HANS ABRAHAMSEN AND A RECURRENT ‘CHILDLIKE’ RHYTHM

Hans Abrahamsen has reused the same rhythm across four pieces spanning 33 years: in his Ten Studies, for solo piano, and Six Pieces, for horn trio (both from 1984), in Schnee (2008) and in Three Pieces, for orchestra (2017). Because self-borrowing is crucial to Abrahamsen's compositional practice, this rhythm provides a case study in his compositional priorities, particularly in the role canonic techniques play in his music. Although the rhythm's formal properties lend it a marked asymmetry at the foreground, it is presented in Schnee as part of a canon with highly symmetric pitch materials. But despite this apparent conflict between symmetries and asymmetries, Abrahamsen's music freely combines different approaches to the rhythm, as long as it is linked to a high-register shimmer, suggesting that Abrahamsen's noted uses of canons are largely for textural ends.

INTERPRETATION PECULIARITIES OF THE CAPRICE GENRE IN F. MENDELSSOHN’S PIANO CREATIVITY

Statement of the problem. The centuries-old development of the genre of piano caprice (capriccio), which led to its flourishing in the work of romantic composers, is considered as an integral part of the genre system in Western European piano music. Insufficient study of Mendelssohn’s piano works, in particular caprices, determines the relevance of the research. The purpose of the article is to generalize stylistic qualities of the composer’s piano caprices in the context of genre evolution and their performance features. Analysis of research and publications. The genre of caprice is studied in the historical research of T. Livanova (1983), who equates the form of fantasy and capriccio-ricercare. V. Protopopov (1979) reveals the connection between fantasycapriccio and fugue in the early 17th century. K. Agisheva (2007) examines the historical aspects of the study of the capriccio genre. Modern Western European researchers, analyzing the genre of piano caprice, emphasize that its musical texture is filled with elements of vocal lyrics and mood swings (Lewandowski, 2017; Keym, 2009). At the same time, the issues of performance features remain unclear. Methods. Complex methodological approach applied in the article (historical, genre, structural-functional, performаnce research methods) allows us to trace the development of caprice from the Baroque era to Romanticism and conduct an intonational-dramatic analysis of Mendelssohn’s works in accordance with the following criteria: musical form (dramaturgy), textural presentation, thematic development, tempo-rhythmic characteristics, nature of thematism. Analysis of recent research and publications. Baroque caprice is a work of polyphonic composition and improvisational construction (J. S.Bach, G.F. Handel, I. Sweelink, J. Frescobaldi). In the era of Viennese Classicism, caprice was not very popular due to its improvisational, bizarre nature, contradicting to the aesthetic ideals of the time. The genre of piano caprice became widespread in the era of Romanticism in the works of F. Mendelssohn, whose distinguished style is marked by virtuosity, melody, grace, sentimentality, clarity of presentation. Among the works of F. Mendelssohn there are seven caprices for solo piano and with orchestra. The intonational-dramatic analysis of Mendelssohn’s piano caprices makes it possible to trace the main stylistic qualities of the genre and to reveal its performance features. Conclusions. The work outlines the stylistic traits of Mendelssohn’s piano caprices ассording to such parameters: – compositional structure of his piano caprices is a one-movement composition or a cyclic one, composed of two or three movements; – texture of the music is determined by polyphonic orchestral elements and broad cantilena themes; – thematic development is based on repetition, variability or variation; – tempo-rhythm is characterized by three-beat pulsation, syncopation of rhythm, sharp accentuation; – thematicism is determined by synthesis of lyrical and decisively acting images inherent in the style of Mendelssohn. Hence, the main task for the performer is clarity, expressive intonation of the melody in combination with a “pearl” light touch and energetic dynamic tempo rhythm.

The Pen as Camera

The photographic effect of overexposure is analogous to Michael Finnissy’s technique of selective musical borrowing. Just as a photographer uses the camera to allow an overabundance of light to wash out pictorial details, Finnissy uses his transcriptive pen to allow an overabundance of silence to alter and fragment his borrowed sources. Case studies demonstrate Finnissy’s borrowing of cadential phrases by J. S. Bach, Beethoven, and Bruckner in his solo piano works Wenn wir in höchsten Nöthen sind (1992) and The History of Photography in Sound (1995–2001). Comparing original sources, unpublished sketches, and published autographs reveals the composer’s precise transcriptive mechanisms. Measuring the alteration of tonal function enacted by specific harmonic and rhythmic distortions illuminates Finnissy’s pre-compositional practice while celebrating the sonic experience of his music on its own terms.

Cage’s Imitation Game: Cheap Imitation and Song Books through the sketches

The theme of John Cage’s Song Books (1970), according to Cage, is contained in the statement “We connect Satie with Thoreau” (".fn_cite($cage_1970).", 1). Previous studies of Cage’s Song Books have not asked what I feel to be obvious questions: how, precisely, does Cage connect Satie with Thoreau? To what end? And how does Cage connect to Satie and Thoreau (and to the other sources from which he borrows)? I make use of Cage’s sketch materials to seek answers. I examine three of the Solos for Voice from Song Books that make use of the cheap-imitation procedure that Cage had devised for his work of that name in 1969. Because Song Books is a work for vocalists while Cheap Imitation is a work for solo piano, Cage needed to apply analogous processes of textual “imitation” and mixture to the words of Thoreau to accompany the cheap imitations of the music of Satie. This article explores the persistence of compositional choice in Song Books as revealed by the sketches, in so doing exploring themes of duality in Cage’s pursuit of “poetry as I need it” in the music of Erik Satie, the words of Henry David Thoreau, and in the imitation game that he devises to connect them with one another.

Cultural Revolution and Political Ambivalence in Zhao Xiaosheng’s Two Ballades for Piano Solo

The ascendancy of China’s Cultural Revolution led to a purge of the rightists, including musicians. This article unveils composer Zhao Xiaosheng’s emotional entanglement of fear and suppressed hostility toward the revolution, reflected in the political and artistic ambivalence in his two ballades for solo piano composed after his father’s death.

Piano Trio by Amanda Maier in the Context of Genre Evolution

The relevance of the study. The name of Swedish composer and violin virtuoso of the Romantic era Amanda Maier-Röntgen is virtually unknown in Ukrainian musicology. Her work was forgotten for long time and rediscovered by European (particulary Swedish) and American musicians. But at one time she was the first woman who received the title of “Musik Direktor” after graduating from the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm. She also perfected her performing and composing mastership in Leipzig, her work was praised by critics and leading European musicians: E. Grieg, J. Brahms, K. Schumann, with whom A. Maier maintained creative contacts. Existing research in European and American musicology considers basically only biography and performing activity of A. Maier, not her composer style or genre-stylistic and compositional features of her works. The main objective of the research is to consider the stylistic parameters in chamber music works by A. Maier, in particular, her interpretation of the piano trio genre. The methodology of the study is based on the main methods of music science: compositional, harmonic, polyphonic, intonation genre-stylistic analysis, historical-comparative method. The main findings and conclusions of the study. The Trio in E flat major by A. Maier embodies both the most characteristic features of this genre that have developed in the works of classical composers, and the achievements of Romantic composers of the Austrian-German school of the first half of the nineteenth century, and the latter have priority in this work. Continuity with classical traditions can be traced in the four-part structure of the cycle, which has become typical for the trio genre, beginning with the works by L. van Beethoven; in specific techniques of ensemble writing (unison presentation of the initial theme with all instruments, dialogicity — comparison of the sound of ensemble tutti and solo piano; elements of imitation in strings part; polyphonic work with themes in development). Fundamental role of lyrics, reliance on the song and romance intonations, the kinship of themes within each of the parts, end-to-end thematic development, and thematic arches between the movements in composer thinking of A. Maier comes from Romanticism. Among the individual features inherent in the Trio A. Maier — laconic composition, plasticity of melodic lines, exceptional fluidity and coherence of form, which is achieved due to intonational similarity of the themes, openness of the syntactic structures or veiling of the cadences, organicity of the modulation transitions; dynamism of the developing sections. Also, some melodic and harmonic elements of the Trio (for example, in the themes of the middle sections of Scherzo and Andante) hint at the Scandinavian national folklore. Amanda Mayer's trio represents the best achievements of the romantic stage in the evolution of the genre: your embodiment of classical traditions together with the disclosure of personal lyrical and psychological content.

A construção de diferentes imaginários pelo sonoro de Maurice Ravel e as imagens de Tom Scott: o caso particular da Suite Ma mère l’Oye.

Originally written as a five-movement piano duet, Ma mère l’Oye, composed by Maurice Ravel in 1910, it’s a musical Suite. Dedicated to the Godebski children, the piece was transcribed for solo piano by Jacques Charlot the same year as it was published (1910). Both piano versions bear the subtitle “cinq pièces enfantines” (five children’s pieces). Sleeping Beauty and Little Tom Thumb are based on the tales of Charles Perrault, while Little Ugly Girl and Empress of the Pagodas is inspired by a tale (The Green Serpent) by Madame d’Aulnoy. In 1911, Ravel orchestrated the work. This form is the most frequently heard today. Later the same year, 1911, he also expanded it into a ballet, separating the five initial pieces with four new interludes and adding two movements at the start, Prélude and first framework- Danse du rouet et scène. More recently, we have the animated proposal by Tom Scott.In our proposal, it is our intention to understand how the imaginary soundscape is up to date by the animation proposal by Tom Scott in order to elucidate his contents, but we also intent two understand how the musical work transforme the discourse of Tom Scott. Additionally, and because the musical piece has four versions, we want to analyze the differences between the original work for piano, the orchestral proposal, the little ballet and the last one – the animation by Tom Scott.

The Elements of Contemporary Turkish Composers’ Solo Piano Works Used in Piano Education

It is thought that to be successful in piano education it is important to understand how composers composed their solo piano works. In order to understand contemporary music, it is considered that the definition of today’s changing music understanding is possible with a closer examination of the ideas of contemporary composers about their artistic productions. For this reason, the qualitative research method was adopted in this study and the data obtained from the semi-structured interviews with 7 Turkish contemporary composers were analyzed by creating codes and themes with “Nvivo11 Qualitative Data Analysis Program”. The results obtained are musical elements of currents, styles, techniques, composers and genres that are influenced by contemporary Turkish composers’ solo piano works used in piano education. In total, 9 currents like Fluxus and New Complexity, 3 styles like Claudio Monteverdi, 5 techniques like Spectral Music and Polymodality, 5 composers like Karlheinz Stockhausen and Guillaume de Machaut and 9 genres like Turkish Folk Music and Traditional Greek are reached. It is thought that the results will contribute to the field because it will cause a better understanding in the artistic viewpoints of contemporary composers, as well as being a step for the piano and music educators and the students who have studied academic piano education in order for them to be able to understand the contemporary music.