Dobrinka Tabakova - Stone Trail for Piano Quintet

Dobrinka Tabakova -- Stone Trail for Piano Quintet
I. Carved in Time 0:25
II. Trail 4:56
III. Tesserae - Carved in Stone 11:48
Recorded at Bishop’s Basilica of Philippopols, Plovdiv, August 2023
Georgy Valtchev, violin
Nikola Takov, violin
Rumen Cvetkov, viola
Alexander Somov, cello
Lora Tchekoratova, piano
Video created by Insieme
Stela Stoykova and Damian Stefanov, videography
Ludmil Stoynev, sound engineer
‘Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.’
From ‘At the Root of the Grass’ (1903) by Muriel Strode (1875-1964)
The inspiration for this work is the exquisite mosaics in the Episcopal Basilica of my hometown- Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The two floors of geometric figures, birds, and images encoded with ancient symbolism opened up a whole world for me to explore as I prepared to write this work.
Fundamental materials and elements have inspired many of my works - from water (rivers, seas) to metal, wood, and now stone. This primal essence is carried over into the structure of the four abridged movements of the piano quintet, where the durability of the stone and its ability to carry messages through the ages define the form of the work. The first movement - Carved in Time - chimes with joyful and unrelenting energy, like resonant bells or a clock whose hands carve out messages with each passing second. This almost physical allegory of shaping the stone is reversed in the second part - Trail. Here, the regularity of the tempo and register melt away, unfolding in waves of unpredictable yet sometimes familiar themes. There are also glimpses of previously heard chords, but here, they are presented in the context of organic material - musical themes that mimic birdsong or sounds inspired by nature. An expressive chorale creates a bridge to the final movement- Tesserae/Carved in Stone. A theme in irregular and unpredictable time signatures unfolds gently and leads to the final coda, which weaves and reimagines the main themes of the work. The symbolism and meaning of numbers form a significant part of the construction of the material of this quintet - the ancient mosaics are rich in this secret language, and I am grateful to my parents, especially my father’s research on this topic, which ignited my curiosity and became an essential part of the composing process. (Dobrinka Tabakova)
Stone Trail for piano quintet was commissioned by the Off the Beaten Path Festival, funded by Ernst von Siemens Foundation.
The video is made possible with the support of Plovdiv Municipality and the Bishop’s Basilica of Philippopolis.
Special thanks to the National Culture Fund, Bulgaria, and the America for Bulgaria Foundation
#Classicalmusic #pianoquintet #DobrinkaTabakova
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Off the Beaten Festival - www.neo-path.com

[@zarevasylvia257]

Bravo!

[@user-dm9uz7or1b]

Bravo!!!