Concerto for saxophone and string orchestra by P.-M. Dubois: guidelines for performance

Abstract

Statement of the problem. Creativity for saxophone by the French composer Pierre-Max Dubois (1930-1995) reflects in its sound palette many style tendencies of music art of the twentieth century. A student of D. Milhaud, he inherited from his teacher the desire for vivid character and imagery of music, which were achieved by various artistic possibilities of modern musical styles and trends. For the saxophone, he wrote such compositions as Characteristic pieces in the form of a suite, Quartet, Divertissement, Sonata and Concerto for saxophone and string orchestra which is quite relevant for the repertoire of the modern saxophonist. Taking into account specific features of the author’s style of P. Dubois, the performer faces the problem of mastering a number of technical and artistic expressive techniques aimed at revealing the figurative content of the piece. For a contemporary performer, the awareness of style components of P. Dubois’ music, which make up the logic of the performance interpretation, is of particular importance. These are the main aspects of work at this composition in the class of saxophone. Analysis of recent publications on the topic. Saxophone performance is considered in many publications, including those written by the author of this paper. However, there are very few works related to the study of P.-M. Dubois’ creative work, and all of them are bibliographic or encyclopedic in nature. Therefore, the analysis of compositions by P.-M. Dubois seems relevant. The purpose of the study is to develop methodology guidelines on search for performance interpretation of Concerto for Saxophone and String Orchestra by P. Dubois. Presentation of the main research material. The Concerto for Saxophone and String Orchestra by P. Dubois was written in 1956 and was a striking embodiment of the instrumental style of the French composer. Adhering generally to traditional ideas about instrumental genres, P. Dubois greatly expands the sound palette of his works and develops the expressive capabilities of the saxophone. As a student of the famous and one of the most extravagant representatives of the French "Group of Six" – D. Milhaud, P. Dubois in many ways inherits the principle of distinctness of musical language and bright, expressive musical and artistic imagery. P. Dubois’ concerto is a traditional three-part cycle, built on the principle of contrasting extreme fast and medium slow parts, which in the overall contexture of the composition are very different in their imaginative content and musical language. Highlighting the stylistic origins of music of the Concerto, the composer is obviously focused on artistic principles of such musical directions as neoclassicism, impressionism-symbolism and expressionism. Conclusions of the study. From the viewpoint of performance, works for saxophone by P. Dubois have undoubted merits. They are instrumental in nature, written in the light of instrumental specificity, though not without technical and imaginary difficulties. Summarizing the analysis of the Concerto for the saxophone by P. Dubois, it can be argued that this piece clearly fits into the artistic context of the development of French music in the second half of the twentieth century, since it reflects the process of synthesizing various style complexes in the original author’s concept. 1. Concerto for Saxophone and String Orchestra by P. Dubois is an original interpretation of the concerto genre in the context of French music of the second half of the twentieth century. Preserving national traditions of instrumental thinking – programmability, genre, beauty of the timbre palette – P. Dubois enriches the musical language of his work significantly and freely interprets the compositional structure of the concerto (the ratio of form sections, their scales, cadence at the very beginning of the sonata allegro, "removed" thematic contrast and a departure from conflict dramaturgy). On the whole, we can speak of a shift from the sonata form and priorities of the variative development of the musical thematism. 2. In identifying the stylistic origins of the Concert’s music, the composer’s focus on artistic principles of such musical directions as neoclassicism, impressionism-symbolism and expressionism are evident. Moreover, each of these style complexes is as if personified in a specific author’s "manner", causing reminiscence with the music of D. Shostakovich, S. Rachmaninov, P. Hindemith, M. Ravel. Such a “multicomponibility” of the Concerto style introduces the multifaceted nature of the musical language of the piece and assigns the performer the task of differentiating expressive means – mainly the timbre palette and articulation technique. The prospect of further study of the topic is related to the performance analysis of other works by P. Dubois for saxophone, comparison of interpretations made by contemporary prominent artists.