Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony: A Soviet Artist's Reply…?

Tempo ◽  
1990 ◽  
pp. 11-16
Author(s):  
J. Daniel Huband
Keyword(s):  
Compositional Style ◽  
Soviet Regime ◽  
Compositional Techniques ◽  
Musical Style ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Background ◽  
Lady Macbeth ◽  
Salient Features ◽  
Musical Response

The attempt to relate a nonmusical event to a musical phenomenon creates problems for the musicologist. Compelled to search beyond the mere notes on the printed page, one may try to gain more penetrating insights into a particular work by scrutinizing historical circumstances concurrent with the genesis of the music. In the case of Dmitri Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony, the social and political background to this piece has been greatly emphasized. Yet could the efforts to relate the composer's compositional style to his troubles with the Soviet regime obscure musical issues? The Fifth Symphony, frequently viewed by many music historians as an apologetic musical response to the Pravda attack on the opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, does not present as drastic a change in musical style as is commonly believed. An analysis of the four earlier symphonies reveals that they function importantly in the composer's evolution as a symphonist; Shostakovich refines several compositional techniques employed in these works and incorporates them in the Fifth Symphony, his first fully mature piece. The most salient features of the composer's early works that most clearly relate to his development as a symphonist shall be discussed in this essay. This process aims to reassess the hypothesis which suggests Shostakovich suddenly mended his ways in light of official criticism.

scholarly journals MUSIC THEORY AT WORK: THE ETON CHOIRBOOK, RHYTHMIC PROPORTIONS AND MUSICAL NETWORKS IN SIXTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 141-182
Author(s):  
Anne Heminger
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Compositional Techniques ◽  
Musical Style ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Late Medieval England ◽  
Eton College ◽  
Musical Networks ◽  
College Library

Whilst scholars often rely on a close reading of the score to understand English musical style at the turn of the fifteenth century, a study of the compositional techniques composers were taught provides complementary evidence of how and why specific stylistic traits came to dominate this repertory. This essay examines the relationship between practical and theoretical sources in late medieval England, demonstrating a link between the writings of two Oxford-educated musicians, John Tucke and John Dygon, and the polyphonic repertory of the Eton Choirbook (Eton College Library, MS 178), compiled c. 1500–4. Select case studies from this manuscript suggest that compositional and notational solutions adopted at the turn of the fifteenth century, having to do particularly with metrical proportions, echo music-theoretical concepts elucidated by Tucke and Dygon. These findings impinge upon the current debate concerning the presence of a network between educational institutions in the south-east of England during this period.

The Political Socialization of Activists in the British Communist Party

1973 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. T. Denver ◽  
J. M. Bochel
Keyword(s):  
Political Socialization ◽  
Local Level ◽  
The Political ◽  
British Politics ◽  
Party Organizations ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Background ◽  
Party Activists ◽  
Local Party

In the ten years or so since the publication of Hyman's seminal work, 1 students of politics have given increasing attention to political socialization. There has been a proliferation of works utilizing the concept. 2 The notion of socialization has perhaps been most rigorously applied in studies of the development of the political attitudes of children and adolescents, 3 but it has also been employed, if rather more loosely, in the study of adult electors. 4 There is, however, a dearth of material relating to the socialization of party activists at local level. This is not to say that the social and political background and the recruitment patterns of party activists have not been investigated, 5 but the concept of political socialization has not been explicitly or very rigorously employed. The importance of local party organizations and their memberships has not always been self-evident to students of politics and we do not propose to argue the point here. We merely assert that British parties and British politics derive much of their ‘style’ from the character of party activists. This being the case, we feel that the relative lack of information about the socialization of activists represents a considerable gap.

FROM THE SOCIAL CONTRACT TO THE ART OF ASSOCIATION: A TOCQUEVILLIAN PERSPECTIVE

2008 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-287
Author(s):  
Aurelian Craiutu
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Contract ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
The United States ◽  
Democratic Citizenship ◽  
Alexis De Tocqueville ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Background ◽  
Democracy In America ◽  
Political Associations

In the United States, the debate on civil associations has coincided with the revival of interest in the writings of Alexis de Tocqueville, particularly Democracy in America (1835; 1840) in which he praised the Americans' propensity to form civil and political associations. Tocqueville regarded these associations as laboratories of democracy that teach citizens the art of being free and give them the opportunity to pursue their own interests in concert with others. Tocqueville's views on political and civil associations cannot be properly understood unless we also take into account the larger intellectual and political background of his native France. The main sections of this essay examine Tocqueville's analysis of civil and political associations in America. Special attention is paid to the strong relationship between democracy and civil and political associations and the effects that they have on promoting democratic citizenship, civility, and self-government.

IV Luxury Items

2010 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 75-94
Author(s):  
Brian A. Sparkes
Keyword(s):  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Ancient Greece ◽  
Total Output ◽  
Vase Painting ◽  
The Social ◽  
Gold Silver ◽  
Political Background ◽  
Greek Art ◽  
Material Evidence ◽  
Greek World

The uneven survival of material evidence from Greek antiquity has tended to guide interest and research towards the diferent forms and functions of sculpture (Chapters II and III) and of vase-painting (Chapters V and VI). They have been preserved in such numbers that, although we have only a fraction of the total output, we can study the ways in which they developed over the centuries against the social, economic, and political background and in the diferent parts of the Greek world. This has encouraged a tendency towards positivism and has had the unfortunate outcome of considering them as the exclusive elements of Greek art, with a concomitant emphasis on the aspects of restraint, simplicity, and so forth that were highlighted by the Neoclassical attitudes to Greek art that emerged in the eighteenth century. This approach has led scholars to demean the more lavish products that, by the very nature of their intrinsic value, have failed to survive in any numbers – gold, silver, ivory, and the like. Recent excavations, particularly those in cemeteries situated in the outlying areas of the Greek world and in the regions bordering on ancient Greece, have brought to light some of those expensive objects that are now missing from the Greek heartlands. Meanwhile, investigations into the more flamboyant aspects of Greek art have shown that buildings and architectural and freestanding sculpture were lavishly coloured. A nineteenth-century drawing by Donaldson shows coloured glass beads set into a column capital of the Erechtheion (Figure 21).

scholarly journals Five preludes of Mykola Roslavets in the reflection of academic and avant-garde trends of his time

2021 ◽  
pp. 179-187
Author(s):  
Pavlo Minhalov
Keyword(s):  
Piano Music ◽  
Compositional Style ◽  
Compositional Techniques ◽  
Xxth Century ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
Piano Works ◽  
Intellectual System ◽  
Mature Period ◽  
History Of ◽  
Further Development

The article considers a set of problems related to the study of piano art of the early XXth century and, in particular, the piano work of Mykola Roslavets. It provides the characteristic of the main vectors of piano miniature development, its genre and construction diversity. It emphasizes the composers' creative search in the early XXth century, the desire to embody new, not yet tested compositional techniques. The article notes the influence of traditional and avant-garde trends on the compositional style of that time and their synthesis in a single author's style. It describes five preludes for piano by Mykola Roslavets as one of the most significant achievements of the mature period of the artist's work, which fully reveals the key features of the composer's sense and desire for syntheticity and a new, intellectual, system of sound organization. The five preludes are stated to not have an accidental cycle structure reflecting the influence of many styles and compositional techniques, accumulating the achievements of previous musical epochs and sprouts of the latest, quite important musical trends in piano music. The author notes undoubted influence of Mykola Roslavets' work on the further development of musical art, its relevance and modernity. The proposed analysis should contribute to a more complete understanding of the history of piano music of the first third of the XXth century, elucidate the origins of innovative composers, undeservedly overlooked by musicologists, performers and listeners, and replenish the performing repertoire with piano works by Mykola Roslavets.

scholarly journals Palenie ksiąg w starożytnym Rzymie jako przejaw autorytarnego ograniczania republikańskiej wolności słowa

2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 201-214
Author(s):  
Dobromiła Nowicka
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Freedom Of Speech ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Essential Point ◽  
Rare Book ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Background ◽  
The Times ◽  
Erroneous Interpretation

Transition from republic to principate brought a meaningful alteration in the area of conceiving freedom of speech. Republican standards in this matter were not apt for the new regime as it was too fragile to withstand the republican dissidence. New restrictions and ad hoc measures needed to be applied. Among them burning of books was of particular importance. The article deals with incidents of book burning in the times of Augustus (cases of Titus Labienus and Cassius Severus) and Tiberius (those of Mamercus Scaurus and Cremutius Cordus), which, although not numerous, were of high significance for freedom of speech within the new regime. On the basis of analysis of selected ancient sources and scientific literature on the matter, an answer to the question about their political meaning is sought. Accordingly, the socio-political background of change in the area of freedom of speech in the context of passing from a republic to the authoritarian regime of a principate needs to be taken into account. Unfortunately, historical sources regarding the matter are deeply unequivocal and scientific interpretations seem strongly conditioned by tendencies to discern crimen maiestatis in every case of book burning from the times of early empire, even if it is not plainly attested by ancient authors. It appears that the subsequent popularity of maiestas charges could have influenced the erroneous interpretation of previous incidents, which appear to have been — at least formally — distant from the law of injured majesty, being ad hoc measures at least in the times of the reign of Augustus. However, the essential point of analysis concerns the grounds of the incidents of burning books that took place under August and Tiberius, showing a step-by-step process of supressing the republican freedom of speech. Although rare, book burnings reflect a common tendency in new authoritarian rulers’ politics, which at first tend to deal with opponents unpopular among the aristocracy, only to move on to managing adversaries originating from the Roman élite. Nevertheless, the undertaken measures were not suitable for annihilating the books in question, contributing to their growth in popularity. The answer to the core question about the aims of book burnings under Augustus and Tiberius seems to boil down to mere propaganda, showing that dissident books would not be tolerated, no matter the social status of their authors.

scholarly journals Shut Away

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pearson Ripley
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Undocumented Immigrants ◽  
The United States ◽  
Oral Histories ◽  
Significant Cost ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Background ◽  
The Common ◽  
Immigration And Customs Enforcement ◽  
The Individual

Shut Away is a window into a less-discussed immigration story in the United States. At present there are around fifty undocumented immigrants living in houses of worship after receiving deportation orders. It is the strategy of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to avoid raiding these “sensitive locations,” allowing them to provide their occupants with insulation from the possibility of deportation. This act of taking sanctuary comes at a significant cost as the individual does not leave the property upon entering. Comprised of still photographs, video portraits and oral histories, Shut Away seeks a more nuanced account of life in sanctuary beyond the common depiction of victimhood. This paper will analyze the foundation, creation and context of the project. It begins with the historical and political background of the topic and the participants, then analyzes the methodology of the social and creative approach to the work The paper ends with a contextualization of the project within the documentary field and a reflection on the traditions of photography in which the work falls.

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