Composer Elizabeth Lutyens: Contribution to Serialism

Abstract

The article concerns some aspects of the career and life of British composerElisabeth Lutyens (1906-1983). Her name is almost unknown in Russia. The composer’soutput embraces the 20-80s of the 20th century and consists of lots of genres: instrumental,chamber, vocal music, opera, incidental music for cinema and broadcasting. The serialismcompositional technique is one of the key points of the composer’s idiom. Lutyens was one of the first to begin to use it in Great Britain. The composer insisted she had invented serialism before discovering the music of the Second Viennese School (A. Schoenberg, A. Webern, A. Berg). Unfortunately, music by Lutyens was not popular during her lifetime, she took much effort to open the way into music culture before and after the Second World War. Stoicism and uncompromising stand every time appealed to her pupils (among them R. Saxton, R.R. Bennett, M. Williamson, and others) and detractors who did not love and understand her music. It can be said that Elisabeth Lutyens’s output is still unappreciated. The composer’s individual style needs to be studied especially in Russian musicology which has never applied to the matter.