JAVS Summer 2000

15

NIKOLAI ROSLAVETS AND HIS VIOLA SONATAS

by Anna Ferenc

The story of the Russian composer Nikolai Andreyevich Roslavets is tragic and elusive; tragic because of a politically-motivated neglect bordering on suppression that he and his compositions experienced throughout most of the twentieth century and elusive because of the resulting lack of accurate information about him. Though his name still remains on the periphery of the musi cal canon, his work has steadily attracted more and more attention since the fall of communism. Particularly noteworthy are the publication by Schott International of all of Roslavets' surviving complete compositions and a growing list of recordings, especially of his chamber music. 1 This article provides an introduction to Roslavets and comments on his Sonatas for Viola and Piano. BIOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND As a prominent modernist composer living in Russia under Stalin's leadership, Roslavets' pro fessional fate was in large part sealed in 1932 by a Communist Party resolution tided "On the Reconstruction of Literary and Artistic Organizations." In the field of music, this governmental decree dissolved all existing factional associations and created a single Composers' Union con trolled by the state. Instead of being admitted to the Union, Roslavets' name disappeared from reference sources and concert programs because his work did not reflect or promote Party ideol ogy. His music was thus obscured at home and, consequently, also abroad. Lacking information, Western lexica could only speculate on his fate. The 1954 edition of the Grove's Dictionary ofMusic andMusicians, for example, dismissed Roslavets' music as being of an experimental nature that soon fell into oblivion. 2 And, as late as 1970, the Oxford Companion to Music reported that Roslavets died in exile in Siberia. 3 At about the same time composers and scholars such as George Perle and Detlef Gojowy were connecting Roslavets' music to serialism and making claims that he was "an earlier twelve-tone composer." 4 All of this information has undergone significant revision since authorities began allowing access to Roslavets' archives in Moscow about a decade ago. As valuable as the archival information is, it does not provide definitive answers to all ques tions. There is still some discrepancy, for example, with respect to Roslavets' date of birth. Depending on the source consulted, Roslavets was born on either the 23rd or 24th of December, 1880, according to the Old Style or Julian Calendar used in Russia at the time. To complicate the matter a little further, these dates correspond to the 4th and 5th ofJanuary, 1881, when con verted to the New Style or Gregorian Calendar used elsewhere in Europe and America. According to Roslavets' own autobiographical statement, he was born in a village by the name of Dushatino, which was then part of the Chernihiv gubernia of Ukraine and is now in the Briansk region of Russia. 5 His initial exposure to music was through his uncle, a self-taught vil lage fiddler and master builder of string instruments. At the age of 7 or 8, Roslavets began to teach himself to play the violin by ear and soon became part of a popular village string ensemble led by his uncle. At 16, he moved to the city of Kursk, where, in addition to being a railway office employee, he studied violin, rudimentary theory, and harmony with Arkady Maksimovich Abaza, who taught music classes under the auspices of the Russian Music Society. In 1902 Roslavets gained admission to the Moscow Conservatory where he studied violin performance and composition. He graduated in 1912 with a silver medal for his "opera-cantata'' Nebo i Zemlya [Heaven and Earth]. Having completed his studies at the Conservatory, Roslavets began to establish himself as a composer with modernist interests. From the outset of his professional career he began formu lating and composing within a "new system of tone organization," which he continued to use in his works until the mid to late 1920s. By 1915 Roslavets had gained a reputation for being a