The specificity of timbre expressiveness in N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov's orchestral program compositions

Abstract

The subject of the study is the forms of manifestation of timbre expressiveness in the program orchestral compositions of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. The object of the study is the peculiarities of the composer's symphonic creativity on the example of program compositions. The practical significance of the study lies in the fact that the results of the study can be in demand by professional musicians of various specialties and serve as a source of educational and methodological materials for general and special courses of higher and middle-level music education. The following methods were used in the study: a historical and stylistic method aimed at considering the evolutionary processes that took place in the orchestral work of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov; a method of comparative analysis and analogy, thanks to which it was possible to identify common and distinctive features in the use of timbre expressiveness in the works of the composer of different periods of his work. The relevance of the article is connected with the little-studied issues of timbre dramaturgy and the peculiarities of instrumentation dictated by them in the symphonic scores of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov's program compositions. In modern Russian musicology, there is an actualization of research attention to the field of studying the specifics of timbre expressiveness. Therefore, the appeal to the work of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, as a composer-discoverer of many techniques of timbre development, seems relevant. The novelty of the research lies in the holistic coverage of issues devoted to the specifics of timbre expressiveness in the composer's program orchestral works. The peculiarities of the use of such techniques of timbre dramaturgy as timbre personification, mixing of timbres are considered from the standpoint of the manifestation of the composer's unique timbre hearing and in the context of the general stylistic trends of Russian music of the late XIX century. Conclusions: N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov's orchestral program compositions reveal a number of innovative solutions dictated by the program design. The revealed means of timbre expressiveness: the abundance of orchestral solo instruments of the woodwind group, techniques of timbre personification and timbre mixes, testify to the manifestation of the composer's unique gift — timbre hearing.