Controlled anticipation as a psychological attitude of the pianist-concertmaster (on the example of M. Ravel’s Sonata № 2 for Violin and Piano)

Abstract

Statement of the problem. Controlled anticipation is a conscious process of fore sighting an upcoming event, preparing for its fulfillment, and taking full control over its course. Extrapolation of this universal model to the professional activity of a pianistconcertmaster allows to schematize the psychological foundations of the performance process. The distinctive feature of Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Major is demonstrating the incompatibility of violin and piano declared by the composer. The main task of the concertmaster is to create an ensemble integrity, within which he should cover the musical material of all the parts of the ensemble. In the context of this Sonata, the pianist resolves a paradoxical contradiction – to combine into a single integrity what is deliberately polarized at the compositional level. This study was based on scientific works in the field of psychology, in particular, the researches of Ukrainian scientists (Batrachenko, 2010; Nikolenko, 2014) and the studies revealing the problems of performing Ravel’s Violin Sonata (Baer, 1992; Kaminsky, 2004; Beavers, 2010, 2016, 2020; Lefèvre, 2013). Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. The purpose of the study is to highlight the general principle of controlled anticipation and to argue their importance in the work of a pianist-concertmaster. For the first time a theoretical substantiation of anticipation as a controlled psychological process in the field of music is proposed and the research attention is focused on the performance problems of the concertmaster, who is responsible for the unifying function in the ensemble in Ravel’s Sonata in G Major for Violin and Piano. The research methods are determined by attracting the psychological theory, which considered the concept of anticipation; an activity approach aimed at applying theoretical knowledge from the field of psychology in the preparatory work of a pianist-concertmaster, as well as the methods of deduction and induction in their direct interaction were used. Research results and conclusion. Controlled anticipation allows to solve effectively a wide variety of tasks and it is a universal model for working on any kind of music. The specificity of the concertmaster’s activity lies in the fact that he is obliged to embrace the soloist’s part with his consciousness in addition to his own material. It needs to correlate each structural element of the text with the partner’s capabilities. Controlled anticipation as a psychological instruction is aimed at helping both in the rehearsal and concert practice of a pianist-concertmaster. Moreover, in the course of a stage performance, the use of controlled anticipation reduces the problem of excitement to nothing.