Debussy and La Sonate cyclique

2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 644-679 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARIANNE WHEELDON

ABSTRACT In 1915, Debussy returned to the genre of chamber music for the first time since the String Quartet of 1893 and composed the only sonatas of his career. What draws these early and late chamber works together is that they are all cyclic in construction. While Debussy's quartet clearly bears the imprint of Céésar Franck's cyclic procedures, his sonatas engage with this tradition more cautiously. Comparing the string quartet with the sonatas elucidates Debussy's uneasy rapprochement with a style he had formerly embraced. Debussy's underplaying of the cyclic tradition was motivated by what the cyclic sonata had come to represent in the intervening years, in particular its appropriation by Franck's student Vincent d'Indy. In his teachings and publications, d'Indy promulgated a nationalistic view of the cyclic sonata, one that declared Franck and the modern French school as the only comprehending heirs of Beethoven. Reluctant to participate in this particular heritage, Debussy diverted attention from the cyclic procedures used in the sonatas by explicitly emphasizing their stylistic affiliation with the French 18th century and by implicitly aligning himself with Franck rather than with d'Indy. In this way Debussy sought to carve out a place for his sonatas within a less contentious tradition.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gjertrud Pedersen

Symphonies Reframed recreates symphonies as chamber music. The project aims to capture the features that are unique for chamber music, at the juncture between the “soloistic small” and the “orchestral large”. A new ensemble model, the “triharmonic ensemble” with 7-9 musicians, has been created to serve this purpose. By choosing this size range, we are looking to facilitate group interplay without the need of a conductor. We also want to facilitate a richness of sound colours by involving piano, strings and winds. The exact combination of instruments is chosen in accordance with the features of the original score. The ensemble setup may take two forms: nonet with piano, wind quartet and string quartet (with double bass) or septet with piano, wind trio and string trio. As a group, these instruments have a rich tonal range with continuous and partly overlapping registers. This paper will illuminate three core questions: What artistic features emerge when changing from large orchestral structures to mid-sized chamber groups? How do the performers reflect on their musical roles in the chamber ensemble? What educational value might the reframing unfold? Since its inception in 2014, the project has evolved to include works with vocal, choral and soloistic parts, as well as sonata literature. Ensembles of students and professors have rehearsed, interpreted and performed our transcriptions of works by Brahms, Schumann and Mozart. We have also carried out interviews and critical discussions with the students, on their experiences of the concrete projects and on their reflections on own learning processes in general. Chamber ensembles and orchestras are exponents of different original repertoire. The difference in artistic output thus hinges upon both ensemble structure and the composition at hand. Symphonies Reframed seeks to enable an assessment of the qualities that are specific to the performing corpus and not beholden to any particular piece of music. Our transcriptions have enabled comparisons and reflections, using original compositions as a reference point. Some of our ensemble musicians have had first-hand experience with performing the original works as well. Others have encountered the works for the first time through our productions. This has enabled a multi-angled approach to the three central themes of our research. This text is produced in 2018.


Author(s):  
Weronika Sucharska

Henryk Mikołaj Gorecki's Chamber Works in the Context of the Changes of the Composer's Style: Selected Examples The aim of this paper is to study stylistic changes in Henryk Mikołaj Górecki’s works based on four predefined instances of chamber music: Quartettino, Op. 5, Concerto for Five Instruments and String Quartet, Op. 11, Muzyczka IV, Op. 28 and Aria scena operowa, Op. 59. The use of structural, auditory and style-critics analyses has made is possible to follow the variety of the composition techniques present in chamber compositions. Additionally, it has allowed to exhibit idiomatic features of Górecki’s style and enabled to study the way in which Górecki used chamber music.


Author(s):  
Inger Sørensen

In 1891, squire Viggo de Neergaard (1837–1915) from Fuglsang on Lolland and hisyoung wife Bodil (1867–1959), who was the daughter of composer Emil Hartmannand granddaughter of J.P.E. Hartmann, met the German-Dutch composer, pianist andconductor Julius Röntgen (1855–1932) and his family on a trip in Norway. When theyparted, they agreed to visit one another in Amsterdam and at Fuglsang respectively.It was the start of a unique life of music at the manor on Lolland from the Röntgenfamily’s first visit the following year and up until Bodil Neergaard’s death as a widowin 1959. Almost every year up until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, JuliusRöntgen along with this wife and children, who were all musicians, spent the month ofAugust at Fuglsang, where he was the driving force in a cornucopia of house concerts.There was chamber music with a varied program every single evening. Julius Roentgenplanned “the season” as they called it before he left Holland and wrote programs eachyear for every single concert. These programs, which cover the years 1893, 1897–1914,1916, 1923, 1931, 1940, 1944, 1946–1958 and 1978, were recently found among thesurviving papers of presiding judge Fritz Michael Hartmann (1909–2000). In 2012they were donated to the Royal Danish Library by the Hartmann family. These programsprovide an excellent insight into what was played, and form the basis of thisarticle that covers the period from 1893 to 1931, which was the last time Julius Röntgenwas at Fuglsang before his death the following year. The music was performed partlyby the Röntgen family and partly by members of the Hartmann family and the otherguests, who came to Fuglsang during the summer. Among these were Carl Nielsen,who in 1906 performed his string quartet in F-major, opus 19 for the very first time atFuglsang. During these years, the program consisted of music by 113 different composers,music ranging from Baroque and up to what at the time was contemporarymusic. Because even though the main emphasis was on music by the classics, especiallyBeethoven, 47 of the composers were still alive at the time of performance.


2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
L. P. Hwi ◽  
J. W. Ting

Cecil Cameron Ewing (1925-2006) was a lecturer and head of ophthalmology at the University of Saskatchewan. Throughout his Canadian career, he was an active researcher who published several articles on retinoschisis and was the editor of the Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology. For his contributions to Canadian ophthalmology, the Canadian Ophthalmological Society awarded Ewing a silver medal. Throughout his celebrated medical career, Ewing maintained his passion for music. His love for music led him to be an active member in choir, orchestra, opera and chamber music in which he sang and played the piano, violin and viola. He was also the director of the American Liszt Society and a member for over 40 years. The connection between music and ophthalmology exists as early as the 18th Century. John Taylor (1703-1772) was an English surgeon who specialized in eye diseases. On the one hand, Taylor was a scientist who contributed to ophthalmology by publishing books on ocular physiology and diseases, and by advancing theories of strabismus. On the other hand, Taylor was a charlatan who traveled throughout Europe and blinded many patients with his surgeries. Taylor’s connection to music was through his surgeries on two of the most famous Baroque composers: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) and George Frederick Handel (1685-1759). Bach had a painful eye disorder and after two surgeries by Taylor, Bach was blind. Handel had poor or absent vision prior to Taylor’s surgery, and his vision did not improve after surgery. The connection between ophthalmology and music spans over three centuries from the surgeries of Taylor to the musical passion of Ewing. Ewing E. Cecil Cameron Ewing. BMJ 2006; 332(7552):1278. Jackson DM. Bach, Handel, and the Chevalier Taylor. Med Hist 1968; 12(4):385-93. Zegers RH. The Eyes of Johann Sebastian Bach. Arch Ophthalmol 2005; 123(10):1427-30.


Author(s):  
N. Yakovchuk

The chamber-instrumental ensemble music in the Ukrainian musical culture of the last third of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries occupies one of the leading places and is characterized by powerful processes in its development. Such circumstances caused the Ukrainian musicologist interests to the problems of chamber-instrumental music creativity and performance. There are appeared researches in the field of theory, history and performance problems covering the most important questions like chamber music definitions, specific genre issues, the growing function of piano in the Ukrainian chamber music, the increasing questions of technique and timbre importance of modern instrumental ensembles. In the significant multifaceted creative work of contemporary Ukrainian composer, Oleksandr Yakovchuk, the genre of chamber instrumental ensemble music represents a complex and interesting phenomenon. Original and skillfully written compositions reflect artistic world of the composer of postmodern time and gained recognition in music life of Ukraine and beyond. These works are highly appreciated in performing practice of our days. The purpose of the article is to analyze the work — “Little Trio” for clarinet, bassoon and piano (1980), which has the signs of neoclassical tendency in the composer’s style. The methodological basis of this research is a comprehensive approach in theoretical understanding of the subject of research (the methods of textology, source study as well as the method of interviewing the author were used). The scientific novelty of this article is in the priority of its main provisions, since the “Little Trio” entered the scientific circulation for the first time. The three-movement “Little Trio” (1980) is notable for the light feeling of timbre colours and the shape clarity. The Ist movement — Allegretto giocoso — is written in a sonata form following all classical traditions. Quite interesting are the two monologues of clarinet and bassoon from the IInd movement, they represent very modern line in Ukrainian chamber music — the possibility of sincere confession which comes through the solo cadence. In the IIIrd movement, the composer took advantage from the folk Ukrainian dance “hopak” using the rhythm of it and creating dance character of the Final.


1964 ◽  
Vol 105 (1456) ◽  
pp. 450
Author(s):  
Stanley Sadie
Keyword(s):  

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tilman Venzl

In the 18th century, as many as 300 German-language plays were produced with the military and its contact and friction with civil society serving as focus of the dramatic events. The immense public interest these plays attracted feeds not least on the fundamental social structural change that was brought about by the establishment of standing armies. In his historico-cultural literary study, Tilman Venzl shows how these military dramas literarily depict complex social processes and discuss the new problems in an affirmative or critical manner. For the first time, the findings of the New Military History are comprehensively included in the literary history of the 18th century. Thus, the example of selected military dramas – including Lessing's Minna von Barnhelm and Lenz's Die Soldaten – reveals the entire range of variety characterizing the history of both form and function of the subject.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 87-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florentina Badalanova Geller

Cosmogonies and mythopoesis in the Balkans and beyondCompared and contrasted in this article are three different types of accounts dealing with the cosmogonic and eschatological themes employed in Slavonic and Balkan oral tradition, para-Biblical literature and modern poetry. The focus of analysis is the cluster of motifs attested in the creation narrative of the apocryphal Legend of the Sea of Tiberias. Two versions are examined: the South-Slavonic one discovered in 1845 by V. Grigorovich in the Monastery of Slepche, and the 18th century Russian account from MS № 21.11.3 (fols. 3a–5b) from the Archaeographic Department of the Library of the Academy of Sciences [Библиотека Академии наук, Рукописный отдел] in St. Petersburg, composed most probably by an Old Believer; this manuscript is published here for the first time. Folklore counterparts of the apocryphal Legend of the Sea of Tiberias are treated, with special emphasis on the oral narratives from the Bulgarian diaspora in Bessarabia (God and the Devil Create the World Amicably but then Fall Out). Finally, a poem of the 20th century Bulgarian intellectual Pencho Slaveykov [Пенчо Славейков] from his anthology “On the Island of the Blessed” is discussed; the poem, entitled How God willed the Earth to come to be and what did Satanail do after that? was designated by Slaveykov himself as “a legend of the Bogomils”, and blended within his lyrics are dualistic themes and motifs attested in vernacular Christianity, with the hallmark of Haeresis Bulgarica. Kosmogonie i mitopoetyki na Bałkanach i nie tylkoW artykule zostały porównane trzy typy narracji zawierających wątki kosmogoniczne i eschatologiczne, które funkcjonują w słowiańskiej i bałkańskiej tradycji ustnej, literaturze parabiblijnej oraz poezji doby modernizmu. Przedmiotem uwagi stała się grupa motywów poświadczonych w narracji o stworzeniu, znanej z Legendy o Morzu Tyberiadzkim. Analizom poddane zostały dwie wersje: południowosłowiańska, odkryta w 1845 roku przez W. Grigorowicza w Monastyrze w Slepče, oraz ruska – z XVIII wieku, znajdująca się w kodeksie MS № 21.11.3 (fols. 3a–5b), przechowywanym w Oddziale Rękopisów Biblioteki Akademii Nauk w Sankt Petersburgu – skomponowana najprawdopodobniej w środowisku staroobrzędowców (rękopis ten jest tu publikowany po raz pierwszy). Następnie przeprowadzona została analiza odpowiedników folklorystycznych apokryficznej Legendy o Morzu Tyberiadzkim, ze szczegól­nym uwzględnieniem narracji ustnych funkcjonujących w bułgarskiej diasporze w Besarabii (Bóg i Diabeł tworzą świat w przyjaźni ale potem stają się wrogami). Na końcu został poddany interpretacji poemat z XX wieku autorstwa bułgarskiego modernisty Penczo Sławejkowa [Пенчо Славейков] z antologii Na wyspie błogosławionych [На острова на блажените]; poemat ten, zatytułowany Jak Bóg zezwolił, aby powstała ziemia i co potem uczynił Satanael?, został nazwany przez samego autora „legendą Bogomiłów”, i skompilowany w jego tekstach z dualistycznymi motywami występującymi w chrześcijaństwie tego regionu, a rozpoznawa­nymi jako haeresis bulgarica.


Menotyra ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Asta Giniūnienė

The article for the first time analyses the decoration parts of the Christ’s tomb of the second halfof the 18th century found a few years ago in Švėkšna church. The Christ’s tomb from the oldchurch was transferred to the  new church, which was built in 1804 and used until the  4thdecade of the 19th century. On the basis of the sources and remained fragments we can statethat this was a complicated structure of the Paschal decoration designed under the Europeanbaroque scenery principles. It was composed of the paintings on boards and canvas and mis-cellaneous accessories. The  Christ’s tomb paintings are characterised by a  symbolic allegoriccontent and artistry. The prophets of the Old Testament and characters the New Testamentreflecting the Paschal Triduum liturgy were depicted in the decoration. The survived outlinepaintings of Adam and Eve in Paradise, Noah waiting for the Saviour, and Angels Lamentingover the Death of Jesus are the exceptional iconography images in the Lithuanian church art.The decorations of the Christ’s tomb were created by the professional masters who decoratedthe churches in Samogitia in the second part of the 18th century. The images of suffering anddead Jesus used in the figuration of the Paschal Triduum influenced the spread of the Passionscenes. This is supported by an interesting archival fact about the shrine with a group of sculp-tures depicting the tomb of Christ in the Švėkšna churchyard.The fragments of the Paschal decorations in the Švėkšna church are important baroque scen-ery exhibits, which are valuable for the history of the Lithuanian church art and scenography.The investigation of the Holy Week figuration in the Švėkšna church is a valuable illustrationof this multidimensional cultural, religious and artistic phenomenon.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 122-126
Author(s):  
Gulbanu Bolatovna Izbassarova

The Kazakhs Junior Horde, due to external - internal political reasons was the first one who became the part of Russian Empire. Chinggizid Abulkhair was an initiator of the Kazakh society incorporation into the structure of the Russian Empire. The aggravation of the Kazakh-Bashkir, Kazakh-Kalmyk, Kazakh-Dzungar relations leads to a search for a strong overlord. At the beginning of the 18th century, after the Prut campaign, the interests of the Russian Empire moved from the Black Sea to Asia, which is south-east direction. Formation of the imperial concept, change in the concept of Russias historical mission on the international scene forms new strategic and political aims of the Russian Empire. The Academy of Sciences founded in 1724 by the emperor Peter I as well as representatives of local administrations started to explain to the Russian public the acquisition of new lands policy. The reflection of this event to the Russian historiography of the XVIII-XIX centuries is studied in this article. The attention is paid to the study of a concept of citizenship, an interpretation of its character, assessment of the Kazakh khan Abulkhair, the accession initiator by pre-revolutionary historiography representatives. The article considers views of P.I. Rychkov, A.I. Levshin, who are for the first time in their writings, on the basis of archival, authentic sources, gathered a wealth of factual material, scientifically substantiated opinions on the issue of incorporation.


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