"Alastor" Symphonic Poem in C minor - Nikolai Myaskovsky

State Academic Symphonic Orchestra of Russia conducted by Evgeny Svetlanov

I - Lento, quasi andante - Moderato con moto - Andante sereno - Andante lugubre - Allegro alla breve - Vivo assai - Quasi presto - Andante: 0:00

Myaskovsky's "Alastor" is his second and last symphonic poem. Composed in 1912, it was first performed in November 5 of 1914, being dedicated to the famous composer and Myaskovsky's close friend Sergei Prokofiev. As the title points out, it's based on Shelley's poem "Alastor" or "The Spirit of Solitude", published in 1815. It shares many similarities in musical language and literary topics with his first symphonic poem "Silence", written in 1909 on a short fable from Edgar Allan Poe.

In "Alastor" the speaker ostensibly recounts the life of a Poet who zealously pursues the most obscure part of nature in search of "strange truths in undiscovered lands", journeying to the Caucasus Mountains ("the ethereal cliffs of Caucasus"), Persia, "Arabie", Cashmire, and "the wild Carmanian waste". The Poet rejects an "Arab maiden" in his search for an idealised embodiment of a woman. As the Poet wanders one night, he dreams of a "veiled maid". This veiled vision brings with her an intimation of the supernatural world that lies beyond nature. This dream vision serves as a mediator between the natural and supernatural domains by being both spirit and an element of human love. As the Poet attempts to unite with the spirit, night's blackness swallows the vision and severs his dreamy link to the supernatural.

The symphonic poem is loosely structured in sonata form. Opens with a somber introduction of the basses, over which woodwinds instruments are added. The music explodes in an intense and dramatic climax, repeated shortly after. A doublebass exposes a torturous theme of tragic nature, which slowly becomes more dense and chromatic as more instruments are added. The music culminates in another powerful climax. A tender and lyrical theme is presented by the woods, offering great contrast. The development section opens with a passionate transformation of the main theme, adding some heroic nuances to the music.

After a dissonant and tense transition, a new development sections opens with the strings in fast stacattos. The trombone recapitulates the main theme, followed by the trumpets in an expressive passage. The second theme is tenderly recapitulated over the soft phrases of the woodwinds. The main theme tragically bursts out on the strings once again before the music subdues. Basses ruminate the previous material over the tremolos of the upper strings. After an anticlimatic outburst, the music fades away into silence with the string's tremolos.

To read the poem (in english) click on the following link: https://bit.ly/3x1qDrR

Picture: "The Fiancée of the Night" or "The Song of Songs" (1892) by the French painter Gustave Moreau.

Introduction and musical analysis written by myself.