DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2022.2.37705

Abstract: The subject of the study is the opera by composer John Adams "Nixon in China". This opera is written in the style of musical minimalism in the context of postmodern trends. "Nixon in China" is the first documentary opera based on the genre of reportage. On the example of the opera "Nixon in China", the peculiarities of the functioning of the opera genre in the postmodern era are clearly manifested. In "Nixon in China", the culture of performance is combined with the traditions of the bolshoi opera, refracted in the light of the spiritual quest of music of the second half of the XX century. The social problems of the opera conceal a number of philosophical issues related to the fate of the individual and the state. The main conclusions of the study are the provisions on the combination of minimalism, grand opera and postmodernism in "Nixon in China". It is determined that minimalism in the musical language is manifested in the meditativeness of the musical image, the use of patterns of development of musical material enriched with harmonic movement. Postmodernism expressed itself in intertextuality, performance culture, eclecticism and in the peculiarities of the genre nature of opera. The basis for the opera was the genre of news reporting. The vocal characteristics of the heroes have a cross-cutting development in the direction from the external diplomatic appearance to internal experiences, against the background of which philosophical questions are raised about the uncertainty of the fate of the state and the role of the individual in history.

DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2022.2.37784

Abstract: The subject of the study is the symphonic work of the outstanding Russian composer of the second half of the twentieth century Boris Ivanovich Tishchenko (1939-2010). The article discusses his music for the documentary films directed by S. Shuster "Suzdal" (1964), "Palekh" (1965) and "Northern Studies" (1968). The author of the work dwells in detail on such aspects of the topic as Tishchenko's innovative role in the renewal of Russian symphonism in the second half of the last century, reformatting the very foundations of compositional thinking, enriching the sound palette with the help of modern musical avant-garde. Special attention is paid to the issue of B. Tishchenko's inheritance of the great Russian symphonic tradition.   The main conclusion of the article is the idea that B. Tishchenko's music for documentaries of the 1960s accumulated the freshest ideas of the period of renewal in Russian art. A special contribution of the author to the study of the topic is a detailed study of three little-known scores of the composer in the context of an intensive search for "new music". The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the author examines the composer's compositions through the prism of stylistic and linguistic innovations of the 1960s, proves the close connection of Tishchenko's symphonism with his time, with the contradictory cultural and social processes that befell the generation of composers of the "sixties".

DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2022.2.37645

Abstract: The subject of this study is the intersection points of music and fine art, demonstrated by the example of the creative interaction of the conceptual artist Marcel Duchamp and composer John Cage. The possibility of reformatting creativity from the visual to the sound field is considered as a role rotation, within which Duchamp appears as a composer, and Cage as an artist. An attempt is made to explain the motivation for such a choice. What is the meaning of this, and what do people mean when they choose this or that image for themselves, and create this or that image for themselves. How important it is to change the artistic image and creative image for the master. The methodology of the research consists in a comparative analysis of these concepts using already known works on this topic and personal observations of the author. In conceptualism, an idea is valued above the process of its materialization in a work of art, and therefore, the technique of execution is not a decisive factor. In such a creative paradigm, the artist's tools themselves become not so essential, which can be paints, a brush or other means of visual representation of the concept, as well as sheet music or a graphic score. The means of artistic expression - sounds or visual elements – also turn out to be equivalent. All of them focus around the concept - the dominant point of any kind of creativity. This conclusion becomes the key for the conducted research in this article.

DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2022.2.37816

Abstract: The article tells about the first didactic development in the history of Russian music pedagogy on elementary music theory, created in the 1930s by Rostov composer and teacher Tikhon Ivanovich Sotnikov for the independent development of musical and theoretical knowledge. The author of the article points out that the need to create such an educational and methodological manual for self-study was dictated by the current situation in the cultural life of the USSR since the 1930s, when there was an active growth of amateur artistic activity in the country. The gradual complication of the repertoire of collectives required the growth of musical literacy of its participants. Analyzing the historical situation, the author states that despite the developing system of music education, there were not enough schools and qualified music teachers nationwide. The situation was aggravated by the war years, when many libraries and archives were destroyed, and even the search for educational literature presented a significant problem for those who wanted to study musical literacy. The table and thematic cards developed by Sotnikov for independent studies contained not just brief information on musical literacy, but also made it possible to train theoretical knowledge in practice without the participation of a teacher. In addition, the versatility of the Rostov composer's development was also in the fact that his methodology for independent studies could be used in tandem with any of the textbooks on music theory that existed at that time. The idea was highly appreciated by professors of the leading musical universities of the USSR and was recommended for publication nationwide. In conclusion, the author of the article comes to the conclusion that in the context of the historical situation of the mid-twentieth century in the USSR, Sotnikov's development was not just relevant, but with timely publication could have a revolutionary significance for the development of musical culture in the country, and its significance for the history of music pedagogy is undeniable.

DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2022.2.37700

Abstract: The article for the first time carries out a comparative study of variants of the Russian folk ballad "Prince Mikhailo" about the mother-in-law-destroyer. The study summarizes various sources of folk tunes – auditory recordings of the XIX century, publications from folklore archives of collectors of the XX century, previously unpublished folklore materials. Among them are tunes recorded in the Tver, Nizhny Novgorod, Vologda, Murmansk, and Arkhangelsk regions. The author draws attention to a little-known recording of the ballad made in the Novgorod region, and designates the role of this fact as an important evidence of the involvement of Novgorodians in the hit of "Prince Mikhailo" in the Northern Russian territories. The purpose of the study is the need to give a typological and historical assessment of the ballad tunes. A special perspective of the work is aimed at finding related musical forms in other genres of the Russian musical epic. The analysis showed that the ballad tunes recorded in various regions of Russia belong to the same musical type. It is based on a single-verse line of 8-complex composition with a choreographic ending, covering 10 or 12 musical-time units. The melodic features of the tunes testify to their fret unity associated with the narrative orientation of intonation. During the study, it was found that "Prince Mikhailo" is performed only with the melodies of the described structure. Moreover, it is the only proper ballad text assigned to this model. In Russian musical folklore, a structural type with a choreic ending was revealed (in addition to the ballad "Prince Mikhailo") in spiritual poems, tall tales, and some church hymns. The article suggests that it has developed among the Russian professional singers – buffoons and kalik pererozhikh. The role of Ancient Novgorod in the formation of a special cultural environment that contributed to the formation of these social institutions and the musical repertoire of its representatives is indicated.