Elegy in memoriam Edison Denisov

I was deeply shocked at the news about the death of my teacher and friend Edison Denisov in Paris on 24th November 1996. All the time I thought about him, and, constantly repeating his name, I tried to pronounce it also by musical means. So the piece for solo cello and 3 crystal glasses came to existence spontaneously. Later I recomposed it for an ensemble of 16 players Op.97b. My intention was to play both pieces in the same program, but with some other pieces between them. The solo cello version was premièred 24th November 1997 (a year after Denisov's death) in Maly Hall of Moscow Conservatory by Maxim Zolotarenko (cellist). The ensemble version was premiered the same evening in Paris with Ensemble Erwartung, conducted by Bernard Desgraupes.








Dmitri Smirnov


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