“This piano piece is of historical importance for Russian and Soviet music, for it was the first to make some use of dodecaphonic techniques. However, the composer used the technique in an intuitive way. Volkonsky confessed that he later realized that a flexible use of a technique or a method can only improve the quality of a piece of music.” (Tatiana Rexroth) Musica stricta is dedicated to the great Russian pianist Maria Yudina, who gave the first performance in April 1961.