Eduard Artemiev, Honorary President of the VOIS Council: “In my life, chance is the main thing”
The legendary composer, Honorary President of the Council of the Russian Organization for Intellectual Property (VOIS) Eduard Artemyev visited the Kuzbass State Philharmonic in connection with the performance of his symphonic suite “Altai Tale. Flight Over Time.”
The Honorary Artist of the Russian Federation spoke with reporters about music, inspiration and his future plans.
In particular, he spoke about the idea of creating the “Altai Tale” – according to the Maestro, it belongs to the Barnaul Philharmonic.
“Several themes were selected from my work, and from this we gathered a cantata. In general, folklore and professional music are one whole of the great body of music. Here I tried folklore, which is associated with Altai, amazing throat singing, extraordinary instruments with an almost human voice to introduce into the symphonic canvas. I think that this is a promising way – not just copy, but surround the natural performance of folk singers and performers on various instruments with a certain symphonic structure,” the composer said.
According to Eduard Nikolaevich, he developed his own feeling of music in his youth, when he composed for “Solaris”, a film by Andrei Tarkovsky.
“Musical instruments and music are a small part of the whole giant sounding world. This world is inseparable for me. The world of music is endless, especially when electronics and technology invaded, the opportunity arose, even the need arose to unite the entire sound world that surrounds us. The world of sounds is my world,” the composer stated.
He added that sounds can be synthesized in a variety of ways, the main thing is an inexhaustible desire to compose.
“How the music develops – no one will say that. This is incomprehensible. It happens that an idea can arise from the sound of the gate, from someone else’s song, some influence can spin into its own story. But the main thing – when there is a desire to compose, it is indestructible,” the maestro summed up.
During the meeting they also touched upon the topic of electronic music. The composer said that he remembers the flourishing of that music trend “when the halls were full, there were listeners of avant-garde electronic music, as if not related to emotions, it’s just some kind of created world, like Bradbury created his own.”
“I remember the striking composition of the French composer Francis Bail “Loneliness”: the cold inhuman space of electro-acoustic music breaks off suddenly, the rock gradually captures, and all this turns into one sound, so lonely. Then you feel completely empty… I traveled a lot to festivals at times,” explained Artemyev.
Speaking about his plans, the composer emphasized that he had already drawn up a plan of projects that he would like to implement.
“I have several unfinished works, quite traditional, I would like to complete them. There are two musicals – one based on the famous film “Slave of Love”. The other is “Three Comrades” by Remarque,” commented Eduard Artemyev.
At the end of the conversation, the Maestro talked about inspiration, which, he believes, is born in daily work.
“And then comes desire. Limitation is an organization, a form, just your sense of limitation. Tchaikovsky said: “Inspiration is a rare guest.” You need to work, and nothing more. I also work every day. It has become a necessity. And I can’t do anything else,” concluded Eduard Artemyev.
