A word in ballet: Twelve by Boris Tishchenko

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the word in the ballet The Twelve after A. Blok by the outstanding Russian symphonist of the second half of the 20th century Boris Ivanovich Tishchenko The composer worked extensively with music for choreographic productions, and even more extensively with diverse literature, prose, and poetry. The literary-centric features of Tishchenko’s work are widely known and have been noted by many Soviet musicologists and fellow composers. The leading extra-musical source of Tishchenko’s music is the intonation of both everyday and poetic human speeches. This is reflected in the ballets The Twelve, based on Alexander Blok’s poem; The Fly-Tsokotukha, based on K. Chukovsky’s fairy tale; and, finally, in the grandiose choreosymphonic cycliad Beatrice, based on Dante’s Divine Comedy. Tishchenko, while remaining true to the fundamental principles of symphonic development, deeply and uniquely interprets the poetic word, uniting musical theater, symphony, and oratorio into a new, essentially original genre, unparalleled in Russian music.