Category: Symphonic / Orchestral , Chamber Music
Siberia is a fascinating landscape of infinite expanse. With a rich fauna and flora the nature is omnipresent in Siberia: in immense dimensions one finds Tundra, Taiga, forests, lakes, rivers, gigantic mountains and steppe landscapes. Nature is animated everywhere and all animals, plants, mountains, lake are assigned to a spirit world. . That's why shamanism is more widespread in Siberia than anywhere else in the world. The trumpet concerto tries to depict something of this magical world of spirits, whose roots can be traced back over 50 000 years ton prehistory.
Movements: 1: SIBERIA – IN TUNE WITH NATURE
2: YENISEY – RIVER OF TEARS
3: BIRCHES DANCING IN ENDLESS TAIGA
4: ROCK PILLARS IN STOLBY
5: HORSES
6: SHAMANIC JOURNEY
Duration: 35 Minutes
Publisher of notes/sheet music: Ries & Erler Musikverlag Berlin , 2019
Instrumentation: Trumpet solo (using trumpet in C, piccolo trumpet in Bb, Fluegelhorn in Bb)
Large String Orchestra (Violin 1+2, Viola 1+2, Violoncello 1+2, Double bass)
5 Percussion Players:
1: Marimbaphone, Waterphone, Tamtam, Rainmaker, Triangle, bone rattle
2: Vibraphone, temple blocks, shaman drum, large Guiro, Bull Roarer (Schwirrholz), 2 Stones, thunder sheet, plastic pipe (for electrical installation>)
3: Bass Drum, middle Tomtom, woodblocks, Tubúlar Bells, Rainmaker, lotus flute, metal chimes, finger cymbals,
4: Small Bass Drum, Snare Drum, Handdrum, 3 hanging cymbals, , Bull Roarer (Schwirrholz), thunder sheet, 2 Stones
5: Timpani, Triangle, Claves, Bull Roarer (Schwirrholz), 2 Stones, cymbal on timpani
Introduction: Siberia is a fascinating landscape of infinite expanse. With 13 millions of square kilometers it accounts 77% of Russias’s land area. Siberia stretches southwards from the Arctic ocean to the mountains of Kazakhstan and to the borders of Mongolia and China. It is divided by the Yenisey river in two parts, Western and Eastern. With a rich fauna and flora the nature is omnipresent in Siberia: in immense dimensions one finds Tundra, Taiga, forests, lakes, rivers, gigantic mountains and steppe landscapes. Nature is animated everywhere and all animals, plants, mountains, lake are assigned to a spirit world. . That's why shamanism is more widespread in Siberia than anywhere else in the world. The trumpet concerto tries to depict something of this magical world of spirits, whose roots can be traced back over 50 000 years ton prehistory.
The following themes are covered musically in the six movements:
1: SIBERIA – IN TUNE WITH NATURE. The supremacy of nature is never questioned in Siberian life. All is subordinated to the cycle of nature, with its powerful seasons including ice-cold winters and hot summers. The sound world is archaic and unaffected. The soloist uses the flugelhorn to conjure unkown sounds, strange like the deep bass singing of Mongolian shamans.
2: The river Yenissey is the world’s most water-rich river. This majestic river crosses all climate zones. From the source in a desert landscape with camels to the estuary into the polar sea with polar bears. Among the many faces of this river, the aspect of pain and suffering is accentuated: In the era of Stalin the prisoners of war and political prisoners were brought to Krasnoyarsk. There they were selected and brought by ship on the Yenisey to the prison camps and Gulags. There was hardly a return, - and people named Yenissey “River of tears”
3: BIRCHES DANCING IN ENDLESS TAIGA. The birch belongs to the oldest post-glacial trees of cultic importance. In Russia the birch is called “Mistress of the forests”. The nutritious and healing tree is a symbol of the white goddess. It symbolizes spring, youth, girlishness, fresh energy and vitality. The birch tree is the tree typical for shamans, its healing power and
ability to protect is highly praised. – In the famous poem “The spirit of the birch” by Arthur Ketchum we find dancing as a typical aspect of birch trees: “I’m the dancer in the wood – I shimmer in the solitude…. But let the wood wind flutes begin / Their Elfin music, faint and thin, / sway, I bend, retreat, advance, / And evermore – I dance! I dance!”
4: ROCK PILLARS IN STOLBY. The State nature reserve Stolby is famous all lover the world. Located near Krasnoyarsk we don’t find similar nature reserves on earth. The gigantic rocks are mixed in a evergreen taiga scenery with harmony.T he territory is more than 50 000 hectars. Stolby is one of the most spiritual places in Siberia.
5: HORSES. The horse is very important in the myth of Central Asia. We find horses not only in practical everyday life, but also as a constant in cult rituals. Animals masked with bizarre horse masques. Especially in the Sakha republic we find the Yakut horses as a progenitor of all horses. The energy of horses is proverbial.
6: SHAMANIC JOURNEY is a kind of quintessence of Siberian life. Healing and divination goes through the shaman, who is a human being directly attached to the nature. The simple and neverending beat of a drum is the starting point of every shamanic journey. Drumming leads to a deep meditative or trancelike state. Almost every assumption about what is normal in physical reality is shattered in the strange and fascinating world of the shaman. The most dramatic difference from ordinary reality is that time and space are distorted. All places in existence can be in intimate touch with the world center. When journeying shamans are capable of shape shifting. A shaman and his drum may be transformed into various animals like birds and foxes. – The experiences of a shaman during spirit travel show that reality is more complex than our normal physical senses reveal.
Dedication: Dedicated to my friend Reinhold Friedrich
Additional remarks: Commissioned by the Festival ASIA - SIBERIA - EUROPE with director Larisa Markosyan and artistic director Mikhail Benyumov. CD-Production for nLabel WERGO/Naxos after the wolrdpremiere
World premiere: 13.09.2019, Krasnoyarsk / Siberia
Performers at world premiere: First Premiere: 13th of September 2019 in Krasnoyarsk / Philharmonic Hall as part of the International Music Festival “ASIA - SIBERIA - EUROPE" with Reinhold Friedrich (trumpet), the Krasnoyarsk Chamber Orchestra (chief conductor Mikhail Benyumov), conducted by Martin Baeza Rubio (Spain)
Records: 2020
