Smorgonskaya D. Oriental Miniatures for harp solo

Dina Smorgonskaya was born in 1947 in Vitebsk and later studied at the Leningrad conservatoire in Boris Arapov's class. 

The suite “Oriental Miniatures” was composed in 1987 being dedicated to the harpist Irina Donskaya, its first performer. Irina Donskaya shared her emotions, concerning the suite, with us. She said, that though the suite abounded with modern technical devices (е. g. harp vibrato), it's execution made her feel immense exhilaration, close to the sensual one. The four movements of the suite symbolize four main nature elements in the Buddhist philosophy. Unstable pentatonism is peculiar to the first piece “Toy Boat”. It seems to float along pentatonic ground, like the boat along mirror-like water surface. The whole picture embodies the state of nirvana, philosophy of resignation.

The second movement “Praying” is composed on the base of passionate carnal exclamations of an imploring human-being, inhabitant earth. This is the picture of fleshly catarsis and ecstatic way to it. 

The third movement “Wind and the Bird” seems to be exhaling air together with its transparent passages and the bird's singing, which hovers on them.

The fourth movement “Sunrisein the Mountains” is the apotheosis offire element. The harp's strings seemto strike fire sparks eradiating sunny heat. Glissando along all the registers symbolizes the power of fire, swallowing up everything. 

However, аll these sketches, depicting the kernals ancient oriental wisdom, are impregnated with deeply personal bosom lyrical attitude. The author represents them as “her whim”, willing to be immersed into the "passed years dreams", for these are exact words of Rabindranath Tagor, whose verses are taken by Dina Smorgonskaya as the epigraph to her “Oriental Suite”.