The Compositional and Dramaturgical Logic and Musical Expressive Means in the Performance Interpretation of Marian Stârcea’s Variations in G Major for Piano

Abstract

The aim of the article is to reveal the compositional and dramaturgical logic, as well as the features of the expressive musical means used in the Variations for Piano by Moldovan composer Marian Stârcea in relation to their performance interpretation. The research results are based on the presentation of Stârcea's Variations as a composition that exemplifies the Moldovan compositional tradition, created at the beginning of the author’s creative work and reflecting the characteristic features of his individual style. M. Stârcea turned to the genre of piano variations along with other young composers of the Republic of Moldova, such as T. Chiriac, V. Cholac, V. Beliaev, and many others. Each composer demonstrated a desire to find an individual interpretation of this genre form. M. Stârcea's Variations are characterised by an organic synthesis of the compositional logic of the classical and romantic variation cycle, jazz stylistics, and folklore elements of the musical language. The scientific novelty of the article lies in its comprehensive examination of M. Stârcea's Variations for Piano, which is done for the first time. The practical significance of the work is determined by the possibility of using its materials by performing pianists and teachers of musical educational institutions in their work on the piece. The conclusions summarise the main ideas arising from the compositional and dramaturgical features of M. Stârcea's Variations, as well as their interpretation by students and performing pianists. Understanding the logic of the continuous development of the variation form, enriched with jazz techniques and folk elements, is the optimal way to an adequate comprehension and individual performance vision of this piece. The subsequent comparison of M. Stârcea's Variations for Piano with other works by this author, as well as with examples of variations by other composers, will allow us to develop and enrich the results obtained, which will contribute to the further development of a research approach to the issues of performing interpretation.