Im Spiegel IV: Tristium
Program note:
The third concert in the IM SPIEGEL series will present one of the most important compositions by Svyatoslav Lunyov, Tristium from 2004 for string orchestra. The title Tristium itself contains three sources. These include the melancholic Tristia, the five letters Ovid wrote after his exile from Rome; the eponymous poetry collection by Osip Mandelstam (1916–1920), dedicated to the “science of farewell”; and the legendary name Tristan, the hero of medieval epic, which coincides with the Latin word tristia—meaning “sad.”
The philosophical idea of transience and the interrelation of events reflected in time is central to Lunyov’s art. In the first part of Tristium, the motif of the famous Ukrainian folk song The broad Dnieper roars and moans sounds—a never-ending folk canon whose melodies evoke the ceaseless flow of the river, an allegory of eternity.
Day Music. Night Music.
Day music is music that takes place during the day.
Night music is music that takes place at night.
Day music is the time it takes to walk from home to the train station. The rest of the time is night music.
SVYATOSLAV LUNYOV
Born April 19, 1964, in Kyiv, Ukraine. He began his musical education at age seventeen and discovered the world of classical music. In 1986, he earned his first degree in engineering. In 1988, at age twenty-four, Lunyov began formal studies in composition and started his artistic career.
Throughout his career, Lunyov has developed works in all genres of academic music, including chamber music, choral music, vocal music, piano music, electronic music, electroacoustic, theater, and film music. In recent years, he has primarily composed electronic, symphonic, and instrumental works. As a composer and sound artist, he is interested in new sonic approaches and types of music and compositional forms where movement and statics are combined in novel ways.
In 2017, his performance Svidok, dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Babi Yar tragedy, won the Bronze Lion at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity.
Performers of his compositions include: National Symphony Orchestra (Ukraine), Camerata Kyiv Chamber Orchestra (Ukraine), City Choir “Kyiv” (Ukraine), Choir of the National University of Culture (Ukraine), MusikFabrik Ensemble for Contemporary Music (Germany), Silk Road Duo (Germany), Gamensemble (Russia), Ensemble for Contemporary Music Ricochet (Ukraine), Vocal Ensemble Alter Ratio (Ukraine).
Program:
Tristium (2004) for string orchestra
USBA
Night Music (2011) for string orchestra
Day Music (2011) for string orchestra
Musicians:
Chamber Orchestra Armonia ludus,
Mikheil Menabde, conductor