Khlebnikov

The cycle can be divided into three parts. The first includes pieces set to the poet’s verses. The second features three vocalises titled with numbers that Khlebnikov used to construct his laws of time: 48 (a number from the formula of numerical invariance), 365 (the number of days in a year, expressed as a sum of powers of three), and 317 (365 minus 48).

As the poet himself wrote: “The language of man, the structure of the flesh of his body, the succession of generations, the structure of crowds, the lattice of the multiplicity of his deeds, the very space in which he lives, the alternation of land and sea — all obey the same oscillatory law: 365 ± 48, where 48 are the doubled days of the Earth.” The third part of the cycle consists of three piano compositions, reflecting Khlebnikov’s constant need for movement. The poet deliberately rejected the idea of a permanent place of residence, making the principle of nomadism the foundation of his ontology and ethics.

The compositions of the cycle begin unexpectedly and end just as suddenly, capturing the image of a world as experienced by nomads. Khlebnikov consciously connected disparate and distant elements, believed in metabiosis, and in his own ability to establish a dialogue between spheres of existence that had never previously communicated.

Khlebnikov’s rejection of rigid structures based on binary oppositions, as well as of strict determinism, anticipates the nomadology of Deleuze and Guattari, which in turn can be seen as a synonym for postmodernism.