Mixed Choir Research Articles

Bohdan Antkiv's Contribution to the Development of Musical Art of Galicia in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century

The purpose of the work is to systematise and give a comprehensive assessment of the musicological and compositional heritage of Bohdan Antkiv, his cultural and educational, musical activities in the context of the processes of professionalisation of Ukrainian musical art of Galicia in the second half of the twentieth century. The methodology of the research is to apply the following methodological approaches: analytical, systemic, historical and musical. Scientific novelty of the work. For the first time a thorough analysis of the musical activity of Bohdan Antkiv was carried out, the contribution of the artist to the musical art of Galicia of the second half of the twentieth century was characterised. Conclusions. Bohdan Antkiv is a music artist who crosses the line of amateurism and achieves success and recognition in professional music art Ternopil and Lviv regions. He participated in rural amateur groups and circles in early years, led by his father, Mykhailo Antkiv. The musician obtained a professional music education, studying at conducting courses at the Ternopil branch of Mykola Lysenko Lviv Music Higher Institute, and later at the Conducting Faculty of Mykola Lysenko Lviv State Conservatory. He successful conducted activities in the children’s choir of the society ‘Prosvita’ local unit, in the singing and music society ‘Torban’, in the choir of the T. Shevchenko youth organisation ‘Sokoliata’, in the mixed choir of Ostriv village, which won the Regional Choir Competition in Lviv, in the choir group of the song and dance youth ensemble ‘Cheremosh’, which acted at I. Franko Lviv State University. Bohdan Antkiv also started a brass band in Ostriv village. The article also traces composer and arranging activities. Keywords: Bohdan Antkiv, musician, conductor, choirmaster, composer, musical art, Ternopil, Lviv.

Музикално-педагогическата дейност на учителя Димо Бойчев в Истанбул (1923–1935)

Dimo Boychev (1878–1966) was a choir conductor and music pedagogue, considered the progenitor of children's musical bands and popularizer of children's choral singing and children's operetta in Bulgaria. From 1923 to 1935 he was a singing teacher at the Bulgarian primary school „Josif 1“ in Istanbul, at the same time leading the Exarchate Mixed Choir and the Children's Musical Band „Macedonka“. In the present text, based on materials from the Bulgarian archives, memories and publications in periodicals, we make an attempt to provide a more comprehensive presentation of his musical and pedagogical activity in the city near the Bosphorus. As a teacher of singing, reading and liturgy at the Bulgarian School, he revived the activity of the exarchal mixed choir and established the Children's Music Band „Macedonka“. With their active school and out-of-school events, the two choirs led and conducted by Dimo Boychev unite the Bulgarian community in the city and bring variety to the busy workday of gardeners and dairy farmers. The programs of concerts, parties and evenings, which are held on various occasions, include performances of Bulgarian and Turkish songs, including folk songs, and operettas. Dimo Boychev plays a mediating role between Bulgarian and Turkish musicians.

Henryk Mikołaj Górecki’s road to the Oratorio “Sanctus Adalbertus” in the context of the composer’s fascination with the person and teaching of St. John Paul II

Henryk Mikołaj Górecki’s profound personal religiousnessbecame the source of his deep spiritual bond with the personality of Karol Wojtyła – Saint John Paul II. The relationship between the composer and the Pope was of a special nature. In 1977, Cardinal Karol Wojtyła commissioned a work from Henryk Mikołaj Górecki to commemorate the 900th anniversary of the death of St Stanislaus. The result was the oratorio Beatus Vir Op. 38, a psalm for baritone, mixed choir and orchestra. Since its premiere, the composer has been urged by the Pope to compose further works of religious music. This was to be a larger cycle dedicated to Polish saints. Only the oratorio on St Adalbert was written, the fate of which was unknown during the composer’s lifetime. Its manuscript was found in materials left behind by his son. The text of Sanctus Adalbertus is laconic, building up already at the level of words a specific drama typical of the composer. It is sung in Latin alternating with Polish (there is also a Czech variant, which is understandable given St Adalbert’s nationality), and, as so often in Górecki’s work, is based on thoughts taken from the Psalms. While the first three parts of the work can be said to be composed as a whole by ‘juxtaposing’ different sound models, different idioms repeated many times in an irregular manner peculiar to Górecki, the fourth part, with its clear three-part structure, is built in a processual manner. Górecki’s Gloria is derived, as it were, from the song Bogurodzica and tends towards it. In the maximally muted ending of the work, the melody returns, this time as if a reminder of it in the single, delicate strikes of the bells and grand piano leading to the utterance of the saint’s name: “Sanctus Adalbertus”. The work can be interpreted as a journey towards the quotation from the oldest Polish hymn – Bogurodzica (Mother of God), as a journey to the source – to the roots of a Polish national identity in times of rebirth.

Choral ballad by Peteris Vasks «Litene»: aspects of sound and pitch organization

The relevance of the article lies in highlighting the basic principles of organizing the sound tissue in the central work of the middle period of the Latvian composer Peteris Vasks' creativity, namely a ballad «Litene» for mixed choir a сappella.
 The main purpose of the article is to identify the peculiarities of the sound and pitch organization of the choral tissue in the ballad «Litene» by Peteris Vasks and to determine its influence on the process of genre renewal.
 The methodology includes methods of structural-functional and historical analysis to: trace the characteristic features of the ballad genre at different stages of development and identify individual features of its embodiment in the choral works of Peteris Vasks; establish the constructive features of the organization of the musical tissue and ways of its correspondence with the textual basis of the piece.
 Results and conclusions. Thus, in the context of contemporary musical thinking, the pitch structure becomes an object of creativity, along with themes, rhythm and timbre, and this opens up and fills new gaps in the interaction of compositional techniques in the search field. Peteris Vasks, like many other well-known contemporary composers, is looking for his own individual and stylistic aspects of the pitch organization of the sound tissue and, choosing combinations of individual elements from the well-known composition techniques of the twentieth century, transforms them into a new sound «palette». The composer lets them into his own sound world, where they subsequently become an integral part, acquire stylistic features.
 In the context of the unfolding of tragic events, the ballad «Litene» presents an array of expressive means that has already been used in previous choral ballads, namely, a combination of aleatoric movement that provokes the formation of sonorous phenomena and reliance on artificial symmetrical harmonic formations. However, it is here that the interaction of these techniques has the most impressive effect. The symmetrical soundscapes, built from a series of low-tertiary links using interval steps of «semitone-tone», are revealed first horizontally in each of the voices. Gradual vertical textural compaction, thickening is localized in the zones of climaxes, which are accompanied by an increase in tension. The activation of aleatory movements, the thickening of sonorous and sonorous phenomena, which supplant pitch manifestations with sound-image elements and streams of external noise (shouts, whistling, speaking, grotesque laughter, glissandos to extremely high and extremely low sounds), contribute to the embodiment of emotions of a huge tragic range. It contains the swirling waves of unbearable pain, despair and fear of an inevitable tragedy, the death of an entire nation from a criminal destructive force, and reflects the path to oblivion until the last, desperate collective groan. The work is imbued with such catastrophic feelings and meanings, its sound space created by Peteris Vasks on the fragments of phrases, words, exclamations, whispers, wails, screams and terrible, frozen, dead silence.
 The choral ballad «Litene» occupies a special place in the work of P. Vasks. This work is about human pain, about terrible injustice, about suffering and death. At the end of the work, there is no prayerful enlightenment characteristic of the composer's music. In the preface to the work, the composer said that he chose a number of techniques that he believed most truthfully reflected the unhealed wounds of his people—the pain that does not go away.

Genre and style constants of B. M. Lyatoshynsky’s choral cycle “From the Past”

Statement of the problem. The creative discoveries by B. M. Lyatoshynsky in choral music sphere played a significant role not only in forming the unique, deeply original musical language of the composer, but also in the further development of Ukrainian choral art. His a cappella choral opuses for a mixed choir based on lyrics by Ukrainian and foreign poets are very revealing in the aspect of innovative searches in the musical art of the 20th century. Recent research and publications. In the musicological literature, Lyatoshynsky’s choral works are considered quite thoroughly in the works of some researchers: I. Liashenko (1991), I. Hulesko (1994), O. Torba (2002), M. Novakovych (2012). A. Lashchenko (2013), O. Kozarenko (2015), V. Moisiiuk & V. Shkoba (2022). In general, the analysis of recent studies showed that the main attention is focused on the verbal-musical contexts and figurative poetics. Among the less studied aspects of Lyatoshynsky’s musical heritage, the issue of studying genre and stylistic features of his a cappella choral music is particularly acute, including the choral cycle “From the Past”, which determine the relevance of the presented article. Objectives, methods and novelty of the research. The purpose of the article is to identify the genre and style parameters of Lyatoshynsky’s choral cycle “From the Past”. For the first time in domestic musicology, the artistic and stylistic features of Lyatoshynsky’s choral cycle “From the Past” were analyzed in the aspect of dialogue between traditions and innovation. A set of general scientific and particular musicological approaches to the phenomenon under consideration was used to reveal the content of the declared topic. Conclusion. The analysis of Lyatoshynsky’s choral cycle “From the Past” allows us to draw conclusion about the innovative nature of this work, which became an “encyclopedia” of new genre and style guidelines in the context of musical culture of the 20th century. We noted that a characteristic attribute of the cycle is a dialogue aimed at understanding and combining different musical styles. In the choral opus, an organic connection is felt both with tradition and with the trends of musical art of the 20th century. When analyzing the choral cycle, it was proved that it is a vivid example of an organic combination of “old” and “new” music. The dialogue of cultural eras is realizing due to such main parameters as polymelodism and polyphonicity. The mentioned features embody the idea of genre-style synthesis in Lyatoshynsky’s compositions connected with such a cultural phenomenon as dialogue.

A Performance Interpretation of the Viennese Classics by the Example of Fantasia for Piano, Chorus and Orchestra in C Minor, Op. 80 by Ludwig van Beethoven

"The relevance of the study is determined by the need to cover the significance, uniqueness and means of performance of one of the masterpieces of the Viennese Classical School — Fantasia in c minor, op. 80 for mixed choir, piano and orchestra by Beethoven. The aim of this publication was to study the problems of performance interpretation of the legacy of the Viennese Classical School using the example of L. Beethoven’s Fantasia for piano, soloists, mixed chorus, and orchestra. Research methods were: creation of an information background; comparative analysis and structuring of information; identification of the categories that make the basis of the problem; generalization of obtained data. The materials based on audio and video recordings of the work by prominent representatives of the performing arts were used. The literature on the stylistic and compositional atmosphere of the era of Viennese classicism, as well as on features of the genres of the work was also used. The results of the study revealed the interrelationship of all components of the problem being studied. They evidenced the inseparability of such elements as genre, musical form, instrumentation, manner of performance, a certain historical period, as well as the stylistic orientation prevailing within it. Its main categories were identified while studying the chosen topic, as well as their dependency on the temporal, stylistic, individual, and psychological (performers’ personalities) context was established. These facts became a theoretical and methodological contribution to art science, history of performance, as well as music pedagogy. As a conclusion of the study on performing interpretation of the Viennese classics using the example of Fantasia by Beethoven, its genre stylistic and compositional technical universality was determined; the process during which the piano becomes a solo concert instrument; the role of improvisation in the large-scale synthetic genre; development of a single performance concept by the conductor, pianist and choirmaster, diversity of artistic and psychological types of performance while preserving the main author’s idea. The research of this topic has wide prospects in the future, thanks to its volume, multi-vector nature, connection with a wide range of musical subjects, and sensitivity to individual styles of interpretation in the context of different epochs. This is emphasized by the value of classical heritage, the need to preserve and popularize it. Keywords: performance interpretation, genre uniqueness; author’s performance; improvisation; synthesis of musical forms; solo concert instrument."

THE LYRICAL SONG “MY SAD HEART”: THE EXPERIENCE OF CREATIVE EMBODIMENT IN THE MUSIC OF RUSSIAN (SOVIET) COMPOSERS OF THE SECOND HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY

The study is focused on the lyrical song “My Sad Heart”, which was recorded in the Pskov region by Tatyana Kanoshina. For the composers of the 20th century - Vadim Salmanov, Sergei Slonimsky and Valery Gavrilin - this song became a creative impression, which inspired V. N. Salmanov to compose an arrangement for voice accompanied by piano, S. M. Slonimsky to write a composition for a mixed choir, and V. A. Gavrilin to include a fragment of the “Sad Heart” in one of the acts of the choral performance symphony “The Chimes”. The di erence in the composers’ approaches to the folklore source is considered in the paper.

The Role of Zoltán Kodály’s Male Choruses in the Genre’s History, Possibilities of Their Application in the Repertoire of Amateur Ensembles

"Zoltán Kodály’s publication titled Férfikarok (Male Choruses) is a truly diverse collection: in addition to the composer’s works in the genre, one can find folk song arrangements, religious pieces, compositions inspired by historical events and even transcriptions, of various lengths and levels of difficulty. It is common knowledge that Kodály was not fond of exclusively male ensembles, being rather uninterested by male voice choirs and indeed his opinion was that these choral societies should be converted into mixed choirs. However, after travelling extensively in the country – thus gaining insight into the operation of these groups – he began to contribute to the genre’s repertoire. The composer began to view the case differently, as he thought that amateur male choirs – of which there were still many in the 1930s – should rather sing compositions of a higher value, as opposed to pieces of the Liedertafel-style. At the same time, the Férfikarok collection contains many pieces that are not suitable for amateur ensembles due to their challenging nature in terms of intonation and tone production. In this paper – in addition to presenting the volume – I intend to introduce a certain way of categorization based on the compositions’ level of difficulty, through an analytical approach, which may be of help to those who work with such ensembles that are rare, but worthy of appreciation. Keywords: Zoltán Kodály, male voice choir, Liedertafel-movement, choral societies, Hungarian poetry of the 19th century."

Mykola Lysenko’s «Kupalo Case»: Concert and Choral Implementation of Folk Rite

The purpose of the article is to identify the peculiarities of concert and choral implementation of the cycle of Kupalo songs in the interpretation by Mykola Lysenko. Research methodology is based on the synthesis of the folkloristic and art-studying approaches, which enable us to prove the fruitfulness of complementarity of various types of the artist’s creative activities. Cultural-historical, system-analytical and didactical methods are used in order to study the ways of concert reinterpretation of the folk-rite performance presented by a mixed choir with piano accompaniment, as well as to generalise the cognitive and spiritual values of that type of the repertoire. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the first analysis of the conformity of the composer’s idea and its implementation through the selected set of the expressive means to the content and essence of the ancient ritual authenticity on the example of a specific choral work. Conclusions. The ritual-choral cycle «The Kupalo Case» is a synthesis of folk archaism and innovative ways of concert enrichment of music language. Three folk songs under the common title are united by a dramatic idea, based on folk philosophy of the summer fest of Kupalo, its symbolism of purification through fire, water, and pairing of youth. The general cyclicality of the composition is cemented by an optimistic idea of glorifying the life. The piano part plays an important formative role, makes the verbal text more detailed and enriches the choral score in figurative and meaningful aspects. The harmonious language of the work contributes to the preservation of the archaic coloration. The general homophonic and harmonic texture sometimes reveals the signs of polyphonic layers, differentiated by male and female voices. Their layering reflects the contrast of timbres, registers, and character of melodies. As a result a peculiar style of choral theatricalisation is achieved, which coincides with the syncretism of the primary calendar-ritual performance.
 Key words: composer, folklore, calendar ritual, Kupalo, choral texture, piano part.

TWO HATS OR ONE: THE CO-DEPENDENT WORLDS OF JONATHAN HARVEY'S CHURCH AND CONCERT MUSIC

AbstractThis article scrutinises the composer Jonathan Harvey's remark that ‘most of my colleagues see me as wearing two hats: one a church music composer's, the other an avant-garde instrumental/electronic composer's. I wish I could say it was one hat. I think of all my music as sacred in a sense.’ The article considers Harvey's church and concert works as linked worlds in order to propose a more holistic appreciation of his stylistic and technical innovations and that, far from being occasional pieces, his music for the church played an active role in the development of the composer's language, in part because singing was a formative experience for Harvey, and in part because collaborative work with choirs, church musicians and associated artists and thinkers was so frequently fertile. Based on the composer's own notes to the author, the article concludes with an account of the composition process involved in the creation of Plainsongs for Peace and Light (2012), a work for unaccompanied mixed choir or 16 solo voices, which the composer described as ‘elaborations’ of chant.

Śpiewnik Śpiewajmy. Utwory na trzygłosowy chór mieszany z komentarzami wykonawczymi dla dyrygentów jako przykład wzorcowej odpowiedzi na zapotrzebowanie repertuarowe chórów młodzieżowych

The text is a comprehensive review of the songbook Śpiewajmy. Utwory na trzygłosowy chór mieszany z komentarzami wykonawczymi dla dyrygentów. The author draws attention to the characteristics of conducting youth choirs and the difficulty of finding appropriate choral repertoire which takes into account the peculiarities of the forming young male voice and the unequal proportions in ensembles. The publication of the Narodowe Forum Muzyki, edited by Kseniya Miśkiewicz and Agnieszka Franków-Żelazny, is a response to the very important need for compositions that meets the expectations of a demanding audience. Analysis of the songbook’s construction, commentaries, legends, performance guidelines and all additional elements made it possible to demonstrate a carefully planned form, as well as valuable and professional methodological preparation. Through a detailed discussion of several selected compositions, attention was drawn to their individual qualities, unique musical and semantic aspects, as well as the benefits that can come from including them in the repertoire of a youth choir. A review of the selected songs from the thematic and musical point of view indicated a great melodic and rhythmic diversity, as well as a high substantive and cultural value of the compiled texts. Analysis and review of the songbook Śpiewajmy. Utwory na trzygłosowy chór mieszany z komentarzami wykonawczymi dla dyrygentów allows to conclude that this is a publication that fills a gap in the choral repertoire intended for three-voice mixed choir. Carefulness, planning as well as the substantive and methodical side of the collection, together with its unique and varied musical and textual qualities, allow to place it as a model for the further development of Polish choral music.

Arkihuolesi kaikki heitä?

The melody of the well-known Christmas song Joululaulu op. 20b n:o 5 “Arkihuolesi kaikki heitä” (1916) by Leevi Madetoja has rarely been questioned, even though there are two later autographic variants, one from Suvivesper (1924) and the other from the composer’s own arrangement of the song for mixed choir (1944). The editor of Leevi Madetoja’s Solo Songs and Duets (Fennica Gehrman, 2013), Kimmo Tammivaara, made the controversial decision to alter the melody in bar 14 of Joululaulu to make it correspond with the later versions. Which one of the variants is “right”? Is it even possible to find a definite answer to this question? From the music philological point of view the answer is clear. Looking at the later variants, there is no reason to doubt the original melody. The question of why Madetoja’s arrangement for mixed choir differs from the original is more complex, and the answer might lie in the composer’s alcoholism and life circumstances in the 1940s. The question of the composer’s ability to work during his final years raises philosophical and ethical issues, with necessary implications for the new critical editions of his works. The composer’s “final intentions” may not necessarily have been his best intentions.

Композитор А. А. Егоров в истории музыкальной культуры Чувашии

The article is devoted to the creative connections of the famous Soviet conductor and composer A.A. Egorov with the musical culture of Chuvashia in the 1930s. The purpose of the work is to recreate the historical picture of these connections, to determine his contribution to the Chuvash art and to identify the characteristic features of the interpretation of the national song folklore. The material of the study was musical texts of works by A.A. Egorov (first of all, the author’s collection «Folk Songs Arranged for Mixed Choir by A. Egorov»), as well as his theoretical and methodological work in the field of choral arrangement of folklore primary sources. Using the analytical method, the author traces the history of the appearance of choral arrangements by A.A. Egorov on the themes of Chuvash folk songs, the musical and poetic text of the most popular work «Kolkhoz uy-khire» («Kukkuk») («Kolkhoz fields» («Kukushka», «Kukuk!”)) is analyzed. It is concluded that the communication of A. A. Egorov with the head of the team the Chuvash composer V. P. Vorobyov inspired him to create ten miniatures for a cappella choir. Among the Chuvash adaptations, the most popular was «Kolkhoz uy-khire» («Kukkuk») – «Collective Farm Fields» («Kukushka»). Her undoubted success in the artistic culture of the 1930s let us explain not only the folklore theme successfully chosen by the composer, the organic interaction of the found methods of arranging the folklore source with the typical features of A. Egorov’s creative style as a whole, but also the masterful use of all musical and expressive resources. Together with other works by A.A. Egorov’s adaptation of «Kolkhoz uy-khire», included in the golden fund of Russian choral literature, can be called a classic of the musical art of Chuvashia.

“Madrigāls” by Peteris Vasks: ways to renew the genre tradition

The relevance of the study lies in highlighting the main principles of updating the ancient genre tradition with modern means in «Madrigāls» for mixed choir a сappella by the Latvian composer Peteris Vasks.
 The main objective of the article is to reveal the ways of updating the genre tradition and expressive means of music in «Madrigals» by Peteris Vasks for the a cappella choir.
 The methodology includes methods of historical, comparative, structural and functional analysis for: tracing the history of the emergence and development of the madrigal genre and identifying the peculiarities of its existence in different historical periods; establishing the constructive features of the music fabric and its interaction with the poetic foundation; tracing the vectors of renewal of genre traditions in this work.
 Results and conclusions. In the studied choral work of P. Vasks, the lines of continuity of the leading genre of the Renaissance era are determined and the ways of renewing the genre tradition are established. In «Madrigāls» the composer uniquely implements the main principle of the genre: the direction of the entire set of expressive means towards the display of the verbal text. Using modern techniques of composer writing, he emphasizes as the main artistic image of the miniature the main symbol — «time», it is this that is revealed both at the poetic and music levels. The music embodiment is based on the interaction of various techniques of composition: aleatory moving voices and effectively formed sonoric bunches. In connection with the word and the poetic primary source, a musical-symbolic sound picture is formed, the content of which unfolds in time, gradually and steadily rushing to the main final thought in the code of the work.
 Thus, working with a genre that has a centuries-old history, Peteris Vasks does not seek to preserve its usual outlines. The composer does not reproduce the established model of the genre, but interprets it, offers an updated version of the prototype of a certain genre, the primary invariant of which he sometimes deeply hides, and sometimes brings to the surface. This gives rise to many associations and at the same time surprises in how the modern arsenal of sound organization of huge choral arrays is organically combined with the «genre memory» of music art, and also opens up a wide perspective of research into other genres with their stable components and author’s innovations.

“VIENNESE” CREATIVE PERIOD IN THE EUSEBIUS MANDYCZEWSKI’S BIOGRAPHY

The article presents the genesis of the Mandyczewski family based on extensive source material; the factors of Eusebius Mandyczewski’s formation as a musician, conductor, and composer are characterized. Attention is focused on the significant influence on his professional development of the well-known church history teacher of Chernivtsi University Eusebius Popovych, music teacher Sydor Vorobkevych, and violin teacher Adalbert Hrimaly. The features of the talent of the future musician in his youth are revealed (he created 82 compositions between the ages of 14 and 17). Emphasis is placed on a significant event – receiving a scholarship at the competition of young talents in Leipzig, which was a significant financial support for his further studies at the University of Vienna. The “Viennese” period of E. Mandyczewski’s creativity, which lasted 54 years, is characterized. In Vienna, he studied German studies, philosophy, literature, art history, musical disciplines; his teachers were music critic Eduard Hanslick, musicologist Martin Gustav Notteb, composer Robert Fuchs. E. Mandyczewski’s professional growth was connected with activities at the Vienna Academy of Music, the Vienna Conservatory; he was the conductor of various choirs and orchestras, archivist and bibliographer of the Viennese “Society of Friends of Music” - one of the significant centers of European musical life.
 It was found that during many years of teaching activity, the Maestro trained a whole galaxy of composers, musicologists, teachers, most of whom became stars of the musical world of Austria, Italy, England, America... Among his students are Hans Gall, Karl Behm, Hilarion Verenko, Manolis Calomiris, George Sell, Leone Sinigaglia, Karel Prochazka (senior), Marcian Negria, Joseph Alois Krieps, Julius Patzak, Ferdinand Rebay, Rosario Scalero, Gustav Uwe Yenner, and Arthur Schnabel, Karl Garinger, Ignaz Brühl, Henry Kimball Hadlita, and others. The Austrian press deservedly called the honorary citizen of Vienna E. Mandyczewski “a living musical encyclopedia”. As a theoretician, he wrote many scientific studies on the work of W. Mozart, L. Beethoven, L. Bach, K. Czerny, A. Bruckner, Strauss, etc., compiled a complete edition of the works of J. Haydn, F. Schubert (in 42 volumes), J. Brahms (in 26 volumes). It is emphasized that E. Mandyczewski is the author of 11 Ukrainian choirs, the canon for three voices “And the day goes, and the night goes...” (to the words by T. Shevchenko), music to the lyrics by Yu. Fedkovich “Wake up, Boian!”, “Kobzar’s dawn” etc., vocal works written to the texts of Serbian, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Moldovan folk songs, author’s works written to the texts by Romanian and Moldovan poets M. Eminescu, H. Koshbuk, V. Aleksandr, O. Vlahutse, etc. Research attention is focused on the authorship of vocal works of a secular and spiritual nature, among which the most significant are: “Greek Mass” for solo, choir and orchestra, the cycle “Tuscan Songs”, church works – 12 liturgies, “Cherub” for mixed choir, “Our Father” for two children’s voices, carol “Silent night, holy night”, psalms, etc.
 On the basis of primary factual sources, the influence of E. Mandyczewski on the development of musical culture and education in Bukovyna is characterized.

“Love thy fellow man”: about the history of creating of the Spiritual Concerto for bass and mixed choir on canonical texts and sayings of the Holy Fathers of the Church (Essay)

From the editorial group: While leaving the general concept of the publication as a collection of scientific papers unchanged, the editors found it possible, on the occasion of the 105th anniversary of Kharkiv I. P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts, to publish the material that, despite the lack of generally accepted signs of scientific study, may be of interest to the national and world music community and be useful to musicologists. The author of the only article in this additional rubric – a wellknown composer and teacher Viktor Muzhchyl – shares with readers his own memories about the history of creating one of his most famous works, a number of apt observations and deep reflections...

Theological, Literary, and Musical Knowledge, All in the Service of Sacred Music. The Psalm Arrangements Of Kálmán Csomasz Tóth

"The present study aims to present the work of Kálmán Csomasz Tóth in the field of sacred music. Having had a theological education, and literary and musical studies, following an in-depth and extensive research process, he edited the Reformed hymnal published in Hungary in 1948. In addition to this important work, he has published numerous books, articles, studies in the field of musicology, literary translations, and a few poems in various ecclesiastical and professional journals in Hungary and abroad. The example of Kodály as a composer and the choral singing movement of the 1930s also captivated him and encouraged him to adapt the melodies of the church hymnal. I will hereby present his work and a musical analysis of the choral arrangements pertaining to the melodies of the Genevan Psalter. Keywords: hymnological research, church singing, Genevan Psalter, praise, Hungarian folk melodies, male/female choir and mixed choir compositions, homophonic and polyphonic modes of composition. "

ХОРОВОЙ ЦИКЛ «МАДРИГАЛ» А. УШКАРЁВА КАК ФЕНОМЕН ТЕАТРА ПОЛИФОНИЧЕСКИХ МИНИАТЮР

Theaterisation in Russian choral art of the second half of the XXth century touched upon the work concept as well as the individual composer's style and performance staff. The search for musical solutions is aimed not only at giving birth to the new, but also at appealing to the artistic experience of previous eras. In this sense, particularly interesting are works that synthesize the diversity of cultural and historical paradigms. Such samples include the "Madrigal" cycle for mixed choir a cappella by Anatoly Ushkarev (1928–2008). Several aspects of composition were studied: its literary source, dramaturgy, genre and style features. It is emphasized that the plot of the poetic source is built by moving from the gloomy images of unrequited love and death to the bright themes of happiness, the victory of life over death. The broad semantic field of the poetic basis becomes an impulse to polyphonize all means of musical expression. It is noted that the architectonics of the work appears in the form of three "cycles in a cycle" with a preface and an afterword. Each part acts as a "character" in a choral "theatre of polyphonic miniatures". In conclusion, it is emphasized that the genre-style elements of choral composition appear as an update within the canon.

Pieśni bólu i rozpaczy. O "Pieśniach północnych" (1973) Andrzeja Krzanowskiego

Andrzej Krzanowski’s compositions, particularly those written at the beginning of his creative journey, are still sidelined by researchers and performers. The article describes his Pieśni północne [Northern songs] (1973) for eight-voice mixed choir a cappella, to words by Kazimierz Ratoń, composed while he was a student in the class of Henryk Mikołaj Górecki. The axis of interpretation is provided by two strands: the meaning of the text and its relationship with the musical means of expression, as well as selected musical aspects such as scales, form and references to other compositions.

Borrowed and Original Techniques in the Trio by Leonid Hrabovsky

Relevance of the study. During several years that preceded the creation of the Trio (1964), Leonid Hrabovsky wrote many other works in various genres and forms, ranging from suites and a sonata for solo instruments, a song cycle, and a cappella choruses, to large-scale compositions for orchestra and for mixed choir with orchestra, and even two one-act operas (piano scores). The composer’s stylistic priorities had been rapidly and strikingly evolving from “social realism with a human face” as evident in the Four Ukrainian Songs, towards a much more radical “sharp” expressionism and constructivism. This evolution caused the necessary changes in the techniques utilized by the composer. Hrabovsky was deeply impressed by the article Genealogia nowej muzyki (Genealogy of the new music) of the Polish musicologist Tadeusz Zieliński that was published in the magazine Ruch muzyczny, n. 20–21, 1963. Zieliński stated that, after historical periods of monody, polyphony and functional harmony, a new sonoric and timbral era had come. These ideas inspired Hrabovsky to move towards the radical avant-garde.
 The object of this research is the Trio by Leonid Hrabovsky.
 The purpose of the study is to reveal the inherent features that differentiate the piece from other avant-garde works of the early 1960s.
 Methods of research include technical analysis of the musical form and its dependence upon the pitch organization of the work, as well as comparative analysis.
 The results and conclusions. Being composed during several days in the spring of 1964, Trio became the first piece of Hrabovsky’s written in a definitely avant-garde style. It was premiered in 1966 and since then has become one of the composer’s most frequently performed works. The reason for such a success lies in the original concept of the piece that essentially differs from the other avant-garde works of that time. When discussing Trio, Hrabovsky always stresses the influence of the Polish avant-garde music attracting him during that period. Indeed, he borrowed a lot of devices from Miniatures for violin and piano by Krzysztof Penderecki, a score Hrabovsky knew and studied at that time. However, a comparative analysis of the two works reveals serious differences between them. While Penderecki operated with purely timbral (sonoric) objects and did not pay special attention to the pitch organization, Hrabovsky composed almost a classical three movement suite with the first movement in a ternary form and the last movement in the binary form. The classical principles of the pitch organization and the distribution of the pitch structures in Trio are similar to those in tonal music. These principles have been unusually applied to the sound material that has nothing in common with tonality. A combination of the traditional and new approaches to the form provided Hrabovsky’s Trio with unique qualities which made it not only an interesting artifact of the avant-garde period but one of the most valuable and artistically perfect works in the Ukrainian chamber music.