“Coming Out of the Closed Space...” About the Early Works of Valentin Sylvestrov

Abstract

The article is devoted to the ‘avant-garde’ period of composer Valentin Sylvestrov’s development which is 1961–1968. The materials used are taken from various sources, both printed and published, among which the central place is occupied by the publication: Blazhkov, Igor. Book of letters. (Kompozitor  •  St. Petersburg, 2020), as well as archival materials, first introduced into the scientific community. The first part of the article covers the special role of the conductor and musical and social figure Igor Blazhkov in the development of the New Music in the former USSR and, mainly, in Valentin Sylvestrov’s biography as a composer. The second part is devoted to the materials, which testify to the achievements of the young composer, which do not exclude the crisis, which occurred at the end of the early period, as the precondition of the decisive turn in the creative process and the acquisition of a mature style.

References
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