Olga Rayeva (Rajewa) - "...und sprach zu ihnen..." ("...и говорит им...") "

Olga Rayeva (Rajewa) - "...und sprach zu ihnen..." ("...и говорит им...") - "...and He says to them..." for orchestra and cello solo Dmitry Cheglakov, cello Studio for New Music/conductor Azamat Khasanshin The piece "...and he says to them..." (in German "...und sprach zu ihnen...") was written in 2023 — a year in which I lost two friends who left this world. And perhaps for the first time, I wrote something that ends with a quiet sorrow — with the evening birds. The cello has always been one of my most beloved instruments. The human voice — it needs no invention; it is the cello’s truest nature. The piece draws on Gospel imagery, though it follows no fixed plot — rather, it echoes moments when Christ speaks to the people, each time for a different reason. The winds and percussion give voice to the questioning ones — the judges, the Pharisees, the Sadducees. The soloist stands for Christ. The strings become the people, and the natural world — light, rustling leaves, whispers and passing remarks — all quietly responding to what unfolds. The premiere was performed by Dmitry Cheglakov, a remarkable cellist I’ve known since our school days at the Central Music School. Dima once played my youthful conservatory pieces, helping shape me as a composer… And so, both the piece and the concert became, in essence, an homage to friends.