Alexei Stanchinsky - 5 Preludes (1907-1912)

Composer: Alexei Vladimirovich Stanchinsky (21 March 1888 -- 6 October 1914)
Performer: Edvard Syomin
Year of recording: 1979

5 Preludes for Piano, written between 1907-1912.

00:00 - I. Prelude in C minor, Andante (1907)
01:54 - II. Prelude in A flat major/F minor, Lento espressivo (1907)
03:37 - III. Prelude in B flat minor, Presto (1909)
04:26 - IV. Prelude in B minor, Animato (1909)
04:58 - V. Prelude in C minor, Largo (1911-1912)

The Russian composer Alexei Stanchinsky has been a "rarity among rarities" for a very long time. His extreme neglect can partly be explained by his early death and relatively small number of compositions, as well as the sudden changes of style. He studied in Moscow, where his piano teachers included Josef Lhévinne, and his composition teachers were Grechaninov and Taneyev.

His early compositions were quite free-flowing, and showed influences from several sources like Russian folk music, early Scriabin, character pieces like Grieg's, and his own experiments with unconventional rhythms, modal harmony etc. Unfortunately he suffered from mental illness after the death of his father in 1908 and was described as "incurable" at the clinic where he spent a year. He spent some time collecting folk-songs in the Smolensk region in 1910, and the style of his music became much more his own, very idiomatic and inventive. He also met Medtner and Scriabin at that time, they were enthusiastic about his music. He performed some of his own works in the Small Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire, where they were well received. But it must have been all too late, and in spite of this encouragement, he was found dead by a river in 1914 near his family home, after disappearing for several days.

His death was a great loss for Russian music, for even these small preludes show intriguing musical experiments (for the time); had he lived longer he probably would have been just as much an original voice as for example Roslavets and Medtner were.