Consortium for Regional & Collegiate Orchestras
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Composer, Adeliia Faizullina
About the Work: The 10-minute piece for chamber orchestra commemorates the preservation of Musa Jalil's poems, The Moabit Notebook, written in 1946. Musa Jalil was a famous Tatar poet and Nazi resistance fighter. In 1943, Jalil and his Nazi resistance group were captured by the Gestapo and sent to Moabit Prison in Berlin. In prison, Jalil wrote poems and became friends with his Belgian cellmate, Andre Timmermann. Jalil was executed by guillotine in 1944, yet Timmermann saved Jalil's poems by bringing them to the Soviet Embassy in his homeland, Belgium. Within a year Jalil's reputation changed from traitor to hero. Jalil was awarded the Hero of The Soviet Union and Lenin Prize in 1956 and 1957, respectively (Others who received the Lenin Prize are the composers, Prokofiev and Shostakovich). The composition centers on how in a time of extreme suffering, physical weakness, captivity and deprivation, beautiful art and friendship can still blossom; and perhaps it is actually human connection and his poetry which helped Jalil survive in the camp until his execution. Adeliia Faizullina on Musa Jalil: "His poems are very earnest and organic, no artifice. If they are about nature I feel all the sensations from the sound to the smell. They are very Musical and often have interesting form. It is painful to hear in his poems how he wants to see his family again." From the Composer: "Similar to Jalil, during these difficult and isolating times, composing music has helped me heal. Expressing my creative voice is a sense of meditation and has helped me cope with my isolation in Los Angelos." |
About The Composer:
"Adeliia Faizullina is at the intersection of multiple identities–being Tatar, visually-impaired, and female has given her a unique perspective unlike any I have encountered before." -I Care If You Listen, Jessica Griggs "... A particular ear for cutting-edge vocal colors" -Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music Excerpt from an Interview with Adeliia from "I Care if You Listen" "I am blind, but the world of music and composition allows me to imagine color. It allows me to experiment with musical shadows, to create the space of sounds and volume of musical form, drawing on the musical landscape of nature through instrumental timbres and human voices. I love the freedom that composition offers me. I am also interested in combining Tatar folk music traditions and poetry with Western contemporary music by experimenting with extended instrumental techniques, the overtone series, and instrumental colors. I experiment with vocal colors and voice abilities, rarely using text, but mostly working with syllables and using extended vocal techniques and vocal sonority. My music talks about nature. It speaks to our human nature and to our feelings. It sounds like the beauty and the power of nature." Adeliia ("Adel") Faizullina has a unique story and powerful artistic voice. She is currently studying with Nina Young at the University of Southern California. Read the complete interview on Ms. Faizullina HERE. Adeliia Faizullina's website: https://www.adeliiacomposer.com If you are interested in joining the consortium, please email tamara.dworetz@gmail.com. |