Mikhail Kollontay’s piano cycle Seven biblical epigraphs in the light of the composer’s worldview

The creative consciousness of the Russian composer-pianist Mikhail Kollontay was in line with global trends in the culture of the second half of the 20th century. The musical thinking of this period, which developed in the USSR and new Russia, has been called by musicologists the phenomenon of ‘new sacredness’. A whole generation of composers, among them A. Schnittke, S. Gubaidulina, R. Shchedrin, V. Martynov, A. Karamanov, Y. Butsko, V. Ryabov, A. Raskatov and many others, using various techniques and styles, from traditional to avant-garde, demonstrated in their work a variety of approaches to the religious and symbolic programme of instrumental works. Being in creative dialogue with his contemporaries, Mikhail Kollontay managed to find and preserve his uniqueness in his work. The evolution of compositional thinking took place at the intersection of various styles and traditions, including the tradition of Old Russian church singing, Russian folklore and Western European musical culture. Upbringing in a religious environment and exposure to church music from childhood served as a basis for the composer’ s subsequent study of it and its reflection in his work. Biblical motifs are a leading line in the composer’s work and can be traced in all major genres, including piano works. The composer’ s creative method involves a multi-level philosophical understanding of religious themes, the integration of elements of Orthodox liturgical music into his own musical language, reliance on the ‘word’ and ‘symbol’ in music as a fundamental element of creativity and others. In Kollontai’s music, religious symbolism is organically combined with innovative compositional techniques. The author attempts to interpret the genre of M. Kollontay’s piano cycle through the prism of the composer’s worldview. On the example of the cycle ‘Seven Biblical Epigraphs’ the key components of the musician’s creative laboratory are considered. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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