Player Spotlight: Vasiliy Antipov

A few years ago, we were visited by an unusual musician and composer — Vasiliy Antipov. He played the guitar without using fingernails, and together we recorded several of his original guitar works, including the remarkable Sonata-Fantasia. After that, he left, and for a long time, we heard very little about him.

Over the past few years, however, this musician has evolved tremendously, and today we’d like to share some of his achievements with you.

To begin with, it’s worth noting that Vasiliy has expanded the expressive possibilities of the guitar by composing several works in highly unusual keys — pieces that nonetheless elevate the instrument to an entirely new level.

One striking example is his Etude in A-flat minor — a key with seven flats, written for standard tuning with only the sixth string retuned to E-flat. We are publishing this etude in two performances: one by Vasiliy himself, accompanied by scrolling notation and tablature (without the tablature, deciphering the score with seven flats would be nearly impossible — the raw notation alone is enough to intimidate even experienced players); and a second performance by a rising star — the young and exceptionally promising guitarist Shi Long, performing Antipov’s Etude in A-flat minor.

But that’s not all. It turns out that Vasiliy has mastered not only the guitar, but also one of the most complex instruments in the classical tradition — the organ. A series of recordings of monumental organ works testifies to this mastery, all performed in an exceptionally clear and transparent manner:

• J.S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543

• J.S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565

• J.S. Bach: Fantasy and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542

• J.S. Bach: Sonata No. 2 in C minor, BWV 526

Vasiliy’s evolution as a composer is no less remarkable.
Moving beyond the guitar, he began writing chamber music and produced a number of ensemble pieces, including the elegant Bagatelle for flute and guitar, and the highly complex, polyrhythmic, and polytonal Trio, which deserves special mention.

All the polytonal passages in the Trio are executed so skillfully that, if you close your eyes and simply listen — without looking at the score — the music may sound entirely consonant and traditional, with no obvious harmonic tension. But if you follow the music with the score in hand, you’ll see how the harmonic texture gradually thickens. By the end, the individual voices begin to leap between different key centers; at one point, you can hear simultaneous lines in B-flat minor and E major, among other striking combinations. Fortunately, Vasiliy has prepared a video of the work with an accompanying annotated score.

Stylistic evolution is another major theme in Vasiliy’s work. His five-part polyphonic Quintet is formally a classical double fugue, but its style evolves throughout the piece. It begins in the world of the late Baroque, moves through Classical and Romantic idioms, and ends in a minimalist style reminiscent of 1970s avant-garde composers experimenting with repetition. Vasiliy cleverly integrates this technique into the structure of the fugue, taking advantage of the fact that fugal writing is inherently imitative — and imitation, of course, involves repetition.

Thus, in this Quintet, we can observe the nuanced differences between Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and minimalist types of imitation. Remarkably, there are no stylistic ruptures — the entire work flows as a single, living chain of gradual and organic transformation. This makes the piece quite unique in its approach.

The essence of this idea — in its most basic form — is that while harmony may have certain natural limits, musical form can be infinitely expanded. Integrated forms represent the next stage of development, in which complete forms begin to interact with one another, merging and transforming to create entirely new structures.

This concept is beautifully realized in Vasiliy’s latest work — a grand Symphony in C-sharp minor.

Remarkably, this symphony was composed while Vasiliy was imprisoned in Belarus. He had to write it down on scraps of paper, which he then hid inside his mattress to prevent them from being confiscated during routine searches.
Vasiliy later described his experience of surviving the prison camp system in a book he published after his release.

Below, we share an excerpt from Vasiliy’s own commentary. His timecodes are available in the video's description on YouTube.

“I have prepared the file of the symphony in which I combined the score with the MIDI recording.
First, I would like to say a few words about the seating arrangement. In my symphony, the layout is not traditional — I decided to slightly modify the classical system of ‘first flute, second flute, first oboe, second oboe,’ etc.
Instead, my symphony features quartets: first flute, first oboe, first clarinet, first bassoon — and a corresponding second quartet with second flute, second oboe, second clarinet, and second bassoon. This is reflected in the score: the top eight lines show these two quartets.

They are followed by the tutti string ensemble, a trumpet trio (one in B-flat and two in E-flat), a horn quartet, and another brass quartet: two tenor trombones, bass trombone, and tuba. After that come the percussion parts, and finally, a quartet of string concertmasters, who are also intended to step forward as soloists from time to time.

I have prepared a short description of my symphony with timecodes, so that by clicking on the highlighted blue phrases, one can jump directly to the corresponding points in the recording. This symphony is highly demanding and will require more rehearsal time than usual.

The essence of these integrated forms can be described as follows: if one takes a well-known form — for example, a fugue — and breaks it down into its components (subject, countersubject, answer, episode), and then replaces each of these components with a fully developed independent form (e.g., a canon instead of the subject, a ground or fugue instead of the countersubject, etc.), a superstructure emerges that is composed of smaller forms.

Of course, one can formulate concepts of any level of complexity — but the key lies in realizing them convincingly in sound. That is the greatest challenge.

In this symphony, the opening theme is a (non-strict) canon in the woodwinds. This motif is then taken over by the trumpets, while simultaneously the strings begin a complete fugue as a countersubject. From this combination arises a new form — a ground. The fugue in the strings moves toward a stretto, while the canon experiences vertical collisions.

(I have demonstrated this principle in a separate video, where I published a MIDI emulation of this section with an annotated score on my YouTube channel — you can view the annotated version here.)

The symphony consists of four movements:

• Allegro Moderato

• Adagio in 5/4 time

• Passacaglia in 12/8 time

• Molto Moderato in 4/4 time

The symphony is continuously developed; the material from each movement unfolds further in the following ones. For example, the two opening notes — C-sharp and D-sharp — from the first movement are continuously developed throughout:

• First section

• Second section

• Third section

• Fourth section

This idea runs through the entire work and also forms the foundation of the second, third, and fourth movements.

Another, more subtle principle of development lies in the play with forms. In the first movement, a canon appears at the beginning, which simultaneously develops into a fugue and later a ground.

In the third movement, this combination gives rise to a hybrid of canon, fugue, and ground — made possible because every thematic entry begins on the same pitch. This feature links the fugue with the canon and ground. Later, the brass section enters with the passacaglia theme, layered directly above this hybrid — ultimately realizing the idea of integrated forms.

This theme of the canon-ground-fugue hybrid from the third movement (in 12/8 time) is also integrated into the finale (in 4/4 time). This creates a highly interesting soundscape: while the strings play polyphonic textures reminiscent of old French songs that appear throughout music history, the other voices feature the theme from the 12/8 movement, now broken up and regrouped into 4/4.

There are many such examples. I plan to publish a detailed analysis of the entire symphony in the near future. Here, I have only touched on a few aspects to demonstrate that the symphony as a whole represents a closed structure with continuous development.

The first movement is the most complex in terms of structure and perception. However, as the work progresses, the music becomes increasingly clear, and the finale sounds almost classical in style.

I hereby send you the link to my work. Naturally, it is still a MIDI version, but if one follows the score and imagines the real sound, the piece can fully come to life in the listener’s mind.”

All of Vasiliy Antipov’s compositions are available for download on his Tempus Chordarum page.
We sincerely believe that his works are well worth performing and sharing with audiences.