Sergei Lyapunov - Piano Sextet in B-Flat Minor Op. 63 (Thwaits, Dante Quartet)

I - 0:00 - Allegro Maestoso
II - 10:48 - Scherzo
III - 15:54 - Nocturne****
IV - 28:14 - Finale - Allegro Risoluto

History
This sextet was originally written in 1915 and dedicated as a graduation gift to one of Lyapunov's favorite pupils, Zenaïde Schandarowska [1]. As fate would have it, the original copy was lost. Lyapunov destroyed the original because he had a habit of destroying drafts and had accidently destroyed many parts of the original draft. Following that, a "wartime" accident lost or destroyed all of the copies that were in print at that time [2]. This led him to reconstruct the score from the surviving parts in 1921 [2].

Unfortunately, life had changed dramatically for Lyapunov by the time he went to reconstruct the score. In a letter written in 1920, his daughter, Anastasiya, recorded that: "The loss of two of his older sons at the battle-front, Yuriy – in 1920, and Andrey – in 1918, has greatly affected my father. He did not reconcile with this loss to the end of his days…" [3]. In addition to the death of his sons, his everyday life was horrendous. Anastasiya relates that: "Financial and everyday conditions under which our family lived during the first years of the revolution were exceptionally difficult– hunger, cold, frozen water pipes, darkness, mud, overcrowding, the lack of basic conditions for a normal existence – at times made life unbearable… Material and psychological hardships undermined my father’s health…" [3]. By the time the composer went to reconstruct the sextet, things were different. The sextet, thus changed considerably.

The resulting reconstruction reveals a heavy mood throughout most of the sextet. Lyapunov's music always had a twinge of Russian pathos, but here and in his other works following the revolution, Lyapunov wears his sullenness on his sleeve. On the technical side, the piano features a central role [4] and Lyapunov develops fugal and canonic devices (see 32:37 for the clearest example) [5] throughout the work.

Lyapunov played this sextet in several concerts and was planning to give more performances when he died on November 8, 1924 [5].

Movements
The first movement begins with a heavy opening theme and rarely allows itself to be brightened. There is a lot of drama between the soft melodies in the violins and the heavy foreboding of the double bass and the cello. The lightest parts of this movement are the eighth-note tremolos that precede a shift toward more dramatic material.

The second movement is probably the brightest of the movements. The scherzo is surprisingly catchy and offers a great reprieve from the weightiness of the rest of the sextet. Lyapunov did, however, manage to contrast the lively melodies with a heavier middle section.

The third movement is, in my opinion, the centerpiece of this work. It is based on an unpublished nocturne that Lyapunov wrote in 1914 [2]. Here, the Russian pathos bears its full force. Lyapunov wrote very few nocturnes, but they are all spectacular. This single movement somehow justifies the heaviness of the rest of the work. The listener may very well be obliged to reflect on the meaning of such a beautiful gem lying buried deep beneath the dark melodies and sullenness.

The final movement is a weighty and dramatic finale. Nowhere else in the sextet is there so much tension clamoring for resolution. The resolutions do not come as thunderously or triumphantly as one might expect, but that seems to fit the theme of the work as a whole.

Bibliography
[1] Сартакова Д. В фортепианном классе Ляпунова. Available: https://docplayer.ru/26194210-V-fortepiannom-klasse-lyapunova.html
[2] Онегина О. В. С. М. Ляпунов. Секстет соч. 63 / Musicus, 2010 No. 1–2. Available: http://old.conservatory.ru/files/Musicus_20_21_Onegina.pdf
[3] V.A. Somov, “From A. S. Lyapunova’s Correspondence,” in In Memoriam Anastasia Sergeyevna Liapunova vol. 9 (St. Petersburg: Polytechnic University Publishing House, 2012), 94.
[4] S. N. Saratovsky, "SERGEI LYAPUNOV’S DOUZE ÉTUDES D’EXÉCUTION TRANSCENDANTE, OP. 11: A PERFORMER’S PERSPECTIVE," University of British Colombia, 2012.
[5] Karpyuk, Andrey Y., "Sergei Mikhailovich Lyapunov’s Piano Sonata Op. 27 (1908): Style, Structure, and Nineteenth-Century Precedents" (2015). Doctoral Dissertations. 832.
Other References
The performance is by the Dante Quartet - https://dantequartet.org/
Score: https://cameralmusic.pl/nuty/mazurka+Lyapunov-1 (be careful, you might get pop-ups)

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