DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2021.2.35150

Abstract: The research subject is the scope of academic works of Vladimir Mikhailovich Bekhterev (1857 - 1927) published just before and during World War I, including the articles “Music as a remedy” (1913), “The role of music in aesthetic education of a child from the first days of life” (1915), “Remedial and hygienical role of music” (1916), in which the academician considers the results of experimental research of the influence of music on person and society from the standpoint of collective reflexology and general psychology, and develops methodic guidelines for the practical usage of music. The scientific novelty of the article consists in the fact that the author introduces the natural-science knowledge acquired by V.M. Bekhterev experimentally, into the discourse of the social sciences. The problem of practical usage of music is solved in the context of a comprehensive approach to human study. Along with explicit scientific facts, the sources under consideration have implicit content which can be explained by the academician’s interest in the social aspects of life, creative activities in arts, and music as a form of art. The author emphasizes the practical importance of the collected and classified guidelines for the practical usage of music for the purpose of the improvement of society.

DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2021.2.35117

Abstract: This article develops a comprehensive approach to classifying instrumental ensembles featuring the domra. It aims to discern the underlying principles that can be used to create various models of such ensembles. The author recommends analyzing the various aspects of the phenomenon being studied from different perspectives: as music groups and from the viewpoint of music compositions composed for these groups. This article examines and compares different models of concert groups based on the number of members and instrumental components, as well as the unique genre and style characteristics of instrumental ensembles featuring the domra and their collaborations with composers. This classification method helps comprehensively cover the work of a large number of musicians, both members of ensembles and composers. Constructing various systems for classifying instrumental ensembles can aid in the examination of the existence of such groups in contemporary music culture. The author concludes that, at present, Russia's spectrum of music performance contains a vast range of ensembles made up of various instruments and different numbers of members. The diversity of these groups’ genres and styles is reflected in their repertoires, from folk to classical music and modern composing schools to jazz, rock, pop, and performance. 

DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2021.2.35203

Abstract: This article explores the creative instrumental works of the modern Russian-Israeli composer Ilya Heifetz. His life and creative experience have two definite stages: one in Russia before 1991 and the other in Israel, each marked by the challenge of reconsidering his national roots in his personal life and artistic work. One of the examples of addressing this problem in Heifetz’s compositions of the Soviet period is his violin concerto. In this research, the author considers the composer’s combination of academic genre patterns with the intonational and structural peculiarities of Jewish folklore as an effort to comprehend his own national identity. Through the intonation and thematic analysis of the concerto, as well as the composer’s personal letters, it can be concluded that the piece contains a hidden message that addresses the history of the Jewish people and their national character, reflecting the unique peculiarities of Russian Jews as they attempt to understand their own national identity. As the main characteristic of this subethnic group is the Russian language and Russian culture perceived through it, the author of this article focuses on how the peculiarities of the Russian composing schools manifest themselves in this piece of music based on Jewish intonations and genres.  

DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2021.2.35065

Abstract: The article considers the methodological principles of analyzing the parameters of interaction of speech and music language in the context of object-oriented methods of Astafiev’s intonation theory, Yavorsky’s concept of music speech, the views on and ideas about the intonation basis of speech of Bonfeld, Medushevsky, Aranovsky and Nazaikinsky, and the new system of interaction of speech and music in the works of Helmut Lachenmann and  Luciano Berio. Music language and speech are the phenomena allowing for various intersections, complementarities and mutual interferences. These factors manifest themselves in various aspects spotlighting particular sides of these parameters characterizing speech and music language. Since there’s no unified methodology for analyzing these parameters at the moment, it is reasonable to study a music composition as a text (in a broad sense) using various methods of analysis. The author suggests considering the parameters of interaction of speech and music language in terms of object-oriented methods. In the works of composers, music and speech have different forms of interaction and, consequently, need to be studied via different analytical approaches. Comprehensive consideration of a piece of music as a text (by means of various approaches) allows considering it as an intercultural universum representing the code of the epoch. Based on the peculiarities of interpretation of voice as an instrument, and speech as music, and the opportunities it gives, the author formulates the classification of creative methods and principles and the system of analysis which can be used in musicology.   

DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2021.2.34930

Abstract: J. Offenbach’s opera “The Tales of Hoffmann” stands out from other compositions of this genre. Because of a complicated story behind, this piece of music has several versions and, consequently, various interpretations of the plot. The opera has also other features which are described in the article. Pride of place goes to the study of sopranos. The authors detect the linkage between the main female characters (Olympia, Antonia and Giulietta). The common thread, uniting Hoffmann’s ladies, is an incidental character Stella. The three stories of the poet’s ladies are the stages of Hoffmann’s relations with Stella. Each scene of “The Tales” contains the heroine’s projection which manifests a definite trait of her character.  The ladies from “The Tales” de facto represent various traits of one girl while being de jure the main characters of each story. The composer portrays them in detail which can be seen through the difference in singing ranges and tessituras (from coloratura to lyrical-dramatic soprano). Tessitura differences along with genre duality of the opera affect the selection of expressive means. Features of opera comique allow embodying Olympia’s hardhearted mechanism from the first scene (by means of onomatopoeic elements expressed in complex coloratura passages and music ornaments). Opera lyrique develops Antonia’s inner conflict from the second scene by means of romance parties and lamentation character of music. This peculiar synthesis of both genres manifests itself in Giulietta with the irony of opera comique hidden under the haze of opera lyrique which corresponds with the essence of the heroine (third scene). The above mentioned peculiarities sometimes do not allow performing soprano parties in accordance with the composer’s idea in which the four heroines should be embodied in one solo singer. However, there’ve been lucky occasions in the history of this opera when the singers managed to implement the composer’s idea.   

DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2021.2.35455

Abstract: The research object is the performance art of a well-known Saratov musician Anatoly Katz (1936-2017), who was one of the brightest representatives of not only Saratov piano art, but the music culture of the entire region. The research subject is the theatre and play aspect of Katz’s interpretation considered through the example of R. Schumann’s “Coloured Leaves”, op.99. The purpose of the research is to define the techniques of music and play theatricalization in A. Katz’s art of interpretation. The author analyzes the role of a theatre and play component in the performance activity of the Saratov pianist, his attitude to the process of interpretation and play as a special type of creative thinking. The author uses the historical and art review methods, the culturological and comparative methods which help to detect the prerequisites of formation of Katz’s performance style, his views on interpretation and the mechanisms of cooperation of a composer and a performer. For the comparative analysis, the author uses the recordings of Schumann’s “Coloured leaves” made by other well-known pianists: V. Ashkenazy, V. Sofronitsky, S. Richter. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the fact that it is the first attempt to take a scientific approach to A. Katz’s art of interpretation using R. Schumann’s music. The research shows that the theatre and play aspect to a great extent defines the direction of Katz’ s creative process, and differs it from other similar interpretations. The characteristic feature of Katz as an interpreter is his focus on cooperation with a composer, search for an individual interpretation, rethinking of the original composition. It results in a “director’s” approach to composing the cycle, increase of contrast between the parts and within each of them, fantasy and personification of images, active use of agogics and, consequently, focused attention to particular details of the composition.   

DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2021.2.35122

Abstract: In this article, the author examines the outstanding writer, musician, scholar, collector, and researcher of music folklore and the Old Russian art of singing, Prince Vladimir Fyodorovich Odoyevsky, and his perspective on the topic of public music education. The author considers Odoyevsky’s opinion on educating women and the lowest tiers of Russian society and the possible methods of public music education. This research is based on Odoyevsky’s letters and diaries and three articles about primary music education methods and the peculiarities of giving solfeggio classes to the broader public. The author focuses on the role of the “numerical technique” in developing Russian folklore music notating. The scientific novelty of the research lies in understanding Odoyevsky’s contribution to the popularization of the music notation system created by Emile-Joseph-Maurice Cheve. The author of this research is the first to establish Odoyevsky’s priority in developing and supporting government and social initiatives in the field of public music education. The author demonstrates the Russian enlightener's universal character toward the approaches to solving educational problems and explains the reception of some of the scholar’s scientific ideas in the Russian folklore milieu. The author uses the examples of typologically homogeneous terms of the theory of music applied by Odoyevsky that continue to be used by folk musicians.  

DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2021.2.35078

Abstract: The author of the article analyzes the film “The Kreutzer Sonata” (director M. Schweitzer, composer S. Gubaidulina) and defines the role of audio background consisting of music and sound effects in the development of the concept of the film version of the same-name novella by L.N. Tolstoy. Based on the comparison of the piece of writing and its screen adaptation, the author describes the functions of the audio background and the role of music as a drama factor. The author emphasizes the importance of timbre and sound principles since the sound characteristics help to define the edges of the event line of the story (the past and the present), and the railway and urban noises become a marker outlining the key phrases of the dialogue of Pozdnyshev with his companion. For the film, the role of citations is important, which are used for describing the characters and interpreting them. Citations accompany the images of Liza (classic piano pieces, romance and French song), Pozdyshev (Strauss waltz, Offenbach’s cancan, and a prison song), and Trukhachevsky (P. Satasate’s gypsy songs). Three main characters are united by L. Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata which creates the psychological subtext in representing the relations between Liza, Trukhachevsky and Pozdyshev.  S. Gubaidulina’s music, using the minimum primary musical expressive means, and mostly by timbers characterises the range of Pozdnyshev’s emotions from love to hate and comments the inner dialogue of the character. The audio background in the film fulfils the illustrative, characterizing, subtextual and drama functions. The specific peculiarity of introducing music into the synthetic text is a frequent usage of the intraframe principle determined by both Tolstoy’s prose and the very title of the novel. The author proves that Schweitzer’s “Kreutzer Sonata” is more authentic as compared with other screen versions since it preserves the dialogues and remarks of characters, the unanimity of real events and flashbacks corresponds with the primary source, and the drama of the film is equal to that of the literary text; at the same time, the expression of culmination points is supported by music and sound effects thus helping to understand the idea of the novella.