Great Composers Research Articles

РЫСПАЙ АБДЫКАДЫРОВДУН БАЛДАР ҮЧҮН ЖАЗЫЛГАН ЧЫГАРМАЛАРЫН ОКУТУУНУН ӨЗГӨЧӨЛҮКТӨРҮ

This article analyzes the work of the great composer Ryspai Abdikadyrov and the peculiarities of his creative style in comparison with other musicians. It examined the methods of teaching the composer in elementary school, the musical style of works intended for children. We focused on the public's approach to music, the music lessons that take place at school, and its condition. The author's attitude to music, including his works for children, was openly analyzed. The author says that there is no purer universe than the world of a child. It seems that the composer lacks independence, creative inspiration in teaching his immortal works to the next young people. Because of this, it can be noticed that later young people are tempted by dexterity and cannot immerse themselves in the real museum world. The exceptional mastery of the author's musical flair is especially emphasized.

Tudor Ghosts in Black Shirts: The British Union of Fascists, Nazi Germany and the Quest for Musical Greatness in Britain

Abstract The United Kingdom has for centuries suffered the reputation of an ‘unmusical nation’ that could not produce a great composer or compete with the rich musical cultures of Germany, Italy or Russia. In the 1930s, members of the British Union of Fascists (BUF) who worked in the musical professions began to challenge and reject this long-standing stereotype. These self-described Blackshirts hoped to achieve a ‘rebirth’ of British classical music under the leadership of Oswald Mosley and expel racially impure ‘alien’ performers from Britain’s houses of culture. As British fascists conceived and debated these plans, the example of Nazi Germany loomed large in their imaginations. BUF Blackshirts professed admiration for Joseph Goebbels’s campaigns against ‘degenerate’ music and imitated the Nazi Party’s völkisch criticisms of jazz, modern art and consumerism. Especially intriguing to Mosley’s followers was the Nazi cult of Richard Wagner, which offered a compelling illustration of how a hypothetical fascist Britain might revere a historical composer as an emblem of racial nationalism. The Third Reich’s glorification of Wagner prompted debate within the BUF about which figure, or figures, could fulfil such a role in Britain, with two schools of thought predominating: either the late Victorian generation of composers or the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Tudor masters. If Nazi cultural policy was a source of inspiration for British fascists, it was equally one of intimidation and self-doubt, reviving insecurities that the British people were a ‘musically inferior race’ unable to produce a composer rivalling Wagner’s genius.

Perception of Kyrgyz music as a factor of motivation to a healthy lifestyle: Survey

The aim of this research is to identify the relationship between perception of Kyrgyz music and motivation for healthy lifestyle, and to understand the mechanisms of music impact on people's behavior within the context of healthy lifestyle. The research methods included literature review, questionnaire development and statistical analysis of data. A total of 248 participants, dominantly young people and women, took part in the online survey. Results showed that musical lyrics covering themes of health, physical activity, and positive thinking can inspire listeners to lead healthy lifestyles. Key images of space, emotions and natural phenomena in Kyrgyz song lyrics reflect the diverse understanding of health and well-being in the culture of Kyrgyz people. Both great composers of the past and modern musicians motivate Kyrgyz people to take care of their health with their patriotic and lyrical songs. The novelty of the research is in the study of a relatively new area of the influence of music on people's behavior within the scope of a healthy lifestyle.

Are Richard Wagner's operas a potential tool to teach medical students and young doctors humanities?

Abstract There is an increasing interest in using poems and novels as a powerful resource to teach medical students ethical and professional behavior, virtues, and to illustrate the complexity of the doctor–patient relationship. This approach as part of a narrative medicine provides a framework for approaching a patient’s problems more holistically and also offers a method for addressing existential inner qualities such as grief, hope, and despair that are part of illnesses. Occasionally, operas (mainly Italian) have also been used for this purpose. I however, propose that medical students may learn a lot from a deeper confrontation with the operas from the German composer Richard Wagner (1813–1883). Certainly, Wagner had a rather self-centered personality, also known for his notorious nationalistic and anti-Semitic essays, but his complete Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art) encompasses almost every human feeling, conflict, and psychological problem including suffering, compassion, redemption, etc. Wagner’s opera somewhat reflected his unsteady life. Wagner was convinced that his art could fill the void left by the retreat of traditional religion, suggesting that humanity may achieve freedom through the perception of beauty uniting communities through shared aesthetic experience. Not a very modest approach and not a very likable character, but a great composer. After a short biography, I will provide some (because of the complexity of the subject, naturally limited) arguments on what medical students can learn from Wagner operas, even though I am convinced that Wagner and his music are not easy to digest, even for experienced opera lovers.Key messages

The Bystander, the Good Samaritan and the Just in the Holocaust and international humanitarian law

Despite the thousands of pages written and words said about the Holocaust, I still am at a loss in trying to understand it. How a European people with a rich cultural tradition that produced some of the world's greatest composers, philosophers and poets could invent, enforce and docilely follow the first industrial genocide in human history remains, for me, an enigma. This essay focuses on the Jews, both numerically and ideologically the principal, but not the only, victims, the Roma being the other principal victims.

The importance of musical and aesthetic education of young people in modern society

The importance of musical and aesthetic education of young people to form their spiritual world in modern conditions of the information society is clarified. The approaches of scientists to understanding the phenomenon of "musical and aesthetic education" are generalized, which gives grounds to assert that this concept is: a component of the spiritual development of the individual, his artistic and emotional sphere, aesthetic attitude to the surrounding reality; a means of developing his musical abilities in the process of conscious perception of works of musical art and critical attitude to musical phenomena; a specially organized purposeful process of forming musical qualities and musical and aesthetic consciousness of the individual. The main purpose of musical education is to teach children to understand music by familiarizing children with folk music, works of great composers and organizing music circles where you can study musical literacy, music history, and learn to play musical instruments. It is proved that teenagers are the most susceptible to the influence of music, since they are passionate about listening to music and are included in performing musical activities, striving to improve melodic hearing, fret sense, develop harmonious hearing, auditory representations and musical abilities.

Fundamental Analysis of Chick Corea’s Improvisation in Spain (1972)

"Modern jazz can be considered an equal part of modern music, owing to the numerous experiments, at times considered strange or not really agreed by the audience. When talking about modern musical life and the possibilities for making music in a proper manner, no doubt that the value and genius of composers like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or Ludwig van Beethoven must be recognized. However, one must also realize that modern life, with its modern, contemporary music is also needed. The great jazz saxophonist, Charlie Parker considered improvisation the middle of the earth, the place where, if only for a few brief moments, one can be the best and the greatest composer in the world. Furthermore, the idea of a song (theme) is the only reason for musicians to come and elaborate together, with variational spontaneity, a unique and maybe unrepeatable musical manifestation. The works of Chick Corea reflect this point of view, as the analysis of the work Spain (1972), discussed in the article bellow, will demonstrate. The work represents the fusion between Spanish music and the compositional methods of modern jazz music, reflecting Corea’s unique style. Improvisation lies at the basis of this composition, offering the musician a multitude of possibilities for expressing his ideas regarding freedom and human nature. Keywords: jazz, piano improvisation, spontaneity, creativity, harmonical knowledge, contemporary "

Giacomo Puccini—a great composer and a genius

Giacomo Puccini is one of the most renowned opera composers in the world. He continued the work of Giuseppe Verdi. Italian composer Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca, Grand Duchy of Tuscany on December 22, 1858. In 1880, he entered the Milan Conservatory, where he studied with the famous composer Ponchielli (1834–1886). Puccini began writing his last opera Turandot in poor health. The pains in the throat were very painful and prolonged. He showed symptoms of cancer of the larynx and, in the fall of 1924, the condition of the great composer worsened. On November 4, Giacomo Puccini traveled with his son Antonio to the city of Brussels, where he underwent radiation therapy. After the radiotherapy he temporarily felt better and in Brussels he attended the performance of the new opera La bohème for the last time. Puccini worsened and, on November 29, 1924, he died in Brussels, Belgium. The purpose of the scientific publication about Giacomo Puccini is to draw attention to the topic of diagnosis and treatment of cancer of the larynx. In most cases of cancer of the larynx, as well as in 90% of cases of head and neck cancer, prevention is possible thanks to lifestyle changes to avoid carcinogenic factors. We must emphasize that timely diagnosis of laryngeal cancer is a key to its therapy. Cancer of the larynx is curable in more than 70% of cases if diagnosed early. The diagnosis is made by an otorhinolaryngologist, who must do an endoscopic examination of the larynx.

Endless Self: Haydn, Cherubini, and the Sound of the Canon

This article takes as its starting point the little-noted attempt of the composer Luigi Cherubini to become the new Esterházy Kapellmeister following Joseph Haydn's death. I use the episode as a prompt for a broad reconsideration of Haydn's reputation in the 1790s–1800s, and of what it meant to follow in such footsteps. Rather than just a matter of capitalizing on the celebrity of a widely respected composer, I discuss Haydn's image and legacy as entailing a god-like aura of immortality, which he shared with personalities such as Washington, Nelson, or Peter the Great of Russia, all hailed for abilities that transcended known standards and inspired multitudes. This turn-of-the-century cult of greatness centered, in Haydn's case, on what seemed an unlimited number of symphonies and unlimited variety of orchestral effects in his oratorios The Creation and The Seasons. Haydn's ceaseless creative vein was a spectacle in itself. It evoked the same sublime, overpowering feeling that Kant described in facing things too vast to be grasped, such as the number of stars in the universe or God's eternity. Remaining in awe of a sublime subject like Haydn brought masses of people together in the aesthetic experience of someone immeasurable, thus immeasurably above them. Sounds that signified to this kind of collective deferential behavior had, I argue, a key role in canon formation across genres (symphonies, masses, operatic overtures, occasional pieces etc.), one often overlooked in scholarship prioritizing genre-inspired purviews. Cherubini, Beethoven, and many others were keen to receive “from Haydn's hands” the gift of invoking a mass audience, even well beyond their death, prompting the communal, attentive and on-repeat listening that reveres great composers, generation after generation.

Камерно-вокальное творчество Йозефа Гайдна. Часть 1

The purpose of this research paper is devoted to the still little-studied problem of identifying the relations between the vocal and instrumental factors in Haydn’s music. The ideas of the domestic and foreign scholars about Haydn’s creative work are being expanded and enriched with new data. In the paper the historical meaning of Haydn’s creative work in the ХХI century is defined not only by his innovative sonata-symphonic forms and the formation of the major classical genres of symphony, concert for a solo instrument with orchestra, quartet and sonata but Haydn’s significant contribution to the development of instrumental trio, opera, the Austro-German Lied. This rationale of this phenomenon is the scientific novelty of the study. As a result, it is concluded that the renewed interest of modern researchers towards the little-studied pages of the composer’s art heritage shows the reconsideration of the role of these genres in the evolution of the world musical art as the undeservingly neglected works of the great composer according to their depth of expression and originality of composition means are not inferior and even compete with the composer’s well-recognized compositions.

Raising public awareness in N. O. Yeshchenko’s performance activity

The article is dedicated to an outstanding personality, Merited Artist of Ukraine, professor of Kharkiv I. P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts. Nataliia Olexandrivna Yeshchenko (1926–2015) is the pianist, teacher, artist, scientist, who devoted her entire life to music. In her work she preserved traditions of the Kharkiv piano school, the founders of which were P. Lutsenko, O. Horovyts, M. Khazanovskyi. Her rich and fruitful activity left a noticeable mark in the history of piano performance in Ukraine. The work of the famous performer attracted the attention of reviewers and researchers, but it did not specifically focus on such an aspect as public awareness. The purpose of this article is to consider the educational direction of N. O. Yeshchenko’s performance as an important aspect of the work of an outstanding pianist of the 20th century. In the course of the research, it became necessary to turn to archival materials, in particular personal documents of the pianist, reviews of her concerts in periodicals, audio recordings of her works, her repertoire list. Based on the analysis of the mentioned source base, we support the idea that the performance art of N. O. Yeshchenko had a clearly defined educational orientation. Unforgettable was her concert-educational activity, which manifested itself in various aspects of her performance: numerous monographic concerts dedicated to the works of great composers, performances with a symphony orchestra, playing in a piano duet, accompaniment to vocalists and instrumentalists. She willingly took part in concert lectures, performed in front of a wide audience in sponsor concerts, also took part in various concerts in remote areas of the country. She bequeathed such a broad vision of the musician’s performing mission to her students. Thanks to music she constantly had a dialogue with the audience through numerous publications in periodicals. By including little-known or, unfortunately, forgotten works she showed the audience the layers of beautiful music, and was the first performer of works by Ukrainian composers, including Kharkiv authors. Programs (often organized in collaboration with a musicologist) featuring works of a certain genre, such as waltz, rondo, transcriptions, miniatures, introduced the listener to the world of genres still unknown or little known to them. A significant contribution to the treasure trove of Ukrainian performance was the concert performance of world-famous complex cycles of piano literature: 12 F. Liszt`s “Transcendental Etudes” and “24 Preludes” by S. Rachmaninoff. So, the analysis of N. O. Yeshchenko’s performance art shows that raising public awareness in the performance field was the main direction of her activity.

Melodia and the “Disposition of the Soul”

In 1607 Claudio Monteverdi’s younger brother, Giulio Cesare, published his Dichiaratione, arguably the most significant document of the famous and influential polemic known as the Artusi-Monteverdi controversy. He there attempted to rebut Giovanni Maria Artusi’s criticism of the technical “licenses”—especially with regard to dissonance treatment—that the great composer had sought to justify as essential elements of the new approach to text setting that he called the seconda pratica. In support of his argument, Giulio Cesare quotes passages from Plato’s Republic in order to claim the great philosopher’s authority for his brother’s revolutionary musical poetics. As I show in this study, the Platonic pronouncements concerning what the Monteverdis call melodia, that is, song (melos), provide Giulio Cesare with virtually the whole of his implicit argument for the artistic validity of Claudio’s subversive compositional practices. The article’s principal aim, however, is to demonstrate that Giulio Cesare exploits a lexical peculiarity in Ficino’s Latin translation of the Republic to misrepresent Plato’s thought on a point of great importance to the philosopher: the power of song to influence a people’s ēthos, their ethical or moral character. Ficino’s idiosyncratic rendering in the crucial passage of ēthos tēs psychēs as affectio animi (“affection of the soul”) enables, and indeed invites, Giulio Cesare to elide the true object of Plato’s concern and instead implicitly associate the philosopher’s dicta regarding the ethical force of melos with what the Dichiaratione identifies as the goal of the seconda pratica: “moving the affections of the soul.”

Speech melodiesand “pinning down” the present in essays by Leoš Janáček and Milan Kundera

AbstractI ask myself the question: can those who compose music be called interpreters? Not of their own work but of the sonorities they imagine while writing. When composers take over (note on staves or record with technical means) sonorities from the environment, which they then use in their works, are they or not interpreters, in the sense of translating what they hear? Should we only mention Vivaldi and Haydn or, closer to us, Messiaen and Stockhausen, composers of all times have used, translated, interpreted the sounds of nature in their works. That is what the Czech Leoš Janáček does also, only that, by registering ambiental sonorities, he has a further goal, unlike the others: pinning down the present time. This idea is revolutionary in music, so it has drawn many researchers’ attention. A privilege of music, interpretation wears in literature the coat of exegesis. A great contemporary thinker, Milan Kundera is the author of the essayTestaments betrayed, in which he compares literature with music, having as references, among other writers, Hemingway and Kafka, which he joins with the great composers Stravinsky and Janáček. Fascinated by his fellow citizen’s musical-ontological concept, he dedicates the fifth part of the study to him, entitledÁ la recherche du présent perdu. The study presents the way in which Janáček pins down the past in an own essay,Smetanova dcera(Smetana’s daughter), where he uses his renownednápěvky mluvy(speech melodies). The result is amazing: through the daughter’s voice, one seems to hear the father, the great Bedřich Smetana’s voice in a fragment of life resurrected after time has passed. Kundera asks questions and formulates answers, interpreting, translating Janáček’s concept. This work does not interpret, but brings to the knowledge of the interested musicians aspects which, although belonging to renowned Czech intellectuals, enrich and embellish the spirituality of the world.

Investigation on the deterioration of lead artifacts. A case study on piano keys and their degradation products

Abstract Among musical instruments, Piano is one of the most important and fascinating ones of all years for its completeness from a harmonic point of view and for the importance it has held in the world of classical music of the great composers. In this context, old pianos can be considered as real pieces of art thus their conservation is included in the preservation of cultural heritage. The aim of this work is to study the deterioration of some lead weights of piano keys from an important, luxury and one of the best grand pianos for its characteristics such as construction materials, sound, and craftsmanship. Analytic techniques such as X-ray Diffraction, Fourier Transform-Infrared spectroscopy and Ionic chromatography were employed to characterize the superficial layer of deteriorated lead weights, comparing it with the non-deteriorated ones. Knowing the nature of degradation products is fundamental to evaluate the degradation phenomena occurring over time due to the environmental conditions at which they are exposed and consequently identify the proper conservation strategy of such piece of art and history of music, in order to preserve its original sound and resonance.

Innovative Aspects of the Modern Concerto (extravagant compositional models of the 20th century)

Abstract The instrumental concerto remains one of the most appreciated genres – both by the general public and by virtuoso interpreters – all throughout its existence, including the 20th century. The century of acute modernity saw a re-evaluation of all the musical forms and genres, resulting in novel challenges, solved in unexpected ways by the great composers of the time. This paper aims to provide a summary of the evolution of the concerto in the music of the 20th century, highlighting certain elements of originality, extravagant compositions which go beyond the principles of musical creation.

The Musical Elements in Passion or Alice's Death as Sources of New Meanings

The study traces the interrelationships between literature and the musical forms fugue and passion. Significant for the analysis is the information about the personality of Bach and the science of onomastics. I find a connection between the names of the characters of the novel and the great composer. I initiate a new reading of the traditional musical form of passion and the novel by exploring biblical and musical elements, finding that they are deconstructed by the author to create unconventional meanings.

A Forgivable Enthusiasm

A Forgivable Enthusiasm

A perspective on the concerto genre in the 20th century

The instrumental concerto remains one of the most appreciated genres – by the general audience as well as by virtuoso interpreters – throughout its existence, including the 20th century. However, the century of acute modernity afforded a reevaluation of all the musical forms and genres so that new unsuspected challenges emerged, which were solved in the most unexpected ways by the great composers of the time. This paper aims to offer a brief perspective on the evolution of the concerto genre in the music of the 20th century, highlighting several elements of originality, with a succinct analysis of more compositions in the general framework of articulating the formal discourse. The concerto has survived in the art of the 20th century, even in the creation of the most avant-garde composers, perhaps especially because of aspects concerning virtuosity and the competition between a soloist and an orchestra.

A Microtonal Analysis of Igor Stravinsky’s Concept of Pitch and Its Resulting Scale

Igor Stravinsky towers as the most prominent composer of the 20th century. When asked on a television broadcast what the Maestro believed to be the next direction in music, Stravinsky claimed that it would be microtonality. The author of the article, who is a prominent specialist in microtonality, proposes a microtonal interpretation in performances of Stravinsky’s musical compositions. He substantiates the validity of such an approach from Stravinsky’s particular spelling of certain chromatic intervals in his musical works, which clearly infer certain intervals from the overtone series, as well as the composer’s words pronounced in his written texts. What Stravinsky had in common with other musical geniuses of the 20th century and earlier times was the inner hierarchical ordering of a constellation of tonal relationships. However, each of these composers had a completely different model of idealized intonation constituted in their respective minds. The author’s additional experience with microtonality was his thorough study of historical European and non-European alternate tunings and temperaments, as the result of which he has been able to determine which of them are appropriate for being employing in performing music by composers from past epochs, such as J.S. Bach, Mozart and Beethoven. This provides additional substantiation for microtonal interpretations of performances of Stravinsky’s music. Citing the northern Lithuanian folk music tradition as expressed in the Sutartines, as being close in its essence to the microtonal interpretation of the great composer’s oeuvres, the author presents the 128-note-per-octave scale created by him for use in his own musical compositions, based on the extension of the overtone scale to the eighth octave as a viable tuning to apply to Stravinsky’s music.

Shostakovich and Right Hand Weakness

Russian composer Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich (25 September 1903-9 August 1975) is sometimes considered to be a famous person who suffered from ALS. However, there are no medical records that mention that his asymmetric weakness was due to ALS, and the exact diagnosis of his illness, which lasted over 17 years, is still obscure. The aim of this paper is to consider what kind of neurological disorder this great composer of the 20th century suffered from based on his piano recordings, photographs, and documents written by his colleagues.