Four Monologues on Poems by Paul Verlaine for bass and piano (2010-2011) were written under the influence of the atmosphere of decadence so vividly reflected in the work of the French poet. The cycle deliberately avoids any sense of lightness or consolation, emphasizing states of solitude and exhaustion. The texts are based on Russian translations of Verlaine’s poems by Boris Pasternak, Anatoly Geleskul, Aleksandr Revich, and Valery Bryusov.
I. Languor
II. Verses to Be Slandered
III. A Great Black Sleep…
IV. I Was Going by Treacherous Ways…
Duration: 10’30”
Performance History
- March 20, 2011 — Russian National Library Concert Hall, 165 Moskovsky Avenue, St. Petersburg, Musica futura concert series (world premiere), Alexander Roslavets, bass; Alexey Logunov, piano.
- April 18, 2011 — A. K. Glazunov Small Hall, Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory, Composition Department Concert, Alexander Roslavets, bass; Alexey Logunov, piano.
- October 20, 2011 — Grand Hall of the Belarusian State Academy of Music, Minsk, Musica futura festival concert, Alexander Roslavets, bass; Alexey Logunov, piano.
- June 30, 2018 — Small Hall of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia, Laureates’ Concert of the Seventh Composers’ Competition, part of the Three Centuries of Classical Romance festival, featuring Monologues III and IV, Mikhail Velikanov, baritone; Alexey Logunov, piano.