Divriği Hospital - Medieval Healing Venue and Its Acoustic Characteristics

Divriği Great Mosque and Hospital as one of the World heritage monuments on UNESCO’s list was the subject of research. More precisely, the focus was on the architecture and the acoustic characteristics of the hospital built in 1228/1229 by Mengüjeck dynasty, a branch of Anatolian Seljuks. For the analysis purposes, a 3D model of the hospital was created, and the acoustic simulation was conducted. The results of the acoustic analysis show that the architectural characteristics of the hospital fulfill the acoustic standards for the good reception of the sound for the audience, and that it can be concluded that Divriği hospital venue supports the hypothesis of being suitable for the healing purposes. Hospital was designed to support the sound realization and to support the environmental soundscape in conjunction with the sounding makams, which supports the music therapy healing effect. It can be concluded that music therapy had acoustical support in the construction of Anatolian Seljuk hospitals, which have characteristics of concert halls and were built as acoustic (music) venues.

Forbidden Weinberg: Cantata “Pyotr Plaksin”. The Experience of First Interpretation

Творчество Моисея (Мечислава) Самуиловича Вайнберга (1919–1996) переживает в последнее десятилетие настоящий ренессанс. Театральные постановки, фестивали, концерты на лучших сценах России, Европы и Америки, выпуск новых компакт-дисков на крупнейших звукозаписывающих лейблах, переиздание многих партитур — всё это, казалось бы, исчерпало возможности открытий в обширном наследии художника. Между тем, при содействии родных композитора, по инициативе Международной Творческой мастерской «Terra Musica» один из лучших отечественных коллективов — Камерная капелла «Русская Консерватория» под руководством дирижера Николая Хондзинского — осуществила мировые премьеры партитур, которые по разным обстоятельствам многие десятилетия находились под спудом. Речь идет о двух кантатах, созданных в 1966 году: «Петр Плаксин» по одноименной поэме Юлиана Тувима и «Хиросимские пятистишия» на стихи Мутэноси Фукагава. Статья отражает историю создания, опыт исследования и подготовки первого исполнения (студийной записи) кантаты «Петр Плаксин», воплощающей выдающееся мастерство Вайнберга и при этом неизвестной даже узкому кругу специалистов, изучающих отечественную музыку второй половины ХХ столетия. Образная палитра и тембровая поэтика кантаты — поэтические аспекты, рассмотрев которые, можно более объемно осмыслить важные свойства авторского стиля, а также резонанс художественных открытий Вайнберга в современном музыкальном пространстве. In the last decade, the music of Moisey (Mieczysław) Samuilovich Weinberg (1919–1996) has been experiencing a real Renaissance. Theatre productions, festivals, concerts at the best Russian, European and American concert halls, new CDs recorded by the leading recording labels, issuing new editions of many scores — all this seems to have exhausted the possibilities of discoveries in the vast heritage of the artist. However, on the initiative of the International Art Workshop “Terra musica” and with the assistance of Weinberg’s relatives one of the best Russian ensembles, “Russian Conservatory”, conducted by Nikolay Khondzinsky, performed world premieres of the scores that, for various reasons, had been under a bushel for many decades. It is about his two year cantatas created in 1966 — Pyotr Plaksin on the words of Julian Tuwim and Hiroshima Five-line Stanzas on poems by Mutenosi Fukagava. The article reflects the history of the composition, research and rehearsal experience that preceded the first performance (recording) of cantata Pyotr Plaksin, which embodies an outstanding mastery of Weinberg and still remains unknown even in the narrow circle of researchers of the Russian music of the second half of the XX century. Figurative palette and timbral poetics of the cantata are those aspects of examination, due to which one can distinctively comprehend the main features of composer's style and resonance of Weinberg’s discoveries in the modern musical environment.

Performance and Reception of Bartók’s Violin Music during His First Concert Tour of the United States (1927–1928)

During his first concert tour of the United States (1927–1928) Bartók played primarily his own music in lecture-recitals, orchestra performances, and chamber music concerts in fifteen American cities. Over the course of the tour, he collaborated with violinists Jelly d’Arányi and Joseph Szigeti to present a few of his works for violin and piano to members of musical clubs in New York City and Philadelphia, and before dignitaries at the Hungarian Embassy in Washington, D.C. – namely his Sonata for Violin and Piano no. 2 (1922), Hungarian Folk Tunes, for violin and piano (arranged by Joseph Szigeti, 1926), and Romanian Folk Dances for Violin and Piano (arranged by Zoltán Székely, 1925). In Boston and New York, Bartók played on recitals that also included performances of his String Quartets nos. 1 and 2. In this article I document the American reception of Bartók’s violin music during his U.S. recitals of early 1928. Music criticism in American newspapers and music journals, as well as detailed program notes from the string quartet performances, have been taken into account to reveal the assessment of Bartók’s violin music and string quartets and the characterization of the composer in the American press and concert halls. The reviews have also been considered in comparison to later recordings of the violin and piano works made by Bartók and Szigeti.

Content-Analytical Study of the Evolution of the Publication «Kultura» (1929-2019)

The study conducted a content analysis of the publication "Kultura" over its ninety year history from 1929 to 2019. For the first time, the study of the evolution of "Kultura" over a period of 90 years was conducted using content analysis and it was carried out at the Department of Journalism at Lomonosov Moscow State University. The study found that the main functions of "Kultura" have always been informational and educational. The publication moved from the topic of culture and art to broader social problems including science issues, education, technology, and social topics. The publication covered theater, museums, cultural centers (clubs), educational institutions, and concert halls events. The newspaper primarily writes about the culture of Russia but in recent years other parts of the world have become the focus of the newspaper coverage. The newspaper has adequately reflected the cultural life of the country and has always been a vital part of Russian media system. Today, the publication "Kultura" has expanded to other media platforms while maintaining high professional standards.

INVESTIGATION OF FELT THAT CAN BE USED AS INSULATION MATERIAL IN MUSIC EDUCATION ENVIRONMENTS

Music education is the process of acquiring certain musical behaviors through the individual's life purposefully. When the environments where music education is given are examined, the music departments of fine arts high schools, education faculties fine arts education department music teaching programs, art design faculties music departments, fine arts faculties music departments, conservatories, public education centers, art centers, sections of municipal conservatories reserved for music lessons, etc. appears to be. In order to provide music education in a healthy way, the noise level of the buildings where music education is given should be controlled and the buildings should have certain qualifications. Buildings, classrooms and concert halls should be designed with attention to be in a form that can have acoustic properties. With the advancement of technology and the discovery of new materials, important developments have begun to emerge in building materials. While all these developments (strength, flexibility, bendability, etc.) generally reflect positively on the properties of the material, they may cause some disadvantages, especially in terms of insulation and acoustics. However, the slow progress of the legislation related to insulation causes the development speed of the studies on building materials to decrease. Insulation is of great importance, especially in terms of achieving the purpose of educational buildings with musical functions. In this study, information was provided about wool, which is a textile material, and felt obtained from wool. Evaluations were made about the usability of wool and felt in music education environments. Keywords: Wool, felt, music education, ınsulation, textile

Workers’ access to Swedish opera houses and concert halls, 1898–2019

In this study ticket prices to Swedish opera houses and symphony orchestra concerts are compared to wages during the 1898–2019 period. Both wages and ticket prices have increased continuously. The same kind of policy objectives concerning social inclusion of disadvantaged groups that were established in the beginning of the twentieth century is still proclaimed. The most favourable ticket pricing policies for buyers were used in the decades around the first national Cultural Policy Act from 1974. The study shows that ticket price levels have risen thereafter to a level much less favourable for low-income workers. Managements do use some price discrimination tactics. However, they do it uniformly for all events. They now focus on the promotion of special, ‘popular music’-based events as a response to social inclusion directives. The idea is that attending such performances will make visitors interested in the normal repertoire, as well. The choice of high-level ticket prices for the traditional content means that the standard audience remains monocultural.

Is Romance Dead? Erich Korngold and the Romantic German Lied

<p>Far from being the operatic aria's less glamorous sister, the Romantic German Lied offers much dramatic scope for the classical performer. It has been described as the “quintessential Romantic genre”: the balanced and harmonious union of the music and text, in which the pianist and singer are equals. As accessible at private music gatherings as in concert halls, the Lied enjoyed popularity in German-speaking countries for over a hundred years, before facing its greatest adversary: Modernism. Romanticism, as an artistic movement, fought to survive in the uncertain musical and political landscape of the twentieth century. In Erich Korngold, Romantic music found a staunch advocate, and Lieder gained one of its most gifted contributors. Following in the daunting footsteps of Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler, Korngold's unashamedly luscious, rich orchestrations and soaring melodies earned him the nickname “the Viennese Puccini.” A child prodigy, Erich Korngold's rise was swift and glorious; his fall coincided with that of the German Lied and Romanticism itself. Romance may not have “died”, but it became outdated in the twentieth-century push for modernity and innovation across all art forms. In encyclopedias little is written of Korngold and his compositional output beyond his most famous and enduring opera Die tote Stadt, and his pioneering film scoring in pre- and post-war Hollywood. In my research I will show that Korngold is deserving of a place in the music canon as not only one of the last great composers of Lieder, but one of the last great Romantics, whose life and works sit on the cusp between the old world and the new. Furthermore, I will address the question of whether Romanticism died with the arrival of Modernism and revolutionary experimentation in music, or whether it lives on today, albeit in different forms.</p>

Is Romance Dead? Erich Korngold and the Romantic German Lied

<p>Far from being the operatic aria's less glamorous sister, the Romantic German Lied offers much dramatic scope for the classical performer. It has been described as the “quintessential Romantic genre”: the balanced and harmonious union of the music and text, in which the pianist and singer are equals. As accessible at private music gatherings as in concert halls, the Lied enjoyed popularity in German-speaking countries for over a hundred years, before facing its greatest adversary: Modernism. Romanticism, as an artistic movement, fought to survive in the uncertain musical and political landscape of the twentieth century. In Erich Korngold, Romantic music found a staunch advocate, and Lieder gained one of its most gifted contributors. Following in the daunting footsteps of Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler, Korngold's unashamedly luscious, rich orchestrations and soaring melodies earned him the nickname “the Viennese Puccini.” A child prodigy, Erich Korngold's rise was swift and glorious; his fall coincided with that of the German Lied and Romanticism itself. Romance may not have “died”, but it became outdated in the twentieth-century push for modernity and innovation across all art forms. In encyclopedias little is written of Korngold and his compositional output beyond his most famous and enduring opera Die tote Stadt, and his pioneering film scoring in pre- and post-war Hollywood. In my research I will show that Korngold is deserving of a place in the music canon as not only one of the last great composers of Lieder, but one of the last great Romantics, whose life and works sit on the cusp between the old world and the new. Furthermore, I will address the question of whether Romanticism died with the arrival of Modernism and revolutionary experimentation in music, or whether it lives on today, albeit in different forms.</p>

Song and Dance Man

With the back-to-back successes of Grand Hotel and The Will Rogers Follies, no one would have imagined that these would be the final Tommy Tune hits seen on Broadway. A series of flops (1994’s garish, vulgar The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, the antithesis of the elegant simplicity of his earlier work) and stillborn projects (1995’s Busker Alley, whose pre-Broadway tour collapsed when Tune broke his foot, and the abandoned Irving Berlin jukebox musical Easter Parade in the late 1990s) tarnished Tune’s status as a director who could rescue any show from disaster. In the years when he was one of Broadway’s most consistently inventive and successful directors of musicals, Tune had continued his performing career. Now, he increasingly spent more time on stage. His intimate, convivial “new vaudeville” act, built around Tune’s easygoing vocals and smooth tapping, featured songs by the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, and other golden-age composers and underscored his affinity for music of an early time. The act proved remarkably flexible and durable, playing nightclubs and concert halls across the country and the world for more than thirty years. His enthusiasm for touring brought him a unique kind of celebrity. For many, he became the quintessential “Broadway Baby,” a man who summoned the spirit and continuity of the theater, even for those with little knowledge of the art form.

‘Nothing to practice’: Julius Eastman, queer composition, and Black sonic geographies

I trace the musical performances and life of Black, queer composer Julius Eastman, considering Eastman’s oeuvre as a heterotopia defined by both revolutionary freedom and tragic capture. Eastman lived on the margins of 1970s and 1980s avant-garde minimalist music scenes unable and unwilling to comport to white norms of esthetic innovation and cultural acceptability. Eastman’s infusion of camp performativity with minimalist music and his Blackness and queerness challenged (and ultimately nullified) the avant-garde esthetic claims made by white composers. Whereas the white avant-garde insisted upon a tabula rasa, a separation from history to create (supposedly) new sonic forms, Eastman’s melding of genres, provocative song titles, playful disposition to the world, and his very presence in concert halls and university auditoriums challenged the racialized norms embedded within minimalist music. Eastman ruptured assumed codes of composition and performance yet was punished for these transgressions, barred from work and ultimately dying alone and homeless at the age of 49. Pursuing a creative life encased by erasure exemplifies the ways in which Blackness is parantological, constantly escaping from the fixity of racial ontologies that erase Blackness in the name of white supremacy. Examining Eastman’s artistic work and conflict with minimalist music prefigures the contemporary moment in which efforts to prioritize materiality, affective reality, and being over culture, signification, and discourse often belie white racialized standpoints. Intertwined with these theoretical concerns, I sketch how Eastman disrupts overwrought notions of scale, direction, rigidity, and intent through what Camilla Hawthorne calls ‘everyday practices of Black space-making’.