Alexander Khubeev: Sounds of the Dark Time

Alexander Khubeev (*1986)
Sounds of the Dark Time (2011/2013)
for chamber ensemble

The piece is based on the film Dancer in the Dark by Lars von Trier. I was fascinated not so much by the reflection of the sequence of tragic events of the plot or the musical aspect of the film as by the creation of allusions with the specific atmosphere reigning in it. Therefore, the core of the musical fabric of this composition is a special pitch-variable system, present when applying non-standard ways of playing musical instruments. In fact, the entire piece is based on atypical playing techniques that not only enrich the timbral sounding palette, but also extend the amplitude along with the accenting, dynamic and other expressive potential of the instruments, and much more. Thus, the new sounding of traditional instruments imparts a very special aesthetics to the piece which most fully meets the author’s impressions of the film.

— Alexander Khubeev