2023 04 29-30 Ragged Music Festival ENG - Website

Programme notes
‘The meaning of life is that it stops’ (Franz Kafka)
Initially, we approached the idea of this afternoon program with a sense of hesitation:
should we even do something like this? We almost felt embarrassed, while also being
tempted by the beautiful and haunting combination of pieces that we came up with. We
thought about it for days, weeks even, and we began to realise that that what at first felt
macabre and extreme, was much richer and more suggestive.
Just like the brief, striking quote from Kafka
- by contemplating it, the cold grip starts
to release; its initial pitch blackness softens
with hints of colour; and the terrifying
abruptness will reveal, perhaps, infinite,
inviting vastness.
Songs and Dances of Death of Modest
Mussorgsky
It might be that it was the opening piece that
so terrified us. Mussorgsky’s song cycle truly
is an engrossing monstrosity. This strange
and outstanding piece might be simply the
most direct and revolting depiction of Death
in the history of music, an attempt to look
straight into Death’s face. To be fair, there
exists a vast number of works, particularly in
the XIX century song repertoire, that seem to
belong to this same tradition. None of them
come close to the effect of Mussorgsky’s
songs. The reason might be that if we
want to try and “explain” an extraordinarily
singular work by a maverick artist, we come
to the conclusion that Mussorgsky’s artistic
method is devoid of artifice. There is no
implied complexity nor unnecessary detail.
The settings are so sparse they almost seem
primitive, but that lends them an almost
documental, photographic force. Needless
to say, the simplicity of Mussorgsky’s style
is deceptive. A contemporary of Brahms and
Tchaikovsky, he worked during the heyday
of Romanticism in music. Very much ahead
of his time in so many ways, his posthumous
influence was very significant and extended
to such vastly different composers as Ravel,
Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Shostakovich,
to name just a few. But the rough and
unsophisticated Songs and Dances of
Death remain unmatched – even in the
pandemonium of disturbing images the
music of the XX century brings forth.
Violin Sonata in G major of Johannes
Brahms
The angelic entry of Brahms’ G major Sonata
may be confusing, even uncomfortably
escapist. The tender and warm colours of
the first movement seem so far removed,
almost unreal. Yet it is the progress of this
complex and rather mysterious piece that
reveals its deeply tragic core. It is suggested
that the piece, undeniably considered one
of Brahms’ most refined works, was initially
conceived as a sonatina for Brahms’ beloved
godson Felix Schumann who was studying
violin. In a letter to Clara Schumann, Brahms
attached a sketch of the opening melody
of the second movement, mentioning that
it expressed his feelings for Clara and Felix
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