rachmaninoff

ANTON BATAGOV

Anton Batagov writes of his new release with Firma Melodiya: “…Rachmaninoff is buried among actors, writers, politicians, military personnel, and business people, together with “ordinary mortals” from all over the world... A great musician who heard the universe as a powerful, boundless space resounding with the sounds of bells at once both tragic and triumphant, Rachmaninoff left Russia and became a part of a completely different world... As I stood at his grave, I found this space resonating within me. When I returned home, I began writing a piano cycle. In this cycle, Rachmaninoff writes letters to postmodern composers. Rachmaninoff himself was an anti-modernist. He was not a revolutionary, was never ‘ahead of his time,’ and was unafraid of looking old-fashioned. At first glance, it would seem that he bore no influence on late 20th/early 21st century composers. Nonetheless, his invisible, magical presence can in fact be heard in the music of some composers, including so-called ‘contemporary classical’ composers and rock musicians. Likewise when I hear Rachmaninoff’s endless melodies that evolve from a very short motive of literally two or three notes, the word ‘minimalism; all but rolls off my tongue. However, these connections are so subtle and not readily apparent that I wouldn’t want to deaden them by invoking musicological terms. Rachmaninoff thus speaks to the composers that would come after him…”

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