DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2020.1.32028

Abstract: The article considers the problem of analyzing the melodics of liturgical chants of the Russian Orthodox Church. The research object is the melodies which are the parts of the chants of the Christmas cycle and are used by archimandrite Matthew (Mormyl) in the Christmas Festive Triptych. The author studies the terminology traditional for medieval studies, folklore studies and general musicology to analyze one-voiced textual and musical compositions. In the author’s opinion, it is reasonable to apply the term ‘string’ to the smallest complete melodic structures closed in cadencies. For the fragments shorter than a string, the author introduces the term ‘micromodel’ proposed by Yu.N. Kholopov. The key research method used by the author is the functional method introduced by Riman and customized in the musical and theoretical tradition of Moscow Conservatory. The author also applies the elements of structural-typological method, which had developed in Russian ethnomusicology and was applied in the field of music medieval studies. Partially, the author also uses H. Schenker’s method of reduction tested within Kholopov’s music and theoretical concept. The multiplicity of the methodological aspect is one of the signs of the scientific novelty of the article. The author arrives at several conclusions. First of all, the melodic composition of regular chants is based on the principle of micromodels junction. Secondly, the essence of melodic micromodels comes down to the establishment of a local or a central modal basis. Thirdly, the junctions of melodic micromodels don’t rule out the presence of a significant pitch basis and inclination for tertian coordination. These conclusions prove that chants accumulate both archaic and relatively new style components. The author is the first to analyze the melodic of the Christmas Festive Triptych in its correlation with the pitch organization in Russian musicology.   

DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2020.1.31174

Abstract: The focus of this study is intertextuality within a scientific context, specifically examining a broad range of scientific works that explore intertextuality in the broader context of fiction as a whole. The relevance of this issue is determined by its ability to help estimate the scientific status of this category. The author delves into the study of intertextuality in the humanities, exploring the fundamental principles of this category as formulated in the works of A. Veselovsky, Yu.Tynyanov, Yu. Kristeva, M. Bakhtin, H. Bloom, and others. The author uses general scientific research methods within a comparative and logical analysis, including observation, generalization, and comparison. The research is comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and based on the analytical method. The author comes to the conclusion that intertextuality as an artistic category is thoroughly studied in scientific works. Despite the variety of interpretations of this category, in the scientific field, it appears as a particular mechanism that represents a scientific text as a system operating according to specific laws and acting as a theoretical and practical basis for the modern methodology of musicology as a science, revealing the content of a composer’s canvas and its connection with the cultural texts of previous epochs.  

DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2020.1.31813

Abstract: The research subject is the types of musical action art - instrumental theatre, director’s action art, instrumental multimedia. The research object is the works of several third stream composers of the late 20th - the early 21st century which contain the distinctive features of musical action art. Based on the typology formulated by the researcher V.O.Petrov, the author studies the issues connected with the synthesis of music, text, theatrical elements and multimedia. Special attention is given to the instrumental theatre genre. The research field contains: the synthetic opus by the third stream theorist G. Schuller ‘Journey into Jazz’; an orchestra cycle by a modern Brooklyn band leader D.Argue ‘Real Enemies’; an orchestra play ‘W.A.Mozart VS Random Generator’ from the creative project Live on Planet Earth by Brooklyn composer and a leader of a big band Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra D. Glatzel; a double concert R.A.P. by Schuller’s follower and junior colleague in New England Conservatory in Boston, American composer T. McKinley. The author analyzes their works and detects the signs of the synthesis of music, text, visual multimedia action and particular theatrical elements. In all the works under study the esthetic principles of the instrumental theatre genre can be identified, which prove its importance and topicality during the development of the musical art of the late 20th - the early 21st century. 

DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2020.1.31255

Abstract: Italian composer Salvatore Sciarrino (born 1947), a philosopher and esthete whose music experimentalizes with audibility threshold, is one of the leaders of the vanguard music culture of the 20th and 21st centuries. The author’s artistic concept is developed within the framework of post-serial searching, which is defined as “music ecology” and the “ecology of listening.” Despite his music's wide recognition in Europe and the US, Sciarrino’s artistic work has received little analysis or study thus far. This is especially the case of his opera works, which draw the attention of the leading opera houses and become significant musical events. The topicality of this research is determined by the necessity to study the composer’s works and his philosophic and esthetic views in detail. Sciarrino’s experiments in the realm of music theatre are connected to the notion of azione invisible (“invisible action”), which is the focus of this article in the context of the composer’s artistic concept. The research subject of this study is Sciarrino’s opera Infinito Nero (1998). The research methodology is based on a complex approach that includes systematic, interpretational, musical, and analytical methods. Through an analysis of the libretto, dramaturgy, and its acoustic realization, the author uncovers the distinctive features of “invisible action” in Infinito Nero, including the lack of traditional plot development, the leveling of a visual component, the ambiguity of character identification, the vagueness of space and time, and the modeling of a sonorous environment in which the microscopic acoustic elements with ecological origins and their transformation become of primary importance. The concept of “invisible action” is defined by the dramaturgy of listening and the new mode of listener comprehension in which the visualization process of acoustic images plays a central role in understanding the meaning of everything that’s happening.  

DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2020.1.31758

Abstract: This article studies the issue of preserving Cyprus' choreographic culture as a crucial factor in reviving national pride. UNESCO's involvement in cultural, educational, and scientific initiatives has played a pivotal role in preserving and developing the island’s intangible cultural heritage. The authors of the study highlight the government’s financial support of folk music groups and dance projects. Special attention is given to motion capture technology and its various forms. The variety of marker technologies is presented as a system in which the groups differ in dance movement delivery. Based on the field research materials over many years, the authors emphasize the possibility of combining digital technologies with folk tradition. This research is the first in the Russian language to cover the results of the work the University of Cyprus' virtual reality laboratory has done over eight years, which is described by the head of the laboratory during an interview. The 3D video game designed at the University of Cyprus is a mediator for studying and practicing Cyprian folk dances and developing an individual performance manner using the feedback from the program. The authors conclude that motion capture technology holds significant potential in capturing choreographic sequences, digitizing traditional folk dances, and popularizing them among diverse Cypriot age groups.  

DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2020.1.31976

Abstract: The research subject is the professional specificity of existence of the Adyghe vocal tradition in the past and the present. Life after life - that’s how the current condition of the Adyghe vocal tradition can be characterized. The published songs of the Adyghe ethnos and subethnoses (the Circassians, the Kabardians, the Shapsughs) are at the present moment not more than a relict, a monument, a musical chronicle of the history of the people and an object of scientific scrutiny. The new conditions of life of the peoples of North Caucasus of the late 20th - the early 21st century begot the secondary folklore practice - reviving and developing the lost tradition on a new level. A vivid example of the rebirth of the tradition of vocal and instrumental performance is the work of the Adyghe folklore ensemble of authentic singing and instrumental music “Dzyu” (the Adyghe Republic, Maikop). The author uses the method of comparative study of folklore (vocal and instrumental) canon of the Adyghes in the past and the present. This method reveals the strong adaptation reserves of the singing tradition of the Adyghes in the current conditions of its existence. The scientific novelty of the study consists in the fact that the practice and the system of education in the traditional Adyghe music-making is studied for the first time using the example of the work of the modern ensemble “Dzyu”. The aspiration for integral revival of the music tradition explains the popularity of this band among different audiences caters to the needs of modern Adyghes for the revival of traditional forms of life and culture.