Interview, Jocelyn Freeman on The Poet's Echo

Taking its title from a song-cycle which Britten composed for his friends Mstislav Rostropovich and Galina Vishnevskaya, The Poet's Echo (released on Rubicon six weeks ago) was one of my personal favourites from March's crop of new releases: focusing on works with a connection to the writings of Alexander Pushkin, the programme also includes songs by Prokofiev and Shostakovich as well as the latter's Cello Sonata, and casts a new light on the Britten cycle by introducing a cello part in homage to one of the work's dedicatees.

Pianist Jocelyn Freeman was kind enough to answer a few questions for us via email, expanding on the creative process of re-imagining the Britten (with the support of the Britten-Pears Foundation), why all three composers drew such profound inspiration from Pushkin's poetry, and the biographies which provided her with valuable insights for the project...Shostakovich Studies

 Were you all avid Pushkin fans before this project, or was it a voyage of discovery for some of you?

I’ve had a long-term fascination with Slavic music and song that began in my teens, so this project was a wonderful chance to delve a little deeper into the oeuvre and focus on the grandfather of Russian literature. There are so many incredible settings of Pushkin’s work that are rarely heard, and I would love to record more in due course. Gareth Brynmor John introduced me to the Shostakovich settings back in 2019 and it has been a wonderful journey of poetic and musical discovery, as are all the best artistic projects!

 The Shostakovich and Prokofiev cycles were both written in 1936, just before the centenary of Pushkin’s death – how much was celebration of the anniversary in general (and the tone of these two works in particular) affected by Stalin’s cultural edicts?

Pushkin wasn’t a household name in Russia prior to this point, little-known other than in scholarly and literary circles. Stalin was familiar with his works and spent fifteen years preparing this hitherto unconventional celebration. It was a clever move, even opportunistic, as the political opposition had also been planning their own celebration which could have created an undercurrent of social turmoil. Prokofiev had received multiple commissions relating to these centenary celebrations, so would have been well-submerged in the poet’s work, and both composers connected deeply to Pushkin’s creative spirit, subtly balancing this with the stringent demands placed on their output by the political regime.

 How much do you think the two composers’ own personal experiences during this difficult period in both their lives informed their choice of texts and their responses to them?

Shostakovich had fallen foul to a rather awful review of his opera, Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District early in 1936 and scholars have noticed a habit for him turning to the more intimate genre of song in times of personal conflict. I am sure the text, particularly of ‘Rebirth’ resonated strongly with him, as it contains an underlying message that genuine works of art prevail even in the face of censorship. Shostakovich reused material from the end of this song – in a section describing the return of ‘former beauties’ following the defacement by a ‘barbarian-artist’ – in his Fifth Symphony.

 Similarly, the exile illustrated in Pines references Pushkin’s lived experiences of exile and resounded with Prokofiev who had returned to the Soviet Union in 1936 after many years abroad in the USA and Europe. I believe it is human nature for us to seek out comfort from works of art that pre-emptively echo our personal circumstances, and I am sure these poems from around a century prior to the song cycles would have provided that for both composers.

 In the booklet-note you touch on the parallels between the Shostakovich Pushkin settings and his slightly earlier Cello Sonata: I’d love to hear a bit more about that..!

After I first performed the Pushkin settings four years ago, I was struck by the lyricism of the writing over an often-bare accompaniment, and also the emotional impact of the work. There are not many pieces where I feel completely devastated after playing the final chord in recital, and performing these songs reminded me of Shostakovich cello sonata. Digging deeper and revisiting the sonata was enlightening, and I discovered particular similarities between the sonata’s development section, with its rhythmic ostinato figure in the piano (long-short-short) and the fourth song with similar repeated features: both are striking in their representation of the creative repression through this austere piano part, over which a beautiful, haunting melody attempts to blossom. I like to imagine that I am embodying the bars of a jail cell while I play these sections, which creates a marvellous tension in the musical duo! It’s also worth mentioning that Shostakovich writes beautifully for the baritone voice, almost as though he had Rostropovich’s cello playing in mind.

 The Poet’s Echo is Britten’s only setting of Russian text – how much of a grasp on the language did he have, and does it bring out unique colours in his writing?

Britten described his knowledge of the Russian language as ‘obstinately bad’ but as an individual was remarkably hardworking: his desk in the Red House in Aldeburgh is one of the most uncomfortable workspaces I have witnessed, but he composed there daily and rigorously. I feel that this represents the dedication he had to his art. The Poet’s Echo, however, was composed in Armenia during a composers’ retreat, and in the company Mstislav Rostropovich and his wife, Galina Vishnevskaya, to whom the cycle is dedicated. The couple coached him meticulously in the language, correcting imperfections in Britten’s settings and ensuring the stresses were correct.

I love Britten’s musical language and the integrity with which he interprets texts. These poems provided him with a unique palette of reverberant consonants and I am particularly struck with how he highlights the percussiveness of the language, inflecting long phrases with richly colourful melismata.

 Britten of course dedicated numerous major works to Rostropovich the cellist, but how well did he know him as a pianist?

Rostropovich has such a strong reputation as a cellist and conductor that many people don’t know he was also a very fine pianist! He accompanied his wife in numerous recordings, including Rachmaninov’s fiendish ‘Spring Waters’ and his understanding of pianism would have been evident when he collaborated with Britten as a cellist. The Poet’s Echo was composed for Vishnevskaya’s distinctive soprano and Rostropovich as pianist, demonstrating the respect Britten had for this multi-talented man.

 The addition of a cello part to the cycle feels so organic that I’d swear it was original Britten! What sort of approach did you take to crafting it, and how much input did Abi Hyde-Smith have into the process?

Thank you so much! As with all song, understanding the text is paramount to my interpretation, and I viewed the arranging process as an extension of this: a recreation of Britten’s original intent – as I do for my recital work – but with added extras! My approach was strongly influenced by a desire to illustrate the luminous textures of Britten’s piano recordings (such a fabulous pianist!), and to evoke his imaginative colour palette. I thought a lot about the influence of texture on the desired atmosphere, the way Britten interpreted the poems, and then imagined how a cello could enhance it with the new obligato part. The first draft was wildly imaginative. Dear Abi demonstrated great tact with several counteroffers (!) and outstanding creativity as we explored different options for achieving certain colours and textures.

 Are any of you fluent Russophones, or did you have a native speaker on hand for language-coaching?

I learned Russian for several years in Pushkin House and have avidly programmed and coached this genre throughout my career. We were also lucky to benefit from native speaker, Sergei Rubin, coaching both Gemma and Gareth for ultimate finesse.

 Finally, were there any biographies or critical studies of Pushkin that inspired you all on this journey and which you’d recommend for interested listeners?

T.J. Binyon’s Pushkin: A biography is certainly worth investigating for anyone wanting to learn more, and Ernest J. Simmons’s Pushkin. I found The Cambridge Companion to Shostakovich (ed. Pauline Fairclough and David Fanning) very informative with regards to the songs, as well as Shostakovich Studies, (ed. David Fanning) and Shostakovich Reconsidered, written and edited by Allan B. Ho and Dmitry Feofanov. Let’s not forget Benjamin Britten and Russia by Cameron Pyke, and Sergei Prokofiev by Daniel Jaffé who was a fellow Russian-language classmate at Pushkin House.