Does there always exist a Russian music in the sense of the national sense of a Russian tonality?
I think that each composer has traits of national character. In the same way, a French writer’s language expresses one’s thoughts, which does not resemble the language of a Russian writer. Dutilleux wrote a fantastic concerto for the cello. But it is a French concerto, and it is magnificent. There is Shostakovich; Prokofiev wrote the Symphonie Concertante; and they wrote in a Russian language. Britten wrote in his own language. A person who is born in a particular country is automatically the representative of this country. The first thing that they know, they listen to the music of their own country. One’s friends generally come from one’s own country. Hence, each person has one’s own language, also in music. Is there a Russian music? Russian music is very simply Russian, of a Russian character. I cannot say that this is very well researched. It is an obvious taste. Russian music has much fewer semitones than others. I do not want to say that Russians do not have semitones. But each w
