Soltan Hajibeyov’s “Caravan” Symphonic Poem

The article considers some features of the symphonic poem “Caravan” by the outstanding Azerbaijani composer Sultan Hajibeyov, studied the style of the work, the principles of symphonic development, methods used in orchestration. In the symphonic poem “Caravan”, a connection with national origins is clearly manifested. The improvisational principle inherent in mugham, the organic combination of melodic developmental techniques with symphonic development, the use of variable and variational development, as well as the creative use of national frets – all this arises from national music. The article deals with some features of the symphonic poem “Caravan” by the outstanding Azerbaijani composer Soltan Hajibeyov as a program work, examines the style of the work, the principles of symphonic development, and the methods used in orchestration. The purpose of the research is to study a number of features of the composer’s individual creative style in S. Hajibeyov’s symphonic poem “Caravan”. The disclosure of programming in the work, the consistent provision of epic drama in the genre of a single-part symphonic sketch, the disclosure of the connection of this feature with the mugham genre are the main points of the research. The research is based on the disclosure of the Eastern nature image through its manifestation mainly in a calm lyrical aspect and at the same time in an internal movement. The research methodology is based on a comprehensive generalization of the research of Azerbaijani and Russian musicologists in the genre of symphonic sketch based on musical-analytical, theoretical and historical analysis. Scientific novelty of the research. For the first time in the framework of Azerbaijani music science, the figurative content and orchestral features of S. Hajibeyov’s symphonic poem “Caravan” were considered from the perspective of oriental art. At the same time, based on the analysis, certain comparisons were made with the symphonic poem “In the Steppes of Central Asia” by the Russian composer A. Borodin, and the “Caravan” composition was studied in details. Conclusions. The symphonic poem genre is important in Azerbaijani music, and many interesting examples have been created in this area. The emergence and development of the symphonic poem genre in Azerbaijani music was associated with the emergence of interest and need for samples of a single genre. Thus, in Azerbaijani music, the symphonic poem genre prevails among one-act works, and this genre originated even earlier than the genre of the national symphony. Even though the symphonic poem genre in Azerbaijani music continues the traditions of the Russian School of composition, it is based on national musical intonations. Thus, the rhythmic structure of works, artistic content, and textured form is determined by national characteristics. From this point of view, S. Hajibeyov’s “Caravan” symphonic poem is the most striking example of this genre in Azerbaijani music. At the same time, the unique orchestration, texture, and use of sound timbres of instruments opened a new page in the field of National Symphony music. In particular, the use of intonations of mugham, the Azerbaijani oral traditional musical genre, brought originality to this work.

LEVKO KOLODUB. LETTERS TO A STRANGER (formation of professionalism in the mirror of the epistolіa)

Introduction. Levko Kolodub – is one of the most outstanding Ukrainian composers of the 2nd half of the XX-th – the beginning XXI-thcentury. Studying of his creative work will never lose its actuality in the context of understanding the integrity, depth and diversity of our national musical culture. Theoretical Background. There is no fundamental monograph about L. Kolodub. The brochure by M. Zaghajkevych (1973), collected articles based on the conference materials, dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Master (2006), books by K. Bila (2010) about the instrumental concert and by L. Makarenko (2015) about folklore principles of his work, so as biographical articles for the Ukrainian Music Encyclopedia (V. 2, 2008) and for the Festival booklet (2019) – became a milestone on this path. Eight letters from Levko (1954) to Janna Brondz (his future wife Zhanna Kolodub), with whom they lived for almost sixty-five years!), recently found in the family archives, – are important for the scientific reconstruction of L. Kolodub’s creative biography. Objectives. The article aims to describe the letters, first submitted for publication and commented in detail, and determine the meaning of this period. Methods. It was used: analytical – to analyze the literature on this issue; historical – to comment and identify the significance of June 1954 in the L. Kolodub’s life; biographical – for the studying of life facts; interviews with J. Kolodub during 2020–2021 to clarify some details; and also – a source method for studying the epistolary corpus. Results and Discussion. The impetus for the letters was a brief acquaintance of two young people after a symphony concert at the Kyiv Philharmonic during the Republican Plenum of the Ukraine Composers Union. The correspondence lasted a little over a month – until the end of their student life. In the first letter, Levko describes in detail how he first saw Janna, decided to approach and talk. Then he tells about himself, about the years of his study at the Kharkiv Conservatory. As he finishes his own Cantata to the state exam in the specialty. How the composition lessons were held in the Professor M. Titz’s class. He remembers also, how he came to M. Titz on December 31, 1947 at the first time and almost until the New Year he showed the Symphony, improvising on the clarinet. Another letter tells, how Levko prepares carefully for the piano exam, where he will also play his own works – Scherzo and Fuga. During the preparing for the composition exam – in really a symphony concert at the Kharkiv Philharmonic – L. Kolodub considerably reworked his Symphonic poem; he describes the changes in detail because he is sure, she’ll be interested in it. We learn about the passing of the colloquium from the last letter, where the author expresses his confidence in the upcoming meeting: after his graduation he is going to come to Kyiv and congratulate Janna on her diploma. Conclusion. So, from these letters we found out L. Kolodub as a competent specialist – erudite, self-critical, hard-working composer, aimed at self-improvement.

Hear My Desire: Rachmaninov’s Orphic Voice and Musicology’s Trouble with Eurydice

Stigmatized as kitsch, the music of Rachmaninov has largely been neglected by scholars. A reassessment has been made possible by recent historiography on late imperial Russia documenting the intelligentsia’s search for a messianic musician-bard, a role that several of Rachmaninov’s pre-revolutionary works take up, but not in the terms expected of them. Heard in relation to the Orpheus myth often invoked at the time, to the contemporaneous prevalence of psychoanalysis, and to the formal affinities between early modernist orchestral music and the unconscious, the music both assumes unforeseen significance and offers the possibility of a counterstatement to current musicological concerns with embodiment and presence. Amid these debates, Rachmaninov’s symphonic poem, Isle of the Dead (1909), emerges as an unexpectedly subversive work that sounds the futility of fin-de-siècle Russian utopianism while giving voice to an alternative, anti-metaphysical ethics. Meanwhile, the music points to a clandestine violence governing much of musicology’s ongoing fascination with the “drastic.” The resulting critique leads to the proposal of a reparative musicology capable of giving a sympathetic account of the cultural work of public mourning that Rachmaninov’s music performs in the concert hall today.

Intonation-Thematic Processes in the Symphonic Poem by Alphons Diepenbrock “In Great Silence”

В статье раскрываются особенности интонационно-тематического развития в симфонической поэме Альфонса Дипенброка «В великом молчании» на текст афоризма Фридриха Ницше. Сочинение для баритона и оркестра нидерландского композитора рассматривается в аспекте рецепции Третьей симфонии Густава Малера. Для Дипенброка, в композиторском наследии которого преобладают вокальные сочинения, знакомство с симфоническим творчеством Малера в начале 1900-х годов оказалось судьбоносным. Эффект влияния музыки Малера, как и философии Ницше, способствовал рождению музыкального феномена — поэмы, ставшей одной из вершин композиторской деятельности Дипенброка. К этой вершине его привел не только творческий опыт, но и опыт истинного христианина-католика, что в первую очередь сказалось на своеобразии интерпретации текста афоризма немецкого философа, а также обусловило сближение с замыслом Третьей симфонии Малера. В статье демонстрируются идейные параллели и пересечения содержания поэмы Дипенброка и симфонии Малера на концептуальном, композиционном и драматургическом уровнях. Одной из ключевых граней данного сопоставления становится явление «интонационной фабулы» (И. Барсова). Впервые представлен анализ полимотивной системы вокально-оркестрового сочинения Дипенброка и процессов ее развития, олицетворяющей триединство принципов малеровского симфонического метода, философии Ницше и традиций средневековой католической церковной музыки.