“Alastor“ Symphonic Poem in C minor - Nikolai Myaskovsky

State Academic Symphonic Orchestra of Russia conducted by Evgeny Svetlanov I - Lento, quasi andante - Moderato con moto - Andante sereno - Andante lugubre - Allegro alla breve - Vivo assai - Quasi presto - Andante: 0:00 Myaskovsky’ “Alastor“ is his second and last symphonic poem. Composed in 1912, it was first performed in November 5, 1914, being dedicated to the famous composer and Myaskovsky’ close friend Sergei Prokofiev. As the title points out, it’s based on Shelley’s poem “Alastor“, or “The Spirit of Solitude“, published in 1815. It shares many similarities in musical language and literary topics with his first symphonic poem “Silence“, written in 1909 on a short fable from Edgar Allan Poe. In “Alastor“ the speaker ostensibly recounts the life of a Poet who zealously pursues the most obscure part of nature in search of “strange truths in undiscovered lands“, journeying to the Caucasus Mountains (“the ethereal cliffs of Caucasus“), Persia, “Arabie“, Cashmire, and “the wild Carmanian waste“. The Poet r