[Nikolai Korndorf] Symphony No.4 “Underground Music“ (Score-Video)

This symphony has four movements: 0:15 - I. Bar 1 - 256 14:22 - II. Bar 257 - 407 24:26 - III. Bar 408 - 910 37:55 - IV. Bar 911 - 1124 Performers: Anatoly Levin / The Moscow Conservatoire Students Orchestra Nikolay Korndorf is one of the most original and talented composers of our generation. In theprocess of the creative evolution of his not very long life he used various techniques in his compositions, adhering in various degrees to different musical trends, however treading along his own path, trusting only his intuition,following exclusively the logic of development of his talent. Of Nikolay Korndorf’s four symphonies, the most discernible is the Fourth, titled “Underground Music“, which was composed in 1996. As is well-known, the word “underground“ is used to denote unofficial art (which, at that, is frequently non-conformist“) -“the part of culture which belongs to the street“as Korndorf defined it. The composer broadened this term, relating to it various genres of folk-lore (the early peasant song, the later urban street song, the chastooshka thyme, songs sung in Sovietlabor camps and songs of bards), but also the canonical music of the Russian Orthodox Church, as wellas popular classical melodies which are frequently heard in everyday life. Hence we observe the large number of quotations from various styles, which are contrasting but at the same time organically combine with each other (demonstrating the so-called technique of poly-stylistics). This kaleidoscope of quotations contains a special sense, about which the composer himself spoke:“The spectrum of music is unusually wide, and all of its separate parts coexist simultaneously, and therein lies the remarkable wealth of music, its joy and tragedy.“ For Korndorf the concept of “underground“ does not have an evaluative character; it is merely anindication of a certain segment of the inner culture of society and of the human being himself:“My symphony presents musings about the underground of the soul.” The Symphony contains four movements which create a single wave - movement towards a culmi-nation followed by abatement. The first movement presents the start of the semantic plot: the processof birth from out of a sound milieu (the “primordial matter“) of a melody (“distorted intonations of Vysotsky’s songs,“ which never form an independent melodic line). This finally happens in the second movement: the melodic offshoots finally make their way through the “frozen“ background (remotely resembling Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata), and the entire orchestra (especially the string section!) sing a “brutal song“ of the vein of the Russian songs “Black Eyes“and “Along the Lengthy Road.“ The piercing beauty of a simple melody immersing into darkness towardsthe end of the movement - such is the lyrical culmination. The third movement presents a peculiar type of Scherzo assembled from various quotations (there are eleven of them!) - mainly from classical music (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Orff, Mahler, Shostakovich...). The successive presentation of the quotations (subsequently to be combined in simultaneity) becomes frequent. The sound carousel whirls about faster and faster, turning into a rowdy “intoxicated“merriment, a furious movement becomes automatic and, similarly to a broken mechanical device, “becomes stuck“ on separate fragments. Thus, the Scherzo, similarly to the first movement, undergoes a catastrophe, breaking up into fragments. The fourth movement gradually “shoots forth” from the depths of the Scherzo: it depicts a sound of a bell, the harbinger of morning and awakening, with the sound of which this phantasmagoria dissipates. A melody of canonic Orthodox Church singing is heard: quasi-quotation (“the singing of oldladies in church,“ as Korndorf described it) and self-quotation (from Hymns l and Il) bestow a special character to the Finale - that of slowing down of time, immersion into an endlessly flowing stream and a dissolution in the extra-personal. However, the composer closes off Symphony with a harsh snap (the lid of a piano is slammed), leaving the question remain open. The impression which the Fourth Symphony makes on the listener is a most powerful and hypnoticone. At times it seems that this is an image of a universal catastrophe. But this is how the composer described his work: “The tragic panorama of our country’s musical culture and, first of all, the story of many of our geniuses, appeared before my eyes. And once again I realized my belonging to it.“ (Prof. Evegenia Chigaryova)