A Post-Wagnerian Gesamtkunstwerk? Stravinsky, Diaghilev, Benois, and the Russian Painters of the Ballets Russes (original) (raw)
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Scientific Herald of Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine, 2019
A new perspective is proposed on the evolution of musical culture in the 20th century. Within this process, the central position occupied by the work of the St. Petersburg Classic School - Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich - is highlighted. For a more profound understanding of Stravinsky's music, the categorical pair of the morpheme and morph is introduced for use in musical analysis. The morphic realization of the morphemes of the environment, motion, space, and dissonance, and the Janus morpheme, is traced in the text of the romance Spring (Cloister Song) and in the "Introduction" to the ballet The Rite of Spring. An essential conclusion is drawn regarding the polymorphic nature of the musical fabric in the Russian master's works.
Rethinking Igor Stravinsky historically and theoretically — III
Naukovij vìsnik Nacìonalʹnoï muzičnoï akademìï Ukraïni ìmenì P.Ì. Čajkovsʹkogo, 2022
The article is a continuation of the author's reflections on the phenomenon of musical polymorphism (the beginning is in Vol. 124, 2019; the continuation is in Vol. 128, 2020). Stravinsky's use of the environment, space, motion, dissonance, and Janus morphemes is considered as his inheritance from a tradition dating back to the work of his great predecessors. The musical tableau Sadko by Rimsky-Korsakov, the introduction Dawn on the Moscow River to Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina, and Borodin's symphonic poem In the Steppes of Central Asia are a clear confirmation of this. In Sadko Rimsky-Korsakov reveals himself as the founder of musical polymorphism. The multi-element polymorphism of Mussorgsky's Dawn on the Moscow River forms the basis of the first tableau in Stravinsky's Petrushka. In the Steppes of Central Asia is an example of a multielemental, polymorphic structure, recreated outside an existing object: a native caravan crossing the desert, guarded by a Russian military detachment. Its stereophonic nature appears in the displacement of the textural elements to the rear and the foreground, their spatial compression or expansion, changes to the acoustic volume, sound coloration. Introductory violins octave unison in In the Steppes of Central Asia displays its hidden timbre-polyphonic nature. In the historical perspective, this compositional discovery by Borodin foreshadows a similar approach in Stravinsky's musical language. The timbrical layering of the unison can be traced in Dances of the Young Girls from The Rite of Spring, The Lullaby in the Storm from The Fairy's Kiss. The rhythmic ostinato features of Rimsky-Korsakov's and Borodin's scores are developed by Stravinsky to the elaborated part of his musical language. The structures with more or less constant, exact repetitions are used in
Paper [Рукопись], 2022
The article is a continuation of the author’s reflections on the phenomenon of musical polymorphism (the beginning is in Vol. 124, 2019; the continuation is in Vol. 128, 2020). Stravinsky’s use of the environment, space, motion, dissonance, and Janus morphemes is considered as his inheritance from a tradition dating back to the work of his great predecessors. The musical tableau Sadko by Rimsky-Korsakov, the introduction Dawn on the Moscow River to Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina, and Borodin’s symphonic poem In the Steppes of Central Asia are a clear confirmation of this. In Sadko Rimsky-Korsakov reveals himself as the founder of musical polymorphism. The multi-element polymorphism of Mussorgsky’s Dawn on the Moscow River forms the basis of the first tableau in Stravinsky’s Petrushka. In the Steppes of Central Asia is an example of a multi-elemental, polymorphic structure, recreated outside an existing object: a native caravan crossing the desert, guarded by a Russian military detachment. Its stereophonic nature appears in the displacement of the textural elements to the rear and the foreground, their spatial compression or expansion, changes to the acoustic volume, sound coloration. Introductory violins octave unison in In the Steppes of Central Asia displays its hidden timbre-polyphonic nature. In the historical perspective, this compositional discovery by Borodin foreshadows a similar approach in Stravinsky’s musical language. The timbrical layering of the unison can be traced in Dances of the Young Girls from The Rite of Spring, The Lullaby in the Storm from The Fairy’s Kiss. The rhythmic ostinato features of Rimsky-Korsakov’s and Borodin’s scores are developed by Stravinsky to the elaborated part of his musical language. The structures with more or less constant, exact repetitions are used in The Rite of Spring, Three Tales for Children, Three Pieces for String Quartet, The Soldier’s Tale, The Wedding, Symphony of Psalms. Key words: oeuvre of Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, Borodin, Stravinsky, Sadko, Dawn on the Moscow River, In the Steppes of Central Asia, Petrushka, The Rite of Spring, Three Tales for Children, Three Pieces for String Quartet, The Soldier’s Tale, The Wedding, The Fairy’s Kiss, Symphony of Psalms, polymorphism.
Scientific Herald of Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine, 2020
The article is a continuation of the author’s reflections on the phenomenon of musical polymorphism (the beginning is in Vol. 124, 2019). Stravinsky’s use of the environment, space, motion, dissonance, and Janus morphemes is considered as his inheritance from a tradition dating back to the work of his great predecessors. The musical tableau Sadko by Rimsky-Korsakov, the prelude Dawn on the Moscow River to Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina, and Borodin’s symphonic poem In the Steppes of Central Asia are a clear confirmation of this. In Sadko Rimsky-Korsakov reveals himself as the founder of musical polymorphism, which is a historical alternative to the Austro-German classical symphonism, Liszt’s monothematicism, and Wagner’s leitmotivism. Rimsky-Korsakov’s adherence to polymorphic methods of developing his musical material has clear roots in folklore. Those roots can also be traced just as clearly in Mussorgsky’s Dawn on the Moscow River. Mussorgsky’s masterpiece is stripped of all remplissage, all transitions, and contains only what is most essential and significant. And at the same time it has consistent polymorphism, penetrating into all levels of the musical fabric, and across-the-board variation in the melody, harmony and texture. The multi-element polymorphism of Dawn on the Moscow River forms the basis of the first tableau in Stravinsky’s Petrushka. The growing chaos of Shrovetide Fair is brought to life by means of textural condensation, a gradual transformation of the musical fabric from multi-elemental and polymorphic into sonorous and coloristic. Key words: Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, Borodin, Stravinsky, Sadko, Dawn on the Moscow River, In the Steppes of Central Asia, Petrushka, polymorphism.
Dance Research Journal, 2013
Using a plethora of primary source material drawn from letters, sketches, and score manuscripts, Charles M. Joseph proposes that Stravinsky's ballets offer a "looking glass" (247) through which we can chart his developing compositional vocabulary. Joseph's emphasis on Stravinsky's use of musical movement, via his employment of pace, rhythm, meter, and silence, substantiates this assertion. It is important to note that one-third of Stravinsky's works were composed for ballet, and more than half of his remaining compositions have also been choreographed. Stravinsky's Ballets charts a trajectory from "the artistic mentor Diaghilev originally set out to be" (111) to Balanchine, who
Igor Stravinsky and the Music of the Renaissance Epoch
Notes on Art Criticism, 2015
This article analyzes the creative links between Stravinsky and music of Renaissance Epoch. Particular attention is paid to the canon as a technique, form and genre, which acts as the brightest representation of the 14th-16th Centuries music style in the late works of the Russian master. The analysis of Stravinsky’s canonic technique allows to trace the stylistic transformation of the Renaissance archetype due to its interaction with the individual author's system of expressive means. В статье анализируются творческие связи Стравинского с музыкой эпохи Возрождения. Особое внимание уделено канону как технике, форме и жанру, который выступает в качестве наиболее яркого репрезентанта музыкального стиля XIV–XVI веков в творчестве русского мастера. В анализе канонической техники позднего Стравинского прослеживается процесс стилистической трансформации возрожденического архетипа, обусловленный его взаимодействием с индивидуально-авторской системой выразительных средств. У статті аналізуються творчі зв’язки Стравінського з музикою епохи Відродження. Особлива увага приділена канону як техніці, формі та жанру, що виступає у якості найбільш яскравого репрезентанта музичного стилю ХIV – XVI століть у творчості російського майстра. В аналізі канонічної техніки пізнього Стравінського простежується процес стилістичної трансформації ренесансного архетипу, обумовлений його взаємодією з індивідуально-авторською системою засобів виразності.
Introduction to New Book on Stravinsky
Contemporary Musicology, 2024
A new book is devoted to the work of Stravinsky follows and expands upon the tradition of Boris Asafyev’s 1929 monograph. The central analytical object of the new book is the sound fabric unfolding over time in the works of the Russian master. Content-related and semantic interpretations of this object are intended to expand upon, refine, and in some cases correct ideas about Stravinsky’s work that exist in the modern musical consciousness. The book relies on four methodological premises. The historiographical premise stems from an interpretation of Stravinsky’s artistic legacy as a musical universe resting on proto-elements formed during the early stage of his creative development. The methodological premise is based on emphasizing the differences between the dynamic-procedural creative method, which is characteristic of the classical and romantic branch of Western European music, and Stravinsky’s object-descriptive polymorphism, which is rooted in the traditions of 19th-century Russian music. The musical-imagery premise is conditioned on the expressive spheres within Stravinsky’s oeuvre which were new to the world of early-20th-century music. In these areas, the composer operates masterfully in realms of the human emotional universe which were previously unrepresented in music. Finally, the cultural and worldview-related premise originates with Stravinsky’s unique role in 20th-century musical culture as the most brilliant representative of a new, essentially dialogic, cultural type. The dialogical mental apparatus, the diverse forms of intercultural dialogue in his life and art, and the harmonization of European and non-European strategies for perceiving the world around us — a characteristic feature of Stravinsky’s life and work. Keywords: Igor Stravinsky, musical style, composition technique, polymorphism, dialogicity, St. Petersburg Classic School of Composition
The Legacy of Ballets Russes and Nijinsky’s Interpretation of Debussy and Stravinsky
The near-riot that occurred at the ballet performance of Igor Stravinsky's Le Sacres du Primtemps (the Rite of Spring) in 1913 was part of the mixed reaction to Russian orientalism in Parisian contemporary art. Many scholars have analyzed the specifics of the piece, the choreography, and the conditions of the night of May 29 th , 1913 at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. While the analysis of the specific night is useful toward understanding the underlying psychology of the audience, Vaslav Nijinsky's ballet interpretation of The Rite of Spring is indicative of a broader movement in the historical context of the 20 th century. With the imminence of World War I and the growing urge among the French to form a 'nationalist identity', the presence of Russian ballet in Paris created sentiments of infatuation, appreciation, anxiety, and contempt -all in tension with each other. The heavy presence of primitivism, naturalism, and dissonance in Ballets Russes' performances often mocked French traditional civilized values. Ballets Russes 'authenticity' came into question as the company's motives became decidedly commercial and designed for shock appeal. Nijinsky's interpretation of Claude Debussy's L'Après-midi d'un Faune (Afternoon of a Faun) was a precursor to the Rite, but the musical qualities and the choreographic movements were not as provocative. The music itself in Stravinsky's piece, intertwined with Nijinsky's choreography, implied dehumanizing, antiexpressionist ideals that helped fuel the anxieties of Parisian audiences. Sergei Diaghilev, a Russian impresario of opera and ballet, brought a music sensation to 20 th century Western ballet with the establishment and sustainment of Ballets Russes in Paris. He recruited innovative composers and choreographers into a Russian troupe that capitalized on Parisians' fascination with exoticism and orientalism. The project began with the innovative