“Timelessness and Times” for piccolo (or grand flute) and harp

The duet of the piccolo flute and harp should have attracted, first of all, by the brilliance of timbres and not contain any special conflicts. However, the composition “Timelessness and Times” by Elena Sokolovski is filled with such significant content, reveals such internally conflicting imagery that it can be put on a par with the dramatic works of both the composer himself and other colleagues of the author.

This conflict is explained by a deep shock – the death of a loved one, which the composer experienced. The composition is built, as it were, in the form of a dialogue between the feeling of a frozen, stopped flow of time and memories of a past life.

The work consists of a series of episodes, each of which has its own title. These episodes replace each other, and so the facets of what happened are revealed. Images of longing, suffering from what happened, horror from the realization of loss are replaced by pictures of memories and are again interrupted by the theme of suffering, which completes the composition.

the harp by the left hand strikes on the soundboard of the instrument and evokes associations with the inevitability of what happened. This technique is used only in the episodes “Timeless”, and in the interactions and “Times” these metronome beats are not present. Time seems to be reversed, that is, “Timeless” defeats “Times”…

In the last section of the composition, in “Timeless”, the phrases in the flute part are lined up in a broken row and evoke a feeling of hopelessness. It is like a person running in the same circle, from which he is not able to escape.

The composition was written in 2004 at the suggestion of the soloists of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and has been repeatedly performed at concerts and in radio recordings. This composition was also performed by soloists of the Russian Harp Society.

In 2023, Elena Sokolovskaya returned to this composition again and made some changes to it. The work “Timeless and Times” is written in an original, non-standard way, and its essence should deeply excite listeners.

Evgeny Urban-Mor