Tatsiana Zelianko: Piano Works

TATSIANA ZELIANKO – PIANO WORKS

Huit preludes for piano op. 4 (2009)

Mine created between the years 2005 and 2009 Preludes are a collection of 10 pieces. only the Preludes No. 3 and  N° 9 are not included in this recording. The composition of these pieces is closely linked to two different phases of my life. I therefore divide them into two groups in chronological order.

The first group consists of Preludes Nos. 1, 2, 5 and  6. They are my first attempts at composition from my last year of study in Belarus. A few years later, the compositional technique of these pieces has become more complex, but this has not affected the basic musical idea of ​​the individual pieces.

The second group includes the Preludes Nos. 3, 4, 7, 8, 9 and  10. They were composed at the beginning of my studies at the Conservatoire de la Ville de Luxembourg under the tutelage of the Luxembourg pianist, composer and conductor Alexander Müllenbach.

The Preludes are a homage to the genre of the romantic prelude and to the art of improvisation on the piano, and they evoke poetic, passionate or desolate images in the listener, which let everyone see what suits him and inspires him.

Illusions for piano (2016)

The piece, commissioned by the Center culturel de rencontre Abbaye de Neumünster in Luxembourg, is dedicated to the Russian pianist Alexandra Matvievskaya.

Illusions is a cycle of six miniatures with post-impressionist colors and postmodern influences, symbolizing the liberation of harmonic sound in the aesthetics of my musical language. The material is based on an imaginary folklore, which consists not only of “inventing some folk tunes”, as Béla Bartók put it, but also of creating different musics, coming from different cultures.

The aesthetics of imaginary folklore I in the cycle Illusions I was looking for has its roots in my own culture: in the Russian, Belarusian and Polish folk music influenced by the modern stylistics of European contemporary music of the 21st century. So I try new, purer, transparent and sometimes tonal sound structures that are based on the principle of variation. The motifs undergo a multitude of changes and modulations, resulting in their own rhythmic accentuation. As a musical idea, the cycle becomes an inner journey through the folk music that shaped my musical world.

N° 1: The oppressive reticence of a solemn theme, like a solitary chorale mercilessly chanted, against a backdrop of a rhythmic motif in the left hand, heralds a wild, irresistible descent into thoughts that captivate and be captivated. The contours of the theme remain monotonous and unchanging in character, like a lullaby that drives me towards infinity. At its peak, a random but hypnotic surge: tragedy is never silent.

N° 2: I hear a melancholic-sounding ballad reminiscent of Slavic guslis. The image of the first section becomes clearer and clearer before my eyes, transporting me to the mythical epoch of "Kievan Rus". The sound is soft and sways back and forth. The shimmering arpeggios also announce an impending agony that is barely perceptible. In the second section, a stormy ride with its impatient, relentless chords in a persistent, louder and louder rhythm makes me wince until the climax is reached.

N° 3: An architectural tempo, an ecstatic prestissimo: the cadenza, charged with a frenetic melody that impacts embellishments hidden in the fast, descending passages as 1/32nd sextuplets. The relaxation is short-lived, and that to taste is like a spark about to go out. My attention follows the expressive changes in the right hand, which are those of anguish and pain in a clarinet part in the klezmer tradition.

N° 4: A solo song full of tender nostalgia destroys my peace of mind:
I bear it in my living soul
Like a torch flame ever bright for me,
That through deaf darkness to my goal,
Midst vandals it may lighten me.
With it lives my thought family.
Bringing dreams of sincerity.
And its name, all in all must be
My native land, my heritage.
[Yanka Kuala, excerpt from the poem From Forebears' Ages, Long Since Gone]

N° 5: Electrocardiogram as the basic rhythm, the heart comes back to life ... The role of the repeated note in this "Intermezzo" is not limited to that of the accompaniment, but is entirely one with the "heroic calls" of the voice in the melody. This merging creates a kind of tension. Temporary serenity: The crescendo in the notes raises questions. The piece is composed in such a way that the piano sounds like one of the most beautiful traditional Belarusian instruments - the tsimbali.

N° 6: In this transparent, undisguised music, I render a solemn exhilaration to express the feeling of love and glory. Together with notes that are endlessly lined up and suddenly whirling up, this leads to light-dark contrasts. Writing stars or lightning bolts in the air, these illusions have the soothing effect of women's voices. But in the end, isn't the ultimate illusion to believe that you've lost them all?

Frida Kahlo »The Frame« Bercée par le gouffre for piano (2013)

The piece was commissioned by the Third International Symposium on Outsider Art in Luxembourg 2013 in collaboration with the Center Kompass Luxembourg.

The composition is from the painting The Frame (»The Frame«, self-portrait, 1938) by the painter Frida Kahlo. The music attempts to glimpse a page in Frida Kahlo's work, presented as a diary of her tormented soul, reflecting the feelings through its own musical expression. The subtitle Bercee par le gouffre (Lulled by the Abyss) was added by me to emphasize the dark side of the musical idea. In the piece, constructed in a free form, three musical elements appear one after the other:
1. a harmonious
2. a rhythmic one
3. a melodic one.

The piece begins with an upbeat sul cordiera, followed by the first element, which I call »oiseaux criants« (»Screaming Birds«; the image of the parrot inspires Frida Kahlo throughout her life and also appears in her painting The Frame on). This motif develops further through a succession of pulsing, rapid passages expressing the sense of impending fear (bars 1–5).

The first idea with its opening character ends with extreme intensity in one molto accel. Place and transition into registers opposite to bar 5. This is followed by a second element in bar 6, represented by a rhythmic, syncopated formula with a pulsating, nervous character. It reappears later in the piece in the form of a rhythmic ostinato that represents the painter's physical suffering.

From bar 10, the music charges with ever-increasing tension, incessantly weaving and developing the first two elements together. Towards the end of bar 12, however, this newly formed structure settles down again, and in bar 13, »Lugubre« (gloomy), the third element emerges. This is a significant but barely recognizable reminiscence of the Marche funèbre from the Piano Sonata No. 2 Op. 35 by Frédéric Chopin, a momentous movement with one of the most poignant images of despair.

Tatsiana Zelianko
Translation: Monika Kalitzke