Symphonic Poem Research Articles

Representative Music of the Ministry of National Defense – decisive presence in the Romanian cultural and musical evolution

Symphony orchestra of blowers, Representative Music of the Ministry of National Defense is today the performance standard in terms of wind bands in our country. Through its activity carried out during seven decades, the band crowned the creative, interpretative, educational and cultural values of the military music bands from the Romanian garrisons and military units. Having a repertoire that exceeds two thousand works from almost all musical genres (hymns, marches, patriotic and military songs, fantasies, potpourri, overtures, processing of songs and folk games, symphonic poems, symphonies, jazz, Romanian light music, etc.) from the creations of Romanian and universal composers, the wind symphony orchestra supported a rich concert, ceremonial and protocol activity, representing Romania in numerous national and international festivals.

Hypostases du cluster dans les œuvres pour orgue de Gyorgy Ligeti

The cluster is a constituent part of György Ligeti’s concept of harmony that has crystallized in several stages. Successive accumulations are found in the different periods of creation as an integral part of his compositions. A separate category consists of the three works devoted to the organ. We set out to inventory and classify the types of clusters used by the composer in these works. The first, signed in 1962 and revised in 1969, Volumina, stems directly from the experience of electronic music and is the most radical of them all. Between this and the two organ studies is the Symphonic Poem for 100 Metronomes. Harmonies and Coulée frame Continuum - another Ligetian masterpiece. Contrary to appearances, this organ works have many elements in common. They represent the stages of research on the same problem – the cluster. Together, the three opuses constitute a mini-compendium of compositional and instrumental techniques used in the creation of the following decades.

"Živý recitativ beze slov" : symfonické básně Antonína Dvořáka v reflexi Leoše Janáčka

This article focuses on selected details of the deep relationship between Antonín Dvořák and Leoš Janáček, which began during Janáček's studies at the Prague Organ School in 1874–1875. The paper discusses Janáček's detailed analyses of Antonín Dvořák's four symphonic poems based on the ballads by Karel Jaromír Erben, which demonstrate the creative parallels between the two composers, as well as Brno performances of the symphonic poems during Dvořák's lifetime and reflection in the contemporary press. The article also shows that Janáček, in analysing the symphonic poems, made use of his work on the theory of speech melody, and that he became the first theorist of Dvořák's work.

Западнославянские мотивы в творчестве русских композиторов второй половины XIX века

The article focuses on pan-Slavism and its reflection in Russian musical culture of the second half of the 19th century. Slavic peoples sought cultural dialogue which manifested itself in numerous cultural events. The pinnacle was the Second Slavic Congress (1867) and the Slavic Concert timed to it. The article discusses three compositions: the symphonic poem In Bohemia by M.A. Balakirev; N.A. RimskyKorsakov’s Fantasy on Serbian Themes, written specifically for this concert; and P.I. Tchaikovsky's Slavonic March (1876) that also embodied the ideas of unification and interaction of the Slavs. The research methodology is based, primarily, on the historical approach, i.e., the compositions are explored in the context of their time. Structural and functional methods were used to determine the musical form, while a comparative method helped identify similarities and differences in the composers’ use of compositional techniques and the folklore material. The article considers the principle of working “according to the model”—Rimsky-Korsakov was guided by the example of his teacher Balakirev and it found its reflection in Fantasy. A separate place is given to the comparison of compositions produced by Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky as both are based on a Serbian folk song. The compositions analyzed in the article are little known to the public and rarely attract the attention of researchers. At the same time, they have never been considered as a manifestation of the ideas of Slavic dialogue in Russian musical culture. The article is the first attempt to explore the context (history of creation, reception) of the three musical pieces. Besides, it specifically focuses on how these works embrace the folklore material.

Characteristics of B. Tchaikovsky’s orchestration on the example of the symphonic poem “Teenager”

В статье рассматриваются вопросы темброво-оркестровой организации Б. Чайковского на примере симфонической поэмы «Подросток». Анализ сочинения позволил обратить внимание на вопросы, связанные с тембровым воплощением тематизма и его оркестровым развитием, формообразующим значением оркестровых средств.

Narratiiv ja topos Heino Elleri “Sümfoonilises legendis”

This article focuses on the narrative analysis of late-romantic instrumental music. Having adopted the structuralist-semiotic conception of musical narrative as proposed by Byron Almén (2008) as the transvaluation of an opposing hierarchy, and the concept of the musical topic as musical elements with specific stylistic-cultural associations, I analyse the expressive form of Heino Eller’s early symphonic poem “Symphonic Legend” (1923). Narrative logic was found to permeate the musical work despite its collage or suite-like form, as the composer introduces characteristic musical actors that re-appear in different musical contexts. These actors are largely distinguished by musical topics, the conventional stylistic associations related with their musical characteristics as Eller’s piece presents a wide synthesis of styles – from musical impressionism and expressionism to lyrical or chromatic late-romantic; and various topics, such as fantastic, ombra, apassionata, pianto, heroic, and pastoral. Further, I propose a layered narrative structure for the “Symphonic Legend”, as the jarring and abrupt changes in musical material, affect and topic between different movements of the piece suggest shifts in the level of musical discourse and a framed narrative, as proposed by Hatten (1994). The primary order-imposing hierarchy is identified as the pastoral-impressionist topic that acts as the introduction and coda to the entire piece while the transgressive hierarchy is carried by antagonistic musical material associated with fantastical and dysphoric topics (whole-tone scale, chromaticism, fanfare-like brass and ombra) and with the main theme-actor of the piece (a theme strongly resembling the main theme of the first part of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherezade”). While the pastoral beginning and end of the piece (1st and 11th sections) suggest a narrative trajectory of a romance or “the victory of the order-imposing hierarchy over the transgression”, the abrupt shifts that occur between those sections and the middle-sections of the piece suggest that these take place at a different level of discourse, placing the narrative weight in sections 2–10, where the primary conflict seems to be between the antagonistic material and the theme-actor. In the middle sections Eller seems to problematize the typical narrative trajectory of dysphoric to euphoric in 19th-century symphonic poems, as the theme-actor’s heroic apotheosis in the 9th section is undermined by its reprise in section 10 and ultimate inability to be united with the order-imposing hierarchy in the coda, suggesting an ironic narrative. This reading is hopefully the first of many narrative analyses of Eller’s and other Estonian composers’ unique late-romantic and early modern symphonic poems.

Sergei Rachmaninoff’ Variations on a Theme of Chopin: Genre and Style Interactions

The article highlights various aspects of the stylistic interaction process within the variation genre in Rachmaninoff’ piano works on the example of Variations on the Theme of Chopin. The relevance of the study is in the emphasis on interpretation aspects in the process of creating a performance version of a musical work. The mutual influences of the artist’s performing and compositional creativity are considered. The range of stylistic appeals to different layers of the musical context of the work is determined. The ways of interrelations with tradition are presented in combination with the semantic coordinates of the hypothetical references to performance repertoire of Rachmaninoff-pianist. Methodology. In considering Variations of the Theme of Chopin to reflect the interaction of Rachmaninoff’ performing and composing creativity, the principles of structural-functional, genre-style, performing and system analysis methods are applied. This allows deepening the interpretation potential of the work. How the study was done. This perspective of scientific attention to Variations on the theme of Chopin by Rachmaninoff in the organic combination of stylistic contexts of his composition and performance determines the scientific novelty of the study. The integration of various levels of interpretation in the pianist’s work process is especially relevant for performing a complex work of the piano top repertoire. Main objective of the study. The purpose of this article is to study this stylistic polyphony, the intersection of Rachmaninoff’ style with the piano style of previous eras and the influence of the composer’s performance experience on the process of building the texture of the work. The focus of the research is genre-style interactions in Chopin’s Variations on the levels of composer and performer’s interpretation and the main models of working with external texts that the author uses in the work. Results and conclusions. The whole layer of hypothetical references of the work to the performance of Rachmaninoff-pianist continues the rather real lines of interrelations with tradition, which reflected in the theme and the intonation plan of the forming of the variation cycle. Each of the variations of the cycle reveals clear allusions to the range of certain author’s works of the composer and a number of opuses from his huge repertoire. The variant circle deploying on the principle of increasing distance from the primary source by figurative definition, genre and style metamorphoses, structural features. In the meantime, composer keep connection with the Chopin theme in each part of the cycle (sometimes only at the micro-intonational level). Rachmaninoff created a symphonic poem for piano. Its scale, dynamics of unfolding, polyphonic plasticity and the beauty of piano colours inspirited by Chopin musical word. Significance. Therefore, Variations on a Theme of Chopin completes a number of variation masterpieces from beginning of 20th century. The finding results of this research can be used especially in the piano performing field.

Soltan Hajibeyov’s “Caravan” Symphonic Poem

The article considers some features of the symphonic poem “Caravan” by the outstanding Azerbaijani composer Sultan Hajibeyov, studied the style of the work, the principles of symphonic development, methods used in orchestration. In the symphonic poem “Caravan”, a connection with national origins is clearly manifested. The improvisational principle inherent in mugham, the organic combination of melodic developmental techniques with symphonic development, the use of variable and variational development, as well as the creative use of national frets – all this arises from national music. The article deals with some features of the symphonic poem “Caravan” by the outstanding Azerbaijani composer Soltan Hajibeyov as a program work, examines the style of the work, the principles of symphonic development, and the methods used in orchestration. The purpose of the research is to study a number of features of the composer’s individual creative style in S. Hajibeyov’s symphonic poem “Caravan”. The disclosure of programming in the work, the consistent provision of epic drama in the genre of a single-part symphonic sketch, the disclosure of the connection of this feature with the mugham genre are the main points of the research. The research is based on the disclosure of the Eastern nature image through its manifestation mainly in a calm lyrical aspect and at the same time in an internal movement. The research methodology is based on a comprehensive generalization of the research of Azerbaijani and Russian musicologists in the genre of symphonic sketch based on musical-analytical, theoretical and historical analysis. Scientific novelty of the research. For the first time in the framework of Azerbaijani music science, the figurative content and orchestral features of S. Hajibeyov’s symphonic poem “Caravan” were considered from the perspective of oriental art. At the same time, based on the analysis, certain comparisons were made with the symphonic poem “In the Steppes of Central Asia” by the Russian composer A. Borodin, and the “Caravan” composition was studied in details. Conclusions. The symphonic poem genre is important in Azerbaijani music, and many interesting examples have been created in this area. The emergence and development of the symphonic poem genre in Azerbaijani music was associated with the emergence of interest and need for samples of a single genre. Thus, in Azerbaijani music, the symphonic poem genre prevails among one-act works, and this genre originated even earlier than the genre of the national symphony. Even though the symphonic poem genre in Azerbaijani music continues the traditions of the Russian School of composition, it is based on national musical intonations. Thus, the rhythmic structure of works, artistic content, and textured form is determined by national characteristics. From this point of view, S. Hajibeyov’s “Caravan” symphonic poem is the most striking example of this genre in Azerbaijani music. At the same time, the unique orchestration, texture, and use of sound timbres of instruments opened a new page in the field of National Symphony music. In particular, the use of intonations of mugham, the Azerbaijani oral traditional musical genre, brought originality to this work.

LEVKO KOLODUB. LETTERS TO A STRANGER (formation of professionalism in the mirror of the epistolіa)

Introduction. Levko Kolodub – is one of the most outstanding Ukrainian composers of the 2nd half of the XX-th – the beginning XXI-thcentury. Studying of his creative work will never lose its actuality in the context of understanding the integrity, depth and diversity of our national musical culture. Theoretical Background. There is no fundamental monograph about L. Kolodub. The brochure by M. Zaghajkevych (1973), collected articles based on the conference materials, dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Master (2006), books by K. Bila (2010) about the instrumental concert and by L. Makarenko (2015) about folklore principles of his work, so as biographical articles for the Ukrainian Music Encyclopedia (V. 2, 2008) and for the Festival booklet (2019) – became a milestone on this path. Eight letters from Levko (1954) to Janna Brondz (his future wife Zhanna Kolodub), with whom they lived for almost sixty-five years!), recently found in the family archives, – are important for the scientific reconstruction of L. Kolodub’s creative biography. Objectives. The article aims to describe the letters, first submitted for publication and commented in detail, and determine the meaning of this period. Methods. It was used: analytical – to analyze the literature on this issue; historical – to comment and identify the significance of June 1954 in the L. Kolodub’s life; biographical – for the studying of life facts; interviews with J. Kolodub during 2020–2021 to clarify some details; and also – a source method for studying the epistolary corpus. Results and Discussion. The impetus for the letters was a brief acquaintance of two young people after a symphony concert at the Kyiv Philharmonic during the Republican Plenum of the Ukraine Composers Union. The correspondence lasted a little over a month – until the end of their student life. In the first letter, Levko describes in detail how he first saw Janna, decided to approach and talk. Then he tells about himself, about the years of his study at the Kharkiv Conservatory. As he finishes his own Cantata to the state exam in the specialty. How the composition lessons were held in the Professor M. Titz’s class. He remembers also, how he came to M. Titz on December 31, 1947 at the first time and almost until the New Year he showed the Symphony, improvising on the clarinet. Another letter tells, how Levko prepares carefully for the piano exam, where he will also play his own works – Scherzo and Fuga. During the preparing for the composition exam – in really a symphony concert at the Kharkiv Philharmonic – L. Kolodub considerably reworked his Symphonic poem; he describes the changes in detail because he is sure, she’ll be interested in it. We learn about the passing of the colloquium from the last letter, where the author expresses his confidence in the upcoming meeting: after his graduation he is going to come to Kyiv and congratulate Janna on her diploma. Conclusion. So, from these letters we found out L. Kolodub as a competent specialist – erudite, self-critical, hard-working composer, aimed at self-improvement.

Hear My Desire: Rachmaninov’s Orphic Voice and Musicology’s Trouble with Eurydice

Stigmatized as kitsch, the music of Rachmaninov has largely been neglected by scholars. A reassessment has been made possible by recent historiography on late imperial Russia documenting the intelligentsia’s search for a messianic musician-bard, a role that several of Rachmaninov’s pre-revolutionary works take up, but not in the terms expected of them. Heard in relation to the Orpheus myth often invoked at the time, to the contemporaneous prevalence of psychoanalysis, and to the formal affinities between early modernist orchestral music and the unconscious, the music both assumes unforeseen significance and offers the possibility of a counterstatement to current musicological concerns with embodiment and presence. Amid these debates, Rachmaninov’s symphonic poem, Isle of the Dead (1909), emerges as an unexpectedly subversive work that sounds the futility of fin-de-siècle Russian utopianism while giving voice to an alternative, anti-metaphysical ethics. Meanwhile, the music points to a clandestine violence governing much of musicology’s ongoing fascination with the “drastic.” The resulting critique leads to the proposal of a reparative musicology capable of giving a sympathetic account of the cultural work of public mourning that Rachmaninov’s music performs in the concert hall today.

Timbre-orchestra aspect of symphonic works by Boris Tchaikovsky

Boris Tchaikovsky is the author of bright and original symphonic compositions. A timbre-orchestra palette is, undoubtedly, one of the key components of the music language of his works. The authors of this research analyze Tchaikovsky’s  Violin concerto and Piano concerto, the symphonic poems “The Juvenile” and “The Winds of Siberia”, the Symphony No 3 “Sevastopol”, and the Symphony with Harp, in order to consider particular aspects connected with the timbre-orchestra language of his symphonic compositions, such as: the timbre-texture embodiment of thematic invention (the peculiarities of orchestra compositions); the ensemble combinations of instruments and their meaning. The authors also analyze the composer’s favorite timbre-texture techniques. The authors define and consider the phenomenon of “timbre pointillism” typical for the timbre writing of the composer. The original symphonic works by Tchaikovsky have been studied many times. In 2019 a research by Yu. Abdokov was published in which the author considers the peculiarities of an orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s theatrical music. The orchestra in his symphonic compositions also has theatrical features, however with some peculiarities. The features of Tchaikovsky’s timbre-orchestra writing haven’t been analyzed yet, and this fact determines the scientific novelty of the research. The authors attempt to generalize the peculiarities of the timbre writing of the composer. Tchaikovsky himself always emphasized the necessity of a single and final variant of orchestration.   

Simfonijska razmišljanja Blagoja Ivanovskog - povodom 100-godišnjice rođenja kompozitora (1921-1994)

The first works for symphony orchestra by Macedonian composers were written in the post-war period, from 1945 to 1957. During this period Macedonian composers introduced Western-European music models in Macedonian music culture. Several composers, among them Blagoja Ivanovski (1921-1994), are considered the pioneers of symphonism in contemporary Macedonian music. Among Ivanovski's contributions was the first symphonic poem Razmisluvanje (Reflection) written in 1954. This work will determine the creative manner in the works for symphony orchestra that follow: Symphony no. 1 Lesta (1957), Historical Poem (1958), Frescoes (1961), Tsar Samoil's Tragedy (Three symphonic poems) (1970), Vardar (1979) and Nerezi (1984). The paper presents the analysis of the form (symmetric structure), the orchestration (a tre) and the program (contents related to the national history and culture) of the symphonic poem Razmisluvanje. The paper is also concerned with the influence of Macedonian folk and traditional music in Ivanovski's compositions.

Опыт нарратологического анализа на основе эскизов к симфонической поэме Рихарда Штрауса «Жизнь героя»

Based on the sketches for the symphonic poem A Hero’s Life, the article examines how Richard Strauss developed its concept. The analysis of Strauss’ drafts identified four stages in his work on the composition. It was found that over the course of the four stages the original composition underwent significant changes. According to the composer’s orig- inal idea, the movement about the hero’s adversaries and critics (the develop- ment section of the poem) is followed directly by a love scene thus romanticis- ing the symphonic action. According to Strauss, love was the Hero’s source of power and inspiration. However, the original plan of the composition changed: the love scene became part of the exposition section and preceded the battle, while the Hero found his ‘lifeblood’ in creativity. Strauss used quotes from his own works to deliver this message to the audience. The analysis revealed the dynamics of changes in the development of the author's concept. The findings provide a new perspective on the relevance of compositional elements in the final version of A Hero’s Life.

Review and characteristics of V. Kosenko's piano works of the Zhytomyr period of the master's work

Objective. The piano works of V. Kosenko within the Zhytomyr period of the master 's work are described in the article. Substantiated that the artist's attention was attracted by various spheres of human life and activities: political and civic pathos, labour romance, spiritual world of the contemporary. The research methodology is presented by application of the historical and logical method of data analysis in order to reveal the retrospective data set of the repertoire of V. Kosenko's work as a performer within the Zhytomyr period. Scientific novelty. The work of the chamber trio (Kosenko – Skorokhod – Kolomoytsev) was evaluated. Works written by V. Kosenko during the Zhytomyr period of activities are analyzed. It is established that at the end of the Zhytomyr creativity period serious changes in the intonation sphere of V. Kosenko’s music are noticeable, in particular he increasingly turns to folk sources. The composer managed to leave his unique mark in the development of almost all forms of Ukrainian musical culture. It is proved that the instrumental works of V. Kosenko's great form, created during the heyday of his work, are represented by autographs of such symphonic works as the Heroic Overture for Grand Symphony Orchestra op. 21, which was included in the golden fund of Ukrainian music, and the Symphonic poem on Moldavian themes op. 26; concerts for solo instruments with orchestra: autographs of L. M. Revutsky and G. I. Maiboroda c-moll concerto for piano and orchestra op. 23, who orchestrated it on Kosenko's piano; piano and drafts of the score of the concerto cis-moll op. 21 and B-dur concerto for piano and orchestra, a-moll concerto for violin and orchestra op. 6 edited by G. I. Maiboroda. Conclusions. It is established on the basis of significant facts that V. Kosenko's music within the Zhytomyr period of creativity was marked by a new genre orientation. Since the late 20's chamber instrumental and vocal creativity has given way to mass genres of music (song-choir, solo songs on current civic themes, march songs for brass band, choirs, harmonization and arrangement of folk songs, children's repertoire for performance in music schools and, finally, orchestral works). Such changes were almost, certainly, were caused by the need for a direct "conversation" of the composer with a new audience.

Rethinking Igor Stravinsky Historically and Theoretically — II

The article is a continuation of the author’s reflections on the phenomenon of musical polymorphism (the beginning is in Vol. 124, 2019). Stravinsky’s use of the environment, space, motion, dissonance, and Janus morphemes is considered as his inheritance from a tradition dating back to the work of his great predecessors. The musical tableau Sadko by Rimsky-Korsakov, the prelude Dawn on the Moscow River to Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina, and Borodin’s symphonic poem In the Steppes of Central Asia are a clear confirmation of this. In Sadko Rimsky-Korsakov reveals himself as the founder of musical polymorphism, which is a historical alternative to the AustroGerman classical symphonism, Liszt’s monothematicism, and Wagner’s leitmotivism. RimskyKorsakov’s adherence to polymorphic methods of developing his musical material has clear roots in folklore. Those roots can also be traced just as clearly in Mussorgsky’s Dawn on the Moscow River. Mussorgsky’s masterpiece is stripped of all remplissage, all transitions, and contains only what is most essential and significant. And at the same time it has consistent polymorphism, penetrating into all levels of the musical fabric, and across-the-board variation in the melody, harmony and texture. The multi-element polymorphism of Dawn on the Moscow River forms the basis of the first tableau in Stravinsky’s Petrushka. The growing chaos of Shrovetide Fair is brought to life by means of textural condensation, a gradual transformation of the musical fabric from multi-elemental and polymorphic into sonorous and coloristic.

Music and the perception of the mountains through the symphonic poems of Liszt, Franck and Strauss

The aim of this article is to study the contribution that music has made to the perception of a very specific place: that of the high mountains. In particular, we present the ways in which symphonic music has helped to incorporate the high mountains into the known and inhabited space. This is a process that began and was developed in Europe in the course of the 19th century. To do so, we propose a study of the symphonic poems entitled “Ce qu’on entend sur la montagne” by Cesar Franck (1822-1890) and Franz Liszt (1811-1866), and “Eine Alpensinfonie”, by Richard Strauss (1864 – 1949). The areas that we focus on are the Alps and the Pyrenees as these areas are where these works were set. By doing this, we will show how sonic discourse offers a multitude of levels of meaning relating to the romantic values associated with these European landscapes. In this article, we seek to examine the contribution that symphonic music made to the knowledge and appreciation of high-mountain areas by part of society. The works that we have chosen as references were premiered between 1850 and 1915 and belong to a specific cultural context whose key points we shall present in the curse of this study.

Symphony Style of Alexander Jacobchuk: Dynamics of Formation

Relevance of study. Symphonic creativity of a representative of the Kyiv Composer School, Honored Artist of Ukraine, I. Ogienko, A. Vedel, I. Nechuy-Levitsky prizes winner, winner of national and international composer competitions of Olexandr Yakovchuk (born 1952) has been presented by eight symphonies, two symphonic poems, ten instrumental concerts. Such a quantitatively significant work reflects the peculiar artistic world of the artist, who is characterized by the spirit of intellectualism, philosophical approach in the understanding of historical events, the relief of lyrical expression, bright mastery of the method of symphony and the possibilities generated by it, orchestration. Covering both the early and the mature period of the artist's creative work, his symphonic style evolved, displaying at the same time certain stable moments related, for example, to the special attitude to the role of a group of brass instruments. Therefore, the problem of dynamics of A. Jacobchuk`s symphonic style (genesis, functioning, development, interaction with other artistic styles in the cultural context) is seen as a promising vector in the study of his artistic achievements, which occupies a prominent place among Ukrainian symphonic creativity (L. Kolodub, B. Bujevsky, Ye. Stankovych, V. Sylvestrov and others).Main objectives of the study are to reveal the peculiarities of A. Jacobchuk 's symphonies in the aspect of the problem of dynamics of formation his author style.The methodology of the research is based on the application of the cultural approach, source study, textual methods, as well as methods of holistic analysis and interviewing.Results and conclusions. The conflict-dramatic type of symphonism, that continues the tradition in Ukrainian music initiated by B. Lyatoshynsky, is predominant for A. Jacobchuk's symphonic music. From the early to the mature period of his creativity, his symphony style in its dynamics is attributed to non-canonical types of this genre. This is noticeable in the approach to cyclicity (two-part, one-part, six-part, one-part, enclosed in diptych), the advantage of programmability, samples of mixed genre with oratorio, requiem, concert. The national component of the style is identified mainly at the level of design, while in the vocabulary of music the examples of the use of characteristic intonation are isolated, but they carry a considerable semantic load in the concept. The leading role of brass instruments in the characterization of the main images, the culminating and summarizing zones of the form should be considered a feature of orchestral thinking

Mieczysław Karłowicz i orkiestra Hansa Windersteina. Hipoteza dotycząca próbnego wykonania "Rapsodii Litewskiej" w Lipsku w 1907 roku

Biografowie Mieczysława Karłowicza (Adolf Chybiński, Henryk Paweł Anders) nie opisali jego najważniejszych kontaktów z orkiestrą Hansa Windersteina (Winderstein-Orchester, znana także jako Leipziger Philharmonisches Orchester). Od 1896 r. zespół ten prowadził intensywną działalność koncertową w Lipsku. Był aktywny także poza granicami Niemiec – odbywał podróże koncertowe po wielu krajach lub pełnił w nich funkcję orkiestry sezonowej. Czterokrotnie (w l. 1899–1901 i 1904) występował w sezonie wiosenno-letnim w Dolinie Szwajcarskiej w Warszawie. W czerwcu 1901 r., wykorzystując obecność orkiestry Windersteina w Warszawie, Karłowicz odbył z nią próbę, podczas której wykonał fragmenty swojej Symfonii e-moll „Odrodzenie”. Kompozytor uczęszczał także na koncerty Windersteina podczas swojej wizyty w Lipsku w marcu 1906 r. i w trakcie pobytu w tym mieście od października 1906 do czerwca 1907 roku. Choć nisko oceniał kwalifikacje lipskich filharmoników, zdecydował się wynająć ich na kolejną próbę orkiestrową. Drugie przesłuchanie Karłowicza z kapelą Windersteina odbyło się prawdopodobnie w kwietniu 1907 r. (potwierdza je o rok późniejsza pocztówka kompozytora do Bolesława Domaniewskiego). Podczas tego przesłuchania Karłowicz wykonał kilka swoich poematów symfonicznych, w tym Rapsodię litewską. Był jednak niezadowolony z interpretacji tej kompozycji przez zespół Windersteina i dlatego później blokował próby wykonania jej przez inne niekompetentne orkiestry.

Literatura e música: Marabá (1849), de Gonçalves Dias, e seu reflexo no poema sinfônico homônimo (1898), de Escragnole Dória e Francisco Braga

O objetivo principal do estudo é analisar o processo de transposição midiática da representação do lamento da índia mestiça, protagonista do poema literário Marabá (1849), de Gonçalves Dias (1823-1864), no poema sinfônico homônimo (1898), com libreto de Escragnole Dória e música de Francisco Braga. E, o secundário, é apresentar a relação da literatura com a música, que se consolidou na época do Romantismo europeu, no século XIX, com o surgimento desse tipo de poema: um gênero musical, que contempla um programa (matriz poética), e evoca, imita ou sugere elementos sonoros da natureza biológica, estabelecendo um diálogo entre as artes. A presente pesquisa, que destaca as imagens da indígena menosprezada em sua tribo, imersa em socializações subalternizadas durante a colonização portuguesa, será analisada sob a perspectiva da intermedialidade e da intertextualidade, de Rajewsky, e das intersecções entre a literatura e a música (Scher).

The Absent Dulcinea: Joaquín Rodrigo’s Song to Music Itself

Joaquín Rodrigo wrote that music arose in response to the human need to make an image of the surrounding world. Affected by Ortegás view of life as the interaction of self and circumstance, Rodrigo would eventually attribute to music enough subtlety to paint even beings in the artist's ambience without perceptible properties, like Don Quixote's Dulcinea. The present article defines the knight´s conception of the absent Dulcinea and traces her development into Rodrigós symbol of music itself. Between the composer´s reading of Don Quixote and the composition of his symphonic poem Ausencias de Dulcinea [Dulcinea's Absences, 1948], philosopher Ortega y Gasset's vision of Dulcinea probably mediated. Ortega regarded Dulcinea as a referential reality, a reference to Don Quixote without conveying any knowledge. Rodrigo himself explained his use of four sopranos “because neither to the north, to the south, to the east, nor the west will Don Quixote find that phantom that is Dulcinea.” Phantom here means “phantasm” in Husserl's and Ortega's sense of a mere reference to the imaginer. Moreover, Rodrigo, we argue, applies that conception to music itself when making his musical setting of Don Quixote's quintillas on Dulcinea's absence (Pt. I, ch. 26). Hence, the work becomes an exercise in music making a statement on music itself, as well as an ironic example of literary criticism at the expense of the laughable “poet” Don Quixote.