Tolstoy D. Sonata № 12 (the ancient)

The creative work of Dmitri Alekseyevich Tolstoy is distinct for his piano music to be so significant through his manner determination in art. The composer has created 30 sonatas for piano, 24 preludes for piano, programmatic piano cycles “Anderson's Tales” and “Variegated Sheets”, 30 inventions for piano, “Green Notebook” — the collection for children and youngsters, Concerto for piano and symphony orchestra, not to say of his sonatas for violin and piano, cello and piano, so as five piano trios. 

Sonata № 12 by Dmitri Tolstoy takes the really special place among his compositions. Tolstoy himself explains it the following way:

“Sonata № 12 is dedicated to the memory of Tatiana Leshchenko. I was acquainted with her. She was a beautiful, charming woman, being a wonderful musician. Of course, I understood, that any substance of beauty (whether it should be nature's fascination, marvel of passionate romantic human mind, or just magnetic captivating of flesh) may be expressed only by the music saturated with primordial essence, i. e. the kind of antique sounding. Hence, I decided to use ancient Grecian modes. They are also heptatonic, however differing from traditional major and minor by intervals inside the scale. The sonata embraces various alternating modes — the Lydian, the Dorian, the Mixolydian; two modes, indentical to natural major and minor, i. e. Ionian and Aeolian ones; melodic major and minor modes specially induced to this composition. All these devices inhale the spirit of antiquity to this sonata, making us call it the „ancient” one. Certainly, these associations are conventional.
     The only aspect is important in this Sonata. Everything here is subordinated to one objective, it's revealed in the intonational system, which serves the creation of everlasting beauty, embodied in music".

Dmitri Tolstoy