"The music has that advantage above others kinds of art,
that it is most sensitive on feeling, and to it is accessible
to transfer its direct movement"
Dmitry Shostakovitch

Rich and various is the world of images embodied in the vocal and instrumental compositions of Arkady Matzanov. Among them the special place takes products on the Jewish themes. Internationalist on the belief, Matzanov equally is in authority of intonations of the most various folklore sources. First of all, Russian. But the condition of his soul is those, that he is unable to restrain emotional impulses connected to reflections about historical destinies of the people, to which belongs, - Jewish. And he gives them will as in literary creation (art prose and publicism), as in the secret musical compositions, where pleasure is near with grief, and tragedy with unshakable belief in life. The second edition of his Fourth symphony "Holocaust", found life in performance of a Symphonic orchestra of the Rostov philharmonic society is those under the direction of the national actor of Russia Ravil Martynov. Actually speaking, and the first edition of the symphony executed in Rostov by an orchestra of modern music "Orbit" under the direction Yuri Mashin, has made strong impression. But the composer was not absolutely satisfied with it. He has brought in a line of changes with the purpose more convex "to develop" the program. In particular, he entered a vocalese.

It would be desirable to inform the impressions of the student aspiring to realize the poetic-philosophical concept of the author of "Holocaust" through prism of "skipping" emotions, which the symphony is sated with. "Skipping"... Hardly have time to feel mysterious or, it is possible to tell, mystical aroma of ancient desert, hardly begin to feel silent intimate pleasure from awakening life in deadly conditions, as the unexpectedly arisen rhythmic activity of a disturbing theme foretells through millenniums the future Holocaust. And even the final attenuation is not perceived as normalization, because abounds with thundery shades. And so during the symphony: appeasing components can not find stability, as though reminding about centuries-old sufferings of millions people, distributed all over the planet, about those inconsistent conditions, among which it was necessary to assert the national advantage. And to keep this advantage internally was sometimes more difficultly, than externally.

At all programmity, the musical speech of Matzanov is inverted, first of all, to human feeling. Therefore so the third part of "Holocaust" will burdensomely apprehended, where the composer, constantly breaking sincere balance of the student, in a panoramic kind represents tragedy of the people which has been given up on plunder to a fascism.

Episodes, where the fast rate, strangely enough, for some reason prevails we associate with cry. And the prevailing low registers of wind instruments strengthening gloom, as though condense features of national pesennost, forming character of movement - either in anywhere, or in eternity... Basically, the third part is prepared by mournful "foreword" of second, on the basis of which the ascending tragical pathos reaches a level of catstrophe. And the bell sounding, unusual for the Jewish music, (since the first part, it's becoming the companion of national disaster) not just carries out function of "burial service", but "enters" tragedy of the Jewish people in universal tragedy, when the people any more do not differ to national signs. In this respect it is possible to speak about relationship of the symphony of Matzanov with the first part of the Thirteenth symphony of Shostakovich "Babiy Yar".

And the fourth part of "Holocaust" already causes in memory cantata of Sergey Prokofyev "Alexandr Nevsky". There is a sixth part - "Dead field", where the shrill - mournful voice of the girl trying to find promised among bodies of lost warriors sounds. Yes, the tune of her is sorrowful, but in it is felt also poetic majesty which comes on change to sharp collisions and tragical pressure. The vocalese and in the fourth part of the symphony of Matzanov is those. Classity of arious letter ascends to ancient Jewish singing: breadth of melodical flood comprises a chamber-vocal beginning that gives to a tune as a whole simultaneously and scale character, and deep intimacy. It is boundless cry, something reminding Russian lamentation. Its absence in the first edition of "Holocaust", certainly, something narrowed in a theme of the protest and in those major expressive means: music, through which the author aspired to display universal tragedy. In the second edition all merges in common harmony: pompous orchestral episode interrupting cry, lifts it by other means for a new step of inconsolable grief. And the "silent" final returning of a vocalese is perceived as an acoustic echo of an orchestra, and azure recognizability of the Jewish intonations reminds to the student, that the symphony of Matzanov, at all generalizing properties, all the same is named "Holocaust". The fifth part, on a plan of the author, should symbolize spiritual revival of the people after the expeirenced catastrophe. The joyful rhythms reminding Jewish "Freilekhs" prevail. But distinctive feature of a final part of the symphony that in subsoil of these dancing rhythms vague alarm hides. Here I shall allow myself small deviation.

When in middle of 30th years the film "Selectors of happiness" was shot, there was a conflict between the director Vladimir Korsh-Sablin and composer Isaac Dunayevsky. The director wanted to finish film with rough dance tune, which would express joyful feelings of the Jewish collective farmers, found the happiness on the Birobidzhan land. However composer has presented a musical material, where in apotheosis sounding of an orchestra were easily guessed not only last difficulties of the people, but also its future sufferings. Korsh-Sablin basically has destroyed a masterpiece of Dunayevsky. From the screen have sounded only scraps of musical phrases of this dance tune, and that in an episode, when the people sat at a wedding table filled with plentiful food and wine bottles. And when they, at last, did a dance, in an orchestra the song "On fishing at the river" in excessively expressive statement of words has begun to sound. And though Dunayevsky has not stopped cooperation with Korsh-Sablin and even has written music to his two subsequent films, he up to the end of life could not forgive to the director his impudence to "Jewish dance tune".

Why I have recollected it? Yes because in the ending of the symphony of Arkady Matzanov the same reception is used, to which has resorted Dunayevsky. And in dancing rhythms of Matzanov I hear not only echo of the last tragical events in life of the Jewish people, but also sad prediction of the future possible aggravations of its destiny. That is why I suppress desire to clap my hands rhythms, familiar from childhood. For I know, that the recipes of rescue of mankind from extremism of the fanatics till now are not thought up. Whether not therefore on an instant (yes, literally on an instant) in dancing rhythms of Matzanov interferes scrap of a sad vocalese? Whether and not therefore the symphony comes to an end with the grown dull sounding of an orchestra?

But I'm coming back to the beginning of the fifth part. A beginning (as against the ending) - is light, encouraging. A theme of revival here sounds, as though the crashed grass towards to the wise sun rises. Its final monologue from a vocal cycle on verses Michelangelo Buanorotti involuntarily is again recollected Shostakovich: I as if i am dead, but world in resort I in thousand souls live in hearts All loving, and, means, I am not of ashes, And mortal me will not touch smouldering... (Translation of Abraham Efros)

Arkady Matzanov easily could change by places of a theme of the fifth part of the symphony. But did not make it. He did not want, that his "Holocaust" was single-line, as Communist prospectus. Main, that you are not ashes. Also it is not necessary to prove it by loud-voiced sounding. There are different ways for expression of the certain ideas and moods.

Professor Naum Shafer