Sextet in
B minor
B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major.
The B natural minor scale is:
:
Changes neede ...
, Op. 63 is the only piece of
chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...
by Russian composer
Sergei Lyapunov
Sergei Mikhailovich Lyapunov (or Liapunov; russian: Серге́й Миха́йлович Ляпуно́в, ; 8 November 1924) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor.
Life
Lyapunov was born in Yaroslavl in 1859. After the death of his fath ...
. It is scored for a rather unusual ensemble of piano, 2 violins, viola, cello and double bass. A typical performance takes 35–40 minutes.
Composition history
Lyapunov worked on the Sextet in January—March 1916, and the first performance took place on 30 April that year in a concert at the
Petrograd Conservatory with the composer playing the piano part. It was one of the most important concerts in Lyapunov's career, in the second half of which the complete cycle of his ''
Transcendental Études
The ''Transcendental Études'' (french: Études d'exécution transcendante, links=no), S.139, are a set of twelve compositions for piano by Franz Liszt. They were published in 1852 as a revision of an 1837 set (which had not borne the title "d' ...
'' was performed for the first time in Russia. Soon after that, the fair copy of the sextet was mislaid by composer in his country house (all the drafts and rough copies were destroyed by him, according to his habit), while the work was already been in print. However, in a
war-time accident, all the printed copies were lost. Some portions of the proofs survived, and some separate instrumental voices, with the help of which the composer reconstructed the sextet in its complete form, in August 1921.
[''Онегина О. В.']
С. М. Ляпунов. Секстет соч. 63
/ Musicus, 2010 No. 1–2[''Онегина О. В.']
О судьбе рукописей неопубликованных фортепианных сочинений С. М. Ляпунова
/ref>
In autumn 1923 the fair copy of the new version was taken by Lyapunov to Paris together with manuscripts of other major compositions unpublished by that time: '' Symphony No. 2'', ''Violin Concerto
A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...
'' and cantata ''The Evening Song'', as he intended to perform them. All these papers were lost after his death (1924), perhaps during the German occupation of Paris
Paris started mobilizing for war in September 1939, when Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union
attacked Poland, but the war seemed far away until May 10, 1940, when the Germans attacked France and quickly defeated the French army. The French governme ...
. The Sextet was published by Zimmermann
Zimmermann is a German occupational surname for a carpenter. The modern German terms for the occupation of carpenter are Zimmerer, Tischler, or Schreiner, but Zimmermann is still used.
''Zimmer'' in German means room or archaically a chamber wi ...
in the first half of 1920s. This final version of 1921 is now known as ''the second version''.[''Сартакова Д.']
В фортепианном классе Ляпунова
/ref>
The third movement, ''Nocturne'', is based on an unpublished ''Nocturne in F major'' for piano, composed by Lyapunov in July 1914.
Structure
The sextet is in traditional four movements.
:I. Allegro maestoso
:II. Scherzo. Allegro vivace
:III. Nocturne. Lento ma non troppo
:IV. Finale. Allegro risoluto
Recordings
* (rec. 2003) Lyapunov: Sextet; Gretchaninov: String Quartet No. 3 — Dante Quartet (Krysia Osostowicz, Matthew Truscott, Judith Busbridge, Pierre Doumenge), with John Thwaites and Leon Bosch — Duttonbr>CDSA6880
* (rec. 2016/17) Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Lyapunov: Gran sestetto — Fabergé-quintett (Rodrigo Reichel, Xabier de Felipe Prieto, Erik Wenbo Xu, Sven Forsberg, Peter Schmidt), with Ulrike Payer — ES-DUR ES 2072
References
External links
*
* ''Онегина О. В.'
С. М. Ляпунов. Секстет соч. 63
/ Musicus, 2010 No. 1–2. — Composition history and musical analysis of the Sextet
{{Authority control
Compositions by Sergei Lyapunov
Compositions in B-flat minor
1916 compositions
1921 compositions
Compositions for piano sextet