Vocal Cycle Research Articles

Особливості театральності та театралізації камерно-вокального циклу на вірші Едуарда Мьоріке в творчості Гуго Вольфа

Research objective. The aim of the work is an investigation of the peculiarities of theatricality and theatricalization of the chamber-vocal cycle based on the poems of Eduard Mörike in Hugo Wolf’s work. The research methodology is based on musicological research, as well as systematic-analytical, comparative, and comparative-typological methods. This methodology eases the revelation of the peculiarities of theatricality and theatricalization of the chamber-vocal genre in Wolf’s work, as well as the general and distinctive features of these concepts and the principles of their use in the vocal cycle Mörike’s Poems for Solo Voice and Piano, Set to Music by Hugo Wolf. The scientific novelty is a substantiation of the principles of theatricality and theatricalization as defining in Wolf’s creative method, revealed in all the figurative manifestations of the cycle through special, specific verbal-musical characteristics. Conclusions. It was found that theatricality and theatricalization became one of the general themes associated with the search for new artistic phenomena – a synthesis of arts inspired by the artists of the era of Romanticism. It has been determined that theatricality and theatricalization are conditional artistic quality, an extra-musical principle, which testifies to the internal connection of music with theatrical art and makes it possible to manifest them at different stages of musical creation – composition, interpretation, reception. It is proved that, following the path of theatricalization of the song genre, Wolf goes beyond the traditional chamber-vocal lyrics and combines a complex of “dramatic” and “lyrical” means within the framework of a new type of vocal-poetic composition. First of all, this consists in replacing the “I” of the lyrical hero with the “not I” of another subject (character), which contributes to the penetration of acting and theatrical illusion into the chamber-vocal genre. The cycle Mörike’s Poems for Solo Voice and Piano, Set to Music by Hugo Wolf shows the characteristic features of the composer’s style and the principles of theatricalization used by him. These principles include polyphonic interaction of musical-poetic images in their integrity, imparting properties inherent in theatrical performance to works; use of the cross-cutting symphonic development of thematic within the framework of vocal miniatures with the involvement of a complex of musical expressive means aimed at creating the effect of various types of depiction; attraction of various forms of monologic and dialogic utterance (from monologues and characteristicportrait sketches to songs of a proper dialogical stamp); cross-cutting development of the plot, dialogueness, and poeticness, recitative-declamatory principle in combination with the growing role of accompaniment, attitude to the word, visibility of movement and gesture, from which the theatricalization of the chamber-vocal genre arises. Hugo Wolf’s use of such principles testifies to the reading of musical-poetic texts in line with the tendencies of romantic tension, theatricality/theatricalization, and psychologism.

ПОЕЗІЯ ОЛЕКСАНДРА ОЛЕСЯ В МУЗИЧНІЙ ІНТЕРПРЕТАЦІЇ ЯКОВА СТЕПОВОГО (на прикладі вокального циклу «Пісні настрою»)

The article describes the dramatic, formative and musical-expressive means in the vocal cycle of the Ukrainian composer Yakiv Stepovy (1883–1921) “Pisni nastroyu” (“Songs of Mood”) on the poem by Oleksandr Oles. It is emphasized that singing as a notable feature of the composer’s talent determines the mood-intonation structure of his works, the nature of tonal and harmonic connections, methods of development, construction and deployment of structures, the specifics of instrumental texture. Steppe is drawn to the music associated with the word; his bright creative individuality affected the development of Ukrainian romance. His romances are closely connected with the fi-gurative and intonational content of folk songs, especially lyrical ones. Versatile reproduction of a person’s sincere feelings, thoughts and experiences are close to the inner world of the artist. Romances contrast with each other figuratively, tonal and textural. Comparing the two cycles of Stepovyj (“Barvinky” and “Pisni nastroyu”), we note a somewhat new approach to the problem of communication between words and music in “Pisni nastroyu”: there is a greater integrity of the cycle. Romances are small in size, but richer and more capacious. Keywords: Yakiv Stepovy, Oleksandr Oles, composer, poetry, romance, interpretation, image, melody, piano accompaniment.

Satirical vocal cycles by Dmitry Shostakovich in the orchestration of Boris Tishchenko

Satirical vocal cycles by Dmitry Shostakovich in the orchestration of Boris Tishchenko

The features of romance creativity by Vitaliy Hubarenko of the 50-60’s of the 20th century

The purpose of this article is to determine the style and compositional features of V. Hubarenko’s romances of the mid-20th century. Methods. In order to reveal the characteristic features of the composer’s work and the peculiarities of the vocal part in V. Hubarenko’s romances, the article uses methods of theoretical generalization and instructive-methodical analysis. Identification of stylistic features, artistic and figurative content, structure, expressive and technical means of the works were carried out with the help of music-theoretical and performance analysis. Scientific novelty. The article reveals the characteristic features of the early romance creativity of V. Hubarenko. By means of the analysis of works, the stylistic tendencies of the artist are determined, which blossomed in the works of the mature period. Conclusions. For V. Hubarenko’s creativity, the reflection of the surrounding reality is inherent, which he passed it through his own feelings and understanding. Thanks to this approach, the main characters of the composer’s vocal works are characterized by bright emotionality and true strength of feelings. In his chamber-vocal work V. Hubarenko combined folk-song and folklore intonations with the composer’s achievements of the musical culture of the middle of the 20th century. Elements of folklore played a special role for a deeper embodiment of the program and artistic design. For the works of the young Gubarenko 1950-60ʼs. the transition from plot-narrative integrity to an ideological concept with independent contrasting numbers is inherent. A vivid example of this approach is the vocal cycle „From the poetry of J. Utkin” and the collection of romances „Colors and Moods”. V. Hubarenko’s vocal works are distinguished by simplicity of compositional construction, bright dynamism and acute drama. The variety of harmonies, the dialogic nature of the vocal and instrumental parts, the special melody of the vocal part in which declamation is used – all this constitutes the characteristic features of V. Hubarenko’s early composing style.

Late Romantic Reflections by Valentin Bibik

The article considers the ways of recreating the stylistic properties of late romanticism in the symphonies of the Ukrainian composer V. Bibik (1940–2003). The master’s openness to contacts with various national cultures manifested itself in the circumstances of his life and in the breadth of artistic interests, among which the musical traditions of late romanticism occupied a special place. The affinity of V. Bibik’s composing individuality to the romantic worldview is confirmed by the emphasis on the personality beginning, the monologue nature of the utterance, the sharpness of the reaction to the dissonances of life. Neo-romantic tendencies in the art of music of the last third of the last century stimulated the “meeting” of the modern Ukrainian author with the spiritual and aesthetic heritage of the 19th century. The path traversed by V. Bibik in this direction reflects the gradual maturation of the composer’s creative dialogue with the heritage of the previous culture: from the first obvious responses to late romanticism in the Fifth Symphony, through the testing of its recognizable features on the national-Ukrainian material in the vocal Sixth Symphony to the poems by T. Shevchenko to a kind of “triptych” of symphonic concepts of the Seventh – the Eighth – the Ninth. In them, stylistic signs of late romanticism cover all levels of artistic structure (spiritual, meaningful, dramaturgic, compositional, form-building, and thematic). At the same time, the composer is not engaged in modelling certain genre, stylistic parameters, but transforms the borrowed musical realities into signs, including them into his own ideological imaginative concept. As a result, they turn from “strangers” into “friends”, organically entering the individual stylistic context of the author. The constancy of V. Bibik’s artistic and aesthetic reference points can be judged by the author’s subsequent unnumbered Symphonies to the texts by M. Tsvetaeva and J. Brodsky, respectively. Their performing group – a vocal solo and a symphony orchestra – refers to the late romantic experiments of creating a special genre variety: the orchestral vocal cycle.

Interpretation of fiction texts in the intermedial dimension. "Fiançailles for rire" of Francis Poulenc

The purpose of the article is to analyze the peculiarities of the interpretation of artistic texts of the vocal cycle of F. Poulenc on the poem by Louise de Wilmoren "Engagement is a joke" in the intermedial dimension. In addition to the general characteristics of the chamber-vocal cycle of F. Poulenc, the analysis of the poetic text, the peculiarities of its compositional reading, to comprehend the significance of the form of French vocal culture "musical portrait". Outline intermediality as a phenomenon of art in the space of culture. Methodology: comparative, structural methods and narrative analysis to understand the deep psychological processes that occur during the interpretation of "musical portraits". The scientific novelty is the study of the interaction of poetic style and form of "musical portrait" as the basis of internal textual connections of the work of art, and the relationship of the artistic language of different arts, which are coordinated in the process of interpretation into the intermediality space. Conclusions. The musical portrayal is substantiated as a kind of intermedia interpretation of artistic texts. "Musical portrait" as a form of French vocal culture is a full-fledged semiotic space, with a universal textual category of intertextuality, along with the specific characteristics of its sign system, conveys "figurative" information. Correlation of poetic texts, features of intersemiotic translation of figurative structures which carry information by means and at the expense of aesthetic possibilities of other kinds of arts - is an actual theme of the present. Correlation of poetic texts, features of intersemiotic translation of figurative structures which carry information by means and at the expense of aesthetic possibilities of other kinds of arts - is an actual theme of the present. A special type of intratextual relationships is formed in a work of art - intermediality, based on the interaction of artistic codes of different types of art.

Вокальная симфония в трактовке Лейфа Сегерстама и Пера Хенрика Нурдгрена

The present article analyzes the approach toward the genre of the vocal symphony of two contemporary symphonic composers – Leif Segerstam and Pehr Henrik Nurdgren; analysis is given to Segerstam’s Symphony No.14 “Moments of Peace III” and Nurdgren’s Sixth Symphony “Interdependence” (1999–2000), which have different orchestral ensembles and structure. Segerstam’s symphony presents a 16-movement cycle for tenor and symphony orchestra and discloses a spectrum of feelings of its lyrical hero. The symphony combines sonoristic and aleatory techniques, reflecting the features intrinsic to Segerstam of the authorial “technique of free pulsation.” In this case the specificity of its realization is connected with the special role of the verbal text in the overall composition. According to the composer’s indications, the aphorisms of John Brown, which lie at the symphony’s foundation, have the option of not being sounded, since the soloist’s timbre during the process of performance is variable (either a voice or one of the instruments). Consequently, the text here preserves its connection with verbal notation: Segerstam used it in his first oeuvres created in his technique. Nurdgren’s symphony draws different performance means: an orchestra, a chorus and two solo vocalists (a soprano and a tenor). The massive ensemble is determined by the composition’s theme: it is written on the text of the “Declaration of Interdependence,” the document which states the basic principles of environmental law. The symphony consists of three movements; all of their particular features (its composition, applied means of vocalization, etc.) are determined by the vocal text, since the directives of the “Declaration” serve as the predominating element in the composition. Thereby, the analyzed compositions demonstrate the fluency of the vocal symphony, its ability to embody diverse types of content and artistic conceptions. At the same time, they demonstrate two paths along which this genre can develop. Being a hybrid genre in its nature, it brings in the means of a vocal cycle (Segerstam’s symphony) or a cantata or oratorio (Nurdgren’s symphony). Keywords: vocal symphony, Leif Segerstam, Symphony No. 14 “Moments of Peace III,” John Brown, Pehr Henrik Nurdgren, Symphony No. 6 “Interdependence,” David Suzuki, Jan Sibelius, “Kullervo” symphony.

Abai vocal cycle of E.Rakhmadiev: interpretation of the genre

The article examines the musical creativity of E.Rakhmadiev, a classic of the Kazakh composing school, the author of vocal-symphonic, opera, chamber-instrumental, song-choral works that are included in the national musical treasury. The author of article presents an analysis of the vocal cycle of seven romances dedicated to the legacy of Abai. In the cultural life of the Kazakh people, the personality of Abai Kunanbayev, his poetic and musical creativity occupy a special place. Each of his poem “sings”, and it is not surprising that many composers, when creating their songs and romances, turn to the poetic heritage of Abai. In each of the romances the organic unanimity of the composers and the poet is manifested, each of the songs is self-sufficient and has its own musical and poetic content, all romances differ from each other both genre and stylistically.

The Vocal Cycle of Vitalii Hubarenko “Hold Out The Palms” in a Modern Musical Project

An individual performing project dedicated to the anniversaries of the CherkashinHubarenko family, which is consisted of a series of concerts, a program “Family Album” and a studio recording of an audio CD called “Poetry and Music” (performed by Valeria Tulis (vocals) and Olena Shchoholieva (piano)), was considered. A detailed report was made on the approbation of this concert program, which had included bright examples of chamber and vocal music by Vitaliy Hubarenko and Iryna Hubarenko, as well as Mykhailo Shukh (based on poems by Iryna Hubarenko). Particular attention was drawn to a new wave of interest in the work of father and daughter. In this regard, other concert programs in Ukraine and abroad with the participation of various performers were mentioned. Attention was focused on the vocal cycle of V. Hubarenko “Hold on the palms” to the words of V. Sosiura op. 26 which is one of the works of the presented concert program. The latest research on the life and work of V. Hubarenko in general, and the selected work in particular, were analysed. The vocal cycle “Hold out the palms” already has its own performance history, so the multiple performances of the past years were mentioned, where it was performed as part of the anniversary author's concerts during the composer's life. Oleksandr Vostryakov became the most famous interpreter of the cycle and the performer whom V. Hubarenko especially appreciated. The most important features of his performance version accompanied by an orchestra are emphasized, in particular the attraction to the opera style of singing, scale, dramatics of expression. The vocal cycle “Hold on the palms” by V. Hubarenko, written in the original for tenor and piano, was analysed in the new performance aspect. The poetic text was edited, which made it possible to perform a tenor cycle in the female version and determined its individual creative understanding. New approaches in the interpretation of this cycle were identified, namely: the creation of a touching female image, the emphasis on the song-chamber, intimate-lyrical tone of this music. Attention was paid to the subordination of all means of musical expression to the composer's own perception and understanding of the poetic source. Emphasis was placed on the importance of the piano part in revealing a wide range of feelings and emotional states, in giving more metrorhythmic freedom to the soloist. The role of ensemble interrelation, “creative tandem” of performers in the formation of the general figurative impression was determined

Style Features of the Vocal Cycles by Alexander Jacobchuk

The vocal cycles “Excerpts from my Kobzar” based on I. Hubarenko’s poems for mezzosoprano and piano and “Plum Blossom” based on M. Bashō’s poems for soprano and piano (2017) by Alexander Jacobchuk, the representative of the Kyiv Composers School, are considered in view of the originality of interpretation of conceptual basics of the outlined genre.The embodiment of poetry in music, in particular in the genre of the vocal cycle, as one of the interesting areas of the composer's work is highlighted through the use of textual, analytical, comparative, historical methods, as well as the method of interviewing the author. Since an era of Romanticism a history of music has accumulated considerable experience in this genre, which testifies to its huge artistic and aesthetic potential in both vertical (chronological, stylistic) and horizontal (geographical, national) aspects, according to the renewal of compositional techniques in interpretation of poetry. In this field A. Jacobchuk’s work has not yet become the subject of interest, that’s why actualizes its study in the stream of vocal cycle development at the beginning of the XXIth century. The artistic and stylistic features in relation to the figurative and semantic context of the verbal series are analyzed. It is revealed the use of musical intonation as the most important expression of the semantic load of the word. Chromatization consistently used in melodic lines and harmonic complexes, due to the expressive-philosophical basis of I. Hubarenko’s poems, as well as the manifestation of Orientalism in the embodiment of lyric contemplative-meditative poems by M. Bashō are introduced to convey the idea of colouring music language, which resonates with the achievements of the impressionists (parallelism of seventh chords, the principle of matching consonances, sound imagery, the study of phonic qualities of texture in the direction of spatial effects). It is proved that the integrity of drama in both cycles is based on thematic arches, the formation of culmination zones, a well-thought-out tonal plan. A special way of concentrating emotions is alternation the use of unaccompanied vocal solos with piano solos in some parts and instrumental interludes (in framing parts).

Alban Berg: from amateur composer to the author of Altenberglieder

The object of this research is the piano compositions of Alban Berg – the String Quartet, Op. 3, and the vocal cycle Altenberglieder, Op. 4. The subject of this research is the artistic transformation of Berg from amateur composer of romantic music to the author of the complex atonal composition. The article reviews the aspects of Berg's apprenticeship that impacted his professional becoming. The peculiarities of the pedagogical method the composer's mentor and friend. Arnold Schoenberg are described. The author systematizes Berg's musical impressions acquired in his earlier period, which revealed the world of “new tones”. Special attention is given to the personal qualities of Alban Berg, his desire to cognize the new musical world. Analysis is conducted on the piano pieces composed at the time of his study with Schoenberg is. Opuses 3 and 4 are examined for the similar authorial techniques and their gradual complication. The conclusion is made that the phenomenon of rapid changes in the composer's artistic path is substantiated by a combination of factors. Berg was able to overcome the initially romantic melodious nature in his composing due to the opportunity to be in Vienna, which was the center of musical life at that time and the pedagogical talent of A. Schoenberg. The key character traits of the composer were commitment, capacity to work, and strive for creative truth. His natural enthusiasm and sensitivity were balanced by mathematical meticulousness and propensity for systematization. This served as the foundation for the remarkable changes that can be traces from his apprentice sketches to the first independent composition – the vocal cycle Altenberglieder, Op. 4. The scientific novelty of this research consists in posing the question of how Berg was able to develop such complex modern language in a very short period of time that elevated him to the forefront of leading composers.

Effect of the vocal tract filtering on the measurement of vocal cycle perturbations

Jitter and shimmer appear as symptoms of disordered voices and they are defined as the cycle-to-cycle variation of the cycle length and cycle amplitude, respectively. The frequency modulation of the phonatory excitation, i.e. vocal jitter, causes amplitude modulation (shimmer) of the speech signal due to the action of the vocal tract transfer function. In this Letter, the authors investigate the extent to which the vocal tract filtering affects the accuracy of measurement of vocal cycle perturbations of the phonatory excitation. To achieve this goal, the direct digital synthesiser is used to generate a series of glottal excitation cycles with the desired amount of vocal perturbations that crosses the vocal tract model to produce a set of 231 stimuli of sustained vowels [a]. Praat is used to measure the amount of perturbations. Results show that the values of the input shimmer inserted in the glottal excitation are smaller than the values measured by Praat. An undesired amount of shimmer is generated in the speech signal when the glottal excitation signal perturbed with jitter crosses through the vocal tract.

“Again, as before, alone…” On the signs of self-intertextuality in the late works of P.I. Tchaikovsky

The article considers the problem of textual borrowings from his own compositions as a way of author’s self-understanding and self-interpreting, in the style formation of the latest period of Tchaikovsky’s work (1890-1893). The research is based on the last vocal cycle of the composer - Six Romances, op. 73 (1893). The problem field of the research also covers a range of compositions related to the last four years of the composer’s life: “The Queen of Spades” opera, Sixth Symphony, “The Nutcracker” ballet, and an opera “Iolanta”. Special attention is given to the integral stylistic substantiation of such specific techniques of “self-hermeneutics” as anagrammatizing, self-citing, tonal reminiscences, and composition-drama correlations. The author considers the declared problem in the intertextual context, classifying it as “self-intertextuality”, and uses the intertext methodology of the French structuralist school (F. Saussure, Ju. Kristeva), and the Russian researchers of the phenomenon of self-intertextuality (V. Toporov, T. Fateeva). An additional methodological direction is a mythopoetic substantiation of anagrammatizing (the detection of an author’s monogram), for which the author uses the instruments of onomastic concepts of myth (A. Losev, Yu. Lotman). As a result of such an integrative (intertextual and mythopoetic) approach, very “unexpected” (at least at first sight) manifestations of self-intertextuality (the presence of a monogram “SNA”, citations from various compositions, non-conventional tone plan and “anti-final” cyclic composition in the music cycle) are comprehensively semantically substantiated by the author’s myth about “Name acquisition”. Thus, the discovered methodological strategy can be used for studying particular opuses and corpus-based text forms.   

Четверостишия Бо Цзюй-и в вокальном цикле Эдисона Денисова «Ноктюрны»: творческий метод русского композитора середины ХХ века при работе с древнекитайской поэзией

The article is devoted to studying correlation of music and poetry in Edison Denisov’s vocal creative work. The problem is examined on the basis of comparing the “Nocturnes” vocal cycle and the poetical source - poems of the ancient Chinese poet Bai Juyi in L. Z. Eidlin’s translation. The researcher describes the “thaw” period in the Soviet art as a period when the cycle was created. Political cause for revival of the Russian-Chinese relations at the end of the 1940s - the beginning of the 1950s is identified. Denisov’s methods to work with Bai Juyi’s poetry are examined, the Russian composer’s attitude to images of the Chinese culture and musical stylistics of the composition are analysed.

МУЗЫКАЛЬНЫЙ КОГНИТИВИЗМ В НОВОМ КЛЮЧЕ: ПОВОРОТ К СУБЪЕКТИВНОСТИ (КНИГИ Й. БОСТРИДЖА И ДЖ. Э. ГАРДИНЕРА)

The article examines the problems of understanding music from the point of view of interaction of emotional perceiving and theoretical reflection. Basing on the case of two works on Schubert and J. S. Bach, written by outstanding musicians of our time, I. Bostridge and J. E. Gardiner, the role of author’s subject position is examined as well as reconstruction of historical and cultural context of the works as the prerequisite for deeper understanding. The author of the article points out changes in the attitude to music pieces after reading these books, which shows relevance of music cognitivism, not diminishing the impact of music, but, on the contrary, showing its new aspects if the author combines personal experience and research capabilities. Since both books are about music containing verbal element (vocal cycle and cantatas and Passions) the problem of interrelation of music and word has been regarded. In analyzing I. Bostridge’s book the accent is placed on recreation of historical and cultural factors connected with different songs of the cycle. In examining Gardiner’s work attention is given to elements of biographical method which are used to get more versatile notion about the composer’s music through which different traits of his character, often ambivalent, are disclosed. Interaction between sensual perception and intellectual reflection is an important process not only in gaining knowledge about a musical piece, but in extending social and cultural experience of the listener and the performer. Special accent is placed on regarding subjective approach to the works performed and analysed used by the authors as the result of merging of performing experience and research work. Such approach is relevant for contemporary art studies in which the subject/object duality is deconstructed and multidisciplinary research prevails.

The Actualisation of the Musical and Poetic Language in the Vocal Cycle “Dianxi Poems” by the Chinese Composer Ding Shande

The Actualisation of the Musical and Poetic Language in the Vocal Cycle “Dianxi Poems” by the Chinese Composer Ding Shande

The East in the Works of Charles Griffes

The article is devoted to the oriental compositions of the American composer Charles Griffes (1884–1920), created in the 1910s. These include the symphonic poem “The Pleasure-Dome of Kubla Khan” (1912–1917), the vocal cycle “Five Poems of Ancient China and Japan” for voice and piano (1916–1917), and the Japanese pantomime “Sho-Jo” (1917). Significant creative contacts (Eva Gauthier, A. Coomaraswamy, E. Bloch, A. Bolm, M. Ito), extensive reading, fascination with folklore, poetry, painting, and philosophy of Asian countries led to the formation of his own method of working with oriental materials. The composer saw prospects for the interaction of Western and Eastern music in his address to the archaic, to the stylization of ancient folklore. An example is the music for the pantomime “Sho-Jo” and the cycle “Five Poems of Ancient China and Japan.” Natural modes (pentatonic modes), organ points, ascetic quarto-quinto-second verticals, spatial sound, and rhythmic ostinato allow us to draw parallels with new folkloristics, in particular, with the works of I. F. Stravinsky. In the symphonic poem “The Pleasure-Dome of Kubla Khan,” the European influences at the forefront are associated with the study of the “Russian” East (first of all the writings of N. Rimsky-Korsakov) and the French oriental pieces by C. Debussy and M. Ravel. Colorful in mood and harmony, a multi-layered texture, and spicy timbers testify to the features of impressionism. The technique of orchestral writing enables us to find similarities with Ravel’s “Sheherazade” Overture. Also, the works of Griffes brightly revealed features of the Art Nouveau style: the image of dance, the increased interest in the element of water, ornamental melodies-arabesques, and the independence of timber layers.

Ограничение как творческий принцип в вокальном цикле Ханса Абрахамсена «Let me tell you»

The article focuses its attention on the vocal cycle “Let me tell you” (2013) by Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen composed on texts from the novel with the same title by Paul Griffiths. The composition is examined through the prism of a special type of artistic principle initiated by the Oulipian strategy of the writer, who constrained the verbal space of his book to the 483 words pronounced by Ophelia in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” The technique of “formal constraints” turned out to be accordant to the composer’s poetics. The work makes study of the multilevel connections between text and music and discloses the particularities of the composition’s dramaturgy. Special attention is focused on analysis of the musical material, the compositional structure and the technique. The cycle shows the synthesis of historical and contemporary compositional techniques, the former including the turn to the concitato style and to the traditions of the cantus firmus technique, and the latter including the techniques of repetition, addition and subtraction. The effects of the principle of formal constraint are traced in their reliance on the use of a set of chosen intervals (octaves, fifths and major thirds in songs Nos. 1, 4 and 6), organizing the composition on one single melodic model, as expressed by a descending hexachord, in the application of palindromic constructions and the use of numerical sets. During the course of the analysis the intonational-thematic connection between the different numbers of the cycle is disclosed, it is demonstrated how the combination and transformation of the initial material takes place, a semantic interpretation of the structural conversions, and parallels are brought in with experiments in the field of literature. Keywords: 21st century music, Hans Abrahamsen, Paul Griffiths, “Let me tell you,” OuLiPo, formal constraints, addition, subtraction.

On the integration of methodological principles of vocal schools in the practice of foreign vocal art teachers within the system of China’s higher music education

The goal of this article consists in determination of the relevant problems in preparation of students majoring academic solo singing in the Institute of Art of Jinggangshan University in groups of the educators representing vocal schools of Russia. The article examines the key aspects of the problems of Chinese vocal education in the context of European representation on the fundamentals of vocal skills. The study is dedicated to comparison of academic programs in the two leading universities of Russia and China, as well as detailed analysis of the curricula. The curriculum of Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia focuses on the development of general cultural and professional vocal cycle, while Jinggangshan University focuses on upbringing an ideologically faithful citizen of the People’s Republic of China. The conclusion is made that despite the major impact of PRC’s leader Mao Zedong upon the music and vocal education, as well as vocal-methodological conference held in Beijing in 1957, the development of the vocal-pedagogical process has stagnated. The educators and students of music education in PRC should pursue the following objectives: openness to the new as a condition for cultural development; balance between the national spiritual values and professional competences; fulfillment of the role of cultural dialogue as a way of existence of art in the modern Communist China; preservation and continuous improvement of the system of music and arts education.

Paradoxical as a Sign in the Late Chamber Vocal Cycles of B. I. Tishchenko

Paradoxical as a Sign in the Late Chamber Vocal Cycles of B. I. Tishchenko