The specifics of composer’s interpretation of the genre of prelude in Samuil Feinberg’s creativity

The aim of the article is to determine the specifics of the composer’s embodiment of the prelude genre in the works of S. Feinberg on the example of two cycles “Four preludes” op. 8 and “Three Preludes” op. 15. The methodology is based on an integrated approach and includes analytical, comparative, as well as structural-functional and genre-style methods. The results are based on the identification of features of the composer’s interpretation of the piano prelude genre in the works of S. Feinberg. Due to the current trend towards the discovery of rarely-performed music, there is a growing interest in the works of S. Feinberg, whose compositional heritage is still poorly known by a wide range of performers and scientists. Some of his works, which are of undoubted artistic value, remain out of the field of view of researchers. This remark is especially appropriate in relation to the genre of prelude in the artist’s legacy, which is represented by two cycles of “Four preludes” op. 8 and “Three Preludes” op. 15. Despite the fact that the composer addressed him in the early period of his work, the originality of the composer’s writing style is clearly manifested in this genre. In the context of the relationship between the compositional style of S. Feinberg and the Scriabin creative tradition, key points are identified that distinguish the manner of interpretation of this genre. It is noted that the originality of composer’s thinking is manifested at various levels of organization of a piece of music. Focusing on the Scriabin’s style of the second period of creativity, which manifests itself in laconic thematism and the absence of a pronounced сantilena, S. Feinberg reinterprets it in figurative, semantic and pianistic terms. The manner of musical utterance of S. Feinberg is marked by greater emotional tension and expression. The composer uses a richer texture, which presents a wide variety of types of small and large piano techniques, with the latter prevailing. It applies elements of polyphonic development. Thanks to this approach to the textured solution, the virtuoso component is even more pronounced in preludes. The scientific novelty of the results obtained lies in the fact that for the first time in Ukrainian musicology, an attempt was made to comprehend the features of the interpretation of the piano prelude genre in the works of S. Feinberg, as well as to trace the features of the creative reinterpretation of the Scriabin composer tradition in the early period of S. Feinberg’s work. The practical significance of the study lies in the possibility of using its results in higher educational institutions of art education when working on the works of S. Feinberg in the class of special piano, as well as to deepen ideas about the specifics of the composer’s style of this artist.

The life and music of André Tchaikowsky: A series of performances, an analytical survey of his compositional style, and a critical/performance edition of the Sonata for Piano

<p>This thesis focuses on André Tchaikowsky (1935–82) – a Polish émigré musician who was mostly recognised as a brilliant pianist, even though he considered himself primarily a composer. His traumatic childhood spent in bombarded Warsaw during World War II, losing his mother along with almost his entire family due to the Holocaust, and being hidden in several places after escaping the Warsaw Ghetto, made a great impact on creating his eccentric and complex personality as well as his artistic outcome. Tchaikowsky’s legacy of seven published works, including compositions for piano, two string quartets, a piano trio, and an opera, as well as several unpublished works, is a small but very significant body of 20th-century music. This research explores the evolution of Tchaikowsky’s compositional style throughout his lifetime, based on selected works with piano, and investigates the elements of war stigma in his compositions. Significant contributions to the existing body of knowledge are the analysis of the selected works and a critical/performance edition of the unpublished Sonata for Piano, written in 1958 by the 33-year-old composer. Some answers can be provided to three main research questions through this analytical survey. The questions are: How did Tchaikowsky’s compositional style evolve over his life? Why does he remain largely unknown even in music circles? How did the Holocaust affect his life and work as a composer and pianist? This thesis consists of two parts, with the first presenting the result of research into the stylistic development of Tchaikowsky’s compositional language and a critical/performance edition of the Sonata for Piano, while the second is a performance component comprised of five recitals, which is the prevailing element of this degree. Each recital includes one of the analysed Tchaikowsky compositions, which are connected with other composers and their works in various ways, shaping five concerts of engaging and under-performed music.</p>

The life and music of André Tchaikowsky: A series of performances, an analytical survey of his compositional style, and a critical/performance edition of the Sonata for Piano

<p>This thesis focuses on André Tchaikowsky (1935–82) – a Polish émigré musician who was mostly recognised as a brilliant pianist, even though he considered himself primarily a composer. His traumatic childhood spent in bombarded Warsaw during World War II, losing his mother along with almost his entire family due to the Holocaust, and being hidden in several places after escaping the Warsaw Ghetto, made a great impact on creating his eccentric and complex personality as well as his artistic outcome. Tchaikowsky’s legacy of seven published works, including compositions for piano, two string quartets, a piano trio, and an opera, as well as several unpublished works, is a small but very significant body of 20th-century music. This research explores the evolution of Tchaikowsky’s compositional style throughout his lifetime, based on selected works with piano, and investigates the elements of war stigma in his compositions. Significant contributions to the existing body of knowledge are the analysis of the selected works and a critical/performance edition of the unpublished Sonata for Piano, written in 1958 by the 33-year-old composer. Some answers can be provided to three main research questions through this analytical survey. The questions are: How did Tchaikowsky’s compositional style evolve over his life? Why does he remain largely unknown even in music circles? How did the Holocaust affect his life and work as a composer and pianist? This thesis consists of two parts, with the first presenting the result of research into the stylistic development of Tchaikowsky’s compositional language and a critical/performance edition of the Sonata for Piano, while the second is a performance component comprised of five recitals, which is the prevailing element of this degree. Each recital includes one of the analysed Tchaikowsky compositions, which are connected with other composers and their works in various ways, shaping five concerts of engaging and under-performed music.</p>

Pat Metheny: Composing to Exploit the Sound of the Guitar

<p>The study's objective is to relate the development of Pat Metheny's stylistic characteristics from his interpretation of jazz standards to their incorporation into his own compositions. Stylistic elements are established and a sample of his compositions are analysed to compare his solo style in standards with his compositional style. Metheny is a recognised innovator in technique and uses a wide range of instruments in the guitar family, both traditional and radically new. The use of such instruments frees Metheny from some restrictions and the possibility that this freedom is a major influence in his improvisation and composition is remarked on. There is scope for further work based on a wider sampling, and the methodology used in this study could probably be modified to focus on this objective.</p>

Pat Metheny: Composing to Exploit the Sound of the Guitar

<p>The study's objective is to relate the development of Pat Metheny's stylistic characteristics from his interpretation of jazz standards to their incorporation into his own compositions. Stylistic elements are established and a sample of his compositions are analysed to compare his solo style in standards with his compositional style. Metheny is a recognised innovator in technique and uses a wide range of instruments in the guitar family, both traditional and radically new. The use of such instruments frees Metheny from some restrictions and the possibility that this freedom is a major influence in his improvisation and composition is remarked on. There is scope for further work based on a wider sampling, and the methodology used in this study could probably be modified to focus on this objective.</p>

Form and Style in Two of Percy Grainger’s Early Works for Military Band

Percy Grainger’s compositions during the early twentieth century represent a unique blend of traditional functional harmony and newer musical techniques. This blending produces a distinct compositional style associated with Grainger, featuring simple forms and textures, melodies inspired by traditional folk songs, extended tertian harmony, and an emphasis on voice leading. Grainger’s works often cross genres and explore various instrumentations and stylistic choices. This paper attempts to further define and explain Grainger’s style by analyzing two of his original works that were arranged for the military band setting, namely Children’s March: Over the Hills and Far Away and Colonial Song. Examining these two works through the lens of harmony, melody, form, texture, and rhythm reveals key aspects of Grainger’s early compositional style. Several stylistic choices were found to recur, including Grainger’s use of counterpoint, voice leading, descending chromaticism, specific patterns of articulations, and tension created by increased note density.

TIMBRE-BASED COMPOSITION, MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES AND AMBIGUITY IN REBECCA SAUNDERS’ COMPOSITIONAL STYLE

This article takes up Rebecca Saunders’ comments on the significance of timbre in her work to develop a timbre-centred analytical technique for two of her compositions, Ire (2012), for cello and ensemble, and Still (2011), for violin and orchestra. Two overarching principles are identified: the organisation of the pieces’ sounds into clearly differentiated categories, which can also overlap in different ways, and the use of a phrase-based logic in the pieces’ formal construction. Alongside the timbral construction, stable pitches acquire formal significance by virtue of their rarity and conspicuousness. I also elaborate on the ways in which perceptual ambiguity is fruitfully exploited in these works.

“Oppressed by Sensual Delight”: On a Lesbian Relationship with Rebecca Clarke’s Viola Sonata

This paper explores Rebecca Clarke’s Viola Sonata (1919) through the experience of a lesbian relationship—a relationship that extends from the Sonata as experienced by a violist and scholar, to Clarke herself as a performer and composer. Inspired by the work of Suzanne Cusick, I examine the musical elements of the Viola Sonata that invite and enable a lesbian relationship in the music. Such elements include existence outside the phallic economy, porous ego boundaries, and a fluid positioning within the power/pleasure/intimacy triad. A central theme of Clarke’s compositional style is embodiment, which furthers the potential for a lesbian experience of the Viola Sonata through “body-aware” and performer-centric techniques. The poetic inscription for the Sonata, lines from Alfred de Musset’s “La nuit de mai,” serves to further construct a musical narrative of embodiment through the relationship of Poet and Muse. Without claiming that Clarke was a lesbian, this paper sheds light on the Viola Sonata by considering the relationships between performer, composer, and listener in a lesbian musical analysis.

ECHOES OF D. SCHOSTAKOVICH’S COMPOSITIONAL STYLE IN BORIS DUBOSARSCHI’S STRING QUARTET NO.2

The String Quartet nr. 2 by the foremost Moldovan composer Boris Dubosarschi (1947–2017), as well as his entire string quartet work, was composed under the decisive influence of the work of Dmitri Schostakovich (1906–1975). The string quartet work of B. Dubosarschi, comprized of four titles, is saturated with the usage of the Dmitri Schostakovich’s musical signature – DSCH, which often serves as the thematic core of the entire cycle. The reflection of the compositional style of D. Schostakovich in the string quartet work of B. Dubosarschi, nevertheless, is not confined to the usage of the DSCH monogram, but rather encompasses a broad range of compositional techniques characteristic of the Russian composer’s work such as the use of specific modes and tonal-modal relations, of the characteristic intervals and chords, the usage of leitmotifs and monothematic principles, as well as of the full spectrum of polyphonic techniques. This article describes the compositional tehniques used in the String Quartet nr. 2 by Boris Dubosarschi that echo the compositional style of D. Schostakovich.

Szymanowski, a Hafiz ‘Grablied’, and the ‘Translation’ of Nietzsche

Szymanowski’s two cycles of ‘Love Songs of Hafiz’ (1911 and 1914), settings of paraphrases by Hans Bethge, are often considered crucial steps in the composer’s shift from a style which openly displays its debts to Wagner and Strauss to a more personal idiom. He discovered Bethge’s Hafiz while tiring of the Straussian idiom but remaining an enthusiastic Nietzschean. Bethge’s translations of Hafiz offered Szymanowski a seductive vehicle for ‘translating’ what he wished to preserve of Nietzsche into the spirit of his new compositional style. The ‘Grablied’ was a particularly important idea in this creative re-thinking. In Nietzsche’s Zarathustra the ‘Grablied’ has a crucial function in overcoming past seductions (Wagner) and present enemies. Bethge’s poem, ‘Das Grab des Hafis’ is replete with echoes of Nietzsche. Szymanowski’s setting (1914), in the same key (B minor) as Strauss’s Zarathustra ‘Grablied’, introduces an ‘Urmotiv’ of exotic cut, as the musical equivalent of perfume rising from the grave. It offers distance from the style of Austro-German modernism while retaining transformed traces of its legacy. In this song Szymanowski ‘translates’ his ‘German’ musical idiom and key aspects of the Nietzschean ‘Grablied’ into a new language evocative of ‘Persian’ regeneration.