Alla Pavlova (b. 1952)
Sulamith Ballet Suite • Monolog • Old New York Nostalgia
Alla Pavlova is a
composer and musicologist.
In 1983 she
received her Master’s
Degree at the Gnesin
Academy of Music in
Moscow. From 1983 to
1986 she lived in
the Bulgarian capital
Sofia,where she worked
for the Union of
Bulgarian Composers
and the Bulgarian
National Opera. From
1986 to 1989 she was in
Moscow, working for the Russian Musical Society
Board. Since 1990 she has lived in New York, where she
is a member of New York Women Composers, Inc. Alla
Pavlova has written a number of compositions for
orchestra, including five symphonies, as well as other
instrumental and vocal works that have been performed
in the United States, Europe, and Canada.
The draft of Monolog was made on 4th October,
2002, and the score was completed during the next two
or three days. Some of the most powerful memories of
my childhood are connected with my father. He loved to
play the violin. He was not a professional musician but
for him music was the most precious thing in the
universe. Monolog has received several performances in
New York.
Old New York Nostalgia, a suite for string orchestra,
percussion, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone and
trumpet, was written first for piano solo in 1994-1995
and first performed in March 1996 at the Weill Recital
Hall (Carnegie Hall). Since then the suite has been
performed many times in the United States, and abroad
in Russia, Bulgaria and Canada. The first version of the
orchestration was made in 1998 and recorded in 1999,
together with the Second Symphony and Elegy for piano
and string orchestra. The present orchestration was made
in the fall of 2002, at the time of the completion of the
score of my Fourth Symphony. I included two new
movements: From My Mom’s Photo Album and Lullaby
for the Twins, dedicated to the victims of 9/11.
The suite Sulamith, written in 2003 and 2004,
consists of excerpts from the ballet Sulamith, based on
the story by the famous Russian writer Alexandre
Kuprin (1908). It is a very dramatic and touching lovestory
between King Solomon and a poor girl, Sulamith,
a servant from his vineyard, and the only love of his life.
The libretto also includes Assyrian and Egyptian scenes,
and all the events described have a historical basis,
including the Great Mysteries of Isis and Osiris. The
musical language makes no use of folk-material. The
present short version of the suite contains the
Introduction and a Ritual Dance to the Sun-God Ra,
concluding the feast at King Solomon’s palace on the
occasion of the arrival of the Assyrian envoys. The
dance is performed by Queen Astis, who is King
Solomon’s wife and a daughter of the Pharaoh of Egypt,
and the priestesses who serve the cult of Ra. At the end
of the dance the sun is rising, and the guests are
astonished by the magic of Astis. The third movement is
the Duet of King Solomon and Queen Astis, in the King’s
chambers. Astis, in desperation, begs Solomon, who no
longer loves her, for her love to be returned. This is
followed by Night in Sulamith’s room, a love duet
between Solomon and Sulamith on the occasion of their
second meeting, and the ecstasy of their love. The fifth
movement is In the Temple of Isis, which comes before
the beginning of the second part of the Great Mysteries
dedicated to Osiris and Isis. Queen Astis persuades
Eliab, Head of King Solomon’s bodyguards, who is in
love with her, to kill Solomon and Sulamith, promising
him her love and Solomon’s throne. In King Solomon’s
Chambers brings the final love duet of Solomon and
Sulamith, who dies to save Solomon’s life.
Alla Pavlova
