Ilya Muroets

Nikolay Myaskovsky (1881–1950) was given the sobriquet of ‘the conscience of Russian music’ thanks to his dignified bearing and quiet wisdom – qualities reflected in the unemphatic strength of his music. His orchestral, chamber and instrumental works are regaining the currency they once enjoyed, but his large corpus of songs, many of them understated masterpieces, has yet to attract systematic attention – a situation this series hopes to remedy. This second album presents his entire output of songs for baritone and piano, most of them early works responding to Russian lyric poetry with the calm dignity typical of his compositions – though there is the occasional flash of passion.

Jaap Nico Hamburger is the current Composer in Residence with Mécénat Musica in Montréal. His compositions include commissions for orchestra, opera, chamber music and solo works. His music has been performed and recorded in Canada, The Netherlands and Israel.

“Il mio segreto: all’età di quattro anni divenni sordo. Quando persi l’udito cominciai a vedere voci. Su un tram affollato un uomo con un braccio solo disse che la mia vita sarebbe stata misteriosamente legata alla storia del mio paese.” Le poesie di questa raccolta – il pluripremiato esordio di Ilya Kaminsky, autore di Repubblica sorda – danzano tra i legami di una famiglia sconfinata, che si fa città, patria, appartenenza. Sentimenti domestici e miti letterari raccontano la storia, tenera e brutale, di un paese che cambia nome, più e più volte, mentre il mondo intero cambia intorno a lui. In mezzo, inscalfibile come le speranze più ostinate, l’amore che si impara nei baci rubati, negli abbracci che abbiamo perso, nei ricordi che ci fanno per sempre bambini.

Most persons would assume that the balalaika predates the domra. In fact, the domra is known to have existed for over 1000 years; the balalaika only about 350. Musicologists have reached a clear conclusion: the domra and balalaika are two different versions of the same kind of stringed instrument, with the domra being the balalaika’s ancestor.