THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY College of Music presents
Silenced Voices Chamber Music Series: Boris Berman, piano
Thursday, February 9, 2023 7:30 p.m. | Opperman Music Hall
PROGRAM
Triad (1961-1966) Valentin Silvestrov
1. Signs (b. 1937)
2. Serenade
3. Music of silvery tones
Sonata No. 2 (1975)
Postludium, Op. 5 (2005)
INTERMISSION
Kitsch Music (1977)
Five Pieces, Op. 306 (2021)
1. Pastorale
2. Serenade
3. Pastorale
4. Valse
5. Pastorale
Three Pieces, March 2022, Berlin
1. Elegie
2. Chaconne
3. Pastorale
To Ensure An Enjoyable Concert Experience For All…
Please refrain from talking, entering, or exiting during performances. Food and drink are prohibited in all concert halls. Recording or broadcasting of the concert by any means, including the use of digital cameras, cell phones, or other devices is expressly forbidden. Please deactivate all portable electronic devices including watches, cell phones, pagers, hand-held gaming devices or other electronic equipment that may distract the audience or performers.
Recording Notice: This performance may be recorded. Please note that members of the audience may at times be included in this process. By attending this performance you consent to have your image or likeness appear in any live or recorded video or other transmission or reproduction made in conjunction to the performance.
Health Reminder: The Florida Board of Governors and Florida State University expect masks to be worn by all individuals in all FSU facilities.
Florida State University provides accommodations for persons with disabilities. Please notify the College of Music at (850) 644-3424 at least five working days prior to a musical event to request accommodation for disability or alternative program format.
Composer Valentin Silvestrov evolved stylistically from modernist techniques to a unique postmodernist mix and to a spiritual language in his later works. He is one of Ukraine’s most prominent composers.
Silvestrov was born in Kyiv, then part of the Soviet Union, on September 30, 1937. World War II disrupted his childhood, and he was not able to begin music lessons until he was 15. From 1955 to 1958, he attended the Kyiv Evening Music School. Silvestrov then enrolled in a university program in construction engineering but felt the pull of music and switched to the Kyiv Conservatory, studying composition with Boris Lyatoshynsky and counterpoint with Levko Revustky. Even during his student years, he was writing music that gained attention for its eclectic style, sometimes contrasting purely tonal passages with completely atonal ones. His Piano Sonatina appeared in 1960. In 1963, Silvestrov composed the first of his nine symphonies (as of the early 2020s).
As his music developed, Silvestrov developed a unique style that has been termed postmodern; he described it as allegorical or metaphorical. Many of his compositions used styles from the past, with traditional tonal and modal harmonies, but juxtaposed and recontextualized. His Symphony No. 3 (“Eschatophony”) of 1966 contrasted “cultural” sounds, which were notated in the usual way, and “mysterious” improvised aspects. Some of his works, like the 45-minute piano trio Drama (1971), were quite extended; his Symphony No. 5 (1982) consisted of nine slow movements that incorporated seemingly banal melodies into a complex, multistylistic structure.
In 1974, Silvestrov found himself and his music under attack, partly because he had condemned the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and partly because his music conformed to neither the precepts of so-called Socialist Realism nor to the official modernist styles that had been approved by the Soviet musical establishment. His response was to withdraw from musical activities for some years, writing music only for private performances. When he reemerged, and especially after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, his music took another stylistic turn, with choral works that used elements of Orthodox church music. A pianist as well as a composer, Silvestrov has recorded ten albums of his music for the ECM label. Silvestrov has remained active into old age, issuing his Symphony No. 9 in 2019. Some of his works include Ukrainian nationalist elements, and during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he fled the country for Berlin, Germany. (Biography written by James Manheim).
ABOUT THE GUEST ARTIST
Boris Berman is regularly performing in more than fifty countries on six continents. His highly acclaimed performances have included appearances with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Gewandhaus Orchestra, The Philharmonia (London), the Toronto Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, and the Royal Scottish Orchestra. A frequent performer on major recital series, he has also appeared in many important festivals.
Born in Moscow, he studied at Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory with the distinguished pianist Lev Oborin. In 1973, he left a flourishing career in the Soviet Union to immigrate to Israel where he quickly established himself as one of the most sought-after keyboard performers. Presently, he resides in New Haven, USA.
A teacher of international stature, Boris Berman heads the Piano Department of Yale School of Music and conducts master classes throughout the world. He has been named a Honorary Professor of Shanghai Conservatory, of the Danish Royal Conservatory in Copenhagen, and of China Conservatory in Beijing. He is frequently invited to join juries of various international competitions.
A Grammy nominee, Mr. Berman’s recorded all solo piano works by Prokofiev and Schnittke, complete sonatas by Scriabin, works by Mozart, Weber, Schumann, Brahms, Franck, Shostakovich, Debussy, Stravinsky, Berio, Cage, and Joplin. Most recently French label Le Palais des Degustateurs released Boris Berman’s recording of Brahms’s Klavierstücke and Variations and a double CD retrospective of piano works by Ukranian composer Valentyn Silvestrov.
In 2000, the prestigious Yale University Press published Professor Berman’s Notes from the Pianist’s Bench. In this book, he explores issues of piano technique and music interpretation. The book has been translated to several languages. In November, 2017 Yale University Press has published the newly revised version of the book electronically enhanced with audio and video components. In 2008, Yale University Press has published Boris Berman’s Prokofiev’s Piano Sonatas: A Guide for the Listener and the Performer. Boris Berman has also been an editor of the new critical edition of Piano Sonatas by Prokofiev (Shanghai Music Publishing House).
In 2022-23, Boris Berman is performing and teaching in Austria, Belgium, Canada, England, France, Italy, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, and the USA.
“Silenced Voices” is a chamber music series from the FSU College of Music promoting the music of composers who worked despite wars and oppressions.
“Silenced Voices” full schedule of events:
• February 8: Masterclass with world-renown pedagogue Boris Berman, featuring College of Music students from the keyboard and chamber music areas. 2:00 p.m. | Westcott 060
• February 9: Guest Artist Concert – Boris Berman, piano. A full recital of music by the leading Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov. 7:30 p.m. | Opperman Music Hall
• February 16: Polymorphia Lecture-Recital. The FSU New Music Ensemble along with faculty and alumni artists presents music by the composers who struggled to express their art during the Soviet regime. 7:30 p.m. | Dohnányi Recital Hall
• March 4: Polymorphia Lecture-Recital. Music by composers-emigres during the Museum of Fine Arts exhibition, “Passports.” 2:00 p.m. | FSU Museum of Fine Arts
• March 27 & 28: Student Lecture-Recitals. College of Music students present lecture-recitals featuring the music of composers who worked during Nazi regime. 7:30 p.m. | Longmire Recital Hall.