Ian Munro Photo: Patrick Boland © 2011
“My first piano trio, 'Tales from Old Russia', was written for my friends Wilma Smith and David Berlin, (as well as me!).
It is both inspired by and describes in music a selection of Russian folk tales, as collected by the great folklorist Alexander Afanasiev (1826-1871) and retold by James Riordan.
Russian music has played big part in my own musical development and, although the trio shows no particular Russian style overall, it does employ a few devices that were favourites of Shostakovich and Prokofiev, both of whom were influenced by folk takes at one stage or another.” (Notes by the composer)
The tales depicted are typical of Afanasiev’s collection, such as ‘Fair Vassilisa’, ‘The Snow Maiden’, and ‘Death of the Soldier’.
Recorded in Nelson Centre of Musical Arts by RNZ
Sound engineer: Darryl Stack
