Seattle Chamber Players
2008-2009 SEASON

Part of Joshua Roman's TownMusic Series

A Russian Carmina Burana: Three radical avant-folk masterpieces

Seattle Chamber Players welcomes members of the Pokrovsky Ensemble and Opus Posth to our festival and thanks them for their willingness to share their expertise with us, taking part in workshops, discussions and presentations. We are thrilled to implement a valuable discussion on Russian music, including Q&A sessions and commentary on folk music performance techniques within different genres of contemporary music.

Saturday, January 24, 2009 — 8pm
TOWN HALL - 1119 8th Ave / Seattle



Vladimir Martynov: Night in Galicia

Night in Galicia by Vladimir Martynov is a minimalistic landmark. Composed in 1996, it is an unforgettable setting of poems by the Russian futurist poet Velimir Khlebnikov and archaic folk texts collected by I. Sakharov. Martynov, whose music was presented at PNB this fall with choreography by Twyla Tharp, and whose opera Vita Nuova based on Dante's verses will be premiered by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Vladimir Jurowski at Royal Festival Hall and Lincoln Center later this winter, will be present for the performance!
Sample: Night in Galicia by Vladimir Martynov




Vladimir Nikolayev: Ulari Udila

Filled with the excitement of a rock concert, Ulari Udila (1997) combines the raw emotional power of a fictional language with acoustic music fully synchronized to electronic musical elements. The Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble doubles itself on tape in this cutting-edge work created by Vladimir Nikolayev, the composer of the popular Gold of Narts ballet staged at the famous Bolshoi Theater.



Alexander Raskatov: Voices of a Frozen Land

Voices of a Frozen Land (2001) is based on the texts of calendar rituals and feast days ranging from Christmas to Midsummer's Night, and according to the composer, can also be called Homage to Mussorgsky, whose presence is clearly felt. This work, by Alexander Raskatov, who is championed by Valery Gergiev and Yury Bashmet and whose new opera Heart of a Dog based on Mikhail Bulgakov's novel will be premiered at the Holland Festival-2009, is a tour de force which showcases the emotional power and range of both the Pokrovsky Ensemble and SCP.

Sample: Voices of the Frozen Land by Alexander Raskatov