Program
Dmitri Shostakovich
Ten Poems on Texts of Revolutionary Poets (1951, Op. 88)
Dmitri Smirnov
Prayers from St. John Chrysostom’s Liturgy for mixed choir
Details
Created in the middle of the twentieth century — a time when freedom of speech was just as important as before the 1905 Revolution — the Ten Poems on Texts by Revolutionary Poets by Dmitri Shostakovich embody the voices of those who value faith in freedom above anything else in their lives. Several elements combine to form sincere choir songs: the composer’s mastery of choir scores, the unity of Russian and European traditions, and the unique character of Russian revolutionary songs. Just like those in Ovid’s Tristia, the lyrics were created by ordinary people who became poets themselves due to the circumstances of their time.
This a-cappella choir cycle will be the focus of the concert programme presented by the musicAeterna choir under the leadership of Fedor Lednev. On the same night, the audience will hear Prayers from St. John Chrysostom’s Liturgy by Dmitri Smirnov, a modern St. Petersburg-based composer who takes a different look at Russian choir traditions in his work.