Alexey STANCHINSKY (1888-1914)
Piano Works
Sonata in E-flat minor (1906) [11:29]
Nocturne (1907) [4:55]
Three Preludes (1907) [5:09]
Five Preludes (1907-12) [7:19]
Three Songs without Words (1903) [9:31]
Mazurka in D-flat major (1905) [4:20]
Mazurka in G-sharp minor (1907) [2:12]
Tears (1906) [2:15]
Variations (1911) [4:51]
Three Sketches (1911-13) [3:10]
Twelve Sketches (1911-13) [18:57]
Peter Jablonsky (piano)
rec. June 2020, Palladium, Malmö, Sweden
ONDINE ODE1383-2 [73:46]
It would seem that there is no biography of Stanchinsky, and given his short life and limited output, perhaps that is not surprising. The CD booklet gives us what is known about him: his father was a chemical engineer and he was first taught music by his mother. His talents were soon appreciated and he frequently travelled to Moscow for lessons with Josef Lhévinne, amongst others. At the age of 19, he was admitted to the Moscow Conservatoire where he became a favoured pupil of Sergey Taneyev, who taught him counterpoint and musical form. There he met Scriabin, in whose music Stanchinsky found considerable interest.
In 1908, he fell in love with Elena Bai, the daughter of the manager of the estate where the Stanchinskys lived, but Stanchinsky’s mother was vehemently opposed to their marriage. In 1910 two tragedies struck: his father died and Elena became pregnant. Poor Stanchinsky’s relationship met with total opposition from his widowed mother, and Elena was sent away. Deprived of the company of both his father and his lover, Stanchinsky plunged into a deep psychological trauma and was treated for depression and hallucinations. During this period, he destroyed many of his compositions. In 1914, he was able to see Elena for the first time since 1910, and was introduced to his four-year-old son, but his mother was still against their marriage. In September, he decided to visit Elena secretly, but had to swim across a river to meet her. Alas, the cold killed him.
The CD notes go out of their way to emphasize that Stanchinsky was not stylistically influenced by Scriabin, although that composer’s musical experiments doubtless encouraged Stanchinsky to experiment too. Some of the early works presented here show his traditional Russian heritage; the Three Preludes of 1907 and all bar the last of the 5 Preludes (1907-1912) are steeped in Russian folk music traditions. The Three Songs without Words of 1904 were composed when he was only 15, and unsurprisingly also relate to folk-song. The two mazurkas of 1905 and 1907 were probably composed in response to Scriabin’s output, and Tears (1906) is melodious and sad, again influenced by Russian folk song.
The first work on the CD is his Sonata in E-flat minor, which was composed when he was just 18. It is cast in one movement and shows good melodic invention coupled with rhythmic drive. The booklet states that the piano writing is sometimes awkward - not that I realised it from Peter Jablonski’s apparently effortless pianism. The music begins in declamatory fashion and is rather stormy, but is followed by the undulating main theme in a quieter passage. These main themes are reprised in the minor key at the end.
The most ‘advanced’ music on the CD are the Three Sketches and Twelve Sketches, both sets dating from 1911-1913. Of the latter, Myaskovsky wrote “everything in these pieces is unique: rhythm, unusual metre, fresh, subtle rich harmonies, imaginative and refined compositional style and beautifully clear texture”. The Three Sketches are all very chromatic with intricate rhythms and harmonies, occasionally foreshadowing the sarcastic type of lyricism that Shostakovich would later adopt.
Peter Jablonsky does these works proud, and Ondine serve him with a splendidly sonorous recording. The booklet is in English only, and gives biographical detail of the composer as well as descriptions of each piece.
Jim Westhead
