Galina Ustvolskaya

Duetto for violin and piano was written in 1964 and is one of the most unique works of the twentieth century. There are some reminiscences of Johann Sebastian Bach, but mostly the material is poor and almost speechless and it is used with utmost brutality and despair, at the limits of the supportable. Here there is no place for beauty. In order to rise to the expressive power of this music the interpretation has to go to the extremes. In comparison, other modern composers like Dmitri Shostakovich or Sergei Prokofiev seem quite conventional. The earlier Sonata for violin and piano (1952) gains quality and depth with each repeated playing (and listening). In the beginning the violin repeats a hammering phrase—the stonemason working on a tombstone. This pulse prolongs itself through the whole piece, sometimes interrupted by irregular breaths and sighs. The music of Galina Ustvolskaja is like a ritual, taking the listener into a unique and archaic world, where there is no place for comparisons or theoretical analysis.

Patricia Kopatchinskaja