The stylistic originality of Yurii Shevchenko’s instrumental works on the example of “ThreeUkrainian Songs” for string orchestra

Abstract

Statement of the problem. The musical language of Ukrainian composers of the XX–XXI centuries is a complex and rather poorly studied field in modern musicology. This phenomenon raises many questions due to the diversity of styles, forms, and individual expressive systems of composers. Music for chamber ensemble vividly reflects the significant transformations in the artistic perception owned to our era. This musical context includes the work of the Ukrainian composer Yuriі Valentynovych Shevchenko (1953–2022), an outstanding figure in the national musical culture. The composer’s work is considered mainly in the journalistic discourse (Sushchenko, 2006; Cherdintseva, 2003, etc.). In recent scientific publications devoted to Shevchenko’s work, the authors (Aksiutina, 2022; Sadovenko, 2023; Tarasenko, 2008) focus on the analysis of the composer’s ballet music. The study by V. Stepurko (2023) helps to come closer to understanding the composer’s creative narratives: “... the author in his work aims to find the hidden philosophical depths of fairy-tale “worlds” as a sign and sound space. His works use various musical means of expression, but structured according to classical models, they are strikingly full of modern philosophical ideas, the search for humanistic postulates to solve the problems of humanity” (Stepurko, 2023: 132). However, a comprehensive musicological consideration of chamber and instrumental works remains outside the attention of researchers that determines the relevance of this publication. Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. The purpose of this article is to reveal expressive means and stylistic features of Yu. Shevchenko’s chamber and instrumental music using the example of “Three Ukrainian Songs” for string orchestra. The named works have not yet been the subject of a special musicological analysis. The following methods were used in the study: historical, system-analytical, comparative, and hermeneutic, as well as a complex of specific musicological methods: structural-functional, semantic, musical-dramaturgical, timbre and textural analysis (for considering the musical form in its dynamics, the artistic expressiveness of harmonic, polyphonic, melodic and rhythmic means; when studying the orchestral score for revealing the specifics of the use of timbre colours of instruments). Research results and conclusion. In the process of implementing the symbolic program of the “Three Ukrainian Songs” for string orchestra, the principle of sound painting and the thematic meaning of rhythm get an important role. Audio-visual effects are achieved through the combination of timbres of various instruments and the use of special ways. The creation of sound perspective and the effect of spatiality are facilitated by polyphonic techniques of development and the combination of distant registers (also, in the first song, the temple bell effect arises due to synchronization of the propagation of sound vibrations). The game component, which is present in the third song, is realized through the “terrace” dynamics (f–p) and the “instant” register juxtaposition in parts of the I–II violins. To reproduce folklore intonations, to imitate the sound of folk instruments, the composer uses a variety of timbres of a string orchestra, in particular, orchestral pedals; characteristic rhythmic and melodic turns, sudden tonal shifts, original tonal plans, as well as various polyphonic techniques and the polyphonic-variation method of development. Using folklore material, Yu. Shevchenko complements each of the selected melodies with a harmonic texture, masterfully works with the vertical, and writes out each voice in a jewelled manner. In his interpretation of folk songs, genre features are emphasized: “Many Years” is a glorifying chant, “The Boat is Sailing” is a barcarolle, “Jenchichok-brenchichok”(“Reaper-Chirper”) is a scherzo. Meter and rhythm, register, and timbre solutions contribute to the highlighting of the characteristic genre features. The architectonics of the cycle carries a semantic load and contributes to the demonstration of the idea of the fluidity of life time: “Blessings of Life” (the idea of Part I) – “Immersion in the Process of Life” (Part II) – “Joy of Life” (Part III). So, the interpretive component of the cycle has a positive vector aimed at raising the emotional state of performers and listeners, as evidenced by the bright, “fiery” character of the treatment of the humorous folk song in the third, final, part of the cycle. The trends of form-making, the techniques of using harmony and polyphony laid down by the composer , as well as the conceptual solution of the cycle open wide prospects for the further development of Ukrainian chamber-instrumental music.