Ivan Sokolov: Chamber Works

Featuring

Karen Bentley Pollick
Ivan Sokolov

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Instruments

Karen Bentley Pollick performs on a violin made by Jean Baptiste Vuillaume in 1860 and a viola made by William Whedbee in 1987.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Sokolov's composition teacher, Nikolai Sidelnikov, encouraged individuality in his students, rejecting music that did not reveal their unique personality.

Composer Biography

Ivan Sokolov maintains a busy schedule as a pianist, performing Russian music and a broad repertoire of foreign composers across Europe and North America.

Performer Biography

Karen Bentley Pollick, the violinist and violist on this album, is known for performing a wide range of styles from Baroque to contemporary music, and has toured with the New York Philharmonic and the Bolshoi Ballet.

Compositional Technique

Sokolov's "Thirteen Postludes" demonstrate his synesthesia, where he perceives musical keys as specific colors, with minor keys being "night colors" of their parallel majors.

Composer Biography

Ivan Sokolov, born in Moscow in 1960, received early piano instruction and composition lessons from a young age, studying with notable pedagogues like Lev Naumov.