Boris Tishchenko - Piano Sonata No.3, (Polyakov)

I. [0:00] Moderato andante II. [4:37] Allegro III. [9:18] Allegro leggiero IV. [13:10] Lento Tishchenko’s 3rd sonata (written in 1965) is an abstract and marvelous work, a piece that certainly rewards repeated listenings, as its structural and thematic elaboration surely can’t be grasped at a first listen. Contrast is a crucial element of the sonata, where simple, monodic lines almost randomly transform into intense polyphonic textures, creating an interplay between simplicity and complexity. The initial movement is a sort of languorous meditation, based on a succession of desolate long notes, written on 5 staves; the movement then grows and develops into a more tonal and contrapuntally layered texture, which then leads into the 2nd movement, a kind of Prokofiev-ian moto perpetuo, which features some colossal climaxes that make use of clusters (some truly great moments at [7:10 - 8:28]). The third movement is a sort of structural continuation of the 2nd, with similar texures and the