Nationalism is a small chapter in music history that is traditionally always situated in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia and limited to the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. It is more or less indiscriminately assumed that nationality does not play a dominant role in other music and that it is also a time-limited and completely closed historical period. However, if one thing is striking
… about late twentieth century music, it is the re-emergence of nationalism, sometimes even splintering into regionalism (as with Scottish composer James MacMillan). This revival of nationalist feelings is central to this CD by the Xenia Ensemble, which features works by composers from former Soviet republics. They are countries that have only been independent for about ten years and in Soviet times had a rather difficult relationship with their national identity, which, depending on the wishes of Moscow, was either rigorously suppressed or officially stimulated to such an extent that hardly more than a caricature of it. remained. The 1993 String Quartet No. 2 by the Azerbaijani composer Franghiz Ali-Zadeh is subtitled 'Mugam sajahi', a reference to the spiritual longing that pervades every Muslim prayer. The reference to Islam is no accident; as early as 1993, the composer wrote that Islam was under attack, which is why she felt it was necessary to write music that would emphasize the beauty of Muslim culture - undeniably a less widely held opinion today. The Uzbek composer Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky wrote Chang music III for string trio in 1989. The 'chang' is a traditional instrument from Uzbekistan, best described as a small cimbalom. In this work, the players have to evoke the sound of that instrument by means of all kinds of special playing techniques, which is not always equally convincing. Giya Kancheli's Night prayers from 1991 can be heard for string quartet and tape. The work is part of the cycle Leben ohne Weihnachten, the title of which refers to the lack of the spiritual in daily life that he and so many of his fellow countrymen members for years - religion was not encouraged in the Soviet Union. The content of the works included here is quite variable: they all share to some extent in today's popular mix of neo-tonal and minimal-esque features. Thus, the new nationalism, just like the old, appears to speak largely a universal language. (JvG)more
