One August day, Petr Skovorodnikov, Sergey Zykov, and Elisey Dregalin, members of the Sound Art and Sound Design department at the HSE School of Design, were engaged in physical labor—directly related to the specific nature of their assigned work. They were transporting a precious gift to the School of Design’s Izmailovo campus: the musical archive of the renowned musician Mark Ilyich Pekarsky.
Mark Pekarsky is a seminal figure in Russian musical culture. A graduate of the Gnessin Institute of Music in percussion, he initially played in the Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra before joining the legendary early music ensemble «Madrigal,» founded by composer and organist Andrei Volkonsky. In 1976, he founded a unique percussion ensemble, the first in our country and, to this day, the only one to regularly perform. Its very first European tours garnered admiration from audiences and critics alike—in the mid-1980s, the German press unanimously compared Pekarsky’s ensemble to Europe’s premier percussion ensemble, Les Percussions de Strasbourg, noting the incredible precision and teamwork of its musicians, as well as its ability to embrace stylistic transformations.
The Ensemble’s repertoire includes approximately 200 works written especially for it by Sofia Gubaidulina and Edison Denisov, Viktor Suslin and Alfred Schnittke, Vladimir Martynov and Alexander Knaifel, Alexander Vustin and Alexander Raskatov; in fact, several generations of Russian composers contributed to the creation of the Ensemble’s unique repertoire. In addition to his work with the ensemble, Pekarsky also performed as a soloist, working with the Dresden, Helsinki, Turin, St. Petersburg, Minsk, Ural, and other symphony orchestras, and participating in recordings by jazz and classical musicians.
Two other aspects of Pekarsky’s career are worth noting. He taught for many years, first at the Ippolitov-Ivanov College, then at the Maimonides Academy. Since 1997, he has been a lecturer in the Department of Strings, Winds, and Percussion Instruments in the Faculty of Historical and Contemporary Performance, and a professor at the Moscow Conservatory. He has developed an exclusive curriculum and teaching methods; his students include laureates of All-Union, Russian, and international competitions, and soloists with leading orchestras and ensembles. Finally, Mark Ilyich possesses a remarkably fluid pen, despite the seriousness of the topics he addresses. He is the author of several dozen articles and books (including «Back to Volkonsky Forward,» «The Life and Love of the Drum Organism,» and «Beat the Drum and Don’t Be Afraid»).
That’s why the donation of the Ensemble’s music archive to the School of Design by Honored Artist of Russia Mark Ilyich Pekarsky is so significant. The Sound Art and Sound Design program will receive a unique collection of 20th-century composers' scores: works by Edison Denisov, Sofia Gubaidulina, Vladimir Martynov, and many other classic Russian post-war avant-garde composers, as well as prominent representatives of the American, European, and Japanese schools of composition.
Alexander Baru (Head of the Advertising Art program at the HSE School of Design, a marketer with over 30 years of practical experience, and publisher of Back Beat and the Russian version of Modern Drummer magazines, both dedicated to percussion instruments):
Mark Ilyich Pekarsky is the man who proved that drums can sound not just loud, but truly beautiful. He created the first percussion ensemble in Russia, and it was a true discovery. His courage and creativity inspired many musicians to pick up drumsticks. For me, Pekarsky exemplifies how love for one’s craft transforms music into magic.
Sergey Zykov (teacher of the «Graphic Scores» course in the «Sound Art and Sound Design» program at the HSE School of Design. Artist, independent musician, member and program curator of the contemporary music ensemble Kymatic Ensemble, specialist in the School Programs Department of the V-A-C Foundation):
«Many of the works we received are dedicated to Pekarsky himself and contain his comments and notes. Some are no longer available for purchase or even accessible online—they are unique artifacts from an era of bold experimentation.
Starting with the new academic year, we will begin systematizing the archive for educational use by students and teachers. Older copies will be restored, and there are plans to digitize almost the entire collection and create a catalog.»
Petr Skovorodnikov (coordinator of the sound and music program at the School of Design. Researcher of the Net Art phenomenon, author of the course «History of Network Art,» designer and web developer, musician, and producer):
The Mark Pekarsky archive is an invaluable collection of materials reflecting the master’s rich creative legacy. It has now moved to the School of Design’s campus on Izmailovskoye Highway, opening up new perspectives for researchers and creative professionals. The proximity of the archive’s new location to the School of Design’s «Sound Art and Sound Design» program promises to create a fertile environment for the interaction between music and contemporary art.
