A Multi-Layered Monolith : Beyond the Surface of Loudness in Galina Ustvolskaya's Sixth Piano Sonata

Abstract

The forbidding harshness of Galina Ustvolskaya's Sixth Piano Sonata can easily be associated with the spiritual and reductively statuesque imagery associated with this composer. Adapting and expanding an initial classification by Andreas Holzer and Tatiana Marković, this article proposes an in-depth analysis of loudness in Ustvolskaya's final piano composition. A detailed overview shows how she uses expanding cluster types, accentuation, and rising intensity to create prolonged dynamic arcs where at first glance dynamic progression appears to be largely flat. I go on to identify three moments of musical climax, all of which seem to articulate the golden ratio for an important subsection of the sonata. Based on these observations, I formulate two contrasting interpretations, one teleologically orientated, the other symmetrical, which show that the Sonata is governed by the tension between two distinct types of formal logic. My analysis uncovers a surprisingly multi-faceted structure, one that belies the austere image of "the composer with the hammer."