The Overture Maslenitsa, Op. 36, was composed by

Airat Ichmouratov Airat Rafailovich Ichmouratov (, Tatar language, Tatar Cyrillic: Айрат Рафаил улы Ишмурат,) born 28 June 1973, is a Volga Tatar born Russians, Russian / Canadians, Canadian composer, conducting, conductor and klezmer clarin ...

during the years of 2012 and 2013. It was commissioned and premiered in

Chicoutimi Chicoutimi ( , ) is the most populous borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in Quebec, Canada. It is situated at the confluence of the Saguenay and Chicoutimi rivers. During the 20th century, it became the main administrative and ...

, Canada on 24 February 2013 by L'Orchestre Symphonique du Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean under the baton of

French-Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the prov ...

conductor Jacques Clément.

Structure

The Overture comprises several sections which could be divided into two larger parts. A typical performance lasts somewhat around 11 minutes.

Instrumentation

This symphony is scored for the following orchestra (percussion, performed by 3 players): * 2

flutes The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

(second doubling

piccolo The piccolo ( ; ) is a smaller version of the western concert flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" or piccolo flute, the modern piccolo has the same type of fingerings as the ...

) * 2 oboes * 2

clarinets The clarinet is a single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. The clarinet family is the largest woodwin ...

in B * 2 bassoons * 4

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (anatomy) * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * Horns (novel), ''Horns'' (novel), a dar ...

in F * 2 trumpets in B * 3 trombones:

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Tuba *

Timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...

Triangle A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called ''vertices'', are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called ''edges'', are one-dimension ...

Cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sou ...

s *

Bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter usually greater than its depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. The head ...

* Tam tam *

Glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( ; or , : bells and : play) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a Musical keyboard, keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the v ...

Tubular bells Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the Percussion instrument, percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillons, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the soun ...

Strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

Recording

Chandos Records Chandos Records is a British independent classical music recording company based in Colchester. It was founded in 1979 by Brian Couzens.Orchestre de la Francophonie The Orchestre de la Francophonie is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal. It was founded in as temporary orchestra to play at the 2001 Jeux de la Francophonie (Francophone Games) in Canada. However, it went on to become a permanent orche ...

;

Jean-Philippe Tremblay Jean-Philippe Tremblay (born 1978) is a Canadian orchestra conductor. In addition to an international career as guest conductor, he is the founding Artistic Director and chief conductor of the Montreal based Orchestre de la Francophonie The Orch ...

, conductor

Critical reception

The recording of the Maslenitsa Overture gained average-to-positive reviews. David Nice of

BBC Music Magazine ''BBC Music Magazine'' is a British monthly magazine that focuses primarily on classical music. The first issue appeared in September 1992. BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the BBC, was the original owner and publisher together with ...

wrote: "The ‘Maslenitsa’ Overture, celebrating the Russian shrovetide festival, is all generic stuff". Guy Rickards of

Gramophone A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physic ...

wrote: "A vibrantly orchestrated homage to Glinka and Mussorgsky". Colin Clarke of Classical Explorer wrote: "Maslenitsa Overture, a colourful musical picture of the week before Lent".

References

External links

*
Complete recording of the Overture Maslenitsa Op.36
by Orchestre de la Francophonie – Release Date: 2 June 2020 {{Portal bar, Classical Music, Canada Compositions by Airat Ichmouratov 2013 compositions Music with dedications Concert overtures