Sergey
Vasilenko (1872 – 1956)
Chinese Suite
Indian Suite
Sergey
Nikiforovich Vasilenko was born in Moscow in 1872 and
studied law at Moscow University I while
taking private lessons in music from Richard Nokh, followed by study of theory
with Grechaninov, harmony with Protopopov and composition with Konyus. He
graduated from the university in 1896 and was able from 1895 to study at the
Conservatory I where he was a pupil of Sergey Taneyev I Ippolitov-Ivanov
and Safonov. He won a gold medal for his opera Legend of the Great City of
Kitezh and the Quiet Lake
Svetoyar. He subsequently
conducted at the Mamontov Opera and from 1907 until1917 was artistic director
and conductor of the Historic Concerts in Moscow.
He taught orchestration and composition at Moscow Conservatory from 1906 until
his death, with a short gap during the worst of the war years. As a conductor
and artistic director he spent time in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and the
Ukraine, so that an exotic element enters his music, from the Soviet East, added
to a style that had previously derived much from traditional church music,
Russian folk-music and the example of his predecessors, notably Tchaikovsky.
Vasilenko's two Chinese
Suites were written in 1928 and 1931 respectively. The first of these, scored
for an orchestra that inevitably includes a tam-tam in a percussion section of
piano, celesta, bells, tambourine, snare-drum, wood blocks, cymbals, bass drum,
ratchet and glockenspiel, claims to use original Chinese melodies, but with
modern European harmonies. The pentatonic nature of the thematic material is
maintained, giving the composer the possibility of various forms of
counterpoint, such as imitation and canon. The first movement, Procession to
the Temple of the Ancestors, uses the ancient traditional melody Hymn to
the Ancestors. Later a folk-melody is heard and the sound of bells from the
pagoda. The second movement, A Spring Evening is described by the
composer as a nocturne and a folk-dance. After the open fifths of the horns, an
oboe is heard, followed by clarinet and then piccolo, as the woodwind
instruments take it in turns to suggest a spring evening. Strings, playing with
the back of the bow, with tambourine and wood blocks provide a rhythmic
accompaniment to the clarinet. A funeral procession is depicted in the third
movement, with the cries of mourning of those accompanying the procession and
characteristic calls from the trombones. The composer adds the suggestion that
in China the larger brass instruments are used at
funerals. The fourth movement is in lively triple rhythm, which, the composer
points out, is seldom found in Chinese music. The dance is energetic and does
for a time settle into a more characteristic duple rhythm, before the original
rhythm returns. The Lament of the Princess is allegedly based on a
fourteenth century Chinese melody. The melody appears first with clarinet and
bassoon supported by glockenspiel, celesta and piano. A plaintive central
section gives the oboe prominence, accompanied by strings and harp and later to
be joined in the melody by a solo viola. The suite ends with Echo over the
Golden Lake, where the sound of little bells is heard. These gentle echoes
over the water are followed by a Chinese Market in which merchants cry
their wares amidst the noise of the street.
The Prelude of
the Indian Suite, drawn from the ballet Noyya, opens with the
woodwind in a chromatic and sinuous melodic line, the cor anglais heralding the
entry of the strings. After an emphatic dynamic climax there is are turn to the
material of the opening section, leading to a hushed conclusion. The Dithyrhamb,
a Bacchic dance, with its cross-rhythms, brings an immediate contrast, to
be followed by the Dance of the Maidens, introduced by a figure on the
celesta, doubled by the flute and leading into a lyrical waltz. The opening
figure returns and it is this again that finally brings the movement to an end.
The Popular Celebration is as lively and energetic as might be expected,
its conclusion announced by three trumpets on stage. The Wedding Procession allows
the on-stage trumpets a fanfare, echoed in the orchestra, before the stately
march begins. Wedding bells are heard, as the movement rises to a great climax.
The following Indian Dance allows the oboe to introduce the principal
theme, leading to more characteristic material. The music dies away, to the
accompaniment of string harmonics. Noyya's Dance announces itself as
based on a Japanese theme, the characteristic intervals of which are heard at
the outset from the oboe. The Dance of the Young Men is vigorous,
suitably orchestrated. The Duet on the Theme Ghusal proclaims an
Indian origin, with a theme first heard from the cellos, before a passage for
solo violin. The suite continues with a Gavotte on a Chinese Theme, with
appropriate instrumentation and use of the pentatonic scale. The Whirling
Dance is redolent of Turkic territory, until a more Russian element
intrudes. The sustained notes of the organ, with muted tremolo strings provide
a background for fragments of melody that emerge from the wind instruments,
eventually celebrating the rising of the sun. Oboe and clarinet recount the
opening of Legend, a gentle tale. The Finale calls for a wordless
chorus, in addition to the organ and the full orchestra, in a great romantic
conclusion.