Performance Composition of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Motets: Hypotheses and Discussions

Relevance and scientific novelty of the selected topic of the research. The issues of the performance of J. S. Bach's motets has not been considered in Ukrainian musicology before, and in creative practice it has been decided unequivocally: choirs sang motets a cappella. However, in the world practice of motets today there are three variants of performance: in addition to singing unaccompanied, motets are performed with basso continuo (organ), as well as with basso continuo accompanied by instruments that duplicate choral parts (colla parte). The revision of performance approaches in world concert practice took place in parallel and, apparently, due to scientific achievements in the history of music, source studies and related fields. Cognitive was the discussion of the performance of Bach's motets, which for a long time (since 1904) unfolded in the Germanspeaking musicological environment. A thorough analysis of the historical context, the text of the motets, the connection with the performing practice, and on the other hand — the limited opportunity to get acquainted with German-language materials determine the relevance of this article, which systematizes the arguments and counterarguments of this controversy. The aim of the article is to consider the arguments of German scientists (Konrad Ameln, Klaus Hofmann, Alfred Heuss and others) on the tradition of performances of motets by J. S. Bach, to draw the attention of the performing and scientific community to the possibility of the existence of different versions of the performing composition in these works; emphasize the need for a performing search in the field of baroque music, in particular, in those aspects, which in the classicalromantic tradition are considered unambiguously fixed in the musical text. The following methods were used in the study: historical (analysed the dynamics of changes in the performing tradition of Bach's motets), the method of generalization (based on the study of musicological literature generalized arguments in favour of three types of performing motets). Main results and conclusions. Based on the analysis of information from German-language musicological research, it is stated that in the time of Bach there were three types of performance for his motets: 1) a cappella, 2) with basso continuo, 3) with basso continuo and instruments colla parte. Arguments for each type are systematized depending on whether they come from the study of historical context (external) or based on the study of the original musical text of motets (internal). It is noted that the plurality of variants of the performance composition allowed in today's practice should be realized by the conductor, who should not unconditionally accept the performance version proposed in the motets edition as the only correct one. The choice of performance is made by the conductor depending on the specifics of the performance situation.

Verbal-textual polyphonic technique in the Ukrainian choral music (on the example of music on Taras Shevchenko’s poetry)

Relevance of the study. In the 20th–21st centuries, searches in the field of sonoristics led to an unconventional interpretation of the sound of musical instruments and the human voice. As a result, contemporary composers are actively experimenting with vocal performance techniques. The timbresonorous quality of speech contributes to the emergence of new polyphonic techniques. The use of verbal-textual polyphonic techniques in the music of modern Ukrainian composers is becoming more and more widespread. This explains the relevance of this study. The scientific basis of the article is the insufficiently studied concept of verbal-textual polyphony by I. B. Pyaskovsky. Main objective of the study. The objective of this study is to examine the existing manifestations of verbal-textual polyphonic technique in Ukrainian choral music a cappella on the example of works based on the texts of the poetic cycle “Psalms of David” by T. Shevchenko. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that the work is the first to consider verbal-textual polyphonic techniques in the works of Ukrainian composers on the texts of “Psalms of David” by T. Shevchenko. Methodology. The following methods of research are used: versioning (analysis of the versification features of the original poetic source), semantic (interpretation of the semantic content of the musical expressiveness means, their correlation with the text), typological (based on classification of the varieties of the studied technique). Results and conclusions. The main feature of verbal textual polyphony is the phonic interpretation of speech. This type of polyphonic technique is manifested in the work with text phonemes and syntagmas, which, as a rule, have intonation-rhythmic design. The prerequisites for this type of polyphony in musical works based on the texts of T. Shevchenko are the musicality of his poetry, as well as a specific rhythmic organization — the so-called 14-syllabic kolomijka verse. All examples of this writing technique can be divided into two groups, depending on the compositional work at the phonemic or syntagmatic levels. Phonemic compositional work is carried out by segmentation, vocal accentuation and temporal extension of the sound of the syllable. Work at the syntagmatic level is embodied using the following techniques: simultaneous multi-rhythmic presentation of the same text, text imitation, ostinato, polyphonic techniques of vocal intonation on a verbal and extra-musical basis. The analysis carried out indicates that the polyphonic technique in the studied works of Ukrainian composers is formed taking into account the versification features of the Shevchenko's poetry. The results of these observations can be used in the study of the manifestations of verbal textual polyphony in vocal-choral works on a different text basis

Te Deum for mixed choir a cappella by Dmytro Stetsiuk in the context of Ukrainian religious music

The purpose of the article is the insert to the scientific research the complete analysis of masterpiece by known Ukrainian composer Dmytro Stetsiuk Te Deum for mixed choir a capella and draw the attention of the choir conductors, who would like to insert to their music collectives a masterpiece, written in the tendencies of modern music and that can be performed either in the liturgy or in concerts. The methodology of the exploration is based on the combination of the general scientific (historical and comparative) and special musicological( of the genre, general and the dramaturgical-intonational analysis), that gives the opportunity to regard the historical basics of the Catholic liturgic tradition, and from another side-see the ways of its development and renovation. Scientific Novelty. The research is the first analysis of Te Deum for the mixed choir in the context of the modern tendencies of Ukrainian composers. Conclusions. The analysis of Te Deum for the mixed choir a capeella by Dmytro Stetsiuk in the context of religious music and in the sphere of the creative search of the modern Ukrainian composers proves the fact, that this masterpiece is written in the liturgic tradition and develops it in the intonational side. Componist completely uses the canonic text, but gives his own regard for it, also understanding of the main idea. The traditional melody of Te Deum from one side gives the unity of the composition, from another gives the basics for the modern stylization, because of intonation, voice tembre (the unity of the different groups of the choir), harmonical, factual (harmony and polyphony). This way are revealed individual traits of the composer and also the modern regard on the medieval liturgic text. The exploration of the masterpiece`s score gives the reason to be sure, that it is not only in the liturgical tradition, but also can be performed in the concert hall.

Sängerfeste und die Musikpolitik der deutschen Nationalbewegung

Vom frühen 19. Jahrhundert bis zur Reichsgründung 1871 waren Männergesangvereine ein Sprachrohr des aufstrebenden Bürgertums und der Nationalbewegung. In ihrem Repertoire hatte politisch-funktionale Musik großes Gewicht. Vor allem in volkstümlichen a-cappella-Chorliedern wurden die nationaldeutschen Botschaften verbreitet. Als geeignetes Forum erwiesen sich die Sängerfeste, die sich von den allgemeinen Musikfesten durch eine andere Sozialstruktur, eine größere Bedeutung des politischen Moments und das männerbündische Prinzip unterschieden. Erste Höhepunkte der Männergesangvereinsbewegung waren das Erste allgemeine deutsche Sängerfest in Nürnberg 1845, das Kölner Sängerfest von 1846 und das Große deutsche Sängerfest in Nürnberg 1861.

"To achieve perfect clarity of expression, that is my aim“

A characteristic attribute of the semantics which underly Benjamin Britten's oeuvre is the deliberate recourse to musical semantems of Renaissance and Baroque. In the "War Requiem", melodic texture is subject to constructive principles inspired by (1) Alban Berg's technique to handle symmetrical interval cycles as it can be found in Berg's opera "Lulu", and (2) the contrapuntal rules of western european modality and solmization controlling ambitus and diastematics of melodic progressions. The a cappella "Requiescant in pace" concluding the work is shown to be a locrian organum strucuture, probably representing Britten's hope for the pacifying power of humanistic tradition.

Stylistic Features of Works for Choir A Cappella by Dmitry Smirnov on the Example of Choir Concerto “Insomnia”

В творчестве современного петербургского композитора Дмитрия Валентиновича Смирнова (р. 1952) хоровые сочинения занимают особое место. В жанровом отношении именно концерт для хора представляет собой своеобразное «зеркало» творческого поиска композитора. Начиная с ранних сочинений начала 1980-х годов («Приявший мир», «Рождение крыла», Концерт для хора на стихи Н. Некрасова) и вплоть до созданного в 2006 году цикла «Набоковские песнопения» многочастные композиции хоровых концертов играли ключевую роль в процессе становления и постепенного усложнения хорового письма автора. Хоровой концерт «Бессонница» (1986) открывает новый этап в творчестве композитора. В этот период происходит окончательное формирование устойчивой системы стилистических особенностей музыкального языка; композитор обращается к созданию сложных многочастных композиций для хора a cappella. К данному периоду можно отнести такие сочинения, как Концерт для хора на стихи И. Анненского «Кипарисовый ларец», Концерт для хора на стихи О. Мандельштама «Я рожден в девяносто четвертом, я рожден в девяносто втором…» и «Молитвословия» из Литургии Св. Иоанна Златоуста. Сочинения указанного периода отличает многоуровневая смысловая полифоничность, которая находит свое отражение в усложнении драматургии цикла и значительном расширении комплекса музыкально-выразительных средств композиторского письма. Таким образом, происходит окончательное формирование основных стилистических особенностей хорового языка Дмитрия Смирнова. Choral works occupy a special place in the work of the contemporary Petersburg composer Dmitry V. Smirnov (born 1952). In terms of genre, it is the concert for choir that is a kind of “mirror” of the composer’s creative search. Beginning with the early compositions of the early 1980s (“The One Who Accepted the World”, “Birth of Wing”, Concerto for Choir on poems by Nikolay Nekrasov) and up to the cycle “Nabokov’s chants”, multi-movement compositions of choral concerts played a key role in the formation and gradual complication of the author's choral writing. The choir concerto “Insomnia” (1986) opens a new stage in the composer’s work. This is a period of final formation of a stable system of stylistic features of the musical language; the composer turns to creation of complex multi-movement compositions for a cappella choir. This period includes such compositions as Concerto for Choir on the poems of Innokentiy Annensky “Cypress Casket”, a Concerto for Choir on the verses of Osip Mandelstam “I was born in the ninety-fourth, I was born in the ninety-second...” (1989) and “Prayers” from the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (1992). The works of this period are distinguished by multilevel semantic polyphony, which is reflected in complication of the cycle's drama and a significant expansion of the complex of musical and expressive means of composer writing. Thus, the final formation of the main stylistic features of the choral language of Dmitry Smirnov takes place.

“Translated” or “Transformed”: The Use of Western Hymns in the Evangelization of the Lisu of Southwest China

Translated western hymns have a bad reputation in missiology. The term “translated” seems to convey a less than authentic expression of Christian faith. However, that was not how it happened when the Lisu of southwest China were evangelized by missionaries from the China Inland Mission in the 1920s and 1930s. The Lisu people exerted much more agency over their translated western hymns than the term “translated” implies. While the kernel of melody and message remained intact, four-part harmonies replaced unison singing. A cappella replaced piano or organ accompaniment. Phrases meaningful in a Victorian context were transformed into phrases meaningful in a Lisu mountain context. Abstract theological terms were replaced by concrete phrases. Western rhyming schemes were laid aside and Lisu poetic couplets were used instead. The end result is that in the everyday arena, in the practical living out of what it means to be a Christian for a communal and still largely oral-preference people such as the Lisu, the Lisu Christian hymns are the centerpiece of worship and devotion, of prayer and penitence. In other words, in the process of cross-cultural transmission, the Lisu hymns were not so much translated, as they were transformed.

Semantic oscillations of supporting music of the ancient cult as the foundation of metamodernism elements in the works of contemporary opera directors

In recent decade, modernism as one of the varieties of post-postmodernism, draws interest of the researchers. It is suggested that modern culture has transgressed the situation of postmodernism, gravitating towards conceptual and semantic sustainability. As a language of self-description of the new era, the foundations of metamodernism are reflected in various forms of art. The opera house, overcoming the inertia of conservatism, perceives these trends, refracting them in a characteristic oscillation between the extreme semantic poles, which formed during the period of antiquity. The subject of this research is the correlation between the ancient musical heritage and metamodernistic trends in the modern opera theater. It is determined that translation of the principles of musical score of the ancient cult within the framework of the works of modern opera directors implies the characteristic to the supporting music of the cult forms of Ancient Greece and Rome oscillation between the poles of monophony – polyphony, instrumentality of accompaniment – a cappella, improvisational – preset of musical pieces. Paradigmatic assimilation of the fluctuations inherent to the cult of antiquity, as well as the absence of intentionality in their manifestations (which partially reflects the religious-ecstatic procedurality of art), largely determine the specific attributes of metamodernism, emphasized in the works of R. Castellucci, P. Sellars, R. Wilson, and D. Chernyakov.

AGREEMENT AMONG HUMAN AND AUTOMATED TRANSCRIPTIONS OF GLOBAL SONGS

Cross-cultural musical analysis requires standardized symbolic representation of sounds such as score notation. However, transcription into notation is usually conducted manually by ear, which is time-consuming and subjective. Our aim is to evaluate the reliability of existing methods for transcribing songs from diverse societies. We had 3 experts independently transcribe a sample of 32 excerpts of traditional monophonic songs from around the world (half a cappella, half with instrumental accompaniment). 16 songs also had pre-existing transcriptions created by 3 different experts. We compared these human transcriptions against one another and against 10 automatic music transcription algorithms. We found that human transcriptions can be sufficiently reliable (~90% agreement, κ ~.7), but current automated methods are not (<60% agreement, κ <.4). No automated method clearly outperformed others, in contrast to our predictions. These results suggest that improving automated methods for cross-cultural music transcription is critical for diversifying MIR.

Lady in the Lake, Choral Voices, and Narrative Agency

A notable feature of the use of choral voices in cinema is the attenuation of language; singers hum, vocalise, and sing in invented or dead languages. Such an approach applies across genres and sees choruses used in two related ways: as evocations of human and inhuman collectives, and as celebrants of spectacle and narrative resolution. I argue that this approach is dictated by the particular implication of human agency that the voice, as opposed to the musical instrument, promotes. I sketch the ontological properties of choral voices in cinema and analyse Lady in the Lake (Robert Montgomery, 1947). As well as being a singular experiment in first-person camera, the film is significant for its a cappella score, the only one of its kind in classical cinema, motivated, I argue, by the film’s distinct narrative strategy.