Solo Violin Research Articles

Klassisia muotoja persoonallisin kääntein: Erik Tulindbergin jousikvartetot op. 1 ja op. 2

This article concerns the String Quartets of Erik Tulindberg (1761–1814), who was the first known Finnish composer. Tulindberg was musically active primarily in the late 1770s and early 1780s, when he was studying at the Royal Academy of Turku (Kunglika Akademien i Åbo). He was respected as a skilful violinist and a chamber musician, playing in the Academy’s orchestra on ceremonial occasions and giving public concerts. Tulindberg’s compositional oeuvre comprises two Violin Concertos, six String Quartets and a few works for solo violin. The corpus of Tulindberg’s String Quartets is approached from two perspectives, namely conventional strategies of the Classical style on one hand, and Tulindberg’s recurrent choices as attributes of his personal musical language on the other. Widely used analytical tools are applied in studying the corpus, and the Quartets are compared with certain works that originate in the same period and reside in Tulindberg’s archive. The theoretical framework includes writings that focus specifically on describing the compositional strategies used in Classical and Pre-Classical music, the authors including James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy, Graham Hunt, William Caplin, Poundie Burstein and Danuta Mirka, among others. The discussion covers 1) the overall structure, the key design and cadences in the opening movements, all of which are in sonata form; 2) the essential harmonic traits; and 3) surface characteristics and expressive means such as topics, melodic figuration and instrumental writing. The analysis reveals that Tulindberg adopted the commonly used strategies and main expressive means of the Classical style. The attributes of his musical language include traits such as the constant use of extended modal mixture, enthusiasm for a varied rondo-form and frequent violoncello solos in the upper register. Although the String Quartets are conventional in structure, each one is individual in its construction. The stylistic correspondence between the works and those of composers such as Joseph Haydn, Luigi Boccherini and Ignace Pleyel, shows his thorough understanding of the music written by his contemporaries.

Hands, Fingers, Strings, and Bows

In this article, I draw on public-facing sources and my violinistic experience to show how attention to performance technique illustrates three different relationships between performance and analysis. In the Largo from J.S. Bach’s Sonata No. 3 for Solo Violin (BWV 1005), multiple-stop chords, string-based affordances, and bowings in turn correspond with, contradict, and create new analytical perspectives. I first collate definitions of interpretation and technique as they relate to performance. Interpretation is non-instrument-specific and deals with decoding and expressing musical meaning; technique is instrument-specific and deals with the granular mechanics of sound production. A multiple-stop intensity model shows that changes in a violinist’s multiple-stop-based effort correspond with significant cadential markers. At the local level, the violinistic “feel” of each quadruple stop aligns with expressive aspects of harmony and form. Heinrich Schenker’s performance recommendations for the Largo’s cadences, by contrast, conflict with a violinist’s experience of how the cadences intersect with instrumental affordances. Although the two perspectives may be reconcilable, actual performances support the instrument-grounded perspective. Finally, I draw on basic bowing motions to create an analytical technique of bowing reduction. My reduction of the Largo reveals a recurring bowing-based motive, which in turn elucidates the source of a performative tension I have experienced when playing the movement. This final example reminds us that technique and interpretation—just like performance and analysis—are inevitably entangled.

Siam folk tune “Lanna” for string orchestra

This article discusses the compositional materials and process of “Lanna” for string orchestra based on folk tunes from Northern Thailand (Lanna). The composition comprises 6 movements for a duration of 50 minutes. The composer carefully selected folk tunes and rendered a balance between the borrowed ones and the newly composed materials through the careful mix of musical elements, including keys, melodies, rhythmic patterns, idioms, and re-created the sound to imitate the performance techniques of the original instruments. Certain Western compositional techniques were adapted to fit the original melodies in order to retain the identity of the work and provide a balanced blend of the original Eastern and the new Western melodies, thereby creating a new perspective of sound as well as an inspiration for other composers to continue crafting music in this genre. Traditional Lanna tunes, including Fon Phang, Pan Fai, Noi Chai Ya, and Lao Duang Dokmai are presented partly in multi movements to convey traditional melodies. Imitations of certain singing and playing techniques are also transcribed via selections of instruments in the ensemble, especially the violin solo, to portray both the authentic Lanna atmosphere and the blend of the two cultures.

THINKING ALOUD: THE SOLILOQUY CYCLE

AbstractBeginning with Soliloquy I for solo violin in 1998, the author has been engaged in creating a series of highly virtuosic solo pieces for various instruments. Each piece presents a different character, yet all are framed by a single protagonist who narrates in different languages.This article focuses particularly on analyses of Soliloquies II, VI, VII, VIII and IX, but also offers a discussion of the genesis of and processes involved in the whole cycle, which now embraces instruments from every section of the orchestra; the most recent, Soliloquy IX, for solo trumpet, was written in 2022. The suitability of the title Soliloquy is also considered; this article in turn could itself be considered a soliloquy.

“Four words about kolomyika”: author’s experience of orchestration

Statement of the problem. Orchestration is one of the spheres of a composer’s professional activity, and its ways and principles are a special subject of scientific research. There are a sufficient number of examples, when the composer turns to the orchestration of self-own piano works (F. Liszt, C. Saint-Saëns, M. Ravel, H. Villa-Lobos, M. Skoryk and others), but the orchestration of violin works is not widespread phenomenon. The proposed work reveals the ways of orchestrating the four parts of the cycle “Seven words about the kolomyika” for solo violin, written by the author of the article. The main idea of the piece is interpretation of the kolomyika genre as a keeper of the genetic code of the Ukrainian people, through different levels of texture and structure solutions. Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. Numerous works are devoted to orchestration, among them the guides by Adler, Casella & Mortari, Belkin, Klebanov and others. Another field of research is works on the theory of orchestration by Savchenko, Rakochi, Korobetska, Borodavkin, Kashyrtsev, Bohatyriov. However, the study of the ways and methods of translating a violin texture into an orchestral one has not yet attracted enough attention of musicologists-scientists and practicing musicians, and it is extremely difficult to find works on the orchestration of a violin texture, therefore, the presented work has an innovative focus. The purpose of the publication is to reveal the specifics of the orchestration of the violin texture using the example of the cycle “Four words about kolomyika” through the analysis of the use of orchestral principles and techniques in it. It was required the involvement of such research methods: genre-stylistic to identify the features of the kolomyika genre; structural-functional for researching the functions of instruments in the orchestral texture, the orchestration techniques, the form of the work; comparative one for considering the original violin source and the derived orchestral version; historical to light the context of the writing of the work. Results and conclusion. As a result of the research of the original source and its symphonic, timbre reinterpreted version, the next statements has been revealed. 1. The structural compositional analysis of the texture and form of the original source is of great importance for the creation of an orchestration of both one’s own and someone else’s work – the identification of potential harmony, bass voice, accompaniment, determination of the boundaries of the form, the character and tempo, which helps to understand the way of building timbre drama in the orchestral version. 2. The melody often in a “collapsed” form contains certain orchestral textural and timbre solutions. So, in many sections of the symphonic cycle, textural layers hidden in the initial melodic line are revealed – orchestral pedal, figurations, bass line, counterpoint, et cet. 3. The type, nature of the melody and the form of the piece determine the choice of timbre and orchestration techniques. The cycle uses such techniques of orchestral writing as underlining, the transfer of textural lines from one instrument to another, an orchestral crescendo, timbre mixes, the overlaying of textural layers of different instrumental groups, which creates a sonorous effect. 4. Each instrument of the wooden and brass groups corresponds to a certain line of the texture, is not duplicated in unison according to the “a2” principle, except for a few bars of the bassoons in the first part. This allows us to interpret the orchestra as a large ensemble, which to some extent is due to the neo-folkloric style of the piece. 5. The main idea of the piece in the symphonic version is manifested through the timbre reinterpretation of the theme, the multi-layered texture, the significant role of the woodwinds in the melodic lines and percussion to emphasize the rhythmic pattern and mark the boundaries of the form, as well as through the coloristic effects. The named ways of the piece working create the orchestral style that is a valuable component of composer’s creative activity.

'Leading' as a strategy in the performance-practice of contemporary solo violin music

The starting point for the present practice-based study was my observation of the diverse conditions regarding the focus-of-attention that occurs during chamber ensemble and solo performances of contemporary art music. As the violinist leader of a contemporary music ensemble, I focus my attention externally on multidirectional musical interactions with my fellow musicians and the audience. In contrast, when I am in a solo performance, I tend to focus more on my own internal, physical actions. More satisfactory musical results in leading interactive ensemble performances induced a hypothesis that ensemble leading practices can also be applied as a strategy to improve a solo performance. In this article, I provide a leading-based approach to explore ways in which leading can be used as a strategy in the performance-practice of contemporary works for solo violin and address which specific ensemble leading gestures can be applied in a solo performance. I suggest that leading in a solo performance serves two purposes: leading my own actions, and leading the audience to perceive the music and participate in the listening. Both Toccatina for solo violin by Helmut Lachenmann and Gesti for violin, electronics and video by Jouni Hirvelä feature soft dynamics and extended playing techniques that demand innovative performance strategies. I reflect on the performance-practice of these two works and demonstrate how leading can be used to emphasize temporal structures, dynamics, articulation, phrasing and embodied narratives of music. The concepts of attentional focus and musical gestures inform the theoretical context for this study.

José Limón's Chaconne

Abstract: In 1942, choreographer José Limón created a solo for himself to J. S. Bach's "Chaconne" for solo violin, the last movement of Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor BWV 1004. Many of Limón's works revolve around a central thematic narrative, often celebrating the majesty of the human spirit. In his Chaconne , however, Limón created an abstract movement representation of Bach's music, employing theme and variation as a stylistic compositional device. Chaconne is not, however, devoid of connotative references, as certain gestures, shapes, and stances spark various associations. But these occasional veiled echoes of a literal scenario do not explain the continuing appeal of the work, which instead is attributed mainly to its impressively crafted choreographic design, the carefully built relationships it exhibits between dance and music, and the openness and interpretative flexibility it offers as a vehicle for empowering the dancer. Limón intended the dance to reflect the meaning of the music, not strictly a visualization of the music, though it does have its share of such music-dance matches. The dance partakes in certain aspects of the music's form and structure, utilizing similar or parallel compositional design and techniques and following and countering the music's phrasing, melodic contour, and rhythms. Some of the congruences are obvious and satisfying, such as the many four-measure aaab dance phrases joined to equivalent four-measure aaab phrases of Bach's music. Some of the music-dance congruences are more subtle, such as extended physical movements riding ascending and descending musical scales. This choreographic focus on melodic contour draws attention to how Bach pairs ascent and descent, or chordal arpeggiation and stepwise scalar runs, across pairs of four-measure sequences. Separate from, but hand in hand with, its relationship to the music, the dance also has its own shape. Limón conceived of the material as developing from "a seminal dance phrase from which the entire work would flow." He did not elaborate on that phrase or how it evolves throughout the work. Still, generations of dancers in his namesake company have contributed to and accumulated a treasure trove of observations about and interpretations of Limón's solo, and how it relates to the music—and this cache may be usefully consulted. A choreomusical analysis of the dance incorporating the insights of dancers reveals how Limón developed the steps, gestures, positions, and phrases of his material; what musical relationships are pertinent to dancing it; how choreographic variation structures the dance; and how the dance illuminates aspects of design in the music. In particular, a principle of diminution pervades the design of the dance and the music; material is repeated in some way in faster or in smaller units, thus accelerating one's experience of, and increasing the tension in, a performance. However, such analysis can only be tentative, its conclusions temporary. There is no agreed-upon original or definitive dance score. Multiple versions exist on video and in the company's collective memory. Various dancers perform the dance differently. Furthermore, it is a living, growing artwork, as each new performer brings their individual experience to bear upon their performance—an artistic stance encouraged by Limón's conceptualization of his dance as a score open to each dancer's interpretation.

Сонаты и партиты для скрипки соло И. С. Баха: источниковедческий анализ автографа и его рукописных копий первой трети XVIII века

The article is devoted to a textual analysis of the autograph of J. S. Bach’s sonatas and partitas for violin solo and two of its copies-lists, followed by copyists from the composer’s inner circle A. M. Bach and I. P. Kellner. The research material is manuscripts of the first third of the 18th century, stored in the archives of the Berlin State Library — Prussian Cultural Heritage. As a result of the analysis, the reliability of the handwritten copy of A. M. Bach was established and significant macrostructural and microstructural changes in the copy of I. P. Kellner were identified. J. S. Bach’s autograph and his handwritten copies open up a unique opportunity for performing musicians and musicologists not only to significantly expand their understanding of the composer’s works for violin solo, but to come into contact with the history of the comprehension and understanding of his creations by his contemporaries.

PERAN KONTEN VIDEO MUSIK DALAM MENINGKATKAN MOTIVASI INTRINSIK BELAJAR MUSIK PADA SANGGAR BIOLA QUINTA YOGYAKARTA

Due to rapid technological advances, innovation and creativity are necessary in every sector of life, including the world of arts education. This article aims to determine the role of music video content in increasing intrinsic motivation to learn music at Sanggar Biola Quinta Yogyakarta. Intrinsic motivation for learning music is an essential concept because the motive is built through habits that encourage students’ curiosity and high enthusiasm for music learning. Sanggar Biola Quinta Yogyakarta is a non-formal music education provider that is active in producing music video content on its YouTube channel. This research uses a qualitativemethod with a case study approach. Observation, documentation studies, and interviews carried out data collection. The research results show that the production of music video content in the form of violin solo cover videos on the Sanggar Biola Quinta YouTube channel plays a decisive role in increasing students’ intrinsic motivation to learn music, and increasing intrinsic motivation to learn music results in a high desire to study music more actively. The production of music video content that offers novelty in music learning tools at Sanggar Biola Quinta has a positive impact on student knowledge development.

Orchestration as a factor of genre reproduction (on the example of analysing Zoltan Almashi’s Concerto Grosso no. 4 “Seasons”)

Statement of the problem. Among the many trends in the creative search in music of the XX–XXI centuries, one of the leading ones is the appeal to the ideas and models of the past. This has led to the revival of previous centuries musical genres. The accuracy of a genre’s reproduction is determined by its constituent elements, such as musical themes, harmony, form structure, etc. Orchestration plays an important role in this process, as it forms a timbre-textural complex that has structural, organisational and semantic functions in musical work. The considered piece, Z. Almash’si Concerto Grosso No. 4 “Seasons” for violin and orchestra, is an example of the use of the early genre in contemporary music. Despite the genre classification mentioned in the title, the composition has its own unique features that indicate a free interpretation of the genre model. In this regard, it seems necessary to to identify the features characteristic of the concerto grosso genre. Among them, orchestration can be considered the key one. Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. The existing scientific sources do not pay enough attention to the orchestration in «Seasons» by Z. Almashi, as wee as its role in the reproduction of the genre, which determines the scientific novelty of this study. The purpose of the article is to identify the orchestration features attributable to concerto grosso in Z. Almasy’s work and to determine the specific principles of the structure of the orchestral texture. The study uses: the historical-typological method – to understand the contextual and socio-cultural belonging of Z. Almashi’s piece, the genre method – to reveal its typological and individual features with a projection on the orchestration, the stylistic method – to determine the artistic and aesthetic, linguistic and technological properties, a structural and functional method – to disclose the peculiarities of the organization of an orchestral texture. Recent research and publications. The work is based on sources devoted to the relationship of genre and orchestration (Korobetska, 2011; 2013), the use of contemporary composers with genre models of early music (Tukova, 2003), the formation and development of the instrumental concerto (Rakochi, 2021), to the orchestral style of Baroque composers (Borodavkin, 1998), orchestration as a component of compositional technique (Savchenko, 2021), and to the definition of the position of timbre and texture in orchestration (Kashyrtsev, 2021; Klebanov, 2019). Research results and conclusion. The analysis revealed those features in the orchestration that correspond to the genre of concerto grosso. First of all, it is the availability of two instrumental groups with different orchestral functions. The first ‘concertino’ group includes the principale violin, ocarina, flute, clarinet in B and piano; the second ‘ripieno’ group includes the string orchestra. Nevertheless, instruments from the first group (primarily woodwinds and piano) can be combined with stringed instruments in accompaniment of solo violin. When these groups of instruments interact, there is a juxtaposition of timbres, volumes and sound densities. Also, the contrast is enhanced due to the virtuosity of the parts in the ‘concertino’ group. This creates dialogue and competition, which necessary for the realization of the genre. A variety of orchestration techniques, among which are timbre mixtures, duplication, re-colouring, swinging, and sound painting, embodies the concerto principle. They form a timbre dramaturgy, which is essential for actualising the concert genre and the program title of the piece.

Features of the Composition "Monologue" for Solo Violin by Rufat Ramazanov, Representative of the Azerbaijani Composer’s School

Features of the Composition "Monologue" for Solo Violin by Rufat Ramazanov, Representative of the Azerbaijani Composer’s School

Flou: A Co-Compositional Attempt at Algorithmic Embodiment

My composition, Flou for solo violin, is an attempt at cocomposition between the composer and the performer at embodying otherwise unidiomatic machine-learning generated materials. The piece touches on a broader compositional problem where historically, when algorithms were used as a means in itself, composers were often faced with tensions between the algorithm, the composer, and the performer. To contextualize further, Cage, Xenakis, and Boulez each came up with their own algorithmic processes and dealt with these tensions differently. Upon scrutinizing these composers’ methods, I observe that these tensions are usually resolved by enabling agency for either side of the humans involved. As in, Boulez deviates from his algorithm to follow his compositional instincts, Cage creates indeterminate scores for performers to interpret, and Xenakis adds ‘human touches’ to his ‘incomplete’ algorithm. Considering these kinds of tensions, Flou uses an open score with only algorithmic pitch notated, which I ask to be played using an octave-lower scordatura. The open score affords the performer’s freedom to react to the instability of the scordatura in non-pitch ways, and it is this tantalizing physical attempt at trying to play the algorithmic pitch that foregrounds the performer’s bodily presence in the performance.

Solo violin music in the creativity of Hanna Havrylets

Solo violin music in the creativity of Hanna Havrylets

The pecularities of transcription of homofon-harmonic musical works for accordion

The article deals with the general and specific issues of accordion transcription development. The peculiarities of this process depend largely on the discourse of the original creations, selected for transcription. Most of them belong to the homophonic-harmonic style, usually corresponding to the period of musical classicism and romanticism, and are written for piano or violin solo, or with orchestral accompaniment. The author focuses on the specifics of the given instruments, analyses the transcription of homophonic-harmonic creations from a historical perspective. At the same time, specific features and recommendations are presented in order to create accordion versions of musical creations in this style.

Heavenly sonatas, heroic rivers and demonic dancing

The days of believing that 18th-century musical texts should be taken literally in performance are long over. Instead, there is widespread agreement that they should be understood as musical serving suggestions, including in choices of instrumentation. For example, in 1906 musicologist Edward Dent proposed that some of Domenico Scarlatti’s (1685–1757) sonatas were not written for a single keyboard instrument, but were in fact intended for the violin and keyboard. Dent was talking about sonatas k.73 (l.217), 77 (168), 78 (75), 81 (271), 89 (211), 90 (106) and 91 (176), all of which are transmitted in ‘Libro XIV’ of a Venetian manuscript in the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, dated 1742. However, it was to take almost 40 years before Lionel Salter, Dent’s student, published them for this instrumentation—see his collection of Sonatas for violin and clavier (7 vols., London, 1940–50). Further examination of the Scarlatti source materials revealed that another 16 sonatas had similar characteristics to the seven identified by Dent. These characteristics include a four-movement structure (slow–fast–slow–fast), often with a figured bass, with the ‘right-hand’ and ‘left-hand’ voices separated throughout; the right hand contains wide chords that are unplayable with one hand, but can be performed on the violin; and dots and slurs in the upper part suggest articulation with a bowed string instrument. Due to the numerous violinistic passages, it is widely agreed today that several of the sonatas from the manuscript in the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana were indeed designed to be performed by more than one instrument. There is no consensus on how many works meet these criteria, though, and this is reflected in their recording history. In 2008, for instance, Tedi Papavrami recorded his transcriptions of 12 keyboard sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti for solo violin (Aeon, aecd0644, issued 2008); in 2012, violinist Paolo Perrone, harpsichordist Alexandra Nigito and members of Capella Tiberina performed movements from Dent’s pick of continuo sonatas, experimenting with various scorings (Brilliant Classics, 94325, issued 2013); and in 2022, another reading of sonatas k.81 and 88–91 was published, this time on YouTube, with Debra Fast (violin) and Sandro Ivo Bartoli (organ) (see https://tinyurl.com/3w3uyvcc).

‘The most principall and chiefest kind of musicke’

In his influential 1597 treatise A plaine and easie introduction to practicall musicke Thomas Morley presents—through the medium of a Platonic dialogue among the characters Polymathes, Philomathes and Master—all the knowledge and skills necessary, in his opinion, to master the art of composition. One of the main themes of the work, which is explored in its third part, is an insistence that any aspiring musician should study Italian music in both its present but also historical styles, and as part of this the Master describes key vocal and instrumental forms. He begins his discussion of the latter with the ‘fantasie’, giving it the epithet found in the title of this review and defining it as ‘when a musician taketh a point at his pleasure, and wresteth and turneth it as he list, making either much or little of it according as shall seeme best in his own conceit’. Whether or not any of the northern European, High Baroque composers whose music is featured on this selection of albums would have known of Morley or his seminal treatise is a matter for speculation—yet each of the recordings under the spotlight has something of the fantastical about it, whether in form or in substance. This is, unsurprisingly, most apparent on Alina Ibragimova’s Georg Philipp Telemann: Fantasias for solo violin (Hyperion cda68384, issued 2022)—indeed, Joseph Fort’s booklet note references Morley’s text—which presents the complete set of solo violin fantasias published by Telemann alongside those for flute, keyboard and viola da gamba between 1732 and 1736. While not on the scale of, say, the solo violin works of J. S. Bach—these are all three- or four-movement works, each lasting between four and eight minutes—they nevertheless show Telemann at his most sparkling and inventive; as Fort notes, they were primarily aimed at the amateur market, and ‘designed as much for the pleasure of playing as for the pleasure of listening’. That is not to say, of course, that they present no challenge to the professional; in the hands of Ibragimova, these pieces that could sound merely gemütlich or even perhaps trite in places instead come across as rich in invention and variety, charming little miniatures that entertain without outstaying their welcome. She adopts a fairly brisk approach, which suits the tone of her 1570 Amati, and this for me works better here than the more relaxed tempos of Rachel Podger, for example.

Dark Virtuosity: Violin Symbolism in Alberto Iglesias's Score for Pedro Almodóvar's Film The Skin I Live In (2011)

AbstractSingled out as one of the finest and most original works by the leading film-music composer Alberto Iglesias, the score for Pedro Almodóvar's The Skin I Live In (2011) stands out for its inclusion of a (neo-baroque) virtuoso part for solo violin with key symbolic functions in the film. This part is largely derived from the composer's post-minimalist string trio Cautiva (c. 1990). The present article analyses Iglesias's reconfiguration of key materials from Cautiva to express the relationship of domination, violence, and desire between the film's villain and the heroine as well as the role played by violin virtuosity in establishing links to the (gothic) horror genre and in the exaltation of the artist's power as creator that Almodóvar ultimately reflects upon in The Skin I Live In. The article adds to recent studies on the centuries-old symbolism of the violin as a topos of the demonic and otherworldly by analysing these meanings in one of the finest contemporary film scores. The study is part of a recent upsurge of critical assessments of Almodóvar–Iglesias's work from cultural and musico-analytical perspectives.

Eugene Ysaye's Six Sonatas for Solo Violin in Three Recitals

Eugene Ysaye's Six Sonatas for Solo Violin in Three Recitals

Из неизвестного скрипичного наследия: Концерт для скрипки с оркестром Р. М. Глиэра

The article is devoted to the Violin Concerto оp. 100 by Reinhold Moritsevich Glier — the last work not completed by the composer during his lifetime. The unique role of this composition in Glier's work is determined, the peculiarities of the stylistics, the tonal and harmonic language of the Concert are considered, special attention is paid to the performing difficulties in the solo violin part. The author expresses the hope that the article will contribute to the interest among performers in this work, undeservedly little known at the present time.

Violin concerto by Gian Carlo Menotti: at the intersection of opera and instrumental genres

The relevance of the study is to study the instrumental works by G. С. Menotti, known worldwide primarily as an opera composer. His four concerts, unfortunately, did not receive such recognition as his operas, unfairly remaining in the shadow of the latter. The Violin Concerto, which was recorded only twice in the first 44 years after its premiere in 1952, is no exception. Performing interest in this work intensified in the late twentieth century, but scientific research is still isolated, and they do not cover the question: whether the interpretation of a purely instrumental genre influenced the opera aspirations and skills of the composer and if so, how?
 The main objective of the study is to trace the interaction of opera and instrumental principles in Menotti's Violin Concerto and to identify the peculiarities of the interpretation of the chosen genre due to such interaction.
 The methodology includes historical (to consider circumstances of the creation and the performance of the concerto), comparative (to identify common features in the theme and compositional organization of the concert and the opera "Amal and Night Guests"), as well as structuralfunctional, genre-style and intonational-dramatic methods (for a comprehensive analysis of the work).
 Results and conclusions. Menotti's Violin Concerto is considered in the aspect of opera influences due to the author's many years of experience in the field of theatrical music. The lack of dissemination of the work in the world of violin was stated, the names of its performers were given — from the premiere to the present. The structure and figurative content of the concert are characterized, the ratio of typical and atypical genre features is indicated, the presence of elements of end-to-end tonal and thematic development within the cycle is emphasized. The properties of music themes, which reflect the typical for Menotti operas mixed type of vocal intonation with a combination of cantilena and declamatory phrases, are analyzed. The figurative-thematic connection between the concert and opera works of the composer is traced, in particular, by comparing certain episodes of the Violin Concerto and the opera «Amal and Night Guests». Theatrical influences at the compositional and dramaturgical level, such as «cadre» fragmentation of sections and frequency of their changes in the opening and closing movements of the concert, proximity to the end-to-end opera stage in the middle part, are revealed. An analogy between the ratio of solo and orchestral parts in concert and in Menotti's operas is made. Emphasis is placed on the leading role of the violin solo in the concert, which is determined by the exposure of most music themes in its part, virtuosity of presentation, the presence of a large number of purely solo episodes, including two cadences. At the same time, it is noted that the originality of Menotti's concert is not only due to opera influences, but also to the dedicate the work for a specific performer — the American violinist Efrem Zimbalist. The close cooperation of the two musicians affected the character of the solo part in the concert and, indirectly, its music content.