World premiere of long-lost Soviet-era symphony among 2025 PRISMA Festival highlights, June 16 to 28

Arthur Arnold conducts Alexander Mosolov’s Symphony No. 3, a brooding yet joyful work with a storied history

SPONSORED POST BY PRISMA Festival

Conductor Arthur Arnold.

History will be made this summer on Canada’s West Coast when the PRISMA Festival Orchestra presents the world premiere of Symphony No. 3 by late Russian composer Alexander Mosolov. Composed from 1958–59 but never performed or recorded, this forgotten work is finally being brought to life by conductor Arthur Arnold, who unearthed the handwritten manuscript during his decade-long tenure as music director of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra.

Symphony No. 3 is one of several classical music offerings at this year’s PRISMA Festival, which takes place from June 16 to 28 in Powell River. It will appear as part of a larger concert called Shadows Lifting on June 27 at the Evergreen Theatre.

Born in 1900 and once touted as the experimental head of the early Soviet avant-garde, Mosolov is best known for his groundbreaking 1927 composition Iron Foundry, which turned the clanging of factory machinery into a revolutionary orchestral sound. But his innovation—and his refusal to conform—soon put him at perceived odds with the state. Arrested in 1937 for anti-Soviet propaganda, he spent time in a prison camp and was blacklisted for years from Russia’s biggest metropolitan centres. He passed away in 1973.

The Russian State Library, popularly known as the Lenin Library, in Moscow.

Scan of a Mosolov score.

Arnold first encountered Mosolov’s Symphony No. 3 during a visit to the Russian State Library, where the manuscript was hiding. The librarian on duty—fully aware of the rules—turned her gaze while he photographed every page of the handwritten score using his phone.

Symphony No. 3 is a study in contrast. Brooding yet joyful, dark yet free, it marks a clear departure from Mosolov’s earlier folksy music. This is the second Mosolov-related milestone to occur at the PRISMA Festival; in 2019, Arnold presented the Canadian premiere of the Russian composer’s Concerto for Harp and Orchestra.

The PRISMA Festival Orchestra is composed of elite young musicians from over 15 countries who are attending PRISMA’s immersive two-week training program. The festival itself encompasses a rich lineup of daily events, including symphony and chamber music concerts, masterclasses, and student recitals, with appearances from international guest artists.

Learn more about Arnold’s engagement with Mosolov here, and visit the PRISMA Festival for tickets and more details.

Post sponsored by PRISMA Festival.

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