Gara Garayev - The statue of Tsarskoye Selo (1937)

Gala concert featuring selected students of the Artist Diploma 2025, École Normale de Musique de Paris “Alfred Cortot” (recorded at Salle Cortot) Kara Karayev was one of the most prominent Azerbaijani composers of the 20th century. A student of Dmitri Shostakovich at the Moscow Conservatory, Karayev developed a unique musical voice that merged Western classical traditions with Azerbaijani folk elements and modernist techniques. His works span various genres, including ballets, symphonies, chamber music, and film scores. He played a key role in shaping the musical identity of Soviet Azerbaijan and was a major figure in the Soviet music scene. Karayev’s music is known for its emotional depth, dramatic tension, rich orchestration, and intellectual structure. He often drew inspiration from literature, poetry, and philosophy, which can be felt in the poetic and often programmatic nature of his compositions. __________________________________________________________ “The Statue of Tsarskoye Selo” is a piano piece composed by Kara Karayev in 1937, when he was still a young student. The piece is inspired by the famous poem by Alexander Pushkin, written in 1830, which reflects on a statue in the Imperial gardens of Tsarskoye Selo—depicting a young girl who has accidentally broken her urn, from which water endlessly flows. Rather than being autobiographical, Pushkin’s poem is a profound meditation on grief, time, and silent sorrow, and Karayev’s musical response captures this atmosphere with remarkable sensitivity. The music unfolds slowly, with lyrical introspection, delicate textures, and subtle harmonic nuances, evoking a sense of timeless melancholy and poetic stillness. Though composed early in his career, this piece reveals Karayev’s deep literary awareness and his gift for translating complex emotional landscapes into music. It remains a poignant example of his early voice and his connection to the cultural legacy of Russian literature and symbolism. Having dropped the urn, the maiden shattered it against the cliff. She sits in sorrow, holding the useless shard. A wonder! The water flows still from the broken vessel — And over the endless stream, the maiden sits in endless grief. 1830 Урну с водой уронив, об утес ее дева разбила. Дева печально сидит, праздный держа черепок. Чудо! не сякнет вода, изливаясь из урны разбитой; Дева, над вечной струей, вечно печальна сидит. 1830