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Vocal and chamber music by a post-Soviet master of poetry and stillness. Composer: Valentin Silvestrov Artists: Alexei Lubimov (piano), Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles, Jean-Paul Dessy (conductor) Online purchase and streaming: More information: Born in 1937, the Ukrainian Valentin Silvestrov may be counted alongside his contemporaries Arvo Pärt and Giya Kancheli as among the most profoundly spiritual composers from the Soviet republics. Silvestrov, however, distinguishes himself from those contemporaries by the sharpness of his ears and the freshness of his thinking. Silvestrov’s Fifth Symphony achieved a cult status among dissident Soviets and then in the West through the gradual dissemination of a recording made in 1976. The loving adieus of his later music have come about through an immersion in the Western avant-garde, with Webern as the fountain-hea
