Thirteen Five-Voice Madrigals "From Omar Khayyam's Rubayat" by Sergey Ekimov: on the Problem of the Modern Method of Analysis of Polyphonic Cycles for a cappella Choir

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to identify the parameters of cyclization, as well as techniques for updating the ancient form and technique of polyphonic writing by modern musical means in a cappella choral music. The subject of the study is the choral creativity of Sergei Ekimov. The object of the research is the study of the architectonics of the cyclic form and the consideration of polyphonic techniques in thirteen five-voice madrigals "From the Rubayat of Omar Khayyam" by S. Ekimov. The musical language of the St. Petersburg master is saturated with semantic concentration, differs in the expression of the utterance. The appeal to ancient polyphonic genres, forms and techniques of writing in S. Ekimov's choral cycles is characterized by an individual approach to solving creative ideas. S. Ekimov embodies the images of Omar Khayyam's poetry in music and forms his own author's concept of the entire cycle. Through the synthesis of research methods, including musicology, poetics and choral studies, the parameters of musical composition are revealed: the architectonics of the cycle, genre specificity and musical. The author examines in detail such an aspect of the topic as the dialectical interaction of constructive and destructive formants of the architectonics of the musical form of polyphonic compositions for chorus. The main conclusion of the research is the paradigm of artistic connections of the Western European polyphonic tradition with the achievements of Russian musical culture through the prism of modern techniques of compositional writing (sonorica, aleatorica). The attention is focused on the need to study the problems associated with the architectonics of modern choral polyphonic a cappella cycles, due to the general artistic and historical potential and the significance of Russian choral music. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that for the first time the polyphonic cycle of choral creativity a cappella by a modern Russian composer is analyzed from the standpoint of musicology and choral studies. A special contribution of the author to the disclosure of the topic is the study of Sergei Ekimov's essay "From the Rubayat of Omar Khayyam", which has not previously been the object of special research, and its introduction into modern scientific usage.