Weinberg revival. Suite for the symphony orchestra op. 26: Timbral poetics

On June 12, 2021, under the auspices of the International Creative Workshop “Terra Musica” at the Small Hall of the Moscow Conservatory one could hear a special concert. It began with the presentation of book written by Y. Abdokov “Nikolay Peyko. Having fulfilled his mystery…”. It was published by the Publishing House “Russian Conservatory” and the Moscow Patriarchate Publishers. The musical program of the evening was composed of the orchestral opuses by N. I. Peyko, N. Y. Myaskovsky, D.D. Shostakovich, B.A. Tchaikovsky and G.G. Galynin. Moreover, the climax of the program was the world premiere of the Suite for the Symphony Orchestra op. 26 by Moisey Samuilovich Weinberg (1919–1996). The author's manuscript of the work was kindly provided by the composer’s widow Olga Yulievna Rakhalskaya. In the few sources where the Suite is mentioned, there is no systematic analysis that allows to comprehend the etymology of the composer's orchestral thinking. Meanwhile, in the early opus there are the features in closest future will determine the physiognomy of Weinberg’s orchestral style: the graphic relief of orchestral melos, the priority of pure paint in the formation of the timbre palette, the importance of timbre-optical modulation (linear “overflows” and transformations of timbre focus) in orchestral deployment, the virtuosity of the agogic development of instrumental texture, when the characteristic strokes and principles of sound production are likened to various types of pictorial painting, etc. The article reflects the experience of reviving the score, studying its timbral poetics, embodying the most striking properties of Weinberg’s orchestral style. The analysis was undertaken with the broad context of issues of composer and conductor phenomenology.