Malkanduev. Symphony No. 3 ("Willow") (world premiere)
Stravinsky. Symphony in C
Ravel. Boléro

PERFORMERS:
The Mariinsky Orchestra
Conductor: Valery Gergiev

PROGRAMME:
Akhmat Malkanduev
Symphony No. 3 ("Willow") (world premiere)

Igor Stravinsky
Symphony in C

Maurice Ravel
Boléro

The concert has no interval

Akhmat Malkanduev is the first professional composer in the history of the Balkar people, the author of the first Karachay-Balkar symphony, Mingi Tau (which translates as “Elbrus”), and of the first Balkar opera, Legend of the Mountains (The Love Story of Tahir and Zuhra), based on the poem Tahir and Zuhra by Kyazim Mechiyev, founder of the Balkar written tradition and literary language.

The composer was born in 1993 in Nalchik. In 2009 he graduated from a music school with a specialisation in Caucasian harmonica. In 2013 he completed his studies at the College of Culture and Arts at the North Caucasus State Institute of Arts (Nalchik), and in 2018 – at Saratov State Conservatoire, where he studied composition under Sergey Polozov and Vladimir Mishle. His graduation piece was none other than his Symphony No. 1 (Mingi Tau). In 2020 Akhmat Malkanduev completed a postgraduate assistantship at Saratov Conservatoire.

Back in 2014 the composer released his debut album Revelations, which premiered at the Turkmen National Conservatory in Ashgabat. In 2015 Malkanduev composed the symphonic poem The Story of a People on Their Lips for Caucasian harmonica and string orchestra; it was first performed at Saratov Conservatoire and later at the opening ceremony of the Europe–Asia Festival in Kazan.

Akhmat Malkanduev has authored a broad range of orchestral, chamber, and choral works. These include the Symphony No. 2 (Mistletoe) and the Symphony No. 3 (Willow); the Concerto Grosso for two solo violins, bells, string orchestra and percussion; the poem The Mountains Are Silent, But They Remember for Caucasian harmonica, string orchestra and piano; Three Choirs on verses by Kaisyn Kuliyev; The Light Fades and The Candle for piano; Qarator (from Karachay-Balkar, “Black Stallion”) for Caucasian harmonica and percussion; the Little Waltz for string quartet and piano; the Diptych for Caucasian harmonica, among others.

In 2024 Malkanduev was awarded the title of Honoured Artist of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. He is a member of the Union of Composers of Russia and of the Youth Policy Council under the Head of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. He also teaches at the Department of Music History and Theory at the North Caucasus State Institute of Arts.

The Symphony No. 3 (Willow), which will receive its world premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre, is dedicated to the friendship between the Balkar poet Kaisyn Kuliyev and the Kabardian poet Alim Keshokov, a bond forged during the years of the Great Patriotic War. “The theme of the Great Patriotic War has always struck me as too profound and too complex,” says Akhmat Malkanduev. “I had never written about it before. Each time I studied materials on the subject, I invariably felt unready to take it on. The lives of Kaisyn Kuliyev and Alim Keshokov were far from easy. During the war, when fear and uncertainty were all around, their friendship endured severe trials. And the day they lay in tall grass, weeping and trying to hide their tears from prying eyes – that moment became the starting point for my new work.”