Vyacheslav Artyomov (1940) has experienced the influence of different musical cultures.
An examination of his music reveals an interest which ranges from the archaic (“Invocations”, “Totem”) and Christian motifs (“Requiem”, “Ave Maria”) to Eastern meditation (“Awakening”, “A Symphony
of Elegies”, “Moonlight Dreams”).
For Artyomov all elements of musical language attend to one main purpose – penetration into the deepest levels of an inner world, discovering of the “Other World” in oneself.
A premiere of his “Requiem” – a grandiose Latin Mass, dedicated to the memory of Martyrs of long-suffering Russia. – took place in Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow in November, 1988, and became a real triumph for the composer. In this connection a famous composer Tikhon
Khrennikov said at that time: “Artyomov is an outstanding composer. His “Requiem” has raised the Russian music to the unattainable heights it had never reached before. I’m sure it is thanks to Artyomov that we not only reached the European level in this genre but surpassed its acmes - “Requiems” by Mozart and Verdi”.
Artyomov’s “Requiem” is considered as the musical monument of the tragedy of Russian people and a symbol of the national penitence.
