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Solo
2018
Piano
- Program Notes
- This composition takes its title after a photo collection by Russian photographer Valery Melnikov. This artist dedicated himself to documenting the political and social life of societies in conflict. He became famous for his photo coverage of Chechen war, conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia, Lebanese war in 2006, uprising of Mali Republic, etc. This particular collection covers recent events in Syria. Images of Melnikov’s collection presents an outsiders view of a society living in the ruins of their own civilization. The impact of constant military conflicts left this land only with the splinters of its own culture and identity, the remains of which still linger within each fragment of debris or particles of dust. It is an enormous puzzle that is impossible to put together. Even the natives would not be able to achieve this, let alone an outsider with a camera or the one looking at his pictures that are hanging on a fence of a reconstruction area of Lukiškių square in the heart Vilnius. A square that was a place of public executions held by the Russian Empire in 1860s and later became the symbol of terror, due to the infamous KGB prison facing it. A square that is about to be converted into a beautiful family-friendly place, designed for people to feel happy and free, which can only be achieved by walking on top of the splinters of oppression, death and fearful silence. These are the splinters of my own culture, the splinters that make a solid foundation for the new, the splinters that should always remain visible, but should be never put back together. This composition is an attempt to transfer the philosophical idea of “splinters” and “broken silence” to the musical realm. It is an attempt to render this story and many of its hidden dimensions through the consciousness of a composer of the 21st century, deliberately staying away from any ethnic references in the musical material, which is based on “shattering”, “reassembling” and “reshaping” the harmonic spectrum.
- Recording Notes
- Recorded on January 24th in a live performance at Alte Schmiede, Vienna, Austria
- Performer Credits
- Irén Seleljo