Translated material
Singapore
Consists of one large island
In the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall as part of the “Singapore po-russki. Between an Angel and a Lion" hosted the world premiere of a new work by composer Vladimir Martynov, "Singapore. About foreign lands and people" - a symphony created on the initiative and order of the Ambassador of Singapore to Russia Michael Tay and, according to the latter, designed to bring distant cultures together and tell the whole world about a distant, wonderful country. “What is Singapore? An abstract idea, a microcosm reflecting the whole world, or a window into the future? This is the question the symphony should answer!”To achieve the best result, Martynov, before starting to compose, went to Singapore, got acquainted with the country, its people, its classical and professional music, far from the European tradition. However, Martynov’s knowledge of non-European cultures was significant even before his trip to Singapore.
What was revealed to Martynov when the ambassador, who saw in the composer a man capable of looking into the very core of things, showed him his country? “I don’t know if I was able to see what Mr. Michael Tay wanted to show me, and I don’t know how much my feeble attempt to see matches his generous gesture, but I know that at some point I definitely saw that Singapore - - this is a certain ideal state of humanity, which has not existed and will never exist, but one thought about which fills the entire being with sweet and aching happiness.” In other words, Martynov saw the Shambhala of the modern world in Singapore and wrote an essay in the genre of “geopolitical utopia.”
The literary basis of “Singapore” is reference texts and excerpts from the book “Tao Te Ching” by Lao Tzu in Russian translation. The opus opens with a joyful choral chant: “Singapore... consists of one large island and sixty-three small islands. The main island is forty-two kilometers from east to west and twenty-three kilometers from north to south. Singapore. Oh, Singapore." Geography is sung, and everything together with the orchestration revives episodes and images of minimalist classics like Steve Reich’s Different Trains and Martynov’s own opuses - from “Night in Galicia” to “The Iliad”. The next episode tells about the national flag of Singapore: “...The crescent represents the youth of the nation. The five stars represent national ideals: peace, democracy, progress, justice and equality.” Here the Martynov-Kharms “Objects and Figures” and the Martynov-Prigov “No Pasaran” come to mind. At this moment, the general public and connoisseurs of Martynov’s work are equally confused. Some are confused by the unusually straightforward idealism, others - by the orchestration in the style of the American west coast, the Californian-Hollywood scale, decorated with choir members dancing, as if in a Baptist church. Meanwhile, the most important thing is still ahead. Music based on the texts of Lao Tzu, mixing Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Wagner and Debussy, Bernstein and something Martynovsky (“Magnificat”, “Lacrimosa”, etc.), becomes more and more delightful, more and more sweet, more and more wonderful, until it begins to evoke streams of joy and tears somewhere in the words “In the hidden there is still hiddenness - That’s where everything wonderful comes from... It’s better for the kingdom to be small, and for the population to be rare... Let people be respectful of death. And they do not leave their homes... Let people enjoy food and admire their clothes, have peace in their homes and rejoice in their customs... Let neighboring villages be visible... And people do not visit each other until old age and death.” .
What seems from the beginning to be decor and government orders turns out to be visions and dreams, masterfully stitched into a harmonious, funny and sad composition. How else, if not in Hollywood language, gently mixed with high European and non-European vocabulary and shaded with conceptual playfulness and deep intentions, can you tell a piercing utopia that makes you sad and happy?
In addition to the merits of the work itself, in which the composer deftly avoided the expected ethnicity and achieved the effect of a strong emotional experience from meeting the Beautiful, I was stunned by the unprecedented quality of its performance - rare for the local modern musical situation, in which symphonic novelties are usually played after about half a rehearsal and sound appropriate way. The Vladimir Governor's Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Choir under the direction of Artem Markin, reinforced by the musicians of Tatyana Grindenko's ensemble Opus Posth and Grindenko herself at the solo stage without a solo part, coped with the difficult score brilliantly.
The experiment presented in the first part sounded just as charming - a joint performance of the Singapore Indian Orchestra and Tatiana Grindenko's Opus Posth Ensemble. The idea of this association has equally strong and stocky Californian roots that withstood the load of Martynov’s Singaporean construction. And equally rich content - here we were told in detail about the styles of Indian classical music, about Hindu gods, their family ties, ways to establish contacts with them and options for so-called interethnic communication. And the notated and learned voice improvisation on the syllables “sa-sa-sa-sa” and “taka-ti-ka-ta-ka-ta”, performed with a bang by the Grindenko ensemble together with the Singapore Indian Orchestra and Choir, made a simply stunning impression - - as music itself and a strategy for transforming European performing arbitrariness into ritual singing.