Blacher, Boris

Boris Blacher – Dialog (Dialogue) for flute, violin, piano, and string orchestra (1950)

(b. Pinyin Niúzhuāng, today: Yingkou, 6/19 January 1903 – d. Berlin, 30 January 1975)

I Lento (p. 1) – Allegro (p. 5) – Lento (p. 17)
II Thema & Variationen. Thema. Vivace (p. 19) – Var. 1 (p. 20) – Var. 2. Meno mosso (p. 21) –
Var. 3. Tempo primo (p. 23) – Var. 4. Poco meno (p. 24) – Var. 5. Tempo primo (p. 26) –
Var. 6. Adagio (p. 28) – Var. 7. Tempo primo (p. 29) – Coda (p. 30)

Preface
Hans Heinz Stuckenschmidt (1901-88) opened his Boris Blacher monograph (Berlin, 1985) with the words
„A strong intellect in a delicate figure. Mathematically precise thinking, presented in ironic, sometimes self-ironic turns that tend towards paradox. Great creative potency, effortlessly fast-paced, with a frequent predilection for tricky psychological and compositional problems. Avant-gardism, combined with perfect adaptation to the demands of popular music. A bohemian way of life with concentrated diligence and absolute reliability in fulfilling commissions.“

Stuckenschmidt concluded his reflections with the following words: „In German countries, there is a lot of prejudice against cheerful art. The philosophers who have taken our aesthetics into such strict discipline no longer want to grant artists the right to respond to the tragedy of history in a dancing and joking manner. But the world was no more harmless then, when Aristophanes, Shakespeare and Molière held up the laughing stock, than it is today. Blacher knew the tragedies of his time, including the social ones. In a Requiem of extraordinary rhetoric power, as well as in the ‚Jüdische Chronik‘ (Jewish Chronicle, 1961), collectively written by East and West German musicians, he proved that the tragic basic feeling of great art lived in him. But we want to be grateful that his lucid spirit produced some works of the deep serenity that has become so rare today in the realm of higher spirits. Blacher loved such serenity not only in his personal posture, but also in the artistic forms that bear his face. This face will be unforgettable to all who knew it“. …

Read full preface > HERE