question about Akhmatova's Requiem

[Alexandra Smith]

Dear Inna,

I always used with my students the bilingual edition of Akhmatova's  
poetry that includes the translation of her poem Requiem produced by  
Max Hayward:
Anna Akhmatova. "Selected Poems", [translated by Stanley Kunitz with  
Max Hayward], Harvill, London, 1992. It's not ideal but it does have  
its merits.
If you really want your students to have a moving experience while  
reading this poem, you should include Akhmatova's own recital of the  
poem, I think. Akhmatova's voice has a very powerful effect upon  
students.
It's available (as a MP3 file) at this  
site:http://anna.ahmatova.com/audio/aa_47867778.mp3
I have a slightly better version of her recital of this poem recorded  
by Professor Peter Norman in London in 1965 but I don't think that  
this semi-official version of Akhmatova's recital of Requiem and other  
poems in London and Paris in 1965  is widely available nowadays. It  
was available for sale in the 1980s in Paris and was distributed by  
LES EDITEURS REUNIS. I'm sure that Professor Nikita Struve (Sorbonne)  
could be asked regards the copyright if this tape is no longer  
available for sale (he introduced Akhmatova's recital of her poetry on  
the second side of the audiotape).
I also found extremely moving Elena Firsova's transposition of the  
text into music: it was performed during the Russian Festival in Berlin.
The title is: Elena FIRSOVA:  REQUIEM Op.100 (2001). --

Elena FIRSOVA:  REQUIEM Op.100 (2001)
for soprano, mixed choir and orchestra – Text: Anna Akhmatova (in Russian)
Commissioned by Olga Dagayeva
1. Epigraph (Moderato)  2. Leningrad (Moderato) 3. They led you away  
... (Andantino)  4. Grief (Andante)  5. The Little Teaser (Allegretto)  
  6. The Poplar (soprano solo / Andante rubato) 7. Hope (Andantino) 8.  
The Light Weeks (Con moto) 9. Yellow Moon (Animato) 10. The Sentence  
(Maestoso) 11. Night (Lento) 12. The Scream (Allegro) 13. To Death  
(Adagio) 14. Epilogue (Andante)
2(picc).2.2.2 – 2.1.1.0 – 5 perc (timp, tgl, 2 temple bl, 2 wood bl,  
cow bell, 3 tom-t, 2 bongos, tambourine, side dr, bass dr, cym, gong,  
tam-t, tubular bells, glsp, xyl, vibr). harp. cel. strings
Duration: 52'
First performance: 6 September 2003, Berlin, Claudia Barainsky  
(soprano) – Rundfunkchor Berlin – Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin –  
Vassily Sinaisky (conductor)
Publishing rights: Sikorski, Hamburg.
The disc could be purchased directly from the composer's husband--  
Dmitry Smirnov: the address is featured on this  
website:http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dmitrismirnov/EF100_Requiem.html

One passage has some intertextual links with Shostakovich that helps  
to reproduce musically the voice of the resistance of those who were  
victimised during Stalin's times. It's really very moving. Firsova  
shortened the poem though to make it more universal and inscribe into  
the text the voices of the ordinary people affected by the tragic  
events that took place on September 11, 2001. (That what she told me  
in March 2004 when I've interviewed her).

All best,
Alexandra





==========================================
Alexandra Smith (PhD, University of London)
Lecturer in Russian
School of European Languages and Cultures
The University of Edinburgh
David Hume Tower
George Square
Edinburgh EX8 9JX
UK

tel. +44-(0)131-6511381
fax: +44- (0)131- 650-3604
e-mail: Alexandra.Smith at ed.ac.uk



-- 
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
Scotland, with registration number SC005336.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------