Nikolai Medtner / Oda Slobodskaya - 8 Medtner Songs Complete Recordings

Medtner Song Serie no 3
Nikolai Medtner (at the piano) and Oda Slobodskaya (soprano) sings miscellaneous Medtner Songs:

0:00 Prologue
0:07 Willow why forever bending? op 24 no 2
1:20 Whisp'ring, Nature faintly stirring op 24 no 7
3:01 Serenade op 28 no 2
4:57 Spring solace op 28 no 5
6:40 The Singer op 29 no 2
9:27 To a Dreamer op 32 no 6
13:44 The Wagon of life op 45 no 2
16:16 The Ravens op 52 no 2

Recording Dates: 1947


Each image used in the scores is placed according to the poem the songs are based on.

"Willow, why forever bending?" is about a It's like a lament for a bent willow tree. The poet asks, why do you bend like this, willow tree? Willow trying to reach the stream with its thirsty branches, The stream pays no attention to the willow tree and flows on without hesitation. I think that Willow is symbolizes human being, the effort to reach water is a human effort. However, time or life passes by, it is independent of all human efforts. Medtner's composition reaches its peak in this sorrowful atmosphere.

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"Whisp'ring, Nature faintly stirring" is about, In short, it is a spring poem. Dawn is emphasized in nature, which is reborn like a newborn baby with the spring.

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"Serenade" is about, As the name suggests, A capricious woman who does not care about a fluttering heart of man. The gentleman who doing serenades, says that the capricious woman must endure him even if she wins.

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"Spring Solace", Medtner's music seems too pastoral for the poem itself. Poet wanted to be buried in soft, warm soil where he could see the stars in the sky and clouds, he could hear the shepherd's reed, he can feel the breeze. I chose the painting accordingly, a pastoral image with a single purple flower bursting from vibrant grass.

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The Singer, is about, A musician, burning with love, singing here and there at dawn becomes news and is sweetly gossiped about by the girls.

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To a Dreamer, is about, this is the song I put the most effort into. I used 4 images and two characters: Ariadne and Ophelia.
For this I need to explain the poem, To a dreamer, Someone enjoying pain and groaning, Someone who grieves every day and embraces passion with tears is a Dreamer, who is never felt true love. When true love flows in his blood, person will rise from the dream.
There are at least two monumental characters that I think fit this:
Ariadne, She fell in love with Theseus and made sacrifices for him. But Theseus left her like trash. Ariadne did not receive the passion she felt in return, and Thesus did not give true love to her. This plunges her into a deep, insane sadness.
There is a poem in Nietzsche's Dionysus diathrymbos poems that goes like this:
Ariadne:

“Who can warm me, who can love me more?

Give me warm hands!

Give me braziers of the heart!

Shot and knocked down, struggling,

like those who are dying, whose feet are rubbed,

I am shaken, Ah! Burning with unknown fires,

trembling, sharp ice arrows before me,

you are after me, O Thought!

Bacus (Dionysos) to Ariadne:

Come to your senses, Ariadne!

You have small ears, you have my ears:

put a word of wisdom into them! -

If one is to love oneself, must one not hate oneself first?..

I am your labyrinth…”

In short, the pain of separation has disconnected Ariadne from reality.

About Ophelia, she is also the definition of insanity. Hamlet, who does the same thing as Theseus, does not reciprocate the love.
Ophelia almost experiences the same fate as Ariadne. But Ophelia is more tragic, her father was killed by the one she loved and she is not cared about by the one she loves. These gradually distance her from reality, until finally the flower-decorated river becomes Ophelia's grave.

Both characters have not been given true love by their loved ones, they have entered into mourning dreams and have not been able to come out.

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The Wagon of life, is about, Pushkin equates a horse-drawn carriage with life. If it's afternoon and you're in a hurry, you get angry at the driver and ask him to speed up. An impatient person wants time to pass more than anything else. If you are tired, you will get angry at the driver who suddenly speeds up when the sun is high in the sky.
If you are tired, you will get angry at the driver who suddenly speeds up when the sun is high in the sky. One wishes that time would pass slowly, a sweet sleep, a rest, a sigh. At the end of the journey you don't understand how time has passed, but in the blink of an eye the past is gone. You get off the horse carriage, just like you will do the same when your time passed in wagon of life.

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The Ravens, is about, It is one of the most ironic poems. Medtner imitates crows everywhere throughout the song. The Ravens have found a new meal for the evening, a death knight: his hawk has flown, his horse never leaves his side, his dog is faithful, his beloved is already in the arms of the murderer.  Life is cruel, eventually you become friends with the ravens on your death.