Viktoria Poliova works in symphonic, choral, and chamber instrumental genres. Since the late 1990s her music stylistically gravitated to the so-called sacred minimalism. A special place in her work takes the study and implementation of liturgical texts in music. Viktoria Poliova is a winner of the international competition Spherical Music (2008), Borys Liatoshynsky Award (2005), Levko Revutsky Award (1995), and laureate of the all-Ukrainian Composers Competition “Psalms of the Third Millennium” (2001). In 2010 together with other famous composers Poliova took part in an international project of Gidon Kremer “The Art of Instrumentation” dedicated to Johann Sebastian Bach and Glen Gould. In 2011 at the invitation of Gidon Kremer Poliova became a resident composer of the 30th Festival of Chamber Music in Lockenhaus (Austria).
Conversation with Viktoria Poliova was not easy: the composition of her thought is very different from anything that artists usually say in an interview. But how exciting it was to slightly open the door to the inner world of the maestro, as well as to what we are used to call conventionally the creative workshop. Today music by Poliova is performed at concerts and festivals in dozens of countries worldwide.
Please, tell us why listener feels certain courage in your music? Even some sound aggression… Is it some kind of self-protection? And in general do you ever ponder on “yin” and “yang” in music?
“Yes, I have already thought about it and I already had to answer similar questions. Every person has both principles. And at different stages of life one of them prevails over the other, like ‘anima’ and ‘animus.’ But, in fact, the aspect of my music that you call aggressive, I do not view as such. I do not like this word. This is neither aggression, nor self-protection. It is rather the self-disclosure. This process is always going on without interruption. However, I do not control this power and I do not express myself. On the contrary, like Mark Rothko once said: ‘I don’t express myself. I express my not-self.’”
What resources, sources of energy does your music have?
“For me limits and the boundaries of space are very important. I always want to expand them, to cross the border of ‘ultimate capacity.’ That is why I often try to tap into the extreme registers, extreme dynamic range, and extreme tempo. I always remember the word of the old wise man Silvanus: ‘Keep your mind in hell and do not fall in despair.’ On the one hand you have hell, and on the other you have hope. This generates strong pressure, tension, suffering, but also hope and chance to overcome it. This is my source…”
You write a lot of music on canonical texts. Were these music pieces used for liturgical purposes?
“This is a very important issue for me. This touches upon a very sensitive issue of the right of a composer for individual interpretation of sacred texts. My music for chorus is written is a special way, all of this music is my personal experience, exploration of the space of prayers. Sometimes when I read I get a subtle feeling when the sound begins to come out and grow on its own. Only in such case I let myself use sacred texts. After first festival concerts in churches it became clear that my spiritual music can hardly accompany worship service. The singing of a choir during the service indicates other things. There should not be any trace of the composer’s individuality. Therefore, I abandoned the idea of creating purely liturgical chants. However, my choral music is sometimes performed at concerts after service. For example, for Easter or Christmas.”
Thus, in your opinion the author of spiritual music should not act as a protagonist of his music? What is his mission then?
“Music can take on the mission of bringing people closer to God. But it may as well not do this. One way or another, this music attracts the listener. I think it should be very clear whether it is church music or not. Participation in worship requires the music to withdraw itself and requires total absence of authorship. Such music should not replace the liturgical action. But there is another type of spiritual music that is not meant for church services, but has the deepest inner liturgical text. Music by Halyna Ustvolska is of such type. It is when you feel that it is the right time and the music takes place the way a prayer or a liturgy takes place.”
Music of what composers formed your idea of what modern sacred music should be like?
“Apart from the classic Johann Sebastian Bach, it is Arvo Part [famous Estonian composer, who now lives in Germany. – Author]. His creative model greatly impressed me at some point. Now I find it in music by Alexander Knaifel (Russian avant-garde composer). He has the same feeling for deep liturgical text, even if it is presented somewhat differently. Listening to this type of music has something of reverent contemplation of the course of sacred time.”
Your music for canonical texts has been performed in many countries. Have you had a chance to trace the difference in perception of your music by the audience outside the Orthodox world?
“To everyone’s surprise, this music is well perceived abroad. Audience has deep understanding. Maybe sometimes there is some external mismatch: Western musicians work with sound not the way our musicians do. Different traditions and different mentality can be felt but it all is easy to overcome. Sometimes I feel precise accuracy and adequacy of performance. Oddly enough, my music is more known and appreciated abroad that it is in Ukraine. I receive letters from students in Chile, United States, Switzerland, Brazil, Japan, and Italy.”
Please share the secret of what you have been working on lately?
“First, I have been working on a piece for piano called Vitruvian Man and also on second piano sonata Quasi una Fantasia dedicated to Maria Yudina. Besides, I have recently finished work on the song cycle Ars Moriendi (art of dying) on which I have been working for the past 20 years. I have just finished a piece on the poetry of German poet Friedrich Hoelderlin called Abbitte (Redemption) and Poverty on texts by Zinaida Mirkina. I am also working on an opera and it is the sphere that requires development of a new language, specific language intonations, special kind of detail associated with stage movement, with action.”
You mentioned the famous pianist Maria Yudina. If she was a spiritual person you would probably canonize her. Do you see similar figures among contemporary Ukrainian musicians?
“Maria Yudina is a very close and dear person to me. The unique personality of high preaching type. Yudina’s performing was an act of religious experience, the act of searching and finding the truth. She survived the ban on public speaking. [In 1930 Yudina was fired from the Leningrad Conservatory after newspaper articles published within the framework of the campaign against the religious beliefs of teachers (Circle ‘Resurrection’). Two years later, she managed to get a job in Tbilisi Conservatory and in 1936 (with the assistance of Heinrich Neuhaus) she began working in Moscow Conservatory, where she was employed until 1951. In the period from 1944 until 1960 Yudina taught at Gnessin Institute. In 1960 she was dismissed from the Gnessin Institute for her Orthodox beliefs and for commitment to modern Western music (including Stravinsky, who emigrated). She continued to give public concerts, but she was denied to get any records. After once in Leningrad she recited a poem by Boris Pasternak from the stage when she was asked to the encore, Yudina was banned to have a concert for a period of five years. – Author.]
“Today there are great pianists in Ukraine. There are pianists who I am especially fond of – Oleh Bezborodko and Yevhen Hromov. Hromov has recently performed the premier of Vitruvian Man. This music piece is a multi-level text: at the level of structure is has the reproduction of the famous engraving by Leondardo da Vinci, and at the figurative level there is an act of baring as self-immolation. Hromov revealed himself in this text to the most. Whether he speaks of plays, his personal pathos is like burning.”
This work is dedicated to Andrii Volkonsky. Where did you get the idea for such dedication? What can you tell about this man?
“Yes, this music piece is dedicated to the blessed memory of Prince Adnrii Volkonsky, Russian composer, harpsichordist, founder of the early music ensemble Madrigal. I have not had a chance to talk to him in person, but thanks to Ihor Blazhkov, his faithful friend, I got closer to this amazing personality. Volkonsky was characterized by the ‘idea of serving’ and complete creative dedication. My music piece is a dedication to the master in general, anyone who meets these principles!”
What dominates where you are creating your music? Your internal auditory sensations, interaction with piano, or something else?
“It is always different. But there is something in common. Each piece bears the image of a person – living or who has already passed away, but it is always a very concrete person. Each piece has its hidden ‘ego.’ In order for music to get its life, there should be the moment of meeting or conception. It can happen in an instant, sometimes I forget about it right away. But the preliminary sensations, trembling, and anxiety stay with me. Hence comes music. Some texts, interaction with the instrument come later. At first there is a person…”
What are your preferences as a listener?
“I listen to a lot of modern Western music: Giacinto Scelsi, Morton Feldman, Wolfgang Mitterer, Mathias Spahlinger, Salvatore Sciarrino, and Helmut Lachenmann. I have periods of non-stop listening. Speaking of musicians, the most important for me is a Canadian pianist Glenn Gould and the greatest violinist of the world Gidon Kremer.”
How do you act during rehearsals of your premiers? Are you a demanding author?
“Music piece never gets done for me. The process of writing may last for years and look like new and new transformations. It is a flexible living process. And when there is a certain concert situation, the music piece can naturally fit in it. During the first performance of my new piece I compromise with the musicians: if someone suggests some important technical moment to me I would not reject it. The future of your music depends a lot on how a musician will perform it for the first time. At the birth of new music piece mutual adjustment of composer and performer takes place. It is inevitable and it is very valuable for the audience.”
As an author what instruments and sounds do you tend to?
“At first it was symphony orchestra. Then I had a period when a stream of choirs was going by me. Now, step by step I am exploring a new zone – chamber music. These processes are not controlled consciously. It all comes by itself as something I need. I cannot write music to an order, it is a completely different form of life. For me the perception of time, the observation itself and not the forms it takes are the most important. I am absolutely free in this.”
