Scientific herald of Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine

Transformation of the content in music compositions as a factor of actualization of precedent phenomena («Anthem /The Eternal Revolutionary/» by Ivan Franko — Mykola Lysenko)

2024-03-29T14:10:44+02:00

The relevance of the study. The perception and understanding of works of culture and art, the formation of their contents continue to be one of the most pressing issues of the functioning of artistic culture in society. This is due to a significant number of reasons, among which several demonstrative ones stand out. First of all, let's mention the significant complexity of language and expressive means used by composers during the 19th-21st centuries. We also consider the insufficient cultural competence of a significant number of readers/listeners to be the effective reason, caused primarily by the lack of experience in perceiving complex works of art. We should also note the forward-looking guidance on the availability of averaged contents and the clarity of meanings when perceiving works of art. A purposeful study of the process of forming the contents of prescribed works of art requires a careful study of the status of the precedents involved in it. The problem of studying the peculiarities of such mechanisms of perception and understanding of art, used by authors and interpreters, is also minimally developed and requires a thorough understanding and rethinking. In our opinion, the solution of these questions is also important for a whole group of humanitarian sciences, which use paramusical and cross-cultural realities in the processing. A number of important issues of such processing actually became the subject of our consideration.

The main objective of the study is to us the example of the musical piece "Anthem (The Eternal Revolutionary)" by Ivan Franko - Mykola Lysenko to find out the implicit or hidden sources of content creation in musical works, the subject of which is based on the use of a wide field of socio-cultural realities; to reveal reactualized precedent phenomena in the song, which, on the one hand, enrich the content resource of the work, and, on the other hand, are the main reason for the transformation and change of its original contents.

The methodology uses source studies and biographical methods (to clarify the involved facts and cultural-historical context), stylistic method (to highlight the peculiarities of creative priorities, style and content creation in the works of I. Franko, J. Słowacki, and M. Lysenko), as well as structural-functional method and method of precedent analysis.

Results and conclusions. The issue of content transformation as a manifestation of the precedent nature of musical works has been investigated. It has been proven that content changes are mostly the result of many reasons. These primarily include: 1) the complexity of the language and expressive means used in the work; 2) insufficient cultural competence and ignorance of the recipient; 3) guidance on the recipient's accessibility of basic contents and clarity of meanings when perceiving works of art; 4) superficial acquaintance of the recipient with the ideological and artistic content and "approximate" awareness of it; 5) purposeful influence on the recipient of factors of ideological influence. On the material of the song "Anthem (The Eternal Revolutionary)" by I. Franko - M. Lysenko, the status of precedent phenomena actualized when perceiving the work has been characterized in detail - names, situations, texts. For this purpose, a number of source studies, historical, socio-worldview and semantic discourses of an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural nature have been involved. The importance of taking into account the transformation of contents as a result of historical and socio-cultural changes has been demonstrated, the necessity of adjusting the processes of content creation in view of such transformations has been proved. The influence on the perception of the works of involuntary misconceptions about certain historical realities of a sociocultural nature has been also shown ("The Eternal Revolutionary" is somehow related to the October revolution in Russia; "peaks and lowlands" are elements of the Carpathian mountain landscape; Ivan Franko was an atheist; the expression "The Eternal Revolutionary" belongs to I. Franko; the Spirit is an emotionally marked mood of certain groups of people, and not a higher divine power originating from Jesus and the Holy Trinity, etc.). The effective possibilities of musical and expressive means to strengthen / weaken the degree of emotional saturation of values, to change and reformat them, bringing to the fore primary precedents, has been proved.

Claude Debussy and Hazrat Inayat Khan: sound like the universe

2024-03-29T14:44:16+02:00

Relevance of the study. The main aspects of the understanding of the essence of sound by brilliant contemporaries — Claude Debussy (1862-1918) and the Indian musician and philosopher Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882-1927) were studied. It is noted that the unconventional horizons of Claude Debussy's music surprised listeners from the very first of his works and determined the inertia of comparisons of the composer's works with the paintings of impressionist contemporaries. It is emphasized that the composer constantly refused the title of "impressionist" which established in the listeners a false instruction to "see" sound events only as skillfully reflected movement of physical objects. Unfortunately, the mechanism of the composer's creation of musical fabric is still not fully understood, and his new understanding of the essence of sound is often drowned in general reflections on the names of works and expressiveness of individual techniques. It was determined that Debussy's style was determined by: 1) symbolist poetry; 2) musical culture of South Asia and the East. It is noted that the study of the second fundamental component of Debussy's style requires awareness of the new paradigm of thinking of the European composer, who sought to go beyond the sound structures of Western music.

The main objective of the study is to highlight the main sources of the formation of the new concept of sound by Claude Debussy and its resonances with the doctrine of the "mysticism of sound" of Hazrat Inayat Khan.

The scientific novelty is determined by the fact that the sound phenomenon of Claude Debussy is considered as a unique semantic space, which was determined by the composer's awareness of the traditions of East Asian music. For the first time in Ukrainian musicology, the ways of crossing the artistic guidelines of Claude Debussy and the outstanding representative of Indian culture — the musician, poet, composer and philosopher Hazrat Inayat Khan, are specifically considered.

The methodology of the article is based on historical, comparative and phenomenological methods of analysis.

Results / findings and conclusions. It has been found that the basis of the formation of Debussy's creative credo is an unprecedented attention to sound. It is emphasized that sound is the foundation of the formation of a "unique sound reality" (Yu. Dufour) as a special spiritual dimension that manifests the beauty and infinity of the universe. It is proved that among all the parameters of Debussy's musical language, it is the sound that determines the logic of the organization of the whole as a "timbral composition". It is emphasized that the essence of transformations in the system of musical thinking carried out by Debussy in the context of the spread of East Asian influences on European culture is clearly revealed by the appeal to the fundamental concept of sound of the famous Indian Sufi Hazrat Inayat Khan. It is noted that the intersections of views on the music of French and Indian artists show the unity of aspirations to discover the sources of spiritual light and eternal beauty as the basis of the universe, and their heritage gives modern man the key to understanding the laws of his existence - sound that manifests the connections of the micro- and macrocosm.

As a result, it is proven that the vectors of perception of the works of Claude Debussy and the music of Inayat Khan unfold as wide as the auditory experience allows, which leads the listener from a "two-dimensional sound picture" to an infinite spatial field of meanings that form their own universe of sound. It is emphasized that composers of subsequent generations continued this path, transforming the musical space of the 20th and 21st centuries with movement into depth, infinity, beauty and metaphysical power of sound.

Principles of musical memorialization the tragedy of the Holodomor in the Virkа Baley`s opera «Red Earth. Famine»

2024-03-29T14:56:16+02:00

The relevance of the study. The theme of the Holodomor as a creative phenomenon gradually outlines its contours in the music of various historical stages. The musical creativity of the 80s of the 20th century forms certain prerequisites for the integration of the theme of the Holodomor in music. In the 90s of the 20th century, with the support of diaspora figures, the final crystallization of the theme of the Holodomor and its integration into the academic musical creativity of Ukrainian composers. The reception of the Holodomor in the creative experience of Ukrainian musicians of the diaspora has its own characteristics. Usually, its basis is the personal experience of artists experiencing hunger and famine in their childhood, the trauma of deportation and the loss of ties with their native land, with the Motherland.

The main objective of the study is to explore the vectors of musical interpretation of the Holodomor theme in Virkо Baley’s opera «Red Earth. Hunger» through the prism of personal determinants of the memory of the diaspora artist. The methodology includes biographical (to find out the circumstances of life and education, especially the moments of formation of Virko Baley`s compositional skill during the Ukrainian and emigration periods), comparative (to identify the features of the uniqueness and continuity of the considered music and theater work in relation to previous samples of the genre), structural-functional, genre-stylistic, intonation-dramaturgical methods (for a holistic analysis of the work) and theoretical generalization method (for summing up).

Results and conclusions. The personalistic discourse of the verbal and musical narratives of the artists of the diaspora, the writer Bohdan Boichuk (the author of the libretto) and Virko Baley (the author of the music of the opera) is based on the experience of the genocide. Ways of artistic image of the tragedy in the V. Baley’s opera, a Ukrainian artist of the diaspora, reflects the high-pitched emphatic phase of the musical enunciation of the tragic events of the artificial famine-genocide. The image of hunger in the opera becomes a metaphor for violent death, a means of destroying ethnic and human values, and a direct argument for condemning the criminal consequences of the imperial aggression of the totalitarian USSR and its anti-Ukrainian policy. Appeals to traumatic areas of memory in the theme of an opera work generate means of symbolic realization of a special form of cultural memory, which contributes to the awareness of one’s own identity. The type of composer’s expression of V. Baley in the opera «Red Earth. Hunger» is based on the vocal techniques of European expressionist opera. The traditional layer of Ukrainian ethnic music in the form of specific citation techniques is combined with the use of avant-garde techniques. The author’s thinking is aimed at the transformation of traditional genre forms of folklore ritual songs, the use of parody, grotesque, distortion of the musical stylistics of sound norms of funeral rituals. The traumatic memory zone of the diaspora artist touches the level of the metacategory of the intonation image of the world. The author’s model opera of V. Baley’s the distorted intonation image of the offended Pax Sonoris sound landscape — the ethnic sound image of the world, the former indivisible integrity of the sound universe of traditional culture, a kind of aesthetic category of beauty. The musical drama represents the destruction of the national identity on an impressive scale, which also affects the parameters of the native faith, generally universal humanistic values. As a result, the type of dramaturgy and stylistics of the opera are consistent with the creative experience of musical memorialization of the topic of genocides, approved by European culture.

Category «grass-roots» and Ukrainian music of the 19th century

2024-04-01T10:34:21+03:00

The relevance of the study. Actuality of theme. In a detailed analysis of samples of domestic artistic production of the mentioned period, we are convinced that the general level of musical creativity also does not always fit into the generally recognized levels of quality, going beyond the usual delineations of the categories of "high", "low" and "grassroots" art. On the one hand, it is objectively connected with socio-cultural circumstances that did not contribute to the achievement of the level of "high" samples, equivalent to the Western European culture of the time, and on the other hand, in terms of its semantic and substantive content, it does not quite correspond to the next "low" level context At the same time, the category of "grassroots" etymologically has a mostly pejorative, underestimation of artistic creativity as undeveloped and, accordingly, carries negative semantics.

The main objective of the study due to the expansion of the terminological compendium, adjust the established assessments of musical works, objectifying them as much as possible. The object of analysis for terminological clarification and categorical expansion was the composer's works, which were based on folklore elements. The subject of the research is works intended for daily use, salon, home music-making of the 19th century.

The methodology are related to the main purpose of the research and rely on the historicalgenetic, socio-cultural and national context.

Results and conclusions. So, we believe that the term Grassroots proposed by us to characterize examples of musical culture at both the amateur and professional levels expands the musicological thesaurus and emphasizes the qualitative aspects of national art, the basis of which is the ethnic, folklore principle. In music, a sign of belonging to the grass-roots can be considered to rely on metrorhythmic, modal and melodic foundations, as well as on the verbal content of a folk song. Focusing, first of all, on the social and national dimensions, grass-roots can be differentiated according to the "high" and/or "grassroots" levels of culture, while observing the main principle - reliance on folklore national sources with a characteristic "bottom-up" initiative. At the same time, grass-roots art exists as a separate level between "grassroots" and "high" styles. Musical samples of grass-roots art, due to the possession of the qualities of a high style and, at the same time, due to the simplification of certain elements of musical expression, are usually aimed at a wide, democratic audience and are accessible for understanding and perception.

The reception of debussism in the history of European musical modernism (on the example of the sheет music collection «Tombeau de Claude Debussy»)

2024-04-01T14:42:56+03:00

The relevance of the study. One of the style pillars of modernism is the creative heritage of Claude Debussy, who held key positions on the pages of music-critical magazines, mock-ups of music publishers, and ultimately in concert programs; this trend continues to this day. Throughout the life of Debussy, his creative handwriting, moreover, his perception and imitation by other artists began to be titled debussism. Therefore, the analysis of the ways of reception of debussism is an attempt to increase the radius of Debussy’s influence on the work of modernist composers of the first third of the twentieth century.

The main objectives of the study — to trigger the idea of reception in the context of the influence of Claude Debussy's music on his contemporaries and to expand the awareness regarding the Debussy's techniques complex that are most actively subject to reception.

The research methodology: comparative (for the separation of the common and distinctive aesthetic markers between C. Debussy and the mentioned composers), structural-analytical (for the definition of the main style techniques of C. Debussy, applied by his contemporaries), complex method (for the summary for the specific receptive methods in the analyzed miniatures).

Results and conclusions. After the death of the composer, the course of debussism had own characteristics notably it facilitated a more organic (and perhaps more artistically qualitative) integration of the ideas of the outstanding artist into the work of his supporters. This can be explained as the optimal time distance from the original source of the nominal phenomenon and the growing popularity of other modernist «-isms» as well.

Concerning the figurative content of the analyzed compositions, actually in all cases the authors of the collection plays articulating it metaphorically «come it the territory» of Debussy, since they reproduce the ideological-figurative complexes that are typical for him. The outlined composer decisions of Paul Dukas and Florent Schmitt can be summarily considered as vivid examples of the reception of debussism. Having one figurative source (invariant) in the form of a mythological character, both composers (P. Dukas and F. Schmitt) moved along different technological routes, which once again proves their deep assimilation, re-awareness and re-formation, in a broader aspect, the interpretation of Debussy's style markers in their own compositions. Such parallelism with Claude French serves as an indicator of the deep influence of the last one on the artistic role of his two compatriots.

So the musical collection «Tombeau de Claude Debussy» (1920) presents a peculiar projection of debussism on a much wider spectrum of time - the era of modernism, and on a more local level - on the work of a number of its representatives endowed with their own original aesthetic, style and compositional features. The Debussy’s techniques adopted by different composers are added to one musical and historical picture, which is invaluable from the point of view of objectivity and is made in a multi-colored but ordered artistic and stylistic palette. Substantive acquaintance with it indicates the unique nature of musical modernism in the history of which traces of nominal and general "isms" are inextricably and sometimes inconceivably intermingled. Being the exponents of their cultural time, they encourage further study of the epochal heritage and open wide research prospects in the field of revealing the style patterns of European musical modernism.

Pianism of Volodymyr Horovits: the relationship of concertness and chamberity of the performing style

2024-04-01T17:03:07+03:00

The relevance of the study. The topicality of the topic of the proposed exploration lies in the study of the specifics of the ratio of chamber and concert performance style on the example of the work of Volodymyr Horovyts. A complex methodology was applied, including biographical, comparative, and executive analysis methods. It has been investigated that the “genealogical” tree of V. Horovyts reaches the roots of the Viennese classical school, as well as representatives of the Romantic era. It has been found that the parameters of the chamber performance style prevail when the pianist interprets works close to a miniature; instead, concert performance is represented in works of various genres. However, it is substantiated that in the style of V. Horovyts, the mobile ratio of the two specified executive coordinates prevails. The conducted research opens up prospects for further understanding of the specifics of the relationship between the phenomena of concert and chamber performance style.

The purpose of the article to reveal the specifics of the performance style of V. Horovyts from the point of view of the ratio of chamber and concert performance.

The methodological basis of the research consists of the following methods: biographical (to understand the key stages of V. Horovyts life); performance analysis (in order to understand the specifics of V. Horovyts performance); comparative (when studying the specifics of the phenomena of chamber music and concert performance).

Results and conclusions. Summarizing the results of the research, we note that V. Horovyts is definitely a performer of limitless artistic and technical possibilities and artistic will. A comprehensive study made it possible to reveal the specificity of the phenomena of chamber performance and concert performance. As the research showed, over time, the division of these categories became more and more conditional, as performers interpret musical works from the standpoint of individual performance style. Thus, the same work can change its performance and stylistic parameters. Based on the intonation-semantic resources of the work and the mentioned lifecreating circumstances, V. Horovyts synthesizes both types of performance style — chamber and concert, and his sensitive artistic ear allows him to move from one stylistic coordinate to another.

Instrumental cycle for bandura solo «The first notebook of travels» by Lyudmyla Fedorova-Kohanska: performance trend

2024-04-01T17:13:09+03:00

The relevance of the study is to research the instrumental cycle by L. Fedorova-Kohanska "The First Travel Notebook". Bandura, as a universal instrument, the technical level of which makes it possible to perform works of various styles and complexity, is gaining more and more popularity among listeners, allowing various creative ideas to be realized. Bandura repertoire is traditionally created not only by composers, but also bandura performers. Among such artists is Lyudmyla Fedorova-Kohanska, an outstanding Ukrainian bandura player, Honored Artist of Ukraine, head of the bandura department of the P. I. Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine.

The main objective of the study is to analyze the instrumental cycle of L. FedorovaKohanska "The First Travel Notebook" in the aspect of revealing the imaginative and technical potential of the work and the possibilities of its disclosure in performing interpretation.

The methodology includes the complex of descriptive, genre-stylistic, comparative, performance analysis to identify structural features, technical and expressive properties of the cycle and its figurative and associative interpretation.

Results and conclusions. The main socio-cultural and performance trends of modern Ukrainian bandura art are elaborated. The new role of the performer as a creator-composer has been defined. Powerful changes in public perception of bandura have been noted. The new technical capabilities of the tool are revealed with an emphasis on updating the sound production technique. The instrumental cycle "The First Travel Notebook" by Ludmyla Fedorova-Kohanska was analyzed in terms of sociocultural and performance trends. The program status of the cycle is revealed and the origin of all the program names of the parts of the "First Travel Notebook" is highlighted. The main compositional techniques used by the composer are characterized: technical (left hand overturning, interval and chord chains, broken arpeggios and movement with arranged consonances, rehearsals, technical passage structures) and sound imaging (articulation techniques, stroke elements, creation of timbre effects). The author's executive interpretation of the cycle is presented. The features of the artist's individual compositional style have been clarified.

Callas phenomenon

2024-04-01T13:44:55+03:00

The relevance of the study. The 100th anniversary of the birth of Maria Callas became an occasion to look at the world of opera through the prism of her talent and artistic destiny, to pay attention to the presence of her image in modern culture, to reconsider life lessons in art left by the "diva century".

The main objective of the study is to reveal the semantic structure of the almost limitless discourse about the great opera singer through certain aspects of the coverage of the "Kallas phenomenon" in modern culture.

The methodology includes ideas and musical-analytical approaches to the coverage of the stage practice of M. Cherkashina-Gubarenko, considerations of phenomenologists, in particular certain provisions of R. Barthes's "practical mythology", M. Foucault's "archeology of knowledge", M. Dolar's "phonocentrism" (2022), which are included in the framework of the holistic-integrative method developed by A. Samoylenko.

Results and conclusions. Maria Callas (1923 - 1977) is considered as a key figure in the renewal of the operatic tradition. On the basis of published materials, research and audio sources, an attempt is made to understand the vectors of thematization of her life and creativity in the space of modern culture. Confidence in the public consciousness of the cultural phenomenon La Divina, which marked the emergence of the singer in the "big time" of history as an actor of symbolic significance, can be traced from the fixation and acceptance of the characteristic features of her voice (interpreted in Western culture as a metaphor for the "self" of the human personality) through the identification of a dominant intentions in the interpretations of opera parts (which explains the specificity of individual and personal accents in the performance of this or that role) to the establishment of markers of her public image in the mass communication system and, ultimately, the definition of the semantic load that the modern myth of Callas assumes. These interconnected aspects of the coverage of the "Callas phenomenon" made it possible to reveal the semantic structure of the almost limitless discourse about the great opera singer, diagnosing the presence of a certain thematic core in it, which is actually identified with the archetypal "signs" of the opera - the images of la innamorata and la abbandonata. The tension that arises between these existentials personifies the artistic individuality of M. Callas. Her virtuoso balancing between these "modes of being" on stage, in private and public life, on the one hand, as an object of various reflections/receptions, ensures the integrity and self-identity of the "Kallas phenomenon" in all its manifestations, on the other hand, he asks the general frame in which the essence of the opera as such is revealed.

«Admus and Hermione» by Jean-Baptiste Lully as the first sample of the lyrical tragedy genre

2024-04-01T13:48:19+03:00

The relevance of the study. It consists in considering the "Cadmus and Hermione" by JeanBaptiste Lully not only in the context of the author's artistic evolution, but also as the result of the traditions of French musical and theatrical court art. Written in 1673, it became the composer's first work in genre tragédie lyrique («tragédie en musique»).

The main objective of the study to determine the socio-cultural prerequisites for the emergence of Lully's first lyrical tragedy "Cadmus and Hermione" and to identify the genres that became the basis for the creation of a model of tragédie lyrique.

The methodology includes biographical (to find out the circumstances of Lully's life and activities), comparative (to reveal the continuity of the considered tragédie lyrique in relation to the system of musical and theatrical genres of the 17th century), as well as structural-functional, genre-stylistic and intonational-dramatic methods (for a comprehensive analysis of the work).

Results and conclusions. It is considered Lully's "Cadmus and Hermione" as a model of the French genre of the tragédie lyrique. It is emphasized that this work arose under the influence of traditions, French musical and theatrical art. The details of the production and the reaction of King Louis XIV to the premiere of the work are highlighted, which determined the further support of the composer at the royal court. The plot of the opera, the compositional and dramaturgical organization of "Cadmus and Hermione", which served as a reference point in Lully's further work in the genre of tragédie lyrique, are analyzed. It is noted that the plot borrowed from Ovid's "Metamorphoses" is based on the travels of Cadmus (his many victories and happy love) and is a prophecy of a happy future in the conception of absolutist art. It was concluded that when creating the first sample of the genre of tragédie lyrique, the composer strongly relied on the developed genre system of French music and theater art. In particular, the connections of tragédie lyrique with court ballet, comedy-ballet, air de cour and other genres were noted. The influences of the traditions of the French dramatic theater on the construction of the plot and the peculiarities of the vocal parts of the tragédie lyrique are revealed, and the presence of features of the Italian comic opera is indicated. It is emphasized that the long-term experience of the performer, the intuition of the musician and the talent of the composer were embodied in the first example of the genre of tragédie lyrique in Lully's work. The considered work became a model of the genre of tragédie lyrique, which was fundamental for France in the 17th and 18th centuries, which, in particular, determined Lully's prominent place in the history of French music.

«Variations on “I got rhythm”» by George Gershwin: concert transformation of the song theme

2024-04-01T14:07:40+03:00

Relevance of the study. George Gershwin's concert legacy includes four works for piano and orchestra: Rhapsody in Blue, Concerto in F, Second Rhapsody, Variations on “I Got Rhythm”. However, the degree of their popularity, performance demand and scholarly coverage are disproportionate, with the Variations on “I Got Rhythm” being the most overlooked in this regard, which seems unfair considering their final role in the composer's instrumental creativity. The appeal to the Variations is also made more relevant by the clear combination in them of two spheres of Gershwin's activity — popular music and academic music.

The main objective of the study is to examine George Gershwin's Variations on “I Got Rhythm” for piano and orchestra in the unity of figurative, stylistic and genre parameters and to prove that the work meets the requirements of the concert genre. The scientific novelty is determined by the fact that Variations on “I Got Rhythm”, encapsulating Gershwin's exploration of instrumental music, are studied for the first time in Ukrainian musicology. The methodology of the article is based on historical, cultural, genre-stylistic, intonation-dramaturgical methods of analysis.

The results and conclusions. Variations on “I Got Rhythm” for piano and orchestra by George Gershwin, his last instrumental work and the summation of his search in the piano concerto genre, is considered. The circumstances of the creation and premiere performances of the Variations are highlighted. The connections of the figurative concept of the work with the national American idea and the reflection of the signs of American modernity in Gershwin's imagination directly in the music of the work are revealed. The combination of two spheres of Gershwin's activity — popular music (the theme of his own song as an object of variation) and academic music (traditions of characteristic Romantic variations and rationalistic techniques of modernist writing) — in the Variations on “I Got Rhythm” is emphasized. It is noted that Gershwin's skills of virtuoso variation of musical themes were honed in his encore concert performances and playing music at parties, and the experience of writing down such improvisations in writing was acquired while working on the Song-book for Piano. The Variations on "I Got Rhythm" are analysed in detail. The degree and methods of transformation of the theme, derivation of melodic voices, passages, figurations, counterpoint lines from the title motif are traced; the means contributing to the external completeness of the variation cycle and the symmetry of its internal organisation are considered. The embodiment of the attributive features of an instrumental concert in Gershwin's Variations is characterized: dialogicity, revealed in the interaction of orchestral and piano parts; soloing, represented by textural models borrowed from classical and jazz pianism; the game, which manifesting itself in the forms of competition, mystification, mosaic, joke, mastery of playing an instrument. The study emphasizes the dominance of the playful principle in Gershwin's Variation, which is due to Gershwin's creative method, formed in his work on Broadway, and reflects the traits of his personality.

The Symphonic Poem of Levko Kolodub «Velykyi Kameniar» («The Big Stonemason»): Contexts of Musical Embodiment

2024-04-01T14:42:22+03:00

Introduction. Levko Kolodub — is one of the most outstanding Ukrainian composers of the 2nd half of the XX^th — the beginning of the XXI^th century. He is the author of a huge number of symphonic works (including thirteen symphonies, and also poems, rhapsodes, suites, and so on. Studying his creative work will never lose its actuality in the context of understanding the integrity, depth, and diversity of our national musical culture.

The relevance of the study. In 2023 it was the 70^th anniversary of Levko Kolodub's first large-scale opus — the symphonic poem “The Great Stonemason”, which he wrote in 1953. Aidar Torybayev, a famous Ukrainian conductor of Kazakh origin opened the new 2023/2024 concert season of the Dnipropetrovsk Philharmonic with this piece. After he received numerous requests from his colleagues for the score, he decided to print it. That made the study of the symphonic poem “The Great Stonemason” necessary. Until now There was no comprehensive study of this composition. So, the concert practice actualized a musicologist studying as well.

The main objective of the study — is a musicological presentation of this poem in a wide contextual field, which sets us several tasks, namely: to consider the contexts of the work, the history of its writing, its place in the symphonic heritage of L. Kolodub; to discover the genre model of the poem along, with its distinctive and innovative features of “The Stonemason” as genre invariant of a symphonic poem, stylistic features.

The methodology includes methods: biographical (to reconstruct the facts of life, the periods of L. Kolodub's life — childhood and education, related to the poem); historical (to highlight the context of the work), comparative (to reveal the heredity of the Poem about previous examples of the genre), structural and functional, genre-stylistic and intonation-dramaturgical methods (for a comprehensive analysis of the work), source studies (study of epistolary fragments), interviewing with A. Torybyaev (September-October 2023) to clarify the performance and interpretation features of the work.

Results and conclusions. As a result of our research, we concluded that Levko Kolodub in his first composition of a large form showed exceptional talent despite his young age. He demonstrated excellent composition skills, a well-formed style, professional expertise, and a constant desire for improvement. “The Great Stonemason” followed the established traditions of the romantic poem genre, with F. Liszt's poems serving as a stylistic model. These traditions included the use of the principle of monothematism in constructing various themes, the sonata form with a contrasting introduction, the hidden cyclicality within the one-part form, etc.

The piece was both unique and personal, vividly individual: with themes, inspired by folklore, featuring characteristically scaled harmony, and a requiem episode in its development, etc. it was one of the several similar works from that time, alongside those by Anatoliy Svechnykov, Volodymyr Nakhabin, Andriy Shtoharenko, and others, that glorified national heroes, love for the Motherland, etc. The composer carried the desire for symphonic music and programming throughout his long life.

The analyzed poem utilized folkloric principles such as intonation, mode, metrorhythm, etc. The composer employed various techniques such as dramatic conflict within the sonata-allegro, tense development episodes, gradual dynamic growths and declines, numerous polyphonic methods of instrumental and vocal nature, dynamic reprise, etc. These features were crucial for the composer’s further development as an artist. The symphonic poem «The Great Stonemason» continues an active creative life due to its engaging performance. Therefore, we ensure, that introducing this work into scientific circulation has a promising future.

The innovation of the authors surprises, fascinates and motivates. (Review of the publication: «Ukrainian book about Richard Wagner». Nizhin: PР "Lysenko M.M.", 2022)

2024-04-01T17:29:03+03:00

Musical theater in internet: aspects of form creation and communication

2024-04-01T11:13:50+03:00

The relevance of the study. Renewal of the poetics and aesthetics of modern art is caused by many factors, among which we can single out the intensity of the processes of development of the information society and the emergence of new ways of communication, including artistic ones. As a result, in the recent decades, changes have taken place at the stylistic, genre, and types levels. Works of art have undergone significant transformations, along with the forms of their presentation, as well as the ways of interaction between artists and the viewing/listening audience. Internet with its various resources, including video hosting and social media, became a powerful field of such interaction. The Internet has significantly influenced musical theater in all its many forms.

Main objective of the article is to describe the latest forms of musical theater and the trends set by their functioning in the context of the existence of the Internet as a special theatrical space.

The research methods. The method of analysis and comparative method, as well as the method of generalization, are applied.

Results and conclusions. The problem of the multifaceted influence of the Internet on the musical theater in the entirety of its manifestations is posed. The concept of «virtual theater», which was put into circulation during the lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic, is considered. The practice of presenting in the Internet of the recordings of «live» performances with the participation of actors in the same physical space, as well as the use of the Zoom platform as a virtual platform (both online and recorded) was established. The discussion on the artistic potential and prospects for the further implementation of new theatrical forms is highlighted. The scope of the concept of «virtual Broadway» (2015) as an Internet space for interaction between musical theater composers and the public is outlined. Attention is drawn to the phenomenon of the virtual presence of the participatory spectator in the discussion of performances in the social media. The peculiarities of the implementation of Michael Roth's work «The Web Opera» (2018) as a kind of hybrid combining the aesthetics and poetics of theater and cinema, the features of established musical and theatrical forms and their transformation are considered. The unity of the specificity of the theme of the work and the stylistics of its embodiment, the system-creating function of music in the formation of artistic integrity, and the social resonance of the opera are noted. The readiness of the musical theater for the situation of social isolation during the lockdown and the search for new ways of realizing connections with the audience using modern technologies is shown. An example of creating an opera using the resources of the Zoom online platform, as well as a digital remotely performed musical (2020), is considered. A conclusion is made regarding the formation of genre modifications (new types) of opera and musicals as a result of the introduction of modern creative practices.

Ukrainian music with a jewish accent: «Six jewish melodies» by Yuri Ishchenko and «Carpe diem» by Oleg Bezborodko

2024-04-01T12:08:30+03:00

The relevance of the study. The Jewish theme is quite a popular idea of world art. Its powerful panorama in Ukraine is unfolded by musical works dedicated to the unprecedented Holocaust of the Jews of Kiev in Babi Yar. Meanwhile, the Jewish discourse of Ukrainian music is not limited to this content. The need to study new versions of the reproduction of Jewish intonation in “Six Jewish Melodies” by Yuri Ishchenko and in “Carpe diem” by Oleg Bezborodko Ukrainian composers ensures the relevance of the article.

The main objective of the study to present a musicological analysis of the works "Six Jewish Melodies" by Yu. Ishchenko and "Carpe diem" by O. Bezborodkо, which represent contrasting versions of the Jewish discourse of Ukrainian academic music of the 21st century.

The methodology includes the following research methods: source studies - in the process of finding out folklore sources of the cycle "Six Jewish Melodies" by Y. Ishchenko; hermeneutic-semantic and intonation-dramaturgical methods, which made it possible to reveal the figurative and intonation specificity of the works; and comparative method with a two-level analytical comparison of a) the quoted material with its composer's version; b) two works studied in the article.

Results and conclusions. «Six Jewish Melodies» by Yu. Ishchenko and «Carpe diem» by O. Bezborodko are analyzed - two polar versions of Jewish discourse that demonstrate the dynamic and multivariate history of the entry of Jewish intonation into academic Ukrainian music of the ХХІ century. The main idea of «Six Jewish Melodies» is the preservation of the intonational and figurative resources of Jewish authenticity, emphasizing its intristical lamentable semantics. The style of the work, despite the genre diversity (chant without words, lyrical song, lullaby, freylekhs) is monolexical, based on the reproduction of “pure” Jewish intonation. An absolute contrast to the above is a playful fantasy «Carpe Diem»: the Jewish melodies «Roast Chicken» and «Seven-Forty» are grotesquely synthesized with themes of Fate and «Ode to Joy» by Beethoven. Such a hybrid substance based on a disjunctive synthesis of thematic counterparts, reveals globalistic tendencies and wrings to cocoon different time-spatial, genre-style and national-mental characteristics. The style of this piece is polylexical, intensely dialogical, inverting the entire hierarchy of upper and lower cultural coordinates. Each of the works analyzed adapts different genre content of Jewish music. Yu. Ishchenko quotes unfamiliar melodies from the sphere of archaic folklore genres. On the contrary O. Bezborodko, turns to the well-known Jewish melodies of the «low» urban tradition, which are paradoxically synthesized with the «high» themes of Beethoven. The desacralization of Beethoven’s cult themes, which reveal «consanguinity» with Odessa-Jewish musical content, symbolizes the process of «initiation into the Jews» of the great composer. These pieces of work also have something in common. In addition to convergence on the mental level - through the reproduction of an antithetical picture of the Jewish worldview, the manifestation of the author's empathy and reliance on quotes, this is the presence, along with the authors, of intertextual co-authors. In «Six Jewish Melodies» this is the researcher of Jewish folklore Moses Beregovsky, in «Carpe diem» - Ludwig van Beethoven; their personalization occurs through the introduction of musical citations. The different intonation concepts of these two musical works seemed to unite into integral whole different projections of the universal-syncresive Jewish mentality, devoid of figurative autonomy, which combines primordial melancholy and a positively humorous worldview. The study of new implementations of the Jewish discourse of modern Ukrainian music, along with identifying the specifics of the piano version of «Carpe diem» by О. Bezborodko, constitutes perspectives for the follow up studies.

Italian Culture and Art Representations in Odesa under the Policy of Romanization Conditions (1941–1944)

2024-04-01T12:51:49+03:00

Relevance of the study. Italian culture and art in Odesa, their influence on the city development, the European traditions diffusion in urban planning, education, music and theatre activities have a century-long history. It was interrupted with the World War the First and, subsequently, with decades of the bolsheviks’ dictatorship. Therefore, although brief-lasted, Odessa involvement in the cultural space of Italy during the Romanian occupation of the city in 1941–1944, which took place in Hitler’s and Mussolini’s ideological paradigm of the «new Europe» possessions, became a unique experience of the urban culture traditions revival — primarily, the Italian musical and theatre and instrumental performing arts representation.

The purpose of the article is to investigate the forms of Italian culture and art representation in Odesa in the context of the Royal Romania occupation policy implementation, aimed at city population integration into the system of the «Roman world» ideological values under the fascist Italy hegemony.

Methodology. The methodological background is due to the interdisciplinary nature of the investigation. The scientific toolkit consists of methods that ensure the reliability of the obtained results and conclusions: source studies (to study the narrative sources, newspaper reports); historical and biographical (to investigate the unknown and little-known Italian artists’ biographies pages and their facts clarification); comparison method (used for the purpose of information contained in documents of personal origin, submitted in newspaper reports, studied in scientific investigations verification); historical-systemic method (to investigate the Romania adaptation model of cultural policy and its changes under Odesa development historical features influence); method of generalization (to reveal the Kingdom of Italy representative institutions cultural and propaganda policy in the city essential characteristics).

Results and conclusions. Little-known aspects of Odesa cultural and artistic life during the Romanian occupation of 1941–1944, when the city functioned as Governorate of Transnistria administrative centre, were investigated. In particular, the forms of Italian culture and art representation in the context of the Romanization policy implementation have been identified and described. That policy is proved being the processes of Romanianization component, was implemented by the occupying power exclusively in the field of culture in order to promote «European values», «new European culture», represented by Nazi Germany, fascist Italy and royal Romania.

The policy of Romanization is revealed to be implemented with the Italian Royal Bureau, later the Italian Institute of Culture in Odesa involvement, by popularizing the Italian language and culture, cinematography, visual and musical arts. The local intelligentsia, including ethnic Italians and their descendants who survived in the Stalinist repressions conditions are shown as the social group targeted by this policy. In practice, that policy was embodied in the Odesa Art Museum exposition designing, the Odesa Opera and Ballet Theatre repertoire, the Italian language and culture courses deployment, Italian art films and newsreels demonstration, Italian singers and musicians invitation to take part at the local stage performances and to work as conservatory professors.

On the basis of the city occupation newspapers publications and diary entries of contemporaries, the influence of representatives of the Italian musical environment occupied Odesa cultural life is shown. In particular, the world-famous singers and musicians such as tenor Tito Schipa’s, singer and film actress Katerina Boratto’s, orchestra conductor Molinari Francesco Pradelli’s, cellist Antonio Yanigro’s, harpist Luigi Magistretti’s scenic activities in the city are highlighted, also the violinist Carlo Felice Chillario’s concert practice and pedagogical efforts are investigated.

Baiаo as a component of soundscapes of Brazil: guitar reconstructions of the genre

2024-04-01T13:23:42+03:00

The relevance of the article. The coverage of the pages of the guitar work of Brazilian composers seems to be relevant for the search for new horizons of the modern repertoire of South American music in the context of actualize genre and style projections of soundscapes of this big country and regional music traditions.

Main objective of the study is to reveal in guitar music the rhythmic and intonation-melodic archetypes of baiao as the titular genre and an important component of the Brazilian soundscape. The novelty of the article lies in the introduction into the Ukrainian musicological circulation the analysis of Latin American guitar works, which represent the specifics of this genre phenomenon.

The methodology includes interdisciplinary approaches and methods of cultural, musicological, historical, comparative, systemic, structural and functional analysis to determine the genre and style elements of folk music, its reflection in culture and academic guitar works.

Results and conclusions. Brazilian baiao, as one of the leading genres of the country’s musical culture, was first developed in its southeastern regions - Bahia and Pernambuco. During the last century, it acquired the status of an emblem of local domestic and concert creativity. Based on ritualistic and ceremonial ancient traditions, imprinted in the public dance processions of today, baiao is the personification of a certain musical archetype. It consists of recognizable timbral features of the Brazilian sound sonotype (Indian flutes, Angolan drums, Brazilian guitars) and is preserved in a solo guitar performance thanks to the techniques of sound imitation. The character of Brazilian timbres reflects the soundscapes of the rural and urban hinterland of the southeastern regions. The development of the genre’s ethnic roots in the conditions of new composer incarnations was facilitated by the musical aesthetics of the Movimento Armorial. Its manifesto was: the reflection of local national traditions in combination with the language resources of the baroque musical "dictionary" of European (Iberian) origin, the mixing of ancient modal elements and composer’s techniques, as well as the involvement of elements of modern academic and jazz cultures. The result of these processes is a wide stylistic amplitude of artistic embodiments of the genre in the guitar work of Latin American and European composers — A. Madureira, P. Bellinati, E. Gismonti, C. Aguirre, R. Dyens, M. Duplessy and others. The baiao rhythm (a sharp syncopated binary pulse) and the baiao mode (Lydian-mixolydian with other mixed variations of mode formation) are clearly defined in all analyzed works. Fast tempos generate powerful energy of a sonorous, motor-dance wave, which reproduces the soundscapes of the huge "musical continent" with its purely Brazilian flavor

150 years of Colonne Concerts

2024-04-01T13:19:00+03:00

In the early decades of the 19th century, France created many Musical Societies with a dual objective: to offer (symphonic) music to the widest possible audience, and to perform a repertoire combining new works and masterpieces of the past. The Association artistique des Concerts Colonne is one such Society. Founded in 1873 by Édouard Colonne (1838–1910), the group took over from the short-lived Concert national invented by Georges Hartmann (1843-1900), while maintaining Sunday concerts in the Théâtre du Châtelet. Colonne quickly found itself in competition with the Concerts Lamoureux, making artistic choices that set it apart.

Thanks to the posters and programs deposited in various repositories, we thought it would be interesting to take a sampling of these rich holdings to illustrate a history of the Ensemble that answers the following questions: what was its overall operation? How were programs and Hall Programs drawn up (e.g. by Charles Koechlin), and who were the musicians? In so doing, we will have sketched a (non-exhaustive) portrait of the Concerts Colonne, which will be blowing out its 150 candles in 2023. One of the longest-running concert series that brought together outstanding performers, composers, and a wide range of listeners was the Colonne Concerts series. Their leader, Édouard Colonne, has been organizing remarkable musical events that have opened up to the Parisian public both classical works by Beethoven, Mozart, Weber, and Schumann and works by contemporary composers, including Fauré, Debussy, d'Indy, Ravel, Charpentier, Widor, Chabrier, and Dukas.