Piano Sonata Research Articles

A New Interpretation of Chopin’s Piano Music Through Performance of the Second Piano Sonata on Pleyel and Erard Fortepianos and on a Modern Piano

I explored different approaches to performing Chopin’s Second Piano Sonata using my experience of playing on two period instruments: an original Pleyel 1848 grand fortepiano (known to have been played by Chopin) and an original Erard 1845 grand fortepiano. I considered how my experience of these instruments generated new knowledge which then informed my approach to performing the piece on a modern piano. This article is not intended to encourage pianists to imitate or copy my performance on historical instruments, but to re-discover period instruments in a new context and develop the ideas and perception gained from them to transform approaches to interpretation on modern pianos.I first examined the differences between the Pleyel and Erard instruments, and how the characteristics of the two fortepianos are affected by their different mechanical features. I explain why these differences occur and how they affect performers, and this is connected to the famous statement by Chopin comparing Pleyel and Erard fortepianos.Examining the Pleyel and Erard fortepianos and comparing historical and modern instruments from the perspective of being a concert pianist myself, this research revealed how pianists can bring out a singing quality in performance on percussive keyboard instruments. Experimenting with the Pleyel and Erard fortepianos has expanded my view of how to listen to the sound, with consequences for the management of specific dimensions and for my approach to modern pianos.

Transfer of meaning from the educator to the student in piano interpretation within the framework of the constructionist perspective

This research analyzes the concept of meaning from a constructionist perspective. From this perspective, while trying to determine how meaning is constructed and conveyed in piano interpretation, the study determined three different categories of meaning as a framework. One can list these categories as aesthetic meaning, symbolic meaning, and pragmatic meaning. In the aesthetic meaning category, music is essentially analyzed in terms of its formal qualities, that is, its immutable characteristics as indicated on the note. Researchers who analyze music based on this category often argue that music carries its meaning. The second category, symbolic meaning, refers to the symbolic meanings attributed to music in relation to the cultural context to which it belongs. Within the framework of this category of meaning, people also consider music in terms of its aesthetic qualities, but the focus is the meanings attributed to music by individuals or societies. The third and final category, pragmatic meaning, is directly related to how one uses music. Within the framework of pragmatic meaning, people base music analysis on the functional uses of music, and they analyze the other two categories accordingly. Here, in line with the brief definitions of the categories of meaning, this study examines the construction and transfer of meaning in piano interpretation with examples from selected works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Frederic Chopin, and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Beethoven’s No. 23 Piano Sonata “Appassionata” is characterized by the concept of contrast based on the fate motif; Chopin’s Op. 31, No. 2 Scherzo is characterized by serenity and calmness; and Rachmaninoff’s Op. 33 Etude No. 8 is characterized based on fairytale-like storytelling. These examples, interpreted according to the requirements of notation and edition, do not vary fundamentally because there is no information on the notes that contribute to the interpretation and explain the subject of the piece. However, the information we have about the composers’ works has shown us that more meaning can be attributed to the work beyond the interpretation suggestions on the notation. These attributed meanings act as a suggestion for the interpreter. However, since interpretation is directly related to the individual’s qualities, these examples of suggestive meaning do not have a given and fixed structure; they vary from person to person.

Research Academy on “Munich” Mozart Piano Sonatas – Orpheus Institute – 3-13.07.2023: Report and Questionings about the Practice of Ornamenting and Improvising on Early Keyboards as a 21st Century Pianist

Research Academy on “Munich” Mozart Piano Sonatas – Orpheus Institute – 3-13.07.2023: Report and Questionings about the Practice of Ornamenting and Improvising on Early Keyboards as a 21st Century Pianist

Controlled anticipation as a psychological attitude of the pianist-concertmaster (on the example of M. Ravel’s Sonata № 2 for Violin and Piano)

Statement of the problem. Controlled anticipation is a conscious process of fore sighting an upcoming event, preparing for its fulfillment, and taking full control over its course. Extrapolation of this universal model to the professional activity of a pianistconcertmaster allows to schematize the psychological foundations of the performance process. The distinctive feature of Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Major is demonstrating the incompatibility of violin and piano declared by the composer. The main task of the concertmaster is to create an ensemble integrity, within which he should cover the musical material of all the parts of the ensemble. In the context of this Sonata, the pianist resolves a paradoxical contradiction – to combine into a single integrity what is deliberately polarized at the compositional level. This study was based on scientific works in the field of psychology, in particular, the researches of Ukrainian scientists (Batrachenko, 2010; Nikolenko, 2014) and the studies revealing the problems of performing Ravel’s Violin Sonata (Baer, 1992; Kaminsky, 2004; Beavers, 2010, 2016, 2020; Lefèvre, 2013). Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. The purpose of the study is to highlight the general principle of controlled anticipation and to argue their importance in the work of a pianist-concertmaster. For the first time a theoretical substantiation of anticipation as a controlled psychological process in the field of music is proposed and the research attention is focused on the performance problems of the concertmaster, who is responsible for the unifying function in the ensemble in Ravel’s Sonata in G Major for Violin and Piano. The research methods are determined by attracting the psychological theory, which considered the concept of anticipation; an activity approach aimed at applying theoretical knowledge from the field of psychology in the preparatory work of a pianist-concertmaster, as well as the methods of deduction and induction in their direct interaction were used. Research results and conclusion. Controlled anticipation allows to solve effectively a wide variety of tasks and it is a universal model for working on any kind of music. The specificity of the concertmaster’s activity lies in the fact that he is obliged to embrace the soloist’s part with his consciousness in addition to his own material. It needs to correlate each structural element of the text with the partner’s capabilities. Controlled anticipation as a psychological instruction is aimed at helping both in the rehearsal and concert practice of a pianist-concertmaster. Moreover, in the course of a stage performance, the use of controlled anticipation reduces the problem of excitement to nothing.

Christian Sinding’s piano works: the experience of a post-romantic world perception

Statement of the problem. Christian Sinding is the first composer after Edward Grieg, whose name resonated in wide circles of the musical community not only in Norway, but also in Europe, in particular Germany. His works were widely performed and aroused general interest, being evidence of the high status of national Norwegian music. In Ukraine, the figure of Sinding is little known, and his works are performed very rarely, despite the fact that his heritage, in particular the piano one, deserves attention and study as a vivid expression of the national style in the music of the early and first half of the 20th century. The style of performance of Sinding’s piano works was also not the subject of special research either in the world or in Ukrainian musicology. Recent research and publications. The creative personality of Sinding appears in generalizing studies on the history of Norwegian music (Rowbotham, 1916; Qvamme, 1949; Grinde, 1981; Herresthal, 1987; Holth, 2014), and the composer’s piano heritage is included in the context of the evolution of European piano art (Herresthal, 1987). The figure of Sinding is also highlighted in works in the genre of creative portraits (Altmann, 1936, Gaukstad, 1956) and in biographical studies. These works contain brief descriptions of the musical material of a significant part of the composer’s works. The dissertation of the Norwegian singer and scientist Per Vollestad, dedicated to Sinding’s vocal work, should be considered the most thorough study of his creativity at the moment (Vollestad, 2002). Nevertheless, in the mentioned sources, the piano music of Sinding, in particular, large-scale genres, did not become the subject of a special study, as well as the question of its stylistic attribution in the context of post-romanticism. Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. The purpose of the study is to present the individual composer style of Sinding as of an experience of post-romantic worldview in the context of the trends of the modernism era based on the performance interpretation of large-scale piano works (Sonata and Concerto). The scientific novelty of the topic is determined by the lack of information about the specifics of Sinding’s piano style and artistic thinking in available scientific sources; in particular, we rely on self-own experience of interpreting Sinding’s selected works. The following methods were used in the study: historically typological that helps to outline the stages of evolution and stylistic trends of European piano art; the genre approach that identifies the established models of instrumental music of the European tradition (sonata, concerto); stylistic one revealing the regularities of the Norwegian artist’s individual way of thinking; and interpretative method that allows to understand of the composer’s embodiment of the sound image of the piano in the light of post-romanticism. Results and conclusion. Sinding’s large-scale piano works, the Concerto (1890s) and Sonata (1909) belong to the post-romantic European tradition. The thematic, functional and compositional analysis of the composer’s text of these works made it possible to reveal the fundamental principles of the author’s thinking, which bases on the synthesis of classical-romantic and national Norwegian musical language. Among the leading principles of piano style should be singled out: – the significance of the melody as the main carrier of the author’s thought, which serves as the foundation of the textural and timbre decoration of the theme-image; – a thematic presentation in octave duplications, which makes the piano texture close to an orchestral sound; – double national-stylistic identity: intonation (melos, mode, rhythm) has national-Norwegian roots; compositional regularities follow the German Romantic tradition; – frequent use of the technique of re-harmonizing motifs and phrases, the great role of polyphonic development (including imitative ones: canonical exposition in the development of the 1st movement of the Sonata); – the concert nature of the piano texture; – the richness of the orchestral accompaniment (in the accompanying part, solo horn and woodwinds as personification of the “voices of nature” should be noted). Thus, the post-romantic thinking of C. Sinding in the conceptual genres of piano music serves as an artistic counterpoint to the European style of the border of the 19–20th centuries, enriching its national component, universalizing and conceptualizing the romantic due to expanding of musical language means.

The main problems of modern research on chamber instrumental music in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus

In the center of the author’s attention are the problems of chamber instrumental music in the Eastern European countries: the renewal of the musical language, the genre and stylistic searches, the significant compositional achievements in the field of chamber music. Young musicologists rely in their research on the works of L. Raaben, a recognized authority in the field. They consider the role of the chamber instrumental genres in the artistic space of the Silver Age, present the evolution of the genre of a large ensemble with the participation of the piano, analyze the problems of the history and theory of the piano duet of the 20th century, of the piano sonata, string ensembles. A special area of research is devoted to the chamber music of some composers (A. Dvořák, S. Prokofiev, V. Platonov, etc.), of some regions (Udmurtia), countries (Ukraine, Belarus). The analysis of the presented theses demonstrates the rich prospects for the further study of this field of composition creation, which is considered by many musicians as an area of experimentation and search.

An Analytical Dataset of Approaches to V in Mozart

Tonal functions—tonic, pre-dominant, and dominant—are a standard feature of North American music theory. The pre-dominant (PD) encompasses the largest number of chords, varying in quality and scale degrees; unlike the tonic and dominant functions, it is primarily defined by its syntactical role, preceding the arrival of the dominant. While Western harmony textbooks consistently organize PD chords according to a regulative syntax (e.g., IV goes to ii), they differ on its rationale and are rarely explicit about the repertoire(s) on which it is based. Furthermore, while the PD is thought to be an essential element of cadential closure, the role of PDs at various formal locations is underexplored, be it in textbooks or corpus studies. To facilitate exploration of these claims for future research, we analyzed all 22 sonata-allegro movements from the Mozart piano sonatas and generated a new dataset containing every occurrence of V (including the Cad6/4), the three chords preceding each V, and their formal location.

Innovative features in ”Sonata for violin and piano” by Boris Dubosarschi

The article examines the Sonata for violin and piano by B. Dubosarsky in terms of content, form and interpretative treatment. The author aims to reveal the innovative features of this work, which are manifested primarily in the interpretation of the form, combining the features of a three-part cycle and a large one-part composition. The intonation-thematic structure of the sonata, the ratio of the violin and piano parts are analyzed in detail, performing recommendations are offered for developing a creative version of the interpretation. As a result, it is concluded that the Sonata for Violin and Piano by B. Dubosarsky is an original example of an individual solution of a genre form, the innovation of which lies in the synthesis of a deep philosophical content, an original composition and a convincing ensemble interpretation of the violin and piano.

Karawitans’ musician brain adaptation: standardized low-resolution electromagnetic tomography study

<span lang="EN-US">The rapid advancement of music studies has resulted in a plethora of multidisciplinary participants. Rather than distinguishing between musicians and non-musicians’ brain activity, the current study indicated differences in brain activity while musicians listened to music based on their musical experience. In Go/NoGo response task reaction times, it showed that effects between treatments and visits were different across periods of cognitive function tests. The cognitive function at post-listening assessment out-performed the pre-listening in terms of reaction times (531.94 (±24.70) msec for post-listening assessment; and 557.13 (±37.15) msec for pre-listening assessment. The results of using electroencephalography (EEG) recording in an experimental manner with Karawitan musicians (N=20) revealed that listening to unknown cultural music, Mozart's Piano Sonata in C Major, and western music resulted in increased brain activity. Furthermore, while Karawitan musicians were listening to Mozart's Piano Sonata in C Major, the major brain activity occurred in the frontal lobe. This outcome will elicit additional consideration of music's integration, such as neuroscience of music.</span>

Pastoral Traditions in the Sonata for Flute and Piano "Pan's Flute" by J. Mouquet

The subject of the study is the Sonata for flute and piano "Pan's Flute" by J. Mouquet. The purpose of the study is to consider the traditional pastoral techniques that the composer uses in his composition. When writing the article, both general research methods (analytical, deductive, inductive, etc.) and musicological (holistic, intonation, harmonic, genre, structural and compositional) were used. Methodologically important in writing the article were the works of A. G. Korobova. Based on the works of the scientist in the Sonata of J. Muke analyzed the pastoral topic of the composition, and also determined its pastoral model. The culturological approach was carried out on the basis of the research of V. V. Azarova, O. A. Gagarina, V. A. Zakharova. With the help of him, certain French traditions were derived in the article, which influenced the work of J. Flour. In the scientific article, for the first time, an attempt is made to analyze one of the most famous compositions of J. Mouquet – the Sonata "Pan's Flute". In this work, two aspects are considered in detail – verbal and actually musical. In both aspects, there are connections with the French pastoral musical and theatrical tradition, as well as a commonality in the symbolic interpretation of neoanticism and neobucolics with the works of C. Debussy. During the analysis, it was found that J. Muke applied an anti-politicized pastoral model. Pastoral topics are found at different levels of composition – intonation, tonal-harmonic, textural, timbre, formative, dramatic. This article can be used in the field of art criticism for further study of the work of J. Mouquet, French music of the turn of the XIX – XX centuries and in the study of pastoral musical works. Analysis of the Sonata by J. Muke will also be useful in performing practice for a better understanding of the composer's idea and the dramaturgy of the composition.

Franz Liszt’s Early Formal Excursions

Franz Liszt reformulated the Classical sonata form by coalescing the structures of a single movement and a multimovement cycle into a two-dimensional sonata form. Most of his mature sonatas are constructed following this structure’s principles (e.g., the Piano Concertos in E-flat, S. 124, and in A, S. 125; the Piano Sonata in b, S. 178; and the symphonic poems Ce qu’on entend sur la montagne, S. 95, Tasso: Lamento e Trionfo, S. 96, Les preludes, S. 97, and Die Ideale, S. 106). As the first two-dimensional sonata, De Profundis: Psaume Instrumental marks Liszt’s early maturity, when he established the combination of formal paradigms necessary for the creation of this form. By conceptualizing and framing the required two-dimensional strategies (i.e., thematic transformation, frequent shifts in the musical discourse, progressive formal loosening, and formal incompleteness) in Liszt’s earliest Classical sonata forms (Duo, S. 127 and Malediction, S. 121), this study traces the compositional advent of the two-dimensional sonata produced in the 1830s. These analyses link the works of Liszt’s youth with his mature repertoire, a task so far neglected by the scholarly literature.

Un Beethoven ibérico: Dos siglos de transferencia cultural ed. by Teresa Cascudo García-Villaraco

Reviewed by: Un Beethoven ibérico: Dos siglos de transferencia cultural ed. by Teresa Cascudo García-Villaraco Walter Aaron Clark Un Beethoven ibérico: Dos siglos de transferencia cultural. Edited by Teresa Cascudo García-Villaraco. (Comares música.) Granada: Comares, 2021. [xi, 397 p. ISBN 9748413690520 (paperback), €33.] Music examples, illustrations, tables, bibliography. Ludwig van Beethoven's legacy is not one that we associate with Spain. At least it is not immediately apparent what sort of influence he and his music might have exercised on Spanish composers, concert artists, and audiences. We associate Beethoven with the genre of the symphony, but symphonic organizations were slow to develop in Spain during the 1800s, and Beethoven's symphonies only gradually gained traction with concert audiences there. And Spanish composers themselves never cultivated the symphony with any notable results. True, they composed an abundance of orchestral music, especially tone poems, ballets, and concertos, many of which have found a secure niche in the canonical repertoire. But one strains to think of a single Spanish symphony that has achieved the stature of Isaac Albéniz's Catalonia, Manuel de Falla's Three-Cornered Hat, or Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez. For whatever reason, Spanish composers were simply not drawn to the musical abstractions of the symphony—which is not to say they never composed them. Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga (1806–1826) was a young composer whose promising career as a symphonist was cut short by a premature demise. And though they are far better known for their zarzuelas and operas, both Tomás Bretón and Ruperto Chapí essayed symphonic works. Joaquín Turina's Sinfonia sevillana (1920) also comes to mind, though it may be the exception that proves the rule, since it is as much a three-movement tone poem as it is a symphony. And yet it should not come as a complete surprise that the Iberian penetration of the Austro-Germanic heritage of which Beethoven was the crowning glory is on full display here. Joseph Haydn was hugely popular in Spain, and his Die Sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze was an orchestral work commissioned by the city of Cadiz in 1786. And in the late nineteenth century, Richard Wagner's operas and operatic philosophies were adopted and adapted by many admirers, including Felipe Pedrell, Albéniz, and Enrique Granados, among others. To be sure, this heritage was not confined to symphonies and operas. As this volume makes perfectly clear, the impact of Beethoven's chamber music and piano sonatas was immense, felt first within the salons of the elite before it made its way to concert venues populated by a growing middle class. Thus, Beethoven, a larger-than-life symbol of Viennese classicism and incipient romanticism, is not out of place in Iberian music history, and it was about time that someone undertook to examine his undoubted impact in both Spain and Portugal. That someone is Teresa Cascudo García-Villaraco, a leading musicologist in Spain and professor at the Universidad de La Rioja in Logroño. She assembled a dream team of scholars for this trailblazing collection of essays, which will be of great interest and value not only to Hispanists but also to anyone interested in the global scope of Beethoven interpretation and reception. The editor's insightful introduction concerns issues of reception, discourses, and canonicity relative to Beethoven. As she astutely points out, "Almost two centuries after his death, Beethoven is today the most-programmed composer, an icon of practices associated with 'classical music' and one that constitutes a model for certain attitudes and behaviors, an example of an idea of emancipated humanity that was defined at the end of the eighteenth century" (p. 1, my trans.). She then establishes the necessary tenor and parameters for the volume, which offers a generous collection of twenty essays, divided into nine major parts, by twenty-five scholars. This collection is the outgrowth of a 2020 [End Page 393] conference dedicated to the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth and organized by the "Música y Prensa" group of the Sociedad Española de Musicología. Yet, as the editor advises, these...

Structural Innovations in the First Movement of Beethoven’s Sonata W. O. O. 47 No. 2 in F minor Kurfürsten (1783)

The article discusses the use of original compositional methods in the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata W. O. O. 47 No. 2 in F minor “Kurfürsten”, adopted to innovate the sonata on a structural level, but also to offer it a greater variety of characters. The alternation of slow sections with fast ones within the movement, the opening of the work with a slow introduction, repeated in the recapitulation, which was first used by the composer at the age of 13, as an absolute premiere in music history, gave rise, years later, to a masterpiece of the 18th century, the Sonata Op. 13 in C minor “Pathétique”, one of the best known, innovative and impressive works written by him, but also to another important and creative work from the beginning of the 19th century, the Sonata Op. 31 No. 2 in D minor “Tempest”.

Silence in Music: L. van Beethoven and J. S. Bach. Aesthetic Approach

Music can bring us to light, when it is not dissonant, not dominated by an aggressive rhythm, by congestion of timbres, or by… consumerism that consumes everything – including our values and tranquility. Spiritual tranquility is a sign of spiritual health; it influences our inner thoughts and emotions, representing an essential aspect in cultivating one’s spiritual life. This is the whisper of the mystical and transcendental Arietta in the last Beehovenian sonata for piano, her secret, variational message: the last part of the last sonata which seems open, unfinished, concluded however with an evanescent melody that searches its identity at unsuspected heights. The aim of the work is to evidence a first analysis of the postures of silence in musical art, and its structure highlights the stylistic characteristics of Beethoven's masterpiece in this sense.

Schenkerian Analysis: Exploring the Exposition Part of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No.15 in D Major, Opus. 28, First Movement

Schenkerian Analysis: Exploring the Exposition Part of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No.15 in D Major, Opus. 28, First Movement

Музыкальное искусство России начала ХХ века: INFANTE

The essay considers the phenomenon designated by the notion “youthful themes”, which flourished in Russian musical art in the early XX century. This phenomenon is revealed as a depiction of various age gradations (infancy, childhood, adolescence, youth, early adulthood), which has gone beyond the limits of the material focused on the needs of a specific age audience and has a generally significant character. The work traces the evolution of youthful themes starting with the turn of the XIX-XX centuries (the opera “Iolanta” (1891), the ballet “The Nutcracker” (1982) by P. Tchaikovsky, “The Music Box” (1893) by A. Lyadov, the opera “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” (1900) by N. Rimsky-Korsakov, Piano Concerto No. 1 by S. Rachmaninov (1890-1891), Piano Sonata No. 5 by A. Scriabin (1907)) and up to the 1920s. Special attention is paid to the main line of development of youthful themes in the 1910s (10 Pieces for Piano Op. 12 (1913) and the cycle “Visions Fugitives” (1915-1917) by S. Prokofiev, the orchestral piece “Fireworks” (1908), the symphonic poem “The Song of the Nightingale” (1917) by I. Stravinsky). As a result, the author highlights the nuances of content and meaning inherent in the youthful themes (birth and affirmation of new forces, enjoyment of life, carelessness, playful attitude to the world; fervor, seething energy, thirst for youthful self-affirmation; integrity, clarity, simplicity, infantilism with its inherent fragility and purity) and also notes the presence of a wide range of aesthetic and stylistic facets in this area. The appearance of youthful themes marked the advancement of new forces into the arena of life, as well as the freshness and spontaneity of world perception, freedom from canons and stereotypes.

The Specifics of the Timbral Embodiment of the Figurative & Emotional Sphere in Dmitri Shostakovich's 'Viola Sonata'

The object of the study is the Sonata for Viola and Piano Op. 147 by Dmitri Shostakovich—a work rightfully considered autobiographical and as a farewell. The subject of the study was the specificity of the timbral embodiment of the composition’s figurative and emotional sphere. In the proposed reading, the first part of the sonata is an image of the world to which the composer sends a farewell glance, the second is a sarcastic sketch of bright collective images of the vices of humanity, and the finale is a penetration beyond reality. The author of the article, in detail, referring to specific musical examples given in the text, examines the specific instrumental techniques used by the composer, which made it possible to embody the mystical concept of the sonata. The novelty of the research lies in the identification of three main figurative lines of the composition: eternity, the voice of the soul, and the world, which correspond to different timbral characteristics of the viola, which received their definitions through the use of specific expressive techniques. Eternity is the dispassionate sound of the viola, which is characterized by some programming, inexorability (an allusion to the "knock of fate”), monotonous figuration, and long double notes in the lower part of the range. The voice of the soul is detached, with the dark, gloomy coloring of the sound: melodica, devoid of "beautiful" intonations, sentimental singing, "Beethoven" trio in new refraction, acting as the personification of the otherworldly. The world is a tearing and sharp sound and sarcastic caricature of colors: glissando with access to the flageolet, short caustic foreshocks, exaggeratedly sharp staccato, ascending parallel quarts in sixteenth, illustrating a hysterical burst of laughter. The main figurative spaces coexist throughout the composition, presenting in the sonata genre a new specific characteristic of the viola for the first time, which interprets the world of unreal images in many ways. Shostakovich's sonata is defined as the starting point of the formation of the leading figurative direction of the viola repertoire of the last third of the twentieth century, which secured the viola the role of a guide to the world of the beyond—a kind of Virgil.

The Specifics of the Timbral Embodiment of the Figurative & Emotional Sphere in Dmitri Shostakovich's 'Viola Sonata'

The object of the study is the Sonata for Viola and Piano Op. 147 by Dmitri Shostakovich—a work rightfully considered autobiographical and as a farewell. The subject of the study was the specificity of the timbral embodiment of the composition’s figurative and emotional sphere. In the proposed reading, the first part of the sonata is an image of the world to which the composer sends a farewell glance, the second is a sarcastic sketch of bright collective images of the vices of humanity, and the finale is a penetration beyond reality. The author of the article, in detail, referring to specific musical examples given in the text, examines the specific instrumental techniques used by the composer, which made it possible to embody the mystical concept of the sonata. The novelty of the research lies in the identification of three main figurative lines of the composition: eternity, the voice of the soul, and the world, which correspond to different timbral characteristics of the viola, which received their definitions through the use of specific expressive techniques. Eternity is the dispassionate sound of the viola, which is characterized by some programming, inexorability (an allusion to the "knock of fate”), monotonous figuration, and long double notes in the lower part of the range. The voice of the soul is detached, with the dark, gloomy coloring of the sound: melodica, devoid of "beautiful" intonations, sentimental singing, "Beethoven" trio in new refraction, acting as the personification of the otherworldly. The world is a tearing and sharp sound and sarcastic caricature of colors: glissando with access to the flageolet, short caustic foreshocks, exaggeratedly sharp staccato, ascending parallel quarts in sixteenth, illustrating a hysterical burst of laughter. The main figurative spaces coexist throughout the composition, presenting in the sonata genre a new specific characteristic of the viola for the first time, which interprets the world of unreal images in many ways. Shostakovich's sonata is defined as the starting point of the formation of the leading figurative direction of the viola repertoire of the last third of the twentieth century, which secured the viola the role of a guide to the world of the beyond—a kind of Virgil.

OLEG KONSTANTINOVICH EIGES: STYLISTIC FEATURES OF PIANO SONATAS AS A SUBJECT OF MASTERING FUTURE PERFORMING MUSICIANS

The article is devoted to the peculiarities of O. K. Eiges’ style on the example of piano sonatas. The work reveals the origins of the composer’s work – the influence of K. R. Eiges and the Russian piano school, first of all A. N. Scriabin, N. K. Medtner and S. S. Prokofiev; internship in Europe and the impact of European culture; peculiarities of folklore implementation. Attention is paid to the commonality of aesthetic positions and artistic principles of O. K. Eiges and N. K. Medtner. It is noted that the originality of Eiges’ artistic style lies in relying on the traditions of the masters of the past and the modern composer’s language. The author examines such features of his “handwriting” as the originality of the figurative sphere and drama, symphonicity, polyphony, continuous development, high concentration of thematism and genre themes, block structure of the form, the form of the “second plan”, thematic “arches”, the specifics of the organization of sections of the form, features of the harmonic language, textures, bell-ringing, virtuosity, graphicity, phonocoloristic effects. The issue of “stylistic dialogue” with Prokofiev is touched upon in some works. The article highlights Eiges’ performing style as a guideline for mastering his sonatas. The question of the value of the composer’s legacy in the aspect of educational and pedagogical work is raised.

PERFORMANCE CHALLENGES IN MIECZYSŁAW WAJNBERG’S SONATAS FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO – A PIANIST’S PERSPECTIVE

The article Performance Challenges in Mieczysław Wajnberg’s Sonatas for Violin and Piano – a Pianist’s Perspective was written to sum up the author’s experiences connected with his work on the interpretation of the compositions mentioned in the title. The text points to the most significant style-related and instrumental issues a pianist is confronted with while reaching for Wajnberg’s pieces. They include (among others): frequent and long solo fragments, specific texture conditions, necessity to render a complicated metrorhythmic layer in a precise way, or the necessity to undertake – along with the performer of the violin part – creative and well-thought artistic decisions (referring to such elements as dynamics or articulation) in the context of the composer’s reticence related to interpretation tips. The author of the article based his reflections on monographic publications devoted to Wajnberg (which were written by Verena Mogl, Daniel Elphick and David Fanning) and his own analytical and performance work.