This is the second post I wanted to make, following the post dedicated to the music of Evgeny Svetlanov (https://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,9318.0.html). This one is about the music of Anatoly Alexandrov, one of the longest-lived composers in Russian history, and in my view on of the last true romantic composers (born 1888, died 1982). The recording I want to share here is his String Quartet no. 4 in C major, Op. 80 (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X2LbdsuVtTRmpVW6O2O2bJXs4S6SY7PN/view?usp=sharing), performed here by the Borodin Quartet. Until now, the only part of this piece available to be heard online was from a documentary about Alexandrov (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsTp1sPSMUg&t=1470s), beginning at 20:03.
I have no idea whether or not his other 4 string quartets have been recorded - I only recently found out that this quartet had been recorded at all, sources regarding his discography are hard to find. His numerous piano sonatas have been recorded by a number of pianists, but some other pieces, like his opera/ballet "Levsha" (which has been recorded on vinyl), are very difficult to find.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this piece!
Best,
Theodore
Information on the composer is to be found here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoly_Alexandrov_(composer)
I didn't realise that some of his piano music had been recorded:
https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/c.asp?c=C9
Isn't Toccata Classics also recording his piano works? Ah yes, 2 volumes so far (edit: 5 of his piano sonatas, and other works). (And someone uploaded one of his symphonies a long while back, I think, in a generally Prokofiev-ish style I think.)
And except for hyperion and toccata classics, feriel kaddour and viktor bunin has recorded one disc each of his piano music. Jenny Lin recorded his 4 Preludes, Op. 10 in the prelude compilation Prelude to a Revolution. A historical recording of his Canzona Difirambica for Doublebass and Piano by Rodion Azarkhin had also been released on a disc.
Quote from: Alan Howe on Wednesday 10 January 2024, 15:59I didn't realise that some of his piano music had been recorded
Clarisse Teo on Youtube had uploaded her recording of the complete Alexandrov piano sonata cycle
Here's her cycle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwGDoMSLxbI&list=PLnEJuK0hNU7812m9B4ceyuoVoXqVTcKtk
Interesting - somewhere between Scriabin and Medtner, maybe? Alternating faster and slower passages seem to be characteristic of his idiom.
I just found out that Clarisse Teo is recording the sonata cycle on divine art
https://divineartrecords.com/divine-art-announces-first-recording-of-the-complete-piano-sonatas-of-composer-anatoly-alexandrov/
The release date of this 4cd set is said to be in 2024 but undetermined
For those who weren't aware, there's of course Alexandrov's B-flat minor Concerto Symphony for piano and orchestra in B-flat minor from 1974 (but still well within the stylistic remit of this forum):
1. Lugubre (alla marcia) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ-aTUw3Z68&pp=ygUZYWxleGFuZHJvdiBwaWFubyBjb25jZXJ0bw%3D%3D)
2. Andante semplice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6f4So_H4a_w&pp=ygUZYWxleGFuZHJvdiBwaWFubyBjb25jZXJ0bw%3D%3D)
3. Allegro energico (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYkzUj7D4tA&pp=ygUZYWxleGFuZHJvdiBwaWFubyBjb25jZXJ0bw%3D%3D)
By the way, he's not to be confused with Alexander Alexandrov, the composer of the Soviet (and Russian) national anthem. I did, for years.
And it really need a new complete recording, because the scherzo is omitted. I'm really fond of the simple but affecting slow intermezzo
The piano sonata cycle played by Clarisse Teo will come out on Mar. 7
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9748977--alexandrov-complete-piano-sonatas
A radio recording's been uploaded of one of his 2 more usual orchestral symphonies, I think... either no.1 in C op.92 or no.2 in Bb.
To my knowledge, only the 1st Symphony in C major has been recorded (besides the Concerto-Symphony), two times by Igor Blazhkov and Evgeny Svetlanov. Both Symphonies have been published, though only the 1st symphony is currently available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJAv-6PDNas&t=1413s
Quote from: Theodore S. on Wednesday 08 January 2025, 16:03https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJAv-6PDNas&t=1413s
I have never noticed this recording by Blazhkov!
Quote from: eschiss1 on Wednesday 08 January 2025, 15:04no.2 in Bb.
I've seen somewhere that Sym 2 is an orchestration of his Piano Sonata No. 8
My vague memory was that I have downloaded one symphony and have skimmed a score of one of his symphonies- but not the same one. I think that probably indeed they're the first and second respectively. (This seems to confirm (https://catalog.library.cornell.edu/catalog/1088947) that it would have been the 2nd symphony in B-flat, Op.109, that I would have had the opportunity to skim during my years at Cornell decades ago, and the symphony no.1 in C is the one whose recording is, as you say, on YouTube. I wonder if I can find the first symphony available via Interlibrary Loan somewhere at a library nearby that loans to my library without charging 2 out of 3 of an arm, leg and torso ... I have been fortunate enough in having scores of works by Lennox Berkeley and Richard Flury lately, but that's offtopic.)
It would be absolutely amazing if you could get the 2nd symphony in B-flat! I have the score for the 1st symphony, which you can see here: https://classic-online.ru/uploads/000_notes/128900/128809.pdf (it was scanned by a friend of mine at my request). I was never able to get the 2nd symphony, though I've tried to request it via interlibrary loan several times.
Btw, I also have the sores for all 4 of Alexandrov's String Quartets. It does seem like only the 4th quartet was recorded, but I can share what I have here (though the scan of the 3rd quartet is kind of messy, and I would like to clean that up at some point).
Quote from: tuatara442442 on Wednesday 08 January 2025, 16:37I've seen somewhere that Sym 2 is an orchestration of his Piano Sonata No. 8
I've never heard this, but that would be interesting to confirm! I guess that would make the 2nd symphony fairly short compared the 1st, since the 8th sonata is only around 16 minutes long.
I can get the 2nd symphony easily, since it's right here and Cornell interloans regularly with the public library here (and is also right nearby...)-- see link. OCLC for interlibrary loan reference seems to be 63599889 . Whether there's a library that has it that loans to your library, I don't know! (It seems that mostly otherwise only NYPL, Northwestern, Toronto, Library of Congress, and Pancras have that OCLC #.)
I would be so grateful if you could get the score for the 2nd symphony. (Besides that, I wish I could access things from NYPL, so many amazing things are there, but I can't request any of them from where I live.)
Quote from: tuatara442442 on Wednesday 08 January 2025, 12:55The piano sonata cycle played by Clarisse Teo will come out on Mar. 7
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9748977--alexandrov-complete-piano-sonatas
This has been released
Belatedly: my library won't interloan stuff from NYPL (without additional fee) anymore either, neither from the Branch Library and especially not from the offsite research library. In the case of NYPL their score of op.109 is an offsite item, published 1981 by Sov. kompozitor,
"Vtora︠i︡a simfoni︠i︡a, si bemolʹ mazhor, dl︠i︡a bolʹshogo simfonicheskogo orkestra",
research call number "JMF 84-524".
... wait, Op.109, yes, my library will interloan that, since it's at Cornell, right next door to us and with .. never mind. I will put in a request as I can (but fair warning, I kind of, erm, suck at scanning, ask anyone. I may try again e.g. with Josef Bohuslav Foerster's quartet no.1 in E major which I have in front of me on loan from Georgia Southern University, but... carefully and maybe just its scherzo-adjacent movement...). Yes, right. I'll put in a request soon. I think it's Op.92 I may be more interested in because that's the one we have a recording of, and btw NYPL has both in score...
As to Aleksandrov and the local library, besides some of his piano sonatas, I see that we also have the vocal score of a late opera of his (Levsha: opera ili tragikomicheskoe predstavlenie v dvukh deĭstvii︠a︡kh, s peniem, tant︠s︡ami, razgovorami, simfonicheskoĭ muzykoĭ i podkovannoĭ blokhoĭ, soch. 103"). That intrigues... well, me, anyway.
Quote from: eschiss1 on Friday 07 March 2025, 04:25... wait, Op.109, yes, my library will interloan that, since it's at Cornell, right next door to us and with .. never mind. I will put in a request as I can (but fair warning, I kind of, erm, suck at scanning, ask anyone. I may try again e.g. with Josef Bohuslav Foerster's quartet no.1 in E major which I have in front of me on loan from Georgia Southern University, but... carefully and maybe just its scherzo-adjacent movement...). Yes, right. I'll put in a request soon. I think it's Op.92 I may be more interested in because that's the one we have a recording of, and btw NYPL has both in score...
As to Aleksandrov and the local library, besides some of his piano sonatas, I see that we also have the vocal score of a late opera of his (Levsha: opera ili tragikomicheskoe predstavlenie v dvukh deĭstvii︠a︡kh, s peniem, tant︠s︡ami, razgovorami, simfonicheskoĭ muzykoĭ i podkovannoĭ blokhoĭ, soch. 103"). That intrigues... well, me, anyway.
Wow, thank you so much! I really hope it works out! And if it should, as long as it is legible, any scan is welcome :)
I have a vinyl of "Levsha" (it's also on classic-online) - it's a lot like a children's musical, as there's a great deal of talking, I think more than singing. This is the piece from online: https://classic-online.ru/uploads/90800/90763.mp3. A lot of it is mostly the same as this Soviet cartoon, which has the same overture and is about the same length (though I think there are some differences): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr-iGFd3g9A&t=17s. I will say, the vinyl has a very beautiful cover design (https://i.discogs.com/tmdyUfdMTCYvARw7--6NxO83zkRwjRYtjIfK7EfIy2Q/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:581/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE0NjA0/MjA1LTE1NzgwNjgy/NDUtNDM1OS5qcGVn.jpeg).