DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2023.2.69522

Abstract: Two chronologically close musical interpretations of the myth of the ancient titan Prometheus are considered as the subject of the study: the symphonic poem by A.N. Scriabin and the chorus by S.I. Taneyev from the cycle "Twelve Choirs for Mixed Voices to the poems of Ya.P. Polonsky". The article discusses the specifics of the interpretation of Prometheus, one of the central symbols of European culture. It is noted that over its long history, the content of the Prometheus myth has been interpreted in a wide range from a rebel who goes to self-sacrifice for humanity, to an inspired artist-creator who revealed the benefits of culture to people; from the holy great martyr and prophet of the true God, to the leader of the revolutionary masses of the people. As a result of the analysis, it is concluded that the central motive in Taneyev's work is the vocation of the artist, who goes to self-sacrifice against the forces of evil and ignorance. In Scriabin, Prometheus is interpreted as the active creative energy of the Universe, entering into a struggle with matter and transforming it. The analysis also reveals a number of stylistic parallels in the legacy of the two composers, such as philosophical conceptuality, monumentality of the idea and its implementation, striving for the transformation of a person through art, rational foundations of creativity, orientation to Western European art samples. As opposite stylistic features, the composers belong to different poles of protectiveness and innovation in art, and different approaches to the use of the literary word are noted. The influence of innovative insights of composers on the development of musical art of the XX century is emphasized.

DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2021.1.34936

Abstract: In the last work by S.I. Taneev - a cantate “At the reading of a psalm” - a multifaceted mastery of the composer, his artistic convictions, which had defined his life journey, manifested themselves to the highest degree. In some research works of the Soviet period, rather ambiguous and tendentious assertions about the meaning and the content of the cantata can be found. Usually, they disavow the key - religious and philosophical - context of the composition, and only the works of the recent decades focus on this aspect. The author of this article offers the variant of the interpretation of the religious and philosophical concept of the composition based on the analysis of the composer’s work with a literary text and the detection of semantic interrelations between the poetic and the musical contents of the cantata. The author concludes that Taneev doesn’t set himself a task to literally reflect the literary text in music, but uses it, principally, as a source of colorful vivid associations, the preassigned order of which allows him to create a particular religious and philosophical worldview. The musical part of the cantata can be divided into two conceptual spheres: macrocosm - the universe in its religious and philosophical understanding (NN 1-4), and microcosm - a person and the way of her spiritual evolvement in the world, leading to the understanding of the highest moral fundamentals of life, formulated in the sacred text (NN 5-9).