By NH100270
07-Oct-2012

Sublime Silvestrov  

Valentin Silvestrov's Symphony No. 5 is a long and deeply melancholic work. For me, this is music that fills the space after all has been said and done, when words (even thoughts and ideas) are no longer of any use to capture feelings of profound simplicity. Nostalgia is the primary motif - though not in looking back with regret or fondness, but looking back in order to scatter memories as though ashes. Turbulence is over; strife has passed; ambition is still. This is music that is letting go, even of itself. A symphony of acceptance. Captivating.

The 4th symphony (for strings and brass) roams with a colder and perhaps more sinister mind. I get the feeling something is being watched over and protected; galloping strings return again and again as though terrain must be patrolled. There's darkness here, and perhaps helplessness. The deep emotion that is driven on cannot prevent the inevitable...
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