Symphonies Nos. 2 and 4

Alla Pavlova is a composer and musicologist. In 1983 she received her Master's Degree at the Gnesin Academy of Music in Moscow. From 1983 to 1986 she lived in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, where she worked for the Union of Bulgarian Composers and the Bulgarian National Opera. She spent the years from 1986 to 1990 in Moscow, working for the Russian Musical Society Board. Since 1990 she has lived in New York, where she is a member of New York Women Composers, Inc. Alla Pavlova has written a number of compositions for orchestra, including four symphonies, as well as other instrumental and vocal works that have been performed in the United States, Europe, and Canada. She has a special interest in writing music for film, theater, dance, and children.

Symphony No. 2, 'For the New Millennium', was written in 1997 and 1998. The first recording was made in 1999 in Moscow with the 'Globalis' International Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Konstantin Krimets, and produced by Albany Records in the United States in 2000.

Alla Pavlova writes about this symphony: "This was my first work for full orchestra, and after the recording I felt that I would like to make some changes in the music material. The present, revised, version of Symphony No. 2 was made in August and September 2002, and it has the same conception, the same structure, and the same main themes as the first version. Some changes were made in music and orchestration, and I believe this has made the new version stronger and more expressive. The idea of the symphony is of man and his relation to the Universe on the threshold of the new millennium. The first movement and finale express man's subjective perception of he Universe, and this is why violin solos play an important rôle in these movements. The second and third movements picture the Universe, with its forces of Light and Darkness, which are always in opposition to each other, but at the same time complement each other. The second movement is a kind of "Devil's Dance." The third movement represents Light and Love.

"It so happened that I was rewriting the last two pages of the score of the third movement on 11th September, 2002, exactly one year after the tragedy of 9/11. I remember the day I worked on these two pages as one of the windiest days in New York, in my memory. The wind was so strong that trees were shaking and bending like blades of grass, and in this wind one could, as it were, hear cries and moans of the souls of the victims, trying to communicate with us, telling their stories. Thus, unexpectedly for myself, the end of the third movement came out as more tragic than it had been in the first version. The essence of the symphony in its entirety is the necessity of human striving toward Light and Love, no matter how tragic the reality may be. With great love and appreciation, I dedicate this symphony to my husband Arkady."

Of Symphony No. 4 Alla Pavlova writes: "This work is a single extended movement in which several different themes develop and interact. Some drafts of the main themes were made in February 2002. From March until June that year, I was busy working on another version of Symphony No. 3, with slightly different instrumentation (without the guitar). It is a kind of more classical version, and I like it better than the one produced on my earlier recording with Naxos. Yet, even while working on Symphony No. 2, I kept thinking about Symphony No. 4, and writing it in my mind. Finally, by the end of June, I started the score, and completed it in about three weeks with no drafts.

"This work was done with very special inspiration. As a general comment, I can say that the concept of Symphony No. 4, to me, is very close to the idea of the painting by Nicholas Roerich Path to Shambala. I see this symphony as my personal 'path to Shambala'."

- Alla Pavlova