Klaus Schulze is the artist who "nearly single-handed invented electronic music" as the British AUDION magazine once wrote. Same AUDION considers that "Mikhail (Chekalin) is certainly one of the most radical and innovative synthesists around, not only in Russia but globally, he's taken the art of synth music way beyond its generic form." (Alan Freeman, AUDION # 23, June 1993).
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Named as ‘one of the most radical and innovative musicians’ of today, Mikhail Chekalin is quite famous in the circles of avant-garde music fans. Influenced by Russian classical music and synthesizer sound, Chekalin has released a number of critically acclaimed records during the several decades of his career, while open dissemination of his music was restricted during the Soviet times.
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Mikhail Chekalin (born in Moscow in 1959) "is now considered one of the top maverick modern composers in Russia" (Zoltan’s Progressive Rock Webpage, USA).
Chekalin was always independent from the official soviet art and in return he was ignored by official cultural structures of Soviet Union, embodied in monopoly apparatus of USSR composer’s union, and his every step was followed by KGB.
However the times have changed. His works created in 70s & 80s were released by the Melodiya record company – nearly 15 albums were released as LPs, and his name became known not only in Russia but also abroad. "He has startled many with his bizarre sonic creations. he’s taken the art of synth music way beyond it’s generic form" (Audion, 6/93, UK). "From 1979-99 Chekalin has produced a series of albums that are extraordinary to say the least." (Eurock on the Web, USA).
"Mikhail Chekalin is frequently compared with Klaus Schulze, and on the surface it’s not a bad comparison. This music really lies in between Schulze or early Tangerine Dream and the more Classical Electronic realms of Morton Subotnik or the non-melodic early works of Wendy Carlos." (Fred Trafton, New Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock, Updated 7/12/02).
In 1993 some of this Chekalin’s works were released by Erdenklang Musikverlag (Germany) – the ‘Night Pulsation’ album. "This is space music steeped in orchestral grandeur, electronic eclecticism and vocal sensuality. Chekalin is a sonic sorcerer who summons forth the spirits of his Russian heritage and impregnates them with cosmic emotion. Classical influences of Prokofiev, Stravinsky and Rachmaninov, as well as folk melodies and eastern orthodox choral passages, give this music an appealing aura of epic drama without slipping into pretension. The interplay between electronics and percussion is filled with excitement and originality. Chekalin’s voice is sometimes reminiscent of Peter Gabriel’s vocal work on the ‘Passion’ soundtrack." (Heartbeats, Summer 1993, USA).
"The synth music of ‘Nigh Pulsation’ teems with such excitement, vitality and imagination that it invites no comparisons to either the Berlin School, the US scene or any other tactical movement that currently exists. The album is, in short, a highly charismatic and original work… Indeed, Chekalin’s situation is peculiarly ironic – although having to work in an environment long unconducive to experimentation and the searching for new methods, it is that very insulation that has kept him an entity unto himself, unblemished by what has come before, undamage by any pre-conceived ideas. Frought with aural drama, cataclysmic in spots and cathartic in others, 'Night Pulsation' is a true work of art." (Darren Bergstein, i/e, Summer 1993, USA). "Chekalin is perhaps the leading artist from Russia in terms of cosmic synthesizer sound." (Eurock, 5/93, USA).
Chekalin’s Probability Symphony in the Style of Jazz, recorded with jazz trio in 1994, was released by Leo Records, UK (Golden Years of the New Jazz series) "…much gripping improv and post-modern chamber music." (Barry Witherden, Jazz Review, 2002, UK).
"To describe the reclusive Mikhail Chekalin as Russia’s Jean-Michel Jarre would be doing him (Chekalin) a disservice, but with a discography of over forty solo albums of cosmic synth music to his name, Chekalin’s fame has managed to spread far beyond Moscow, where he chooses to work alone… ‘Probability Symphony in the Style of Jazz’ was apparently cut live without any prior rehearsal or discussion, and is an amazing (if at time exasperating) sixty-five minute journey into the no-man’s land between musical genres. In short, it sounds like nothing else you’ve ever heard - too odd and disjointed to space out to, but far too scattered and blurred to appeal to those expecting a Russian Return to Forever, yet fascinating enough to make this listener at least want to search out more work by this obscure keyboard wizard." (Dan Warburton, Signal to Noise, March 2002, USA).
"It’s a labyrinth lasting 65 minutes, anchored by the elaborate sonic landscapes Chekalin weaves from his synthesizer. The feeling of infinite space and Chekalin’s scorched textures are challenged by a rhythmic bumpiness and constant asides." (Philip Clark, The Wire, 2002, UK).
"This music is what we used to call ‘progressive’ before the name got misappropriated by Yes, Pink Floyd this is music to stir the blood." (Duncan Heining, Jazzwise, May 2002, UK).
Chekalin also writes for symphony orchestra. ‘Black Square' (performed by grand symphony orchestra of St. Petersburg’s Philharmonic Society, May 2,1997) and chamber music cycle Last Seasons (CCn’C Records, 2001, Germany) "…timeless avant-garde striving for the essence of life and music a powerful stream proceeding from Prokofiev, say, to Pärt, in the mystical tradition of Scriabin, Stravinsky, Shostakovich…" (Christopher Salvesen, CCn’C Records Webpage, 2001, Germany).
"Have I heard anything else like this? Never. This music could have come out of Shostakovich or Ives, if they had lived long enough to get hold of an orchestra, a few samplers and a computer." (Zoltans Progressive Rock Webpage, USA).
Physicist Dmitry Chekalin and artist Sergei Dorokhin constructed a unique light organ. Due to this Mikhail’s music (in his own words) had "colour arrangement in Kandinsky style". This period turned to be the most significant in Mikhail’s creative activities and he managed to postulate futuristic laser show for the first time not only in Russia but also all over the world.
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MORE CRITICAL ACCLAIM:
Eurock, 5/93, USA.
Chekalin is perhaps the leading artist from Russia in terms of cosmic synthesizer sound. He mixes pure space music with rhythmic soundscapes with ease, the result being a diverse sound that conceptually hangs together beautifully. Fans of TD, Klaus or other Berlin school artists should be well pleased by this one.
Heartbeats, Summer '93, USA.
Chekalin is a sonic sorcerer who summons forth the spirits of his Russian heritage and impregnates them with cosmic emotion. Classical influences of Prokofiev, Stravinsky and Rachmaninov, as well as folk melodies and eastern orthodox choral passages, give this music an appealing aura of epic drama without slipping into pretension. The interplay between electronics and percussion is filled with excitement and originality. Chekalin's voice is sometimes reminiscent of Peter Gabriel's vocal work on the "Passion" soundtrack.
Alan Freeman, Audion, 23 (6/93), UK.
Mikhail is certainly one of the most radical and innovative synthesists around, not only in Russia but globally, he's taken the art of synth music way beyond its generic form. Via his twelve LP "M'Ars" series issued a couple of years back (actually, the twelth has yet to be released! - Ed.), he has startled many with his bizzare sonic creations. This, his third CD, and Western debut is an album full of surprises, eleven tracks that cover a multitude of styles, from spacious synth music through to carefully conceived constructions built out of sampled sounds. True, unlike some of his earlier LPs, he does play a bit safer here, he doesn't really strike out in extremes, and a melodic focus is held. "Night Pulsation" is aptly mysterious and often spooky coming across much like a mixture of Klaus Schultze's more abstract recent works, Peter Frohmader's "Homunculus" and some latter-day Conrad Schnitzler, an intoxicating concoction indeed!
La Vie Naturel, 6/93, France.
Chekalin est russe. C'est a dire qu'en se specialisant dans la musique electronique depuis les années 60, il ne s'est pas vraiment attire la consideration du reеgime sovietique. Le KGB lui en a fait baver!.. Maintenant, ça va mieux. Il peut enfin s'exprimer comme il veut, et sa musique, de style "philarmonic new age" (ou, si l'on préfère, "nouvelle musique"), s'est révelée être d'un très haut niveau. …Un delice esthetique…
Darren Bergstein, "I/E", Summer '93, USA
All cultures possess their own innate musical heritages and sensibilities. The very nature of "Western" music can sometimes have a dampening effect on those whose ancestry lies in a different hemisphere. But the more broad-minded artists, while recognizing the sweeter advantages of "Western bounty", might just opt to forge their own destinies and let fortune favor the foolish. Ergo - anything emerging from a place whose fortunes have not yet been harvested, or whose 'scenes' are only known to a discreet few, often inplies a stark sense of exoticism. Russian keyboardist Mikhail Chekalin… has been graciously spared the corruption of "civilized" parties. The synth music of "Nigh Pulsation" CD teems with such excitement, vitality and imagination that it invites no comparisons to either the Berlin School, the US scene or any other tactical movement that currently exists. The album is, in short, a highly charismatic and original wok, utilizing as its sound fabric certain ambiguous elements found in the soundtrack work of Eduard Artemyev but possessed of sound and vision far more progressive in its thinking and ultimately more visual. Indeed, Chekalin's situation is peculiarly ironic - although having to work in an environment long unconducive to experimentation and the searching for new methods, it is that very insulation that has kept him an entity unto hinself, unblemished by what has come before, undamage by any pre-conceived ideas. Frought with aural drama, cataclysmic in spots and cathartic in others, "Night Pulsation" is a true work of art.
ME-sounds, 6/93, Deutchland.
Synthesizermusik, die sich mit den Werken westlicher Computerakustiker durchaus messen kann. Sinfonische Klangmalereien, Minimal Music, okkulte Besänftigungsklange in New-Age-Nähe - der Moskowiter Klangpionier hat alles drauf.
Ersilia Rozza, New Sounds, 7/8/93, Italy. Mikhail Chekalin "Night Pulsation" (Erdenklang / New Sounds)
E'il primo esponente, se si esclude il compositore di soundtrack Eduard Artemyev, della nuova musica elettronica russa ad uscire dai confini del suo paese. Nato, come molti, nelle file dei gruppi rock (il suo si chiamava Samozveti, e suonava alla Stones) alla fine dei Seventies, Mikhail ha fatto anche la trafila dei club e dei ristoranti assimilando gli hit del pop mondiale prima di mettersi, nell'82, in proprio e di iniziare un difficile percorso di sperimentazione con le elettroniche, effettuato a contatto di artisti impegnati in altri settori, quali il teatro, l'arte visuale e perfino la fisica. Il clima, fino a la glasnost, e in Russia molto contrastante, da un lato c'e estrema disponibilita di teatri, planetarium, locali, ad accogliere questi sound, dall'altro i conflitti con il retrivo KGB e la stessa delinquenza organizzavata. Il suo primo album e dell'88 e si intitula "Vocalise in Rapide", cui ne seguiranno altri tredici, di cui questo lungo CD e una specie di compendio generale. Circa dieci anni di composizioni, ispirate a situazioni diverse, sonorizzazioni teatrali e descrizioni visionarie, "sinfonie in stile new age" e esperimenti orientali, voci sognanti e esplosioni coloristiche, illustrazioni di opere di computer grafica e viaggi nella grande anima russa, si risolvono in flusso sonoro che ricorda per certi verso Brian Eno e per certi altri le sperimentazioni della musica contemporanea. Un interessante excursus sulle ricerche piu vitali di un panorama ancora sconosciuto, ma vitale.
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