The impact of literature-centric concepts on the development of the symphonic creativeness of Boris Tishchenko in the 1960s

Abstract

The research subject is the symphonic creativeness of an outstanding Russian composer of the late 20th century Boris Ivanovich Tishchenko (1939 - 2010). The author studies his works of the 1960s inspired by classical and modern Russian poetry. The author focuses on such issues as the interrelation between music and poetry in Tishchenko’s orchestra compositions, and the significant influence of literature concepts on the development of his symphonic style. Special attention is given to the four outstanding works of the composer: “The Twelve”, a ballet based on A. Blok’s poem (1963), Symphony No.2 Marina to M. Tsvetaeva’s lyrics (1964), Requiem to the poem by A. Akhmatova, and a dramatic music “The Death of Pushkin” (1967). The author arrives at the conclusion that the most part of Tishchenko’s symphonic creativity was based on his love of literature, words, artistic image begotten by literature and poetry. The author’s special contribution to the research of the topic is a detailed study of large symphonic works by Tishchenko of the 1960s based on poetry. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the fact that literature-centric works by Tishchenko are being for the first time considered in the context of the development of his symphonic creativeness; the article detects a close connection between the author’s style and the composer’s language and the non-music confluence on his creative thinking.