“As Long as My Blood Boils...”

Human memory is selective and at times inexplicable. How many examples can be given of people, respected and quite revered in their lifetime, who after finishing their earthly path were somehow forgotten far too quickly, as if dissolving in the space of new waves of time and new generations. In the world of creativity this list can, with bitterness, be extended endlessly, each time chilling the soul at the contact with yet another half-forgotten name of a great contemporary.

And against this unoptimistic background, the creative figure of a remarkable musical figure, conductor, composer, teacher and educator, Lev Konstantinovich Sivukhin, emerges with the years as even more prominent and significant. Of course, to grasp the true scale of his personality time is needed, because in musical space he is a Man, an era…

The words of the composer E. Fertelmeister, spoken in the bitter minutes of farewell to the Teacher, are cut into my memory for ever: “His departure from life is a catastrophe…” And however often it is repeated that no one is irreplaceable, all musicians understand: this case is exceptional.

Seven years have passed… The Nizhny Novgorod Choir College (formerly the Gorky Boys’ Choir Chapel) now bears the name of Lev Konstantinovich, dear to every chapel boy. Among themselves everyone simply calls it the “Sivukhin” Chapel. And after the general shock experienced by Nizhny’s musical community, in recent years different generations of chapel boys have rallied still more closely around the name of their teacher. Works by L. Sivukhin are heard in practically all notable Nizhny Novgorod concert events, festivals and master classes, and his artistic contribution as an interpreter of a huge number of works remains a standard beacon for young followers, the conductors.

In recognition of the services of the outstanding Master, from 18 to 24 April this year the II All-Russian Open Choral Festival named after L. K. Sivukhin took place in Nizhny Novgorod with great success and sincere enthusiasm. From all over the country the most varied collectives, adult and children’s, well-known performers and debutants, responded and came to the capital of the Volga region. And it could not have been otherwise! Because most of the choirs are headed by former chapel boys and pupils of Sivukhin!..

Lev Konstantinovich was not only a talented, versatile musician but also, as a personality, possessed a magical charm. At the same time he was explosive and could not bear indifference. And this important quality, not being indifferent, was faithfully confirmed by all his like-minded people, who accepted the invitation to the spring festival ten days.

The rector of the Glinka Nizhny Novgorod State Conservatory, Honoured Art Worker of Russia E. B. Fertelmeister expressed, at one of the concerts, perhaps the main component of this festival. Addressing the participants, colleagues and guests, he stressed that maintaining choral collectives today is “a great feat, because it is hard to do materially, organisationally and morally. But in this is our resistance to show business, which so oppresses all serious musicians.” And he compared the people who promote the choral, and more broadly the academic, direction in musical art today to heroes, because musicians, as a rule, work in amateur collectives, selflessly, and so it is even harder for them to persuade anyone and to fight for spirituality and morality.

The festival, organised by the Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography, the Department of Culture of the Nizhny Novgorod region and the city of N. Novgorod, as well as the Glinka Nizhny Novgorod State Conservatory and the M. L. Rostropovich State Academic Philharmonic, was greeted by Governor V. P. Shantsev: “I am glad that the Nizhny Novgorod land has become a centre of collective creativity, choral singing, one of the greatest achievements of human friendship, unity and solidarity.” He was supported by the mayor of Nizhny Novgorod V. E. Bulavinov, who especially stressed L. Sivukhin’s fidelity to his native land, for here he was born and worked all his life, to the glory of Russia and his region. It is no accident that he was awarded the high title of Honorary Citizen of the city.

It is gratifying that fellow members of the musicians’ guild responded to the choral festival. Thus on the first day, after laying flowers at the memorial to L. K. Sivukhin in Maryina Roshcha, the solemn opening of the festival took place in the Kremlin Concert Hall, at which not only choral but also symphonic music was heard. Tchaikovsky’s “Manfred” Symphony was performed inspiredly, vividly and convincingly by the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Nizhny Novgorod Philharmonic under People’s Artist of the Russian Federation A. Skulsky, in the past a graduate of the Gorky Boys’ Choir Chapel.

Another chapel boy, now Professor of the Nizhny Novgorod Conservatory V. Kurzhavsky, brilliantly showed his conducting mastery, performing Shostakovich’s “Festive Overture” with the orchestra with great effect. And this list of the festival programme, where instrumental musical tributes to the Master were heard, could be continued. Thus K. Rotaeva, a laureate of an international competition, performed Bach’s Organ Toccata in C major. The guitar duo of A. Petropavlovsky, laureate of an all-Russian competition, and R. Mamedkuliev, laureate of international competitions, presented “Three Autumn Songs” by M. Diego Pujol. The Municipal Chamber Orchestra “Soloists of Nizhny Novgorod” (artistic director V. Plaksin) performed brilliantly, as always.

Instrumentalism also entered the sound of the choral scores organically, painting them with new, fresh colours. Thus a sparkling concert xylophone solo in Rossini’s “Neapolitan Tarantella” was memorable, when during the virtuoso performance of the number a chorister freely replaced the instrumentalist. Such continuity was quite remarkable and characteristic of the Ivanovo boys’ and youth choir chapel (artistic director Honoured Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation A. Zhukovsky). Immediately after the “Tarantella” the conductor invited his fellow countrywoman, a student of the Nizhny Novgorod Conservatory, onto the stage, and she conducted the choir convincingly and confidently. If only one could convey the expression on the face of the artistic director as he worried for his young charge!.. Here, in an instant, nobility, the link of generations and honest service to Music merged… A beautiful moment!..

Many collectives, in performing Russian folk songs, used the by now traditional percussion and noise effects with elements of costume. And for the Tambov art studio “Fifth Ocean” (leader A. Busheva), the synthesis of singing, poetry, choreography and theatre is the main form of performance. In such a combination I see a certain path for the development of the fusion of different kinds of art, whose origins may perhaps be seen in the Creative Laboratory “The Third Direction”, created some 30 years ago by M. L. Tariverdiev, which combined seemingly distant and incompatible directions in music: academic and popular.

And the culmination in this respect can perhaps be considered the performance of the Saratov Provincial Choral Theatre (artistic director L. A. Litsova, laureate of international competitions, Honoured Art Worker of the Russian Federation, Professor) at the closing of the festival. The words that, in my view, most capaciously expressed the professional approach in music belong to her. The memory of L. K. Sivukhin “does not let you relax and give up, does not allow you to whine and complain about fate, does not permit you to sin against conscience, forbids you to be a ‘middle-class’ professional.”

It is symbolic and hard to overestimate that, as three years ago at the I All-Russian Festival named after L. K. Sivukhin, a competition of students of the choral departments of Russian secondary specialised educational institutions was held within this forum. The distinguished jury was headed by People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, composer and Professor of the Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatory V. Yu. Kalistratov. After the competition a thorough discussion among conductors and teachers of the country’s colleges and universities on the topic “Choral Performance at the Present Stage” took place in the conference hall of the Conservatory. I am warmly convinced that the young musicians will remember these three exciting rounds with different kinds of conducting tasks for the rest of their lives; the high status of the festival, within which the competition took place, and the name of L. Sivukhin demand it.

And the festival programme continued to delight: the Ivanovo Chamber Choir of the creative association “Sheremetev Centre” (artistic director E. Bobrov, a pupil of L. Sivukhin). On the stage the conductor reminded me of a Russian epic hero confidently leading his spiritual like-minded companions. It was sacred music, in my view, that became the dominant of this collective’s performance. And in memory of his mentor the conductor presented his own moving version of Shebalin’s “Winter Road”.

On the same evening as the Ivanovo singers, the Municipal Chamber Choir “Nizhny Novgorod”, created by L. Sivukhin in 1973 and this March celebrating its 35th anniversary, performed on the Conservatory stage. The collective is led by another pupil of Sivukhin, Honoured Artist of Russia B. Mokeev. The choir’s performing range is wide: from masterpieces of the forgotten past to the newest scores by contemporary composers. I, as a composer, was also fortunate to experience joyful moments of co-creation with this remarkable collective! And it is especially dear that on this evening the work “In Memory of the Teacher” was performed by the combined choir of the Ivanovo and Nizhny Novgorod singers. The reaction of the hall, the kind assessment of colleagues and the barely restrained tears of Lev Konstantinovich’s daughter are for me the highest reward and a memory for ever…

The word “memory” sounded gratefully on all the days of the festival. Both from the stage and off it they remembered the conservatory teachers and conductors who have left us: E. Garkunov, M. Samorukova, G. Godzevich, V. Izyumenko, A. Shestakov and, of course, the boys, the chapel boys… One of the concerts was devoted entirely to the memory of Honoured Art Worker of Russia, Professor, chapel boy G. P. Muratov. Many collectives expressed their bow to the Master in word and music. The first to lay flowers was the choir of the Nizhny Novgorod Linguistics University (leader Honoured Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation V. Sladchenko), whose repertoire is based on Muratov’s arrangements and transcriptions. From what was performed, the work “Sakura”, sung in Japanese, with an oriental colouring, graceful syncopated exchanges and a stretto coda in which the delicate scent of blossoming sakura seems to dissolve, attracted attention.

The academic choir of the GAZ House of Culture “Vivat” (artistic director Honoured Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation A. Makarova) is distinguished by the rich, colourful timbre of its women’s section and a bold search for its own repertoire. This year the collective turned 75 (!). It is the same age as the Gorky Automobile Plant, built in the distant year 1932. Isn’t that unique?!.. And the founder of the choir was the musician and educator V. P. Malyshev, who later, in 1946, created the Gorky Boys’ Chapel. And one of the leaders of the automobile plant’s choir in the past was G. Muratov.

I want to name with particular warmth the conductors who are chapel boys. All of them worthily maintain the high level of choral art not only in the Nizhny Novgorod region but far beyond it. They are: Honoured Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation S. Smirnov (the children’s choral studio “Kamerton”, the youth choir “Vozrozhdenie”, the choir of the Balakirev Music College); E. Makarov, laureate of an international and all-Russian competitions, with the youth choir of the choir college; and A. Orlov, who presented, as always, the high-quality mastery of the chapel boys. It is gratifying to see how high the “Zhavoronok” has risen in its performing art (artistic director Honoured Art Worker of the Russian Federation A. Ezhov and conductor of the junior choir V. Kozhukhin). And this list could be continued for a long time. (May those whom I simply did not have time to name within this note forgive me!) Listing these dear names, I want to emphasise the main thing: what a mighty creative force this is, grown on the best traditions! It is just such “Masters and craftsmen”, on whom everything stands unshakably, that the poet R. Rozhdestvensky wrote about in his poem of the same name. And, as a graduate of the Chapel, I am proud that these musicians were raised by the Sivukhin school!..

The high standard of Nizhny Novgorod choral culture was upheld by the choir of Lobachevsky University (leader L. Erykalova), the exemplary children’s choir “Yunost” (leader A. Pukhova), the boys’ ensemble “Yunga” (leader L. Khazina) and the academic boys’ and youth choir under L. Dubrovina.

The student choir of the Nizhny Novgorod Conservatory has a rich half-century tradition. At various times outstanding conductors worked with it: E. Garkunov, L. Sivukhin, V. Kurzhavsky and G. Muratov. The present leader, Honoured Worker of Culture of Udmurtia B. Markus, worthily continues the best traditions of the collective. The women’s choir of the Conservatory under Professor N. Pokrovsky sounded heartfelt and bright, and R. Ziganshin brought the brightness of national colours into this warm palette.

The geography of the festival was widened by the young “Orlyata” from Kirov (leaders V. Kremov, I. Khalyavina). The city of Sarov was represented by two collectives at once, children’s and adult, for which the leader M. Taraeva deserves the credit. Their closest neighbours, the people of Arzamas, brought the ensemble “Kamerton”, organised at the music college (leader L. Zubanova).

Guests came from the republics. Thus the boys’ choir “Klaxon” from Izhevsk, created in 2005 by A. Babak, a graduate of the Nizhny Novgorod Conservatory, became the envoy of Udmurtia at the forum and was warmly received by listeners. Bashkortostan was represented by the choir of the Oktyabrsky Music College, remembered for its folk songs (leader Yu. Isaeva).

People’s Artist of Russia E. Markin brought from Vladimir his collective, known in the country and abroad, the boys’ and youth chapel, which is part of the unique concert and educational organisation “Centre of Choral Music of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus”, reviving the traditions of church music-making. The choir tours widely on the most prestigious stages, and its participation in the music ten days of course adorned the choral festival.

The Moscow Kremlin Chapel (leader Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation L. Pankratov) continues the spiritual and educational traditions of the John of Damascus Church Singing Brotherhood, which existed from 1912 to 1917. The collective is the official Ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin and has been blessed by Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia. Both the leader and the participants of the choir are former graduates of the Gorky Chapel, and this shared understanding in co-creation gives the highest results. It was a pleasant surprise for me that one of our works was singled out by V. Kalistratov, a composer well known in the choral world.

If we speak of the music heard at the festival, a whole mosaic across the space of centuries and continents emerges: from the baroque to spirituals. It is wonderful that all the participating collectives sang works by L. Sivukhin: the philosophical “A Bow”, the dramatic “The Road”, the simply smiling “Little Bear”, the heroic “Young Sailor”, and arrangements of Russian folk songs. And all this was crowned, hymn-like, by the short but, like a testament, capacious work “As Long as My Blood Boils…”

I cannot fail to say kind words about the musicologists L. Tishchenko and E. Bodryashkina, who guided listeners interestingly along the festival’s course during the choral marathon.

In the Great Hall of the Nizhny Novgorod Conservatory there is a gallery of portraits of composers who created all the best in world musical culture. On one side are the Western European musicians, on the other the Russian ones. All of them left their unique mark on the earth. And it is so symbolic that during the festival days, next to the portrait of M. Glinka, whose name the Conservatory bears, there was a portrait of L. Sivukhin, a Man who gave his life to Music and to people.

“Muzykalnaya Akademiya” (Music Academy), No. 3, 2008