Catalogue of works, approved by Galina Ustvolskaya

The tremendous power and aspiration to God, which are inherent in each composition, do not even allow to formally apply the term chamber to them. Ustvolskaya considers her compositional technique to be completely new, individual and not amenable to theoretical analysis.

  1. Concerto for piano, full string orchestra and timpani (1946)
    Dedicated to Alexei Lyubimov
    Duration: 20'
    First performance: 15 February 1964, Leningrad
    Pavel Serebryakov (piano), Arvids Jansons (conductor)

  2. Piano Sonata No. 1 in four parts (1947)
    Duration: 10'
    First performance: 18 December 1973, Leningrad
    Oleg Malov

  3. "The Dream of Stepan Razin" ("Son Stepana Razina") (1949) *
    Byline for bass singer and large orchestra on folk poetry
    Duration: 20'
    First performance: 10 February 1949, Leningrad
    Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra — Natan Rakhlin (conductor), Ivan Shashkov (soloist)

  4. Trio for clarinet, violin and piano (1949)
    Duration: 16'
    First performance: 11 January 1968, Leningrad
    Vladimir Krasavin (clarinet) — Viktor Liberman (violin) — Maria Karandashova (piano)

  5. Octet for two oboes, four violins, timpani and piano (1949—1950)
    Duration: 18'
    First performance: 17 November 1970, Leningrad
    N. Pevzner, A. Kosoyan (oboes) — A. Arkanov, J. Savikovski, S. Zakurin, N. Karandashova (violins) — A. Antoshkin (timpani) — M. Karandashova (piano)

  6. Piano Sonata No. 2 in two parts (1949)
    Dedicated to Anatoly Vedernikov
    Duration: 12'
    First performance: 26 January 1967, Moscow
    Anatoly Vedernikov

  7. Piano Sonata No. 3 in one part (1952)
    Duration: 17'
    First performance: 16 February 1972, Leningrad
    Oleg Malov

  8. Sonata for violin and piano (1952)
    Duration: 20'
    First performance: 5 March 1961, Leningrad
    Mikhail Vaiman (violin) — Maria Karandashova (piano)

  9. Twelve Preludes for piano (1953)
    Duration: 18'
    First performance: 19 January 1968, Leningrad
    Anatoly Ugorsky

  10. Symphony No. 1 for symphony orchestra and 2 boys' voices in three movements (1955)
    Text by Gianni Rodari (in Russian)
    Duration: 30'
    First performance: 25 April 1966, Leningrad
    Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra — Arvids Jansons

  11. Piano Sonata No. 4 in four parts (1957)
    Duration: 12'
    First performance: 4 April 1973, Leningrad
    Oleg Malov

  12. Poem No. 1 for orchestra (1959) *
    Duration: 20'
    First performance: 9 January 1959, Leningrad
    Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra — Arvids Jansons

  13. Poem No. 2 for orchestra (1957) *
    Duration: 10'
    First performance: 6 November 1957, Leningrad
    Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra — Evgeny Mravinsky

  14. Suite for orchestra (1959) *
    Duration: 21'
    First performance: 8 October 1961, Leningrad
    Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra — Arvids Jansons

  15. Grand Duet for piano and cello (1959)
    Dedicated to Mstislav Rostropovich
    Duration: 26'
    First performance: 7 December 1976, Leningrad
    Oleg Stolpner (violoncello) — Oleg Malov (piano)

  16. Duet for piano and violin (1964)
    Duration: 25'
    First performance: 23 May 1968, Leningrad
    Philipp Hirschhorn (violin) — Maria Karandashova (piano)

  17. Composition No. 1 "Dona Nobis Pacem" for piccolo, tuba and piano (1970—1971)
    Duration: 17'
    First performance: 18 December 1974, Leningrad
    L. Suchov (piccolo) — L. Klevzov (tuba) — Maria Karandashova (piano)

  18. Composition No. 2 "Dies Irae" for eight double basses, piano and cube (1972—1973)
    Dedicated to Reinbert de Leeuw
    Duration: 18'
    First performance: 14 December 1977, Leningrad
    S. Akopov, V. Zabezhinsky, V. Karapetianz, O. Kirillov, B. Kozlov, V. Sobolev, N. Tchausov, A. Shilo, S. Sheikin, O. Malov

  19. Composition No. 3 "Benedictus, Qui Venit" for four flutes, four bassoons and piano (1974—1975)
    Duration: 7'
    First performance: 14 December 1977, Leningrad
    S. Dmitriev, E. Petrova, G. Stanaitis, L. Ugletskova, S. Bazhenov, I. Gofman, A. Luchinin, R. Melnichuk, O. Malov

  20. Symphony No. 2 "True and Eternal Bliss!" for reciter (man) and small orchestra (1979)
    Text by Hermannus Contractus
    Text of the symphony is pronounced in Russian
    Duration: 20'
    First performance: 8 October 1980, Leningrad
    Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra — Vladimir Altschuler (conductor)

  21. Symphony No. 3 "Jesus Messiah, Save Us!" for reciter ((young) man) and small orchestra (1983)
    Text by Hermannus Contractus
    Text of the symphony is pronounced in Russian
    Duration: 16'
    First performance: 1 October 1987, Leningrad
    Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra — Vladimir Altschuler (conductor) — Oleg Popkov (reciter)

  22. Symphony No. 4 "Prayer" for trumpet, tam-tam, piano and contralto (1985—1987)
    Text by Hermannus Contractus
    Text of the symphony is pronounced in Russian
    Duration: 10'
    First performance: 24 June 1988, Heidelberg
    Dale Marrs (trumpet) — Thomas Keemss (tam-tam) — Ulrich Eisenlohr (piano) — Roswitha Sperber (contralto)

  23. Piano Sonata No. 5in ten movements (1986)
    Duration: 16'
    First performance: 1 October 1987, Leningrad
    Oleg Malov

  24. Piano Sonata No. 6 in one part (1988)
    Duration: 7'
    First performance: 20 November 1988, Moscow
    Oleg Malov

  25. Symphony No. 5 "Amen" for reciter (man), violin, oboe, trumpet, tuba and cube (1989—90)
    Text: Lord's Prayer
    Text of the symphony can be pronounced in Russian, English or German language
    Duration: 13'
    First performance: 19 January 1991, New York
    'Ensemble Continuum' directed by Joel Sachs

Dedicated to Pavel Serebryakov in the middle of 1960s. The dedication was withdrawn in the middle of 1990s.
Dedicated to Oleg Malov in the middle of 1970s. The dedication was withdrawn in the middle of 1990s.

The works noted with an asterisk (*) – Lights of the Steppe retitled "Poem No. 1" and Hero's Exploit retitled "Poem No. 2", together with The Dream of Stepan Razin and Sport Suite retitled "Suite" after several years' deliberation were included into the author's Catalogue. Galina Ustvolskaya's attitude towards these works is an indication of the great demands she made of herself. Their style shows too that she had it within her to write another, more accessible, style of music with greater potential to bring her mass popularity. She chose the other way, consciously and uncompromisingly.

Other works: Poem Man from Vysokaya Mount for baritone, male choir and orchestra (1952), Young Pioneers' Suite (1953), Children's Suite (1955), Song of Praise for four trumpets, percussion, piano and boys choir (1961); String Quartet, Sinfonietta, Sonata for cello (all three were destroyed by the composer in the middle of 1960s), film scores: Mordovian ASSR (1951), Pushkin in Boldino (1951), Russian Museum (1954), Gogol (1954), The Girl and the Crocodile (1956).

The works of Galina Ustvolskaya are published by Musikverlag Hans Sikorski.

The manuscripts are stored in the Paul Sacher Stiftung archive since 1994, except for Grand Duet which is stored in the archives of M. Rostropovich in Moscow.



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