Nikolai Medtner – Medtner project

Inspiration comes where thinking is steeped in emotion and emotion is steeped in feeling – Nikolai Medtner
Medtner – a true knight without fear and without reproach -. Issay Dobrowen

Nikolai Medtner (1880 – 1951)

was a Russian composer and pianist with very unique and distinctive compositional language. His close friend and soul mate Sergei Rachmaninoff called him “the greatest living composer of his time. And for good reason. Medtner seeks a challenge in everything, explores matter, sculpts with sound and manages to create completely new, unusual and idiosyncratic worlds .

However, his music is often complicated for the performer. Himself a virtuoso pianist, his music was thought and conceived primarily from the piano. To arrive at very melodic lines and organic structures, Medtner often uses wrought techniques. Technically difficult to achieve, but when it succeeds it proves to be very accessible to the listening ear.

In addition to being a great pianist, Medtner was an exceptional musical thinker. His personality was completely divorced from everyday life, but the depth and power of his intellect, completely immersed in music, philosophy and the history of culture, was deeply respected by his contemporaries. He was later recognized in Russia as a extremely influential, almost “cult” figure for an entire generation of the Russian intellectual elite.

So there is something paradoxical in the fact that for the last 30 years of his life, while living in the West, he remained practically unknown to the general public and spent most of his life in extreme poverty.
His music is the subject of a similar paradox.

His emotional palette is unprecedentedly wide. Much of his music conforms to the Russian patent of dejection, but few artists can express bliss in return as well as Medtner. He believed in the autonomy of music as an eternal truth awaiting its discovery. The role of a composer, then, was that of a conduit, the vessel through which such truth passed, not its creator. Insofar as inspiration exists, it meant the state of receptivity, the intermittent ability to become a medium for something infinitely greater than the self. At the same time, he believed in patient and honest labor, a devotion in which he, as a mortal, would possess an ability to express a heavenly “song. He consoled himself with a perception of a composition as an exercise, not an end result.

Much of his oeuvre consists of songs. In this, an incredible amount comes together. Obviously the great pianistic richness that make these works challenging along with the poetry of the 19th century by the great Russians (Pushkin, Tyuchchev, Fet, Lermontov) and also by the great Germans (Goethe, Nietzsche and von Eichendorff).

Medtner’s ancestors probably left Germany in the 18th century, and he was born in Moscow. The beginning of Medtner’s artistic activity came at a time that many consider one of the high points in the history of Russian culture-the Silver Age or the Russian Renaissance. At the turn of the century, the arts, music and philosophy flourished in Russia; the revolution of 1917 brought this unique period to an end. Like Skrjabin and Rachmaninoff, Medtner revealed the brutal nerve of this momentous time: his contemporaries noted the “psychologically intense, demonic” character of his music.

In 1936 he settled in London, where he led a quiet existence, subjecting himself to a strict daily discipline of studying, teaching and composing. It looked like he would die into oblivion, but in 1946 something wonderful happened to him. A wealthy admirer, His Highness Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Bahadur established a Medtner Society, which enabled him to record his complete works. Unfortunately, Medtner was not able to finish the project, but his recordings are still a benchmark for later performers.

Nikolai Medtner (1880 – 1951)

was a Russian composer and pianist who had a very unique and very individual musical dialect. His close friend Sergei Rachmaninoff called him, “the best living composer of his time.” And not without reason. Medtner always searches for a challenge, dissects the matter, sculpts with sound, and knows how to create a completely new, special, and idiosyncratic world.
His music is, however, often complicated for the performer. Himself a virtuoso pianist, his music is thought of and conceived first and foremost from the piano. To come to very melodic lines and an organic structure, Medtner often used an elaborated technique; technique not too easily attainable. Yet if it works, it proves, for the listening ear, to be highly accessible.
Aside from being an excellent pianist, Medtner was an exceptional musical thinker. His individuality entirely separate from everyday life yet the deepness and strength of his intellect, completely submerged in music, philosophy, and the history of culture, became deeply respected by his contemporaries. Later, in Russia, he became recognized as an extremely influential, almost “cult” figure for a whole generation of Russian intellectual elite.
It is therefore that there seems to be something paradoxical in the fact that he, for the last thirty years of his life during which he was living in the West, remained practically unknown to the public and for the largest part was found in extreme poverty. His music itself is the subject of the same sort of paradox. His emotional pallet is astoundingly vast. A large amount of his music falls under the Russian patent of depression but there are very few artists who, in the face of such hopelessness, can resonate so much bliss as Medtner. He believed in the autonomy of music as an eternal truth in
anticipation of discovery. The role of a composer thus that of a conduit, a vessel in which such truth passes through, not something necessarily that of the inventor himself. For this means, insofar as the inspiration exists, a state of susceptibility, the intermittent ability to become a medium for something infinitely larger than itself. At the same time, he believed in patient and honest work, a devotion where he had, as a mortal, the ability to sound a heavenly “song. He comforted himself with a perception of a composition as practice, not as a final result.
A large part of his oeuvre consists of songs. Here, comes a lot together: the immense pianistic wealth that make these works challenging, the poetry from the 19th century of the great Russians (Pushkin, Tyutchev, Fet, Lermontov) and also from the great Germans (Goethe, Nietzsche, and Eichendorff). The forefathers of Medtner most likely moved from Germany in the eighteenth century. He is thus born in Moscow. The start of Medtner’s artistic activity came during a period of high regard as one of the summits in the history of Russian culture – the Silver Age of the Russian Renaissance. Art, music, and philosophy flourished around the turn of the century in Russia; the revolution of 1917 bringing this unique period to an end. Just as Scriabin and Rachmaninoff, Medtner revealed the dark sentiments of this historical time: his contemporaries observed and took note of the “psychological, intense, demonic” character of his work. In 1936 he settled himself in London, where he led a calm life and subjected himself to a strict daily discipline of studying, teaching, and composing. Already an old man, it seemed as though Medtner would die oblivious, but in 1946 something extraordinary overcame him. A rich admirer, His Highness Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Bahadur, established a Medtner Society, giving him the opportunity to record his complete works. Unfortunately Medtner was not able to finish the project, but still today his recordings form an important benchmark for later interpreters.

Read more about Nikolai Medtner

Drawing by Josuë Bergervoet