Symphony No.7

SYMPHONY No. 7 by Vassil Kazandjiev (2018), dedicated to Angel and Guerguan Tsenov, is a work which I can define only as "classicist", in the very strict sense of the word, and this is attested by the all too clear formal logic both of the individual movements and of the entire symphony, in the stylistic and technical unity of the musical material, carefully balanced orchestration and optimal frugality of the sound effects. In fact, in my opinion, the Seventh Symphony is a part of a grand tetralogy, which opens with the Fourth and in which tetralogy there acts a continuous and unfailing process of gradual clearing of the musical material, of the musical idiom and style. In terms of shape, Vassil Kazandzhiev returns to (after his fourth Symphony) to the classic four-movement structure, and also to the more archaic Baroque configuration "slow – fast – slow – fast" movements, with such a layout apparently having the purpose of achieving the consummation of drama, based on the principle of contrast and opposition. Another – and in my opinion, much more profound and intriguing reason for the choice of this precise type of four-movement configuration – lies in the endeavour to re-embody in the symphony, on the one hand, the idea of the four essential constructive elements from the antiquity: air, earth, water and fire, and on the other – the concept of the four basic human tempers: phlegmatic, sanguine, melancholic and choleric. Indeed, if we have a closer look on the layout of the individual movements, we shall undoubtedly discover in the opening Largo a kind of unearthly (Pushkin would call it „semi-ethereal“) static, wherein silence is as important as the "sound of music" itself. In the second movement (Allegretto scherzando) the composer replaced the delicate airiness with the down-to-earth humour of the playful burlesque. The third part (Adagio) presents the bottomless world of melancholy and suppressed emotion. Finally, in the fourth movement (Allegro con brio), the music erupts into an raging fiery element. A special impression in the Symphony makes the almost full absence of any virtuosic elements or "special effects", as if Vassil Kazandzhiev is more interested not in "how", but "what" his music says. This considerable austerity in respect with the lush and extremely colorful imrovisational style, characteristic for his early work, is once again in line with the above mentioned classicist idea of balance, proportionality and feasibility of each compositional element. Such an approach to musical composition is also in line with Kazandzhiev’s own statement that "one of the main signs of perfect composition is the presence of ideas, style and technique“.