Music Theory Research Articles

“The Ballad of War” by Oleksandr Bilash as a National Example of the Mono-Opera Genre

The Ballad of War mono-opera (1971) by the outstanding Ukrainian composer-songwriter Oleksandr Bilash, based on The Ballad of Genes poem by Ivan Drach, is studied in the article. It is emphasized that the work of O. Bilash – I. Drach is extremely relevant today, as it reveals the painful and tragic theme of war and its destructive impact on human destinies. It is defined that O. Bilash’s mono-opera has become a part of a general trend in the Ukrainian musical theatre of the 1960s–1970s associated with the tendency to chamberization and psychologization of opera. It has caused the exceptional popularity of the one-act monodrama genre among contemporary composers (V. Hubarenko, H. Zhukovskyi, Y. Ishchenko, etc.). It is described that I. Drach’s poetic text is used as the basis for the mono-opera with minor modifications (the changes have affected the title and only a few phrases). The structure of the poetic text has a significant impact on the composition of the mono-opera (the central episode is the protagonist’s story about the circumstances surrounding her birth, the extreme sections contain her beloved addresses). The connection between the opera’s system of leitmotifs and key phrases in the poetic text is detected. The leitmotifs are important in cementing the form of the mono-opera – it is in their repetition that the unifying role of the principle of through refrain is revealed. The Ballad of War contains two figurative and intonational spheres of war (scherzo, sharp dissonance, cluster consonances, chromatisation, grotesque syncopated rhythms, «cold» orchestral origin) and peace («warm» vocal origin, ariosity, melodic recitative, songfulness, vocalisations, luxurious Bilash’s melodies). O. Bilash has used various household genres actively: alullaby (an image of the incessantness of Life), a march («military» heroics), a cancan (personification of the image of aggression and spirituality), a Boston waltz (lyrical reflection and psychological solution). The composer uses the technique of stylizing church singing. The technique of sound imitation (movement of a steam locomotive, steam claps) is equally important. O. Bilash’s The Ballad of War mono-opera is a bright, original work and plays an important role in the development of the mono-opera genre both in the composer’s heritage and in Ukrainian music of the 1960s–1970s in general.

The New Interpretation of Melody and Rhythm from the Perspective of "Kinetic Energy Theory"—Based on Ernst Kurth's Grundragen des linearen Kontrapunkts

Ernst Kurth (1886-1946), as one of the representative theorists of the "Kinetic Energy School" which was established at the beginning of the last century and focused on the formal Theory of the dynamic nature of music, proposed comprehensive and specific "Kinetic Energy Theory". In Grundragen des linearen Kontrapunkts, the first book in his "Kinetic Energy" series, Kurth, while analyzing the compositional techniques and styles of Johann Sebastian Bach's polyphonic works, also makes a new interpretation and interpretation of "melody" and "rhythm" from the perspective of "Kinetic Energy Theory", which is different from traditional theory. The theory still has great research prospect and value for our country's current music theory research.

Amatérské divadelnictví slezských spiritistů

The study focuses on the phenomenon of amateur theatre of the lower social classes, using the example of the Spiritist Association Bratrství (Brotherhood) in Radvanice in Silesia, today Ostrava-Radvanice (1914–1951). In the years 1918–1939, the association developed a very rich educational, lecture and social activity, headed by exhibitions of media drawings, which was joined in 1926–1939 by an amateur theatre. The dramaturgy of the Brotherhood’s drama department oscillated between original plays with spiritual and occult themes and hilarious plays or musical theatre with the potential to appeal to a wider audience. The company generated two prolific authors who had a major influence on the dramaturgy and artistic quality of the ensemble – Čeňka Štěrbová and Jan Rösner (Kunčický).

ANTIN RUDNYTSKY'S OPERA "ANNA YAROSLAVNA — QUEEN OF FRANCE": COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE AMERICAN AND UKRAINIAN FORMATS OF PRODUCTION

The author devotes this research to the phenomenon of the creation by Antin Rudnytskyi's the opera "Anna Yaroslavna — Queen of France", having used historiographical and iconographical sources, its artistic productions in American and Ukrainian formats. The relevance and necessity of taking into account the historical national theme in general and the opera in particular in today's socio-cultural realities are outlined. The role and place of the Ukrainian diaspora in the preservation of national identification of cultural property and artistic heritage in the conditions of stay in different countries of the world is clarified. Attention is focused on returning to the treasury of national musical culture and unjustifiably forgotten names and works of Ukrainian emigrant artists, one of their bright representatives is rightfully considered the American composer of Galician origin Antin Rudnytskyi. The literary background of the opera is analyzed and systematized being based on the peculiarities of the historical, sociocultural development of Kyivan Rus and France at the end of the early Middle Ages; the prerequisites for creating an opera are outlined, emphasizing the main storylines in the development of its dramaturgy; the author studied memoirs, reviews and publications on its production in American and Ukrainian formats. The article describes the differences in living conditions, the way of existence of Kyivan Rus and France during the specified era, emphasizing the peculiarities of their contemporary culture, lifestyle, and traditions. Attention is drawn to the choice of the effective vector of Yaroslav the Wise's activity in politics, diplomacy, interstate family ties with the leading royal courts of Europe, which contributed to the highest development of Kyivan Rus at that time, strengthening the princely secular power. On the contrary, the author emphasized the modest position of medieval fragmented France in the geopolitical development of Europe with the subordination of secular royal power to the Pope. The motivation of Antin Rudnytskyi's appeal to historical themes and the prerequisites for writing the opera "Anna Yaroslavna - Queen of France" as a "heartfelt confession" of the emigrant Maestro is determined. Two storylines in opera drama are analyzed — social-historical and domestic-psychological, with arguments for their conceptual solution. The reasons for the concertstage format of the implementation of the opera by the forces of the Ukrainian diaspora in America and the impossibility of its further stage life in the country are clarified. The conceptual production of the work in the National Opera of Ukraine in the stage format, the reasons for the shortcomings of its mise-en-scène development in connection with errors in the director's analysis and the creative idea of the performance are studied. The necessity of a thorough approach to the interpretation of historical operas of national themes with the use of large-scale monumental mass scenes is proven. Prospects for further scientific research on the given topic in the conditions of modern possibilities of musical theater and achievements of director's opera practice are predicted

Composing Music for Choreographic Projects: Cases and Trends

All over the world the studies on the collaboration between music composers and dance creators are highly sought after. This is driven by the rapid evolution of musical and choreographic art fields in today’s creative industries. Organizing and promoting such cultural practices is crucial to complement the creative aspect. That’s why the present study examines the tendencies of compositional creativity in Kazakhstan in terms of its integration into choreographic projects. It can also be considered as a projection on cultural management. The article aims to the analytical review of the recent years’ implemented cases, that demonstrate the ways and formats of interaction between music and dance. The article considers the following questions: the interaction of music and choreography in a historical context; the creation of music and compilation of music for ballet; the design of music for dance and dance video, as well as the ways to support compositional creativity.This study of temporal and spatial art forms is built at the interface of several sciences. For the conceptual analysis the authors of the article required a wide range of historical and socio-cultural sources in the specified areas of art. The work was divided into several stages and used analytical, comparative and historical methods projected onto the Kazakh musical theater and other institutions related to the dance art. Also, an interviewing method was applied for the survey of practicing composers and directors, music editors and performers.The design of music and choreography has a wide range of relationships and demands that are necessary for the execution of audiovisual projects.This article with its understanding of cases in the field of ballet theater, dance troupes or video clips may be interesting both theoretically and practically not only for the scholars, but also for composers and choreographers who are only at the beginning of their creative paths. In addition, the article raises the problem of promoting and supporting compositional creativity. A thorough understanding of the music creation process for dance can foster more effective collaborations among creators, as well as the development of cultural management and clusters of creative industries.

Analyzing musical tones with fourier transformation

This essay delves into the mathematical exploration of musical tones through the application of Fourier Transformation, a pivotal tool in the field of digital signal processing and acoustics. By converting complex musical tones from the time domain to the frequency domain, Fourier Transformation enables the deconstruction of sounds into their constituent frequencies, revealing the unique harmonic structures that contribute to the characteristic timbre of different musical instruments. The focus of this analysis is particularly on the trumpet, chosen for its rich harmonic content and distinctive sound. Through the examination of audio recordings, this study uncovers the fundamental frequency and harmonics of the trumpet, demonstrating how these elements combine to form its unique acoustic fingerprint. The process involves recording, analyzing, and comparing musical tones using software tools like MATLAB and Python, providing an accessible yet profound insight into the intersection of mathematics and music. This essay not only highlights the technical methodology of Fourier Transformation in analyzing musical tones but also explores its practical applications in music theory, digital audio processing, and the broader field of acoustics. The findings underscore the transformative power of mathematical analysis in understanding and appreciating the complex beauty of musical sounds, opening avenues for further research and application in both the scientific and artistic domains.

Dancing with math: Using Kleins quartic for music generation

Studying music from a mathematical perspective is often based on the notions of symmetry and topological space. A group G acting on some set S of musical objects in a meaningful way is seen as a symmetry group in music. This can be used in analysing motif development and chord progressions. In neo-Riemannian analysis, one has three principal chord transformations that generate a group GD_12, acting on the set S of 24 major and minor triads. Moreover, this theory is visualized through a simplicial complex whose underlying space is a topological torus. In this paper, we first introduce various symmetry groups and graphic presentations in music theory. We then propose a way of doing neo-Riemannian analysis on Kleins quartic, which is a genus 3 surface instead of a torus, realizing an idea of John Baez. Finally, we use our theory to perform a harmonic analysis of The Imperial March from Star Wars.

A Calm Reflection on the Current Situation of Musical Theatre Major in Colleges and Universities

A Calm Reflection on the Current Situation of Musical Theatre Major in Colleges and Universities

Practical Strategies of Ethnomusicology Application from the Cross - cultural Perspective

With the development of China s economy and society, various cultures are gradually internationalized. Ethnomusicology is a discipline under musicology that studies the traditional music theory of all nationalities in the world. It has important cultural inheritance and exchange value. In order to promote the further development of this discipline, this paper is based on the cross-cultural perspective. It puts forward three practical strategies of ethnomusicology application from the cross-cultural perspective of advocacy, participation and brokerage. It aims to provide theoretical support and practical guidance for the application of ethnomusicology in order to promote the understanding and integration of different cultures. To enhance the international influence of ethnomusicology.

Sight-reading components across tonal and atonal environments in music: An exploratory analysis of performers’ self-assessed proficiency

Sight-reading poses persistent challenges for professional musicians, particularly those lacking adept sight-reading skills. Recognizing the practical implications of sight-reading as a facilitator of musical learning, scholarly endeavors have sought to identify the components that influence sight-reading proficiency. The focus on diverse tonal environments has surfaced as a key avenue for unveiling the complexities of tonality-related sight-reading skills. Against this backdrop, the present study delved into the intricate relationship between sight-reading components and tonal characteristics in music, employing performers’ self-assessments of their proficiencies in these domains. The findings revealed that sight-readers exhibit comparable self-assessments of their proficiency in sight-reading, but a significant disparity emerged between tonal and atonal sight-reading. Common predictors—rhythm reading, playing by ear, and performance techniques—emerged as influential factors explaining proficiency in both tonal and atonal sight-reading proficiency. In contrast, the predictors that include knowledge of tonal center, tonal function, and basic music theory were indicative for tonal sight-reading, while music interpretation and complexity of tonality were connected to atonal sight-reading proficiency. The findings highlight the useful integration of sight-reading components within diverse tonal environments, which offers flexibility, practicality, and adaptability in sight-readers’ practice.

The Impact of Higher Education Institution Culture on Teachers' Job Satisfaction

A community of a higher education institution (HEI) is an important link in ensuring the quality of the entire organisation. The majority of its staff, i.e. teachers in particular, play the key role. It is therefore very important to find out whether teachers are satisfied with their work. In order to clarify the factors affecting job satisfaction of teaching staff, this article analyses the literature that has contributed to the understanding of job satisfaction as a complex construct, which is most influenced by the culture of the HEI. The second part of the article examines the attitudes of teaching staff at the Faculty of Arts and Creative Technologies of Vilniaus Kolegija/ Higher Education Institution (VIKO) towards the impact of HEI culture on their job satisfaction. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, as this method provides information rich in interpretation and a high degree of realism. This qualitative study assumed that social reality is created by its participants, with personal involvement in interpreting the views of the survey participants, exploring individual cases, phenomenon of the meaning created by individuals, and other internal phenomena. The research strategy is based on a phenomenological approach. The interviews were conducted in a way that ensured the ethics of the research and adherence to its principles. The following ethical principles were taken into account in the context of this study: confidentiality and anonymity, the principle of fairness, the principle of respect for personal privacy. The interviews were conducted until the data became full and the information obtained became repetitive. The study involved 9 teachers working at the Faculty of Arts and Creative Technologies of the study programmes of Fashion Design, Image Design, Fashion Technology and Business, Popular Music, Musical Theatre, Management of Cultural Activities and Dance Pedagogy. The analysis of the study revealed that the respondents are satisfied with their work, the psychological climate of the Faculty, the relationships based on support and assistance, mutual cooperation and collegial support, the working conditions at the Faculty, the opportunities for professional development and the improvement of competences, they feel a sense of pride in being a member of the VIKO community and identify the values declared by VIKO as their priority values.

Lion of Love

Abstract Alexander Lemtov, the Russian antagonist of Netflix's 2020 musical comedy Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, embodies and dramatizes contentions over Russian homophobia, disavowals of homosexuality in Russian entertainment, and the construction of LGBTQ+ equality as a defining value of ‘European’ space which have surrounded the real-life Eurovision Song Contest since the mid-2000s. An assertively-heterosexual sex symbol in public, Lemtov in private exemplifies the trope of the closeted gay entertainer whose performances of machismo allow him to hide his admiration for the male body in plain sight. His depiction could potentially open space for exploring how other queer male Russian entertainers have historically negotiated homophobia but is constrained within a liberal sexual geopolitics that demands further recontextualization following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Collaborative songwriting as and for artistic activism

This article explores collaborative songwriting as a form of artistic activism – the creation, performance and/or distribution of art to advance social justice – and demonstrates its potential both in terms of the process of songwriting and the songs that result from it. In doing so, it compares two songwriting workshops facilitated as part of Sex Worker’s Opera (SWO), a grassroots musical theatre project by and for sex workers, drawing on participant observation, archival research and music elicitation interviews. In unpacking the contingent nature of this potential, it evaluates the practical significance of different intentions and material constraints, approaches to fostering ownership and solidarity, and the balance between structure and freedom in facilitating the workshops. Critically, the findings suggest that public engagement, alongside a commitment to community leadership, can help to harness the activist potential of the practice. Looking at how collaborative songwriting can function as and for artistic activism – through creative processes and cultural products – the article emphasizes the opportunity this practice offers for marginalized groups to reclaim cultural space and to challenge norms of silencing in both the cultural and political spheres.

2023학년도 대학 교양 음악 교과의 운영 실태 분석

This study aims to assess music liberal arts education in South Korea and suggest future directions. To achieve this, 40 of 4-year universities across the country were selected, and the curriculum, class objectives, and course plans for the year 2023 were collected and analyzed. As a result of the analysis, in terms of operation, the music department accounted for 61.78%, while the college of Liberal Arts accounted for 23.11%. As for the types of subjects, there were general education courses (41.33%) and distribution requirement courses (47.56%), and names of areas related to art or humanities were used. Content and method of lectures were categorized as follows: music theory lectures (68.21%), music applied lessons (31.79%), music convergence theory lectures (30.39%), and music convergence applied lessons (9.62%). While music lectures emphasized history, singing, and instruments, convergence lectures emphasized humanities. The proposal suggests securing professional lecturers to enhance liberal arts music education autonomy and developing diverse, high-quality music and convergence subjects.

The key reasons for dropout in Slovenian music schools - a qualitative study.

Music education often struggles to sustain students' long-term commitment, with many perceiving lessons as frustrating or unengaging, leading to discontinuation. To address this gap, our study aimed to elucidate the primary reasons for dropout from the perspectives of various stakeholders, including students, parents, teachers, and principals. Drawing upon the self-determination theory, our research comprehensively investigated external and internal factors contributing to dropout. Among external factors, competing extracurricular commitments, music theory and solfége lessons, and teacher's approach emerge as the most prominent. Among internal factors, our findings highlighted the critical role of autonomy, competency, and relatedness in shaping students' decisions to continue or discontinue music education. Inadequate teacher-student relationships, limited peer interactions, and uninspiring classroom atmospheres significantly impacted dropout. Moreover, challenges in the music school curriculum, such as difficulties with music theory and solfège, resource limitations, and excessive workloads, emerged as prominent barriers to student engagement. By addressing these multifaceted issues, our study underscores the importance of fostering supportive environments that cater to individual needs and interests, ultimately enhancing the overall music education experience and reducing dropout rates. This research represents the first systematic empirical study in Slovenian music education, laying the groundwork for future quantitative investigations to advance education practices in Slovenia.

Foresights of Nikolai Roslavets

The article is dedicated to Nikolai Roslavets, one of the brightest and most advanced representatives of the Association of Contemporary Music of the 1920s. This August marks the 80th anniversary of his death. The paper examines the compositional principles of his synth chord technique from the perspective of anticipating the main trends in the music of the twentieth century, as well as evaluates his system of sound organization against a broad historical and evolutionary background. The author does not limit herself to purely technical analysis, but also touches on aesthetic aspects. At the end of the article, the late period of Roslavets’s work is examined, where it may seem that he turns back to romanticism, which in essence is moving forward, to the future. The materials of the article can be used in the educational process within the disciplines “Cultural Studies”, “Music Theory”, “History of Musical Culture”, and “Fundamentals of Musical Composition”.

Computational modeling of interval distributions in tonal space reveals paradigmatic stylistic changes in Western music history

Diachronic stylistic changes in music are to a large extent affected by composers’ different choices, for example regarding the usage of tones, intervals, and harmonies. Analyzing the tonal content of pieces of music and observing them over time is thus informative about large-scale historical changes. In this study, we employ a computational model that formalizes music-theoretic conceptualizations of tonal space, and use it to infer the most likely interval distributions for pieces in a large corpus of music, represented as so-called ‘bags of tonal pitch classes’. Our results show that tonal interval relations become increasingly complex, that the interval of the perfect fifth dominates compositions for centuries, and that one can observe a stark increase in the usage of major and minor thirds during the 19th century, which coincides with the emergence of extended tonality. In complementing prior research on the historical evolution of tonality, our study thus demonstrates how example-based music theory can be informed by quantitative analyses of large corpora and computational models.

Pythagorean Music Theory and Its Application in Renaissance Architectural Design

This article concerns Alberti's approach to architectural design integrates Pythagorean consonance ratios from music theory, not by direct application but as a conceptual guide for aesthetic ratios in buildings. He expands spatial dimensions using methods derived from past artisans, adhering to and building upon the foundational consonance ratios. While applying these two-number proportions to width and length poses no problem, calculating height in a three-dimensional space requires a three-number proportion. Alberti resolves this issue by adopting the mean value strategy from music theory, where the mean is typically the middle value in an octave ratio, to determine the height in the spatial configuration. Alberti advocates for architects to leverage the insights of skilled artisans. However, his own architectural work demonstrates deviations from his theoretical principles. This study highlights Alberti's application of musical intervals such as the major and minor thirds, sixths, and sevenths, which were not traditionally emphasized in the musical science of the quadrivium, focused primarily on octaves, fifths, and fourths. These choices reflect the broader evolution of music during the 15th century, marking a shift towards "practical music" and signaling music's departure from the liberal arts to become a significant element of the fine arts, showcasing the influence of Pythagorean consonance in European music and arts through the 16th century. Thus, this article reflects the interactions between music and architecture of knowledge received from ancient Greek civilization in the Renaissance. The art of music in this period is founded on the philosophy and knowledge of Pythagoras.

Entropy, melody, beauty: composing with information theory

ABSTRACT Within a few years of information theory’s popularisation through the writings of Claude Shannon and Norbert Wiener, its basic framework was adopted and adapted by a loose network of music theorists, composers, and aestheticians, for whom a core principle of information theory – that ‘the aesthetic content of music can be treated in terms of fluctuations between the two extremes of total randomness and total redundancy’ (Hiller and Isaacson 1959, 110) – became an article of faith. Although it was sometimes imagined to offer a neutral conceptual framework for thinking about artmaking or a scientific alternative to the vagueness of previous artistic discourses, information theory was necessarily embroiled in the aesthetic debates of its time. In this paper I examine the encounter between information theory and musical composition in the middle of the twentieth century, paying special attention to the question of how the reception of information-theoretical concepts among composers and theorists inflected pre-existing debates about the nature and function of music in modernity.

The Role of the Tenor in Giacomo Puccini’s Musical Theatre (Interpretive Models of the Rudolf Image in the Opera La Boheme)

The purpose of the article is to identify the defining aspects of the artistic and figurative performance interpretation of the part of Rudolf in the opera La Boheme by G. Puccini – a lyrical hero embodied in the tenor timbre. The research methodology is based on the following methods: analytical (study of art and musicological literature on the subject); method of performance analysis (analysis of Rudolf’s part in the context of identifying genre and style features, characteristic musical and expressive means, and place in the drama of the performance); comparative method (comparison of interpretations of the role of Rudolf performed by prominent singers to determine the common and distinctive features of the image “reading”), empirical method (covering the author’s own experience of rehearsal and stage performance interpretation); method of generalisation (to substantiate the conclusions of the study). The scientific novelty of the publication lies in the proposed research angle: attention is focused on the image embodied in a certain vocal timbre, and an analysis of the panorama of performing interpretations of the tenor part, a landmark in the creative heritage of G. Puccini, is presented. Conclusions. G. Puccini managed to create a theatrical reality where the “individual” prevails over the “typical” and “characteristic”. The composer carefully considered the principles of revealing the inner world of the hero, his interaction with other characters and the surrounding reality. A special place in Puccini’s “musical theatre” is occupied by the role of the tenor, who realises the “lyrical principle” in the male character, which is important for the composer (young men in love, creative natures – people prone to emotional, spontaneous actions). An analysis of the interpretations of the composer’s iconic role of Rudolf performed by outstanding singers reveals the value of a performer’s interpretation based on a deep understanding of the author’s style and proves the importance of the emergence of a syncretic singer-actor who deeply understands the drama of the performance and the place of his or her role in the overall concept of the opera.