“Russian Trace” in the Work of Harrison Birtwistle

Abstract

British composer Harrison Birtwistle from the very beginning of his composer`s career sought creative impulses from his ancestors, among which the most evident influence was produced by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. But Stravinsky wasn`t the only composer of Russian origin important for Birtwistle as a source of inspiration. Another artist of Russian origin also became a powerful source of creative ideas for British composer. His name is Peter Zinoviev and this person became the first musician in Great Britain who began to produce experiments with electronic instruments and electronic music. His aristocratic roots (Zinoviev belongs to the aristocratic families of Bobrinskiys, Dolgorukovs, Zinovievs) played considerable role in his attitude to the complex problems of electronic music which were solved with genuinely Russian invention talent and courage. Besides working with technical problems like sound amplification, sound effects, sound engineering, scenic space development, Zinoviev also had global influence on Birtwistle: he produced two librettos (one – for chamber cantata “Nenia: The death of Orpheus; and the second – for grand opera “The Mask of Orpheus”). In these librettos musician and engineer showed as an erudite, profound interpreter of ancient mythology and at the same time as an artist with a taste for postvodernist ideas. “The Mask of Orpheus” became the last project of Zinoviev and Birtwistle. Nevertheless the impact of Peter Zinoviev is evident in a number of Birtwistle`s compositions which belong to so-called “Orpheus-project”, for example, in opera “The Corridor”.

Keywords: Harrison Birtwistle, Peter Zinoviev, experimental music, electronic studio, postmodern musical theatre

For citation: Tsaregradskaya T. V. “Russian trace” in the Work of Harrison Birtwistle [Electronic source]. In: Sovremennye problemy muzykoznaniya / Contemporary Musicology, 2019, no. 4, pp. 100–120. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.56620/2587-9731-2019-4-100-120