Complete solo piano suites by Rodion Shchedrin

The final product of this recording project is a high-quality recording of Rodion Shchedrin’s complete solo piano suites: Diary, Questions and Artless Pages, as well as two solo pieces: Sonatina Concertante and A la Pizzicato. These works were composed by Rodion Shchedrin (b. Moscow, 16 Dec 1932) between 2002 and 2009. Only Diary has been released as a commercial CD; there are no professional recordings of any of the others. The goal of this recording project is to promote Shchedrin’s compositions to pianists and audiences of the United States and worldwide, and to specifically garner attention to his piano works.

As one of the most well-known contemporary composers and pianists in Russia, Shchedrin combines elements of Russian folklore styles, Baroque-inspired polyphony and counterpoint, neoclassical and jazz styles, and twelve-tone techniques in his vast oeuvre. This unusual mixture of compositional methods is demonstrated particularly well in his piano compositions. Shchedrin’s unique and often very demanding language is complex and difficult to perfect, as it not only presents performers with various musical and technical challenges but also forces them to expand their creative independence in searching for interpretational solutions.