The specificity of the formation of style dominants in vocal performance (based on N. Stutzmann’s creativity)

Abstract

Statement of the problem. In the article, using the example of the famous representative of vocal and conducting art, N. Schutzmann, the concept of “stylistic dominant” is tested as a parameter that determines the specificity of the performance statement (or a complex of musical and speech resources) and the axiological aspect of the interpreter’s musical thinking. N. Stutzmann has the rarest female voice with an expressive chest register – contralto. An analysis of the repertoire of contemporary contralto singers shows that, as a rule, they mostly gravitate towards the performance of baroque works. The proposed study analyzes how the specificity of the voice influenced the formation of stylistic dominants in N. Stutzmann’s work. Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. The purpose of the study is to identify the factors that determine the specifics of the formation of style dominants in vocal performance. The novelty of the study is that it introduces N. Stutzmann’s performance work into the scientific circulation of domestic musicology. A complex of scientific approaches is applied, among them systemic, aimed at understanding musical phenomena in their interrelationships; stylistic, which allows you to consider the specifics of an individual’s artistic expression; biographical to determine the factors that influenced the formation of the style of the artist’s musical creativity, as well as one of the approaches of cognitive musicology, aimed at studying the image of Human as a creative force. Recent research and publications. The work used studies focused on the history of vocal art and criteria for classifying singing voices, such as the collective monograph «The Human Voice and Vocal Work with It» (Stasko, Shuliar, Slyvotskyi, et al., 2010); a number of scientific articles (Krechko, & Riazhko 2022); Jones, n.d.; Avramenko, 2020; etc.). Particular should be mentioned L. Derkach’s article «Synergy in the Performing Process», where we find the concept of attitude, which is understood as «a holistic state of the performing musician’s psyche, which depends on professional motivation, goals, tasks and conditions for activity» (Derkach, 2014: 714). Results and conclusion. It has been established that the physiological characteristics of a vocalist determine the specifics of his musical and speech resources, in fact, his style, as well as his repertoire policy. It is emphasized that in vocal art one of the determining factors of the formation of a “stylistic dominant” is the timbre of the voice. At the same time, such dominants may not become decisive, but can be adjusted or subordinated to others. Thus, an analysis of N. Stutzmann’s repertoire suggests that she prefers the works of romantic composers, which is contrary to the general trends in the interpretation of contralto timbre in contemporary opera practice. It is noted that the artist’s romantic worldview was formed under the influence of her family, namely the musical activity of her mother, a singer. At the same time, it is impossible to deny the fact that the specificity of N. Stutzmann’s voice determined her interest in the Baroque repertoire, both in her vocal and conducting work. Thus, the formation of the style dominants (baroque and romantic) of the creativity of the outstanding singer and conductor N. Stutzmann is determined by the influence of two factors: internal – the specificity of her voice (contralto) and external – the performing creativity of her parents. The interaction of these style dominants influences the choice of the artist’s repertoire in various fields of performing arts.