Theatre and Poetry in Works by Alexander Vustin and Grigori Frid for viola and string trio. Songs for Voices and Orchestra by Alexander Vustin. [Театр и поэзия в сочинениях Григория Фрида и Александра Вустина для альта и струнного трио. «Песни для голосов и оркестра» А.Вустина]

Abstract

The creativity of Grigori Frid and Alexander Vustin is largely converged, not only due to the deep mutual respect of the teacher-student and close friendship over the years, but also due to the multidimensionality of hearing musical lines, the distinctiveness of the composer’s vision of several perspectives, the fragility of the lyrics and the tear of drama, the unusual combinations of timbre colours and performing technique, in particular, on stringed instruments, revealing new sound possibilities and techniques that lead beyond the boundaries of the familiar, well-trodden. In Three Pieces for violin, viola and cello (1999-2012) by Alexander Vustin, this manifests in singing (with simultaneous playing on instruments) of the string players of texts on the poems of Alexander Pushkin and Olga Sedakova, which are not an accompaniment or external decoration, but an equal line forming musical fabric and drama. In the remarkably heartfelt work In Memory of Grigori Frid for viola and piano (2014), by Alexander Vustin, it is an exit into the transcendental, non-worldly dimension in a monologue-address to the departed. In the Sonata for viola and piano No. 2 (Phaedra) op. 78 (1985) by Grigori Frid it is the influence of the composer's pictorial skill and the origins of the music itself, originating in the theatrical performance-drama. The cycle by Alexander Vustin Songs for Voices and Orchestra (1995-2017) rises above and beyond the expected format of orchestral miniatures to become large-scale expressive canvases. The discussion on these topics is based on the collaborations of the author of the chapter with composers, in the preparation of the recording of world premieres of these works on the Toccata Classics label and concert performances.