Classical Composers Research Articles

Th e compositional device «shpilbreacher»: Russian musical classics and modernity

The article is devoted to the formal “shpilbreacher” technique, which is regularly found in the works of outstanding Russian composers — M. Glinka, P. Tchaikovsky, D. Shostakovich. In the context of classical composers, the technique is considered on the example of the work of the famous St. Petersburg composer Vadim Bibergan. The compositional solution of the “shpilbrecher” technique is aimed at marking the climax due to the qualitative transformation of the sounding material and changing the logic of its development. Methodology of extrapolation and comparative studies, appeals to the legacy of M. Glinka, P. Tchaikovsky, D. Shostakovich made it possible to further study this technique in the works of modern composers. The appeal to reception in the works of M. Glinka, P. Tchaikovsky, D. Shostakovich emphasizes the independence of its functioning from style, genre and musical epoch. The result of the work was the identification, definition and description of the reception based on the material selected for analysis and the conclusion that the reception can be important both for performers and for a wide range of interested persons.

Sound and Space as Compositional Tools: Using the Reverberation of a Basilica as part of a Musical Composition

Classical composers such as Wagner, Mahler, Handel, and Debussy, among others, noticed that a space’s acoustic qualities affected their compositions, so they made intuitive arrangements to their performances to suit the space. Some contemporary musicians, on the other hand, incorporate those sonic characteristics as part of their composition. Pauline Oliveros, John Butcher, and Paul Bavister are some composers who produce site-specific works, compositions that include the site’s sound as part of their sound works. This project proposes site stimulation as a methodology to extract Basilica del Voto Nacional’s reverberation, a neo-gothic church in Quito, Ecuador, to produce a site-specific sound work: Composition for a Jazz Quartet and for a Basilica. This research aims not only to use spatial sonic qualities for music composition but also to propose a friendly, day-to-day activity, such as listening to music, as a learning method to acknowledge spatial sound phenomena.

The pearls of Ukrainian vocal lyrics in a contemporary tenor singer’s work (the performer’s auto-comment)

Statement of the problem. The cultural and stylistic landscape in the musical art of the 21st century is marked by the active entry of Ukrainian culture and its vocal and performance component into the world space. Therefore, for young Ukrainian singers, the task of rethinking the significance of the “golden fund” of domestic vocal lyrics of the 19th and 20th centuries and reproducing it in their own performance art becomes more urgent than ever. However, the realities of the concert life of a modern tenor singer testify otherwise: the “golden pages” of chamber-vocal lyrics, created for a high male voice, are mostly unknown and not studied on a systematic basis in higher music institutions. This prompts us to fill this “gap” within the capabilities of a concert vocalist, which enriches the scientific component of vocal art and makes the topic of the article relevant. Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. The purpose of the article is to determine the historically established mental qualities of Ukrainian vocal music, as its appear in the compositions of the 19th– 20st centuries and actualize in the contemporary creative practice of the singertenor. The research material consists of solos and arias created by Ukrainian classical composers (M. Lysenko, Ya. Stepovy, K. Stetsenko, M. Verykivsky, L. Revutsky, H. Veriovka). The concept of the article is based on the works of Ukrainian musicologists devoted to M. Lysenko (L. Arkhimovych, T. Bulat & T. Filenko; the history of Ukrainian music (M. Zaiko, T. Medetska, L. Parkhomenko, T. Bulat); vocal music (N. Govorukhina, T. Madysheva, O. Torba). Research methods, such as historical and stylistic, genre, stylistic, performance, together contribute to studying the composers’ thinking and formulating the author’s practical recommendations as a concerting singer. The novelty of the obtained results lies in the introduction into the scientific and concert circulation of pearls of Ukrainian vocal lyrics on the basis of interpretative and stylistic analysis. Research results and conclusion. On the basis of the analyzed works of Ukrainian composers, the fundamental principles of the reproduction of the lyrical genre of art in tenor performance are defined. 1) Ukrainian romanticism is characterized by «cordocentrism» (according to H. Skovoroda’s philosophy); hence sincerity, soulfulness, openness, sentimental tone, unique cantilena, wide breathing. 2) A characteristic feature of Ukrainian romantic art is the absence of dichotomy: in M. Lysenko’s music we observe the peace of mind and do not see the conflict that prevents the hero from feeling unity with the world, as was the case in F. Schubert’s songs. 3) Synthesis of poetry and the Ukrainian national “musical intonation of speech” (according to O. Kozarenko, 2000), which developed precisely in M. Lysenko’s work. Vocal lyrics of Ukrainian composers is unique, as it is not autobiographical, but objective, universal. The value priorities of the tenor repertoire are represented not only by the cultural traditions of Ukrainian music, but also by the entire context of the world artistic space-time with which this or that singer is in contact. The exploration of it provides a perspective for the further study of the tenor repertoire as a component of the cultural and stylistic landscape of modern art.

The True Sense оr to My Only Desire: The Music as a Reason for Sun Reflections

The article presents musicological and existentialist philosophical discourses on renaissance and baroque structures in the works of two contemporary classical composers. The existentialist point of view is imposed due to the examination of contemporary music works in which historically conditioned practices are also found. Being and Time and Introduction to Metaphysics by Martin Heidegger serve as a starting point for the reflections. The two works D’Om Le Vrai Sens by Kaija Saariaho and Concerto Grosso “Sun Reflections” by Yordan Goshev are stylistically very different but the first bears renaissance and the second – baroque features respectively. In consequence, Der Man or Das Man is defined by the opposition between renaissance humanism and the metaphysics of Being.

Underrepresented Contemporary Classical Composers: Interviews and Insights into Their Works

Underrepresented Contemporary Classical Composers: Interviews and Insights into Their Works

THE ROLE OF SELECTIVE EDUCATIONAL COMPONENTS OF THE PROFESSIONAL DIRECTION IN THE TRAINING OF THE FUTURE TEACHER OF MUSIC ART FOR THE FORMATION OF NATIONAL SELF-AWARENESS OF PUPILS

The research focuses on the role of selective educational components of the professional direction in the training of the future teacher of music art for the formation of national self-awareness of pupils. It has been found that today the problem of forming national self-awareness goes into the plane of the feeling of inner freedom of a Ukrainian and the desire to defend the interests of the state in the political, economic and cultural sense directly, taking part in it, demonstrating the active position of a citizen, a patriot. It has been emphasized that the special responsibility for the education of the young generation is the charge of the teacher of music art, who is able to effectively form the national self-awareness of pupils by means of Ukrainian musical culture, influencing not only the intellectual, but also the emotional sphere of the personality. The role of the teacher of music art as a translator of the national cultural heritage of the people in the conditions of school practice becomes an important link in the formation of pupils’ national self-awareness. It is during this period of schooling that the pupil’s ability to self-assert own personality is formed, therefore it is very important that in the process of perceiving the best examples of Ukrainian opera music, they should be able to critically evaluate historical events, identify themselves with people-images, “try on” the roles embodied in the plot lines of works that force them to realize faith in their nation and pride in it in real life. The analysis of psychological-pedagogical literature provides grounds for determining the training of the future teacher of music art for the formation of the national self-awareness of pupils by means of selective educational components of the professional direction as an integral process that includes a persistent desire for work, the presence of knowledge, abilities, skills related to the experience of cultural heritage of the Ukrainian people (songs, rituals, works of Ukrainian classical composers, etc.).

Music of Frederic Chopin in the Works of the Rock Group MUSE

The article examines constant interactions with the musical legacy of academic classical composers, in particular, Frederic Chopin, representing one of the chief stylistic features of the British rock group MUSE. References to Chopin’s piano music appear in three compositions: United States of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage) (2009), Prelude (2012) and Blockades (2018). The works of the Polish Romantic composer are shown to have been borrowed in various ways: as direct quotes, in somewhat modified form, as well as allusively and indirectly. The understanding and appreciation of Chopin’s legacy by the group members evolves over time from the symbolisation of Light, Ideal, and Humanity to the discovery of other dramatic and even tragic facets of the composer’s art, which are much more relevant to the challenges of our time. For the creative development of the group MUSE, such a shift in emphasis was decisive: with the disappearance of the idealised (previously personified in the music of Chopin) from the sphere of rock music-making, the optimistic life-affirming principle is also displaced. When incorporated more organically into the multi-coloured sound picture of contemporary man’s existence, the music of the Polish Romantic composer paradoxically reveals the dangers and impasses of the modern world.

Musical and Aesthetic Education of Children and Youth in the a Cross-Cultural Space of the Republic of Malta

The article attempts to investigate and generalize the experience of musical and aesthetic education, the organization of general musical education of children and youth in the cross- cultural environment of the Republic of Malta. On the basis of the analysis of the program material, the priority types of activities in the lessons and during the organization of extra curricular work on artistic and aesthetic education were considered. Particular attention is paid to vocal and choral work, study and performance of folk songs, as well as involving students in familiarizing themselves with the works of domestic and foreign composers, forming worldviews in children and young people by means of musical art. It has been proven that students are active and resourceful, independently find and present folk songs in lessons that they have heard performed by members of their families or acquaintances of the older generation. A dominant role in music lessons is played by listening to and analyzing the musical works of classical composers and studying the work of Maltese composers. Composers and their works are presented, which are included in music education programs.

AESTHETIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FOLKLORE HERITAGE OF THE KAZAKH OF AKMOLA REGION

The article examines the spiritual heritage of the Kazakhs of the Akmola region, including the collection, preservation and study of folklore heritage and the influence of spiritual values on the education of the younger generation. When analyzing the research work carried out on the spiritual values of the Kazakhs living in the Akmola region, in the memoirs of foreign scientists and domestic researchers who visited the modern Akmola region, who provided information about the lifestyle and ethnographic settlement of our people, the oral spiritual and cultural heritage of the Kazakhs of the Akmola region was considered and the works of folk classical composers who formed their own unique regional schools were studied. The information presented in the article about the folklore heritage of various genres was collected and systematized during the authors’ research expedition to the Akmola region. The spiritual and cultural heritage of the Kazakhs of the Akmola region has its own uniqueness, determined by the regional and ethnic conditions of settlement. After gaining independence, a large number of our compatriots immigrated to the settlements of the Akmola region. Along with the kandas came advanced examples of spiritual heritage. In the scientific and analytical part of the article, samples of the folklore heritage of indigenous peoples living in the Akmola region are compared with the values that came with kandas, and common features characteristic of regional performing arts are formulated from the point of view of national spiritual integrity

Chișinău: City of the THree Conservatories

The study deals with the subject of the establishment and activity of the three musical institutions (Conservatory) in the interwar period in Chișinău. The idea of opening a musical institution belonged to the Romanian composer and conductor George Enescu, after his first visit to Chișinău. The capital of Bessarabia was assessed by the inspectors in Bucharest as having a high musical potential. The teaching staff of these musical education institutions was made up of representatives of national minorities, which meant a special approach to their knowledge of the Romanian language. The conservatories faced material difficulties, logistical difficulties and difficulties in gaining recognition from the institutional state, which is why they did not have a large-scale effervescence. The institutions of musical education were a platform for the launch into the artistic world of established personalities. It was created departments of singing, piano, violin, cello, fanfare theory, dramatic art, orchestral classes, ensembles, choir, accompanist and chamber, opera. Symphonic and opera concerts from the repertoire of classical composers were presented in the institutions, but Romanian compositions had priority. The educational and cultural institutions responded to the identity imperative of the time, launching established names of Romanian music.

Interaction of Cultures in Musical Creativity: Chinese Images in Western Music

The purpose of the article is to highlight the traditions of Chinese culture in Western musical art. The research methodology is based on a comprehensive approach, namely the system of historical comparative-typological, musicological, and interdisciplinary research methods. The novelty of the research lies in the first attempt to systematise works by Western composers with Chinese themes, which led to the inclusion of musical art in the dialogue “East – West”; the main vectors of addressing various components of Chinese culture are considered in accordance with the historical dynamics of semantic changes. The conclusions of the study emphasise that the embodiment of Chinese imagery in Western European musical art originates in the works of the 18th to mid-19th centuries, subordinated to the conditionally decorative aesthetics of the “chinoiserie” style, creating a utopian picture of an exotically refined China. The traditions of musical orientalism are developed by classical composers of the 19th century. A turning point is the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries when the emergence of innovative trends, the process of “de-Europeanisation” of Western music leads to the formation of new approaches in embodying the Chinese image. The incorporation of Chinese motifs into Western music illustrates multifaceted cultural exchange and interpenetration of styles. The inclusion of elements of traditional Chinese music, musical instruments, myths, and legends into Western musical practice fosters the interaction of two cultures, resulting in the emancipation of the creative process. This practice adds an aura of exoticism and inspiration to musical interpretation, offering composers the opportunity to express themselves through a non-standard, often amplified sound repertoire.
 Keywords: cultural dialogue “East-West”; Chinese music; Western music; cultural exchange.

The Public-Educational Musings of Benjamin Britten: Toward A Post-Critical Love For Classical Music

Abstract: In this paper we discuss the musical work of classical composer Benjamin Britten as a lasting legacy for public music education. Our starting point is the contemporary urgency to rethink both public music education in general, and the public-educational significance of Western classical music in particular, in the face of the dual threats posed by anti-educational tendencies of “functionalization” and “hobbyfication.” Relating this situation to concerns already voiced by Britten in his time, we consider in what ways aspects of Britten’s musical work can be shown to reveal a highly original, post-critical answer to these threats. While his pedagogical musings remain riddled with ambiguities, which readily invite critical deconstruction, our paper argues for the more affirmative option of reconceptualizing these ambiguities as constitutive tensions of a public-educational love for (classical) music. To gauge the practical implications of such a post-critical music-educational love, we analyze the concrete case of the Aldeburgh Festival , perhaps Britten’s most full-fledged effort to reclaim music as a public affair. Thinking about this case, we reflect on how Britten’s legacy could lastingly impinge on the publicness of Western classical music, as well as on ongoing and future practices of public music education in general.

The Public-Educational Musings of Benjamin Britten: Toward A Post-Critical Love For Classical Music

Abstract: In this paper we discuss the musical work of classical composer Benjamin Britten as a lasting legacy for public music education. Our starting point is the contemporary urgency to rethink both public music education in general, and the public-educational significance of Western classical music in particular, in the face of the dual threats posed by anti-educational tendencies of “functionalization” and “hobbyfication.” Relating this situation to concerns already voiced by Britten in his time, we consider in what ways aspects of Britten’s musical work can be shown to reveal a highly original, post-critical answer to these threats. While his pedagogical musings remain riddled with ambiguities, which readily invite critical deconstruction, our paper argues for the more affirmative option of reconceptualizing these ambiguities as constitutive tensions of a public-educational love for (classical) music. To gauge the practical implications of such a post-critical music-educational love, we analyze the concrete case of the Aldeburgh Festival , perhaps Britten’s most full-fledged effort to reclaim music as a public affair. Thinking about this case, we reflect on how Britten’s legacy could lastingly impinge on the publicness of Western classical music, as well as on ongoing and future practices of public music education in general.

Staging a Musical Self through Paper, Canvas, and The Screen: A Taxonomy of Musicians’ Self-Portraits from the Renaissance to the Digital Age

. Musicians have engaged in visual self-representation at least since the Renaissance and have continued the tradition to modern times with contemporary practices including selfies and generative technology and AI art. The practitioners include so-called classical composers (Schoenberg is a well-known case) and performers (Caruso, for instance), but also pop singers and musicians (Joni Mitchell and Patti Smith, among others). The media used varies from oil on canvas to drawings on paper, from traditional photography to digital media. In some instances, there are grave, pompous self-representations, but caricatures also abound (e.g., Donizetti). There are also some miscategorized self-portraits (i.e., portraits misattributed to their subject) and many more purposely fake or mocking self-portraits including contemporary Roman musician and comic Federico Maria Sardelli, which would indicate that the category of “self-portrait” adds value and prestige to any visual artifact. Furthermore, many visual artists, especially during the Renaissance, present themselves as faux musicians, possibly as a sign of nobility or education. Slowly but surely, women have also claimed a space in the realm of musicians’ self-portraits since many of them, belonging to the higher echelons of society, were both visual artists and active musicians (Maria Antonio of Bavaria, Ducreaux and Schröter, among others). In some instances, the musician is truly obsessed with his or her own image to the point that, in addition to visual self-representation, he or she also provides written autobiographies and even musical self-portraits in sound (Spohr and Schoenberg, for instance). In the end, any attempt to create a taxonomy of “musicians’ self-portraits” amounts to a serious interrogation of the usual categories of “self-portrait,” “musician,” and “artist” and to the staging of a vulnerable, doubtful self that wants to be reasserted. Keywords. Self-portraits, Oil on canvas, Drafts on paper, Photography, Selfies, Digital and AI art.

Lineage and loss: Practising a traditional art in changing times

Born in a family of mixed linguistic heritage in a industrial village in north-east Wales, Grahame Davies found himself – thanks to a crucial meeting with a charismatic teacher – learning his poetic craft in the Welsh-speaking tradition. While working as a journalist in newspapers and later in broadcasting, he became one of his country’s most prominent poets and authors, later developing an international reputation as a librettist for classical composers. In this piece he reflects on the transmission mechanisms of individual and communal creativity, the varying status of poets in Welsh and English-language culture, the challenges and opportunities of working in joint artistic and professional enterprises, and on the delicate, but often hugely rewarding, process of working with audiences and with those who commission artistic works.

Modern Tendencies of Bayan Art on the Example of Sonata No. 1 by V.P. Vekker.

The article deals with the development of bayan art in the context of the academic direction. The article reveals the tendencies of creating a large form for bayan by composers of the 20th-21st centuries, including authoritative classical composers, which indicate new strategic orientations in folk instrumental performance. Characteristic trends are determined in relation to the content and form of works created for the bayan. The article considers the creative attitudes of the composer V. P. Vekker. Based on the analysis of Sonata No. 1, the features of innovation inherent in the entire musical heritage of Vladimir Pavlovich are shown. Sonatas for bayan, written by V. P. Vekker, demonstrate virtuoso composing skills. The works are characterized by orchestral thinking, the use of various technical and artistic means of music, and new original performing techniques.

Engaging Cultural Ideologies: Classical Composers and Musical Life in Poland, 1918–1956 by Cindy Bylander (review)

Engaging Cultural Ideologies: Classical Composers and Musical Life in Poland, 1918–1956 by Cindy Bylander (review)

Cheong Images of Chopin in the People’s Republic of China

Just as Poland capitalises on the worldwide popularity of Chopin’s music to export him as a cultural commodity, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has embraced Chopin as patriotism personified, a high-profile ‘cultural worker’ in exile who agonised over the crushing of the November Uprising in Poland in 1831. It was likely Fou Ts’ong winning third prize at the Fifth International Chopin Piano Competition in 1955 that triggered the PRC’s strategic promotion of Chopin. Unlike Fou, who had benefitted from the tutelage of Zbigniew Drzewiecki at Warsaw’s State College of Music (the present-day Fryderyk Chopin University of Music), Li Yundi, the first Chinese pianist to be awarded first prize at the International Chopin Piano Competition, in 2000, was trained at Shenzhen Art School. Understandably, this success story could not fail to boost the PRC’s claim on Chopin. The special case of Chopin in the PRC is even more striking when we shift our focus from charismatic performance platforms to Chopin’s treatment within academic circles. Through a critique of selected papers about Chopin published by People’s Music and Music Research, the PRC’s leading music journals, this study reveals how and to what extent Chopin was claimed and promoted above other Western classical composers, arguably to serve, first and foremost, ideological ends. With the onset of the decade-long Sino–US ambassadorial talks in 1958, held in Warsaw’s ‘Chopin Park’, as one main focus, the timeframe of this study is delimited to cover the period from the founding of the PRC in 1949 to c.1979, when the PRC established formal diplomatic relationships with the United States.

Trisutji Kamal’s Loro Jonggrang: A Cross-Cultural Dissonance

Trisutji Kamal, whose career spanned five decades, was one of the oldest and longest-performing Indonesian female classical composers. Her music is tinged with a unique character, stemming from the way she inserted Javanese nuances into the Western framework of her art. To discuss this musical style, the authors analysed one of her most well-known compositions in the form of an opera, called Loro Jonggrang. The article examines how the two different musical traditions from the West and Java intersect in her music and her cultural subjectivity. The authors argue that what emerges in her music is a sense of dissonance through the use of pseudo pentatonic, two chords, drone, accents, and beats, connecting Trisutji’s music with her cultural background and life history. The authors contend that the dissonant turn and glissando effect of her music comes from the tension between Western musical forms and Javanese intuition. The article contributes to the rare scholarship about female composers in Southeast Asia.

Asian American Female Composers and Digital Memory

Asian American Female Composers and Digital Memory