1. Mystical dream (Ballade)
2. That obsessive remembrance (Arioso)
3. ...as a bee (Scherzo)
4. Uneven utterance (Monologue)
5. Star scintillation (Intermezzo)
6. Down the highway (Perpetuum mobile)
7. Relaxation (Aria)
The work is a cycle of seven short pieces. Programmatic titles should give the first
emotional impulse for perception of sound images which, in fact, are far removed
from direct illustration.
Sometimes strange confrontations of different textural elements, frequent interruption of
development, utilization of extreme registers, and other features of musical language
refer to surrealistic aesthetics and create an atmosphere of a mystical rite. Despite atonality
and dissonant harmony, expressive melodic substance and narration of rather vocal nature play
the leading role, hence the subtitles of the pieces borrowed mostly from an opera field. The whole
cycle may be defined as a sequence of brief operatic scenes.
The parts of both instruments are written in virtuoso style. The performers have many opportunities to show
their mastery and imagination, so that another genre connotation – sophisticated instrumental
cadenzas – is quite obvious.
The work has been written on suggestion of American contrabassist Allan von Schenkel.
Alexander Shchetynsky
© 2005 by Alexander Shchetynsky