Contemporary music in the strategies of R. Tureck’s creative activity

Abstract

Statement of the problem. Rosalyn Tureck is a significant figure in the history of twentieth-century piano art, whose multifaceted activities had a significant impact on both performance and composing. Her achievements in actualizing Bach’s music cannot be over estimated. At the same time, it was R. Tureck who did much to popularize contemporary art. The pianist’s discography contains many opuses by composers of her time, including those dedicated to her. Objectives, methods, and novelty of the study. The purpose of the study is to outline the directions of R. Tureck’s creative activity as a vivid example of the consistent and successful implementation of an actualizing performance strategy. The study is based on traditional methods of musicology (historical, genre-stylistic, systemic) as well as the method of interpretive analysis. In the research process, we used works that can be divided into 3 groups: R. Tureck’s autobiography; books on the work of American composers and those who contributed to the development of the country’s musical culture (D. Kämper, E. Z. Posell, J. W. Polisi, W. Simmons, S. Swayne, V. J. Kimberling), as well as W. J. Ton’s thesis; and comments to the CD “Premiere Performances”. The performance and structural analysis of the works on R. Tureck’s CD “Première Performances” (Two Studies for Violin and Piano by L. Dallapiccola, Concerto for Piano and Small Orchestra by W. Schuman, and Sonata No. 1 for Piano by D. Diamond), is the first such attempt in Ukrainian musicology. Results. At the time of R. Tureck’s active performing career, musical life was saturated with interesting ideas, discoveries, and new names. However, the avant-garde searches of American composers often remained unheeded by performers. In this regard, the creative activity of R. Tureck, who in 1948 created a society to popularize contemporary music, is exceptional. Her album “Première Performances” with works by contemporary composers was released in 1995. It contains recordings of premiere performances of opuses by D. Diamond, L. Dallapiccola and W. Schuman, the analysis of which is presented in the article. Conclusions. The popularization of contemporary music was an integral part of R. Tureck’s creative activity, due to which many American composers of the twentieth century got a chance to be “heard”. The basic strategies of this vector of her activity are determined: - mandatory performance of new works; - rethinking of contemporary music through previous historical periods; - direct cooperation with artists.