2010
"The Angel of the Desert". Trio No. 4 for violin, cello and piano





35m
Composer
25.04. 2016. State Institute of Art Studies
A. Malomozhnov, I. Kononov, E. Romanenko
18.01.2017 Russian-German House
A. Malomozhnov, I. Kononov, V. Kuznetsova
Chronologically, this is the last in a long series of chamber-instrumental works by Yuri Butsko: four trios, seven quartets, a trio-quintet, a piano sonata, sonatas for cello and violin with piano, solo pieces and cycles of pieces for these instruments.
The author left us with a certain indication of the program of Trio No. 4, or rather a hint of it, giving the work the subtitle "Angel of the Desert". In the Gospel, the Angel of the Desert is John the Baptist, often depicted on icons, like angels, with wings. In the first verses of the Gospel of Mark we read: "...Behold, I send My Angel before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight. John appeared baptizing in the wilderness and preaching the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins..."
. This image defines the main, as it seems to us, musical image of the trio, which can be defined by the word "path" - "... prepare the paths". It is possible that this is where the original musical image of the finale originates - a kind of procession-march "with light feet", hence - the "inviting" intonations in the first part. And other themes of the trio leave the impression of movement, sliding, striving.
The three parts of the work do not contrast strongly with each other; rather, they form a single whole in thematic and dramatic sense, where the short second part is like an intermezzo or a link between the first and third parts. In the musical fabric of all parts, one can hear the intonations of bells - close and distant, dying away in space. And at the end of the third part, from this atmosphere, at first imperceptibly, in separate chants, the final znamenny theme sprouts - the Easter hymn "God is with us."
