[Aliosha Nikolaev] The Snake Princess, Fairy Tale for Piano (Score-Video)

This composition has 2 movements:
0:05 - I. The Tin Kingdom: Adagio
4:37 - II. The Whitestone Palace: Moderato

Performer:
Sedmara Zakarian Rutstein

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One of the concerts of the Children's Music Week, held annually in Leningrad, is traditionally dedicated to the work of the youngest composers, students of music schools. In 1971, this concert was very long, but quite mediocre in terms of artistic level. When the listeners were thoroughly exhausted, music suddenly began to play that commandingly forced people to listen attentively and forget about their fatigue. Surprisingly adult, serious, it possessed the magical property of authenticity: it seemed as if this music had formed itself and could not have been formed otherwise. The author turned out to be Lesha [Aliosha] Nikolaev. He was twelve years old then, but due to his short stature, he appeared younger. I became acquainted with the boy and his mother, Natalia Evgenievna. It turned out that we were neighbors, and Lesha began coming to visit me. We played four-hand piano, listened to recordings, and sometimes attended concerts together.

Some time ago, when Lesha was still small, one of his relatives, who listened with caution to the praises being lavished upon the child, decided to send his compositions "for expert opinion" to D. D. Shostakovich, with whom he was acquainted. Dmitri Dmitrievich responded with two letters. One, written politely but with pedagogical restraint, was addressed to Lesha. The other letter, directed to the boy's relatives, contained a characterization of his compositions, a conclusion about his talent (a word Dmitri Dmitrievich valued highly and used rarely), and advice regarding professional training.

Lesha's composition classes at the Vasileostrovsky District Music School were led by Zhanna Lazarevna Metallidi, who knows the child's world well (as evidenced by her own composition opuses in addition to the results of her pedagogical work). In the college at the Leningrad Conservatory, he ended up in the class of an outstanding composer, Galina Ivanovna Ustvolskaya. Coming to me, Lesha brought a new composition every time. Avoiding evaluations (I feared possible discrepancies with the opinion of his teachers), I watched with deep excitement and joyful hope the rapid unfolding of this rare creative gift. Works written by Lesha at the age of fourteen or fifteen, in terms of their psychological depth and the development of the musical language, were on the level of complex compositions by recognized modern composers.

It was interesting to observe how the extraordinary individuality of the teenager was formed. His attention to life and artistic phenomena was deeply selective. About that which interested him—say, music or painting (which he also practiced)—he knew a lot and expressed his own judgments, unbiased, sometimes paradoxical. But what did not interest him, he left aside and did without information, the knowledge of which is imputed as a duty by the curriculum. This grieved his school teachers. Wishing to gain his confidence, some of them read one or two brochures about composers and started a conversation with him about music at a "children's level." He, however, relating to art in an adult way, effortlessly detected their groundlessness and withdrew into himself, becoming, as they say, uncommunicative. It was not that he censured the older interlocutor—very benevolent, modest, shy beyond measure, he was not inclined to judge anyone at all—but as a person truthful to the limit, he simply did not know how to maintain a false game.

Unfortunately, Lesha's body was undermined by a severe illness. He was treated, but they could not save him. He died at eighteen. A terrible, offensive injustice of fate...

M. Byalik, Honored Artist of the RSFSR

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I do not own neither the score, nor the recordings used in this video. This is only for educational purposes. If you have any complaints regarding copyright issues, please write to me directly at asorabji20(at)gmail(dot)com before submitting a report to YouTube and I will remove the video as soon as possible.