“LETTERS TO HER” FOR PIANO BY N. NYZHANKIVSKY AS AN EXAMPLE OF A SUITE GENRE IN THE UKRAINIAN MUSICAL CULTURE IN THE 1920S

Abstract

Background. Researchers have shown a high interest in creative work of great national cultural figures who lived in the 20th century. Nevertheless, it remains little-known to music scholars, musicians and in the cultural-art space in general. Thus, the topic of the study is relevant. Nestor Nyzhankivsky (1893–1940) was a composer, pianist and musical critic. His original creativity had a great impact on the Ukrainian musical culture (specifically on Halychyna region). Majority of N. Nyzhankivsky’s manuscripts were lost during his emigration. Moreover, during the World War II his manuscript archive was completely destroyed. Original piano works of N. Nyzhankivsky still remain little known in music science, performing practice and cultural and artistic space. The objective is to determine distinctive features of N. Nyzhankivsky’s composer thinking based on the study of the Small Suite «Letters to Her» for piano as an example of a suite genre in the Ukrainian musical culture in the 1920s. The methodology of the research is based on the interaction of the specialised scientific approaches. Thus, the genre approach helped to determine typical genre features of the analysed composition. The style approach enabled the author to find stylistic constants in the composer’s piano creativity. Finally, the structuralfunctional one helped to realise the unity of the form- and meaning-creating factors in the musical composition within the system of the composer’s style. Results. The piano suite «Letters to Her» has a special place in the creative work of N. Nyzhankivsky. The work was created in 1928, during his studies at the school at the Prague Academy of Arts in the class of Professor V. Novak. In this cycle, the composer shows himself as a bold experimenter, who finds original sound and stylistic solutions and takes a new approach to the interpretation of the suite genre. N. Nyzhankivsky’s suite continues the traditions of the Romantic cycle of program miniatures. The key images of the work are concentrated in the sphere of Romantic experiences of the lyrical character, which are revealed in the existing author’s program. The unifying factor of independent contrasting parts is a single artistic idea. The small suite «Letters to Her» consists of five movements: «Zmist» («Contents»); «Pershyj lyst. Pro nizhnistj jiji ruk» («The first letter. About the tenderness of Her hands»); «Drughyj lyst. Pro Sylu» («The second letter. About force»); «Tretij lyst. Pro mriji» («The third letter. About dreams»); «Chetvetyj lyst. Pro nasmishku nad samym soboju» («The fourth letter. On mocking oneself»). Each movement appears to be completely self-sufficient, and fully reveals the deep artistic meaning embodied in a particular miniature. Conclusions. On the basis of the carried out research the original composer’s approach to interpretation of a suite genre is expressed. N. Nyzhankivsky’s small suite «Letters to Her» is an example of a Romantic suite with a generalized type of program. The logic of construction of the work corresponds to the established characteristics of the model of the suite genre. The five movements that form the suite alternate, creating tempo and figurative contrasts. The suite genre in the artist’s interpretation combines the features of the suite cycle and the cycle of piano miniatures.