Shostakovich, old believers and new minimalists

The chapter discusses ‘minimalist’ elements of Dmitri Shostakovich's style as embodiments/ expressions of traditional Russian expressive modes rooted in the idioms of old folk music and the music of the ‘old believers’ The collection volume comprises a selection of articles that, as a group, marks an important new stage in our understanding of Shostakovich and his working environment. The papers have in common a perspective that we believe offers the most fruitful route forward for Shostakovich studies today. All address aspects of the composer’s output in the context of his life and cultural milieu. They are thus illuminating from two directions: the uncovering of ‘outside’ stimuli allows us to perceive the motivations behind Shostakovich’s artistic choices, while at the same time the nature of those choices offers insights into the workings of the larger world—cultural, social, political—that he inhabited. Thus his often ostensibly quirky choices are revealed as responses—by turns sentimental, moving, sardonic and angry—to the particular conditions, with all their absurdities and contradictions, that he had to negotiate. The composer emerging from the role of tortured loner of older narratives into that of the gregarious and engaged member of his society that, for better and worse, characterized the everyday reality of his life

Symbols, Metaphors and Irrationalities in Twentieth-Century Music

A Chapter in the volume 'Mimesi, Verita e Fiction. Ripensare l'arte. Sulla scia della "Poetica" di Aristotele' ed. Rafael Jimenez Catano and Ignacio Yarza. Published as a part of the series 'Poetica e Christianesimo', volume 3. Rome: EDUSC, 2009, pp 69 - 88

Efficacy of cimetidin in the prevention of ulcer formation in the stomach during immobilization stress

The effect of stress on the formation of ulcers in the mucous membrane of the stomach, the increase in cyclic adenosine monophosphate level in the gastric tissues, and parietal cell structure alteration. Use of cimetidin prevents these effect

'Italiani in Russia: Presenza fisica e influenza virtuale sulla Musica' [ Italians in Russia: Physical Presence and Virtual Influence on Music], in Rinascimento e Antirinascimento, Gabinetto Scientifico Letterario G.P. Vieusseux. Studi, vol. 22, ed. Lucia Tonini. Firenze: Casa Editrice Leo S.Olschki, 2012, 209-218.

The volume offers a reflection on the relationship between Russian and western culture, represented by Florence as the ‘cradle of the Renaissance’. The authors, Italian and Russian, consider under different perspectives the meaning of this confrontation, accentuated between XIX and XX century. The term ‘Anti-Renaissance’ indicates here the coexistence of a sort of ‘demonizing’ interpretation of the Renaissance centrality of mankind for a Russian alternative, and an admired devotion for it. Italian music was well known in Russia since Catherine the Great. The creation and the development of Russian national opera was largely dependant on Italian influence in general and on physical presence of the composers from Italy. Period of professional operatic music, which started in the late 16th century in Florence in the works by the composers of La Camerata Fiorentina , laid foundation for at least four centuries of European music , including flourishing development of Russian Renaissance in the 19th century. Russian post-Soviet minimalist composers are still following La Camerata Fiorentina’s ideas related to the roots of meanings in music

‘Shostakovich. Second Cello Concerto.’ In D.D. Shostakovich, New Collected Works Critical Edition, vol. 49. Moscow: DSCH, 2012, 83–124.

The introductory article and the editorial commentary for the new critical edition of the Collected Works by Dmitri Shostakovich, including the description/discussion of numerous sketches in the D.D.Shostakovich Archives in Moscow, Russia

Amerikanskii vzgliad na Sovetskuiu muzyku [American View on Soviet Music]

A review of recent American Publications on Soviet Musi

Stravinsky and Khrennikov: An Unlikely Alliance.

Stravinsky’s visit to Russia in 1962 helped to dramatically change the situation for new music in the USSR. Paradoxically, Khrennikov, Iarustovskii, Kabalevskii, and other reactionaries in the Soviet Composers’ Union used Stravinsky’s visit to draw a veil over their own previous activities and to give themselves an underserved “aura.” Khrennikov, who strongly criticized Prokofiev, Shostakovich, and Stravinsky, and who made life almost impossible for both Prokofiev and Shostakovich in the 1940s and 1950s, later claimed to love their music and made untrue statements about his friendship with all of them. Clearly, Stravinsky understood the situation well, and treated each of Khrennikov’s advances with due caution. His reaction provides a salutary example for researchers today, especially those intent on rewriting history through excessively literal interpretations of archival materials without proper consideration of their context

Nikolai Korndorf: Complete Music for Cello, including world premiere recordings. Compact Disc (with own liner notes)

The Russian-Canadian composer Nikolai Korndorf (1947–2001) was a larger-than-life character and wrote music that was similarly expansive and urgent. His three works for solo cello illustrate his unwillingness to be governed by convention. The Concerto capriccioso (1986) for cello, strings and percussion is influenced by religious ritual and rock music. The Triptych for cello and piano (1998–99) takes its starting points in folk and operatic lament, primitivist painting and Russian Orthodox prayer. And the immense Passacaglia for solo cello (1997) is an instrumental retelling of Dante’s Divine Comedy, the cello taking the part of the narrator, with the cellist whistling, reciting and singing alongside the instrumental part. Alexander Ivashkin, the soloist on this recording, was a close friend of the composer — the Passacaglia was written for him – which gives his performances a unique authority

Laser Based ¹³C-urea Breath Test in Quantitative Assessment of Bacterial Colonization, Severity of Inflammation and Atrophy in Gastric Mucosa

Aim: to compare the results of 13C-UBT with the data of morphological analysis of the gastric and duodenal mucosa obtained during gastroduodenoscopy in gastritis and peptic ulcer. To analyze the dependence of the results of diode laser spectroscopy (DLS) based 13C-UBT on age, nosology, activity and severity of the inflammatory process, the degree of atrophy and metaplasia.Materials and methods. The 13C-UBT DLS was performed in 525 patients before the start of eradication therapy and in 196 patients 10–12 weeks after its completion. The breath test was carried out according to a standard protocol using the BSIA patent kit (Great Britain). During endoscopy, 134 patients underwent a biopsy from the upper third of the body of the stomach, the antrum (within 5 cm from the pylorus along the greater curvature) and the duodenal bulb with histological examination with hematoxylin-eosin staining, PAS-reaction and Giemsa. Histological assessment of the state of the gastric mucosa was carried out according to a modified Sydney system with an assessment of morphological changes according to a 4-point visual analog scale (0 to 3+).Results. A total of 525 patients (301 men and 224 women) aged 15–80 years (median 39.8 ± 15.1 years) were examined. 239 (45.5 %) patients were diagnosed with chronic gastritis, chronic duodenitis (including erosive forms). In 286 (54.5 %) patients, peptic ulcer was diagnosed with localization in the stomach — in 42 (8 %), in the duodenum – in 238 (45.3 %), combined lesions — in 9 (1.7 %) cases. Based on the results of 13C-UDT DLS, H. рylori infection was detected in 447 patients. H. рylori was not found in erosive gastritis in 15 %, erosive duodenitis in 21 % and chronic non-erosive gastritis in 23 %. In peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum, H. pylori was detected in 93 % and 97 %.A direct linear relationship between the results of the breath test and the quantitative content of H. рylori on the surface of the gastric mucosa was obtained. The parameters of laser 13C-UBT clearly correlate with the degree of severity of mononuclear infiltration of the mucosa (the strength of the connection is 0.78). When comparing the average values of laser 13C-UBT with the total assessment of the degree of mucosal neutrophilic infiltration, no significant relationship was found. With a slight severity of mucosal atrophy, the result of laser based 13C-UBT practically does not change; there is a tendency of a decrease in the breath test with an increase in atrophic changes.Conclusion. Indicators of 13C-UBT correlate with the quantitative content of H. pylori bacteria in the gastric mucosa, the severity of mononuclear infiltration of the gastroduodenal mucous, the severity of atrophic changes