scholarly journals The formation of the chamber-vocal style of Zhu Jian’er: early works

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (52) ◽  
pp. 173-187
Author(s):  
Fengdaijiao Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Early Period ◽  
Vocal Music ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Musical Language ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Poetic Text ◽  
Musical Embodiment ◽  
Song Writing

Background. The little-known pages of the work of an outstanding Chinese composer are presented. The genesis of chamber-vocal style is explored on the example of early chamber and vocal creativity of the 1940s. This is the stage in the formation of the musical language of the composer, which coincides with the “experimental” period of the formation of Chinese chamber vocal music of the twentieth century. Zhu Jiangier became one of the pioneers in the attempts of creative synthesis of national and European musical experience. Specificity of musical content and features of the intonational language, form, texture of the piano accompaniment of the cycle or. 1 (1940–1944) and two songs created in 1944 are considered. The characterization of the composer’s early song creativity, features inherent in his style, is generalized. It is proved that the earliest period of creativity, in particular, the sphere of chamber vocal music, which formed the personality of Zhu Jiangera style. Objectives. The purpose of this article is to consider and study the early period of the chamber-vocal creativity of Zhu Jian’er, the formation of his talent in his young years. The section of the creative biography of the composer, connected with the 1940s, has been least studied by researchers. At the same time, it was he who laid and formed the foundations of Zhu Jianar’s compositional personality in the field of vocal music. Methods. The methods of research are based on the scientific approaches necessary for the disclosure of the topic. The methodology is based on an integrated approach that combines the principle of musical-theoretical, musical-historical and executive analysis. Results. The specifics of the musical content, peculiarities of the intonational language, the composition form and texture of the piano accompaniment of the vocal cycle op. 1 (1940–1944) and two songs created in 1944 are considered. The subject content of the cycle songs covered a wide range of musical images. The central place in the songs is devoted to philosophical reflections on the meaning of life, the theme of love for the homeland, everyday sketches, and landscape and love lyrics, separation. The general composition of the first opus is of considerable interest – the first play is divided into four parts, which allows one to speak of such a structural phenomenon as a cycle in a cycle. There is clearly felt the influence of Western European compositional technology. At the same time, the song has features of traditional Chinese music, which is due, above all, to the elements of pentatonic in the melody of the vocal part of the work. The first song of op. 1 No. 1 “Memory” is a mini-cycle consisting of four parts. Poetic text determines the detailed nature of the musical composition with a pronounced ballad color and complex drama, the structure of the song is based on the principle of end-to-end development, the change of emotional mood occurs in one breath. Already on this composition it is clear that at the very beginning of his work Zhu Jian’er had the skill of a versatile depiction of inner experiences and difficulties encountered in the life of the hero. The second number or. 1 No. 2 “Waves washing sand” – imbued with a lyrical and philosophical mood. In the musical-figurative sphere, the landscape poetry occupies a central place with philosophical overtones, symbolically revealing the images of waves on the sand, characterizing the lyrical experiences of the hero and his sadness. op. 1 No. 3 “Lullaby” – the lyrical center of the cycle, a song of meditation with a predominant shade of sadness and philosophical overtones – the theme of enlightenment, the general meaningful canvas corresponds to the genre of lullabies, the appeal to the child, full of tender feelings. The fourth song Or. 1 No. 4 “I want to return to my homeland”, serves as a kind of finale. The basis of the song is the topic of separation, which is very popular in the songwriting of Chinese composers. The content of the song is symbolic: it is not only dreams of a distant friend, family and friends, but also a reflection of emotional feelings of separation from the motherland. Songs “Spring, when you return” and “Dream” were created by the composer in 1944, are devoted to events from the life of the composer. Zhu Jian’er saturates the musical fabric of the song with unstable harmonies, offers a more complex texture solution to the piano part (alternating polyphonic and homophonic-harmonious presentation) and gives it greater independence as an independent layer of musical tissue. The vocal melody also acquires a new look. An arioso-declamatory by nature, it embodies all the nuances of a poetic text that is pronounced with a special sentimental feeling (“Spring, when you return”) or a joyful hope (“Dream”). The analysis completes the generalized characterization of the composer’s early song-writing, in which the inherent features are distinguished. The skill and artistic significance of his songs testify to the fact that Zhu Jian’er succeeded in original compositions with vivid national characteristics. In the early chamber-vocal works of Zhu Jian’er, musical embodiment was achieved both in luminous, lyrical, and sad, even grim character themes related to the reflection of deep emotional, indeed – philosophical aspects of being revealed through a change of experiences. The theme of many songs is associated with the embodiment of the thoughts and feelings of a person, with the chanting of a beautiful nature. Conclusions. The least studied early period of creativity, in particular, the sphere of chamber-vocal music formed the individuality of the compositional style of Zhu Jian’er. Zhu Jian’er’s songs are characterized by vivid musical images and colorful writing, vividly representing the individuality of the composer’s musical language. These works alone allow us to say that in his early years the composer Zhu Jian’er was a high-level musician.

scholarly journals The Interaction of Poetic Text and Music in Opus 49 by J. Brahms

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (16) ◽  
pp. 158-169
Author(s):  
Olena Stanishevska
Keyword(s):  
Full Range ◽  
Vocal Music ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
German Language ◽  
General Context ◽  
Sunday Morning ◽  
Poetic Text ◽  
Phonetic Features ◽  
Musical Embodiment

Introduction. In scientific literature dedicated to J. Brahms, much attention has been paid to a song genre. The researches note that J. Brahms’s songs can be regarded as a continuation of genre-specific features of Austro-German Lied, which retains the purity of the generic semantics in the composer’s works, without involving typically operatic means of vocal intoning, or approaching the so-called “poem with music”. J. Brahms’s songs do not allow the singer to demonstrate the full range of his/her voice, to reveal his/her artistic temperament, to show the technical skill. Absorption in a special emotional aura of J. Brahms’s songs requires a variety of timbre-intonational resources of a singer, his/her ability not to lose the sense of the whole while detailing the melodious overture. Of particular interest is the issue of music and words correlation in J. Brahms’s songs. As a rule, the composer is considered to be the immediate successor of F. Schubert rather than R. Schuman in his orientation to musical embodiment of a generalized poetic image. At the same time, this issue requires more detailed study, since the composer was very sensitive to the poetic text, in particular, from the point of view of coordinating the intonation-phonetic features of German language and vocal intonation. Theoretical Background. Recent research and publications analysis. Opus 49 by J. Brahms seems to be in the shadow of musicological thought and performing practice. It should be noted that a very famous opus part is “Lullaby”, which is mentioned in the monographs of K. Tsareva (1986), M. Druskin (1959), and K. Geiringer (1965). In the literature being considered the abovementioned opus is not completely covered, thus determining the relevance of our article. There are references to individual songs in different sources, but incidentally, in the context of different issues. Objective is to study J. Brahms’s opus 49 in the aspect of the interaction of poetic word and music, verbal and musical intoning. Methods: 1) historical method, allowing to comprehend the selected material in the perspective of the development of Austro-German song of the XIX century; 2) intonational method, which involves the study of vocal melody in terms of phonetic-tonic links; 3) genre method, caused by the features of chamber vocal lyrics; 4) stylistic method, corresponding to a specific opus consideration in the general context of the composer’s creative work. Results and Discussion. The composer did not have any tendency to the songs cyclization, however, the vocal miniatures, assembled in one opus, appear to be lyrical notes, self-contained but united by poetic motives and nature of the author’s expression. Many researchers see a cyclic organization of his particular vocal opuses. For example, I. Mykhailov (1987: 19) proves the existence of cyclic principles at different compositional levels in composer’s songs: separate “melodious pairs”, a number of songs with the texts by one poet inside the opus, a whole vocal opus with the texts by different authors. According to I. Mikhailov, the cyclic connection of songs is emphasized by several compositional techniques: thematic one, i.e. the unity of the musical material; the continuity of songs alternation, which is sometimes manifested in the absence of a piano introduction of the next song. In opus 49, the author chooses different poetic sources – poems by P. Heyse, L. Hölty, A. F. Schack, and J. Wenzig. The composer refers to one of the samples of the famous collection by Joachim von Arnim and Clemens Brentano “The Magic Horn of a Boy”. Given the anthological principle of poetic texts selection, no transparent storyline in opus 49, such as “A Beautiful Miller” by F. Schubert or “Poet’s Love” by R. Schumann, there is no reason to regard it as a cycle. However, the opus’ songs are arranged in a certain semantic sequence. Owing to the fact that three songs (“Sunday Morning”, “To a Violet”, “Longing for the Sweetheart”) are united by homogeneous poetic motifs, one can regard them as forming a microcycle within the whole. The second micro-cycle of the opus is represented by No. 4 and No. 5 (“Lullaby” and “Twilight”). In interpreting the poetic text, J. Brahms adheres to the principle of emotional and musical generality, once detailing the text, if at all. Here, he succeeds F. Schubert. However, he uses the technique of keywords, distinguishing them in two ways: rhythmically (with syncope) and through intrinsic chants; the composer also uses different types of intoning. Following the tradition of the 19th-century Austro-German song, the composer regards the genre as an alliance of two full members: the vocalist and the pianist, with the part being an instrumental generalization. The intonational image of the whole in vocal music arises at the crossing of two texts – poetic and musical. German has intonation difficulties owing to a large number of consonants. Problems, encountered by the singers in intoning German language, are compensated by the consonants and vowels, which are most favorable for correct sound formation, allowing to achieve the required quality. The soft consonants and vowels should be regarded as the ideal vocal sound, that is, a model for other phonemes in musical-poetic text. While creating vocal melodies of Opus 49 songs, J. Brahms cares the phonetics of a German text in the singing to be comfortable for the performer. Conclusions. J. Brahms uses such principles and techniques of literary original musical embodiment as preservation of the holistic image, created by the author of the poems, on the one hand, and its detailing on the other. In the second case, the composer resorts to all means of musical expression: motive-thematic, texture-register, rhythmic, harmonious, texture ones. The prospects of the research lie in studying the interaction of verbal and musical intonation in other vocal works of J. Brahms, as well as in chamber-vocal music of late romantics.

scholarly journals Pastoral and the Principles of Its Stylization (Based On the Material of Vocal Music)

2021 ◽  
pp. 104-112
Author(s):  
Lei Huang
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Music ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
Musical Language ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
Human Voice ◽  
The World ◽  
Poetic Text ◽  
Psychological Mechanism ◽  
Mechanism Of Recognition

The purpose of this paper is to reveal the role of stylization as a style­forming principle in the evolution of the pastoral genre based on textbook chamber­vocal compositions (arias by W. A. Mozart), as well as little­known ones. The methodology. The proposed research differs from other studies, which are close in the topic (T. Livanova, A. Korobova, A. Taylor and others), by an interpretative­cognitive approach dictated by the challenges of modern performing practice. A comparative analysis of pastoral semantics in European and Chinese poetics was also used. The results. On the basis of vocal miniatures created in the XX century (S. Vasylenko “Pastoral” op. 45, No. 5 and A. Rudianskyi “Lotus” and “The Flute on the Water” from the cycle “The Lake of White Lotus” (2001), a parallel of the European pastorals and ancient Chinese poetry from the point of view of a pastoral person in different pictures of the world has been drawn. The onto­sonological foundation of the pastoral is made up of a human voice accompanied by a shepherd’s pipe, landscape sound painting (the singing of birds, the murmur of a brook), and the vastness of natural landscapes (plain air). The author develops the conceptual apparatus of the theory of the pastoral to reveal the richness of various composing interpretations of the genre, its dynamics: “semantics of the pastoral”, “ontology of the pastoral image”, “pastoral person”, “pastoral picture of the world”. The topicality of the interpretative­comparative analysis is the conclusion about the necessary principles of stylization of the pastoral: the presence of a genre invariant with its own stable, psychological mechanism of recognition by listeners; historical distancing from the prototype (ancient poetry, baroque opera); creative synthesis of many traditions of the artistic existence of the genre and the signs of its national musical attribution. Poetic text and symbolization of the musical language are also the mechanisms of stylization of the pastoral in vocal music. Musical and poetic symbols, created by the author’s intuition, form a new life for the pastoral in the creative work of the XX century composers. If the composer’s interpretation of the genre invariant of the pastoral has ensured its viability for millennia, then the performer of pastoral compositions is responsible for their genre and style “purity”. The performers must master the technique of recreating the sound­like world of a pastoral person. The practical significance of the topic is confirmed by the fact of the actualization of the pastoral in the performance of the XXI century, due to the systematic inclusion of its samples into the concert repertoire of vocalists (including those from the People’s Republic of China), which requires appropriate historical and theoretical knowledge when modelling the behaviour of a pastoral person in the modern cultural situation.

Image quality vs data obtainment in biological electron microscopy

1986 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 42-43
Author(s):  
J. E. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Electron Beam ◽  
Image Quality ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Early Period ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Fluorescent Screen ◽  
Embedding Medium

In the early years of biological electron microscopy, scientists had their hands full attempting to describe the cellular microcosm that was suddenly before them on the fluorescent screen. Mitochondria, Golgi, endoplasmic reticulum, and other myriad organelles were being examined, micrographed, and documented in the literature. A major problem of that early period was the development of methods to cut sections thin enough to study under the electron beam. A microtome designed in 1943 moved the specimen toward a rotary “Cyclone” knife revolving at 12,500 RPM, or 1000 times as fast as an ordinary microtome. It was claimed that no embedding medium was necessary or that soft embedding media could be used. Collecting the sections thus cut sounded a little precarious: “The 0.1 micron sections cut with the high speed knife fly out at a tangent and are dispersed in the air. They may be collected... on... screens held near the knife“.

Polymer Chemistry

2004 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Conducting Polymers ◽  
Liquid Crystalline ◽  
Polymer Chemistry ◽  
Chain Growth ◽  
Crystalline Polymers ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Cyclic Oligomers ◽  
Step Growth

Polymer Chemistry: A Practical Approach in Chemistry has been designed for both chemists working in and new to the area of polymer synthesis. It contains detailed instructions for preparation of a wide-range of polymers by a wide variety of different techniques, and describes how this synthetic methodology can be applied to the development of new materials. It includes details of well-established techniques, e.g. chain-growth or step-growth processes together with more up-to-date examples using methods such as atom-transfer radical polymerization. Less well-known procedures are also included, e.g. electrochemical synthesis of conducting polymers and the preparation of liquid crystalline elastomers with highly ordered structures. Other topics covered include general polymerization methodology, controlled/"living" polymerization methods, the formation of cyclic oligomers during step-growth polymerization, the synthesis of conducting polymers based on heterocyclic compounds, dendrimers, the preparation of imprinted polymers and liquid crystalline polymers. The main bulk of the text is preceded by an introductory chapter detailing some of the techniques available to the scientist for the characterization of polymers, both in terms of their chemical composition and in terms of their properties as materials. The book is intended not only for the specialist in polymer chemistry, but also for the organic chemist with little experience who requires a practical introduction to the field.

scholarly journals Organelle Genetics in Plants

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 2104
Author(s):  
Pedro Robles ◽  
Víctor Quesada
Keyword(s):  
Rna Editing ◽  
Posttranscriptional Regulation ◽  
Genome Engineering ◽  
Plant Mitochondria ◽  
Plastid Dna ◽  
Chloroplast Genomes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Organelle Genetics ◽  
Selection Of

Eleven published articles (4 reviews, 7 research papers) are collected in the Special Issue entitled “Organelle Genetics in Plants.” This selection of papers covers a wide range of topics related to chloroplasts and plant mitochondria research: (i) organellar gene expression (OGE) and, more specifically, chloroplast RNA editing in soybean, mitochondria RNA editing, and intron splicing in soybean during nodulation, as well as the study of the roles of transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of OGE in plant adaptation to environmental stress; (ii) analysis of the nuclear integrants of mitochondrial DNA (NUMTs) or plastid DNA (NUPTs); (iii) sequencing and characterization of mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes; (iv) recent advances in plastid genome engineering. Here we summarize the main findings of these works, which represent the latest research on the genetics, genomics, and biotechnology of chloroplasts and mitochondria.

scholarly journals Characterization of a Novel CaCO3-Forming Alkali-Tolerant Rhodococcus erythreus S26 as a Filling Agent for Repairing Concrete Cracks

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (10) ◽  
pp. 2967
Author(s):  
Seunghoon Choi ◽  
Sungjin Park ◽  
Minjoo Park ◽  
Yerin Kim ◽  
Kwang Min Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Building Materials ◽  
Culture Fluid ◽  
Natural Phenomenon ◽  
Environment Friendly ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Filling Agent ◽  
Calcium Source ◽  
Alkali Tolerance ◽  
High Alkali

Biomineralization, a well-known natural phenomenon associated with various microbial species, is being studied to protect and strengthen building materials such as concrete. We characterized Rhodococcus erythreus S26, a novel urease-producing bacterium exhibiting CaCO3-forming activity, and investigated its ability in repairing concrete cracks for the development of environment-friendly sealants. Strain S26 grown in solid medium formed spherical and polygonal CaCO3 crystals. The S26 cells grown in a urea-containing liquid medium caused culture fluid alkalinization and increased CaCO3 levels, indicating that ureolysis was responsible for CaCO3 formation. Urease activity and CaCO3 formation increased with incubation time, reaching a maximum of 2054 U/min/mL and 3.83 g/L, respectively, at day four. The maximum CaCO3 formation was achieved when calcium lactate was used as the calcium source, followed by calcium gluconate. Although cell growth was observed after the induction period at pH 10.5, strain S26 could grow at a wide range of pH 4–10.5, showing its high alkali tolerance. FESEM showed rhombohedral crystals of 20–60 µm in size. EDX analysis indicated the presence of calcium, carbon, and oxygen in the crystals. XRD confirmed these crystals as CaCO3 containing calcite and vaterite. Furthermore, R. erythreus S26 successfully repaired the artificially induced large cracks of 0.4–0.6 mm width.

scholarly journals Isolation and Characterization of Strain Exiguobacterium sp. KRL4, a Producer of Bioactive Secondary Metabolites from a Tibetan Glacier

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 890
Author(s):  
Pietro Tedesco ◽  
Fortunato Palma Esposito ◽  
Antonio Masino ◽  
Giovanni Andrea Vitale ◽  
Emiliana Tortorella ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Analysis ◽  
Biological Assays ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Isolation And Characterization ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Protein Encoding ◽  
Nematocidal Activity ◽  
Extremophilic Microorganisms ◽  
Unique Source

Extremophilic microorganisms represent a unique source of novel natural products. Among them, cold adapted bacteria and particularly alpine microorganisms are still underexplored. Here, we describe the isolation and characterization of a novel Gram-positive, aerobic rod-shaped alpine bacterium (KRL4), isolated from sediments from the Karuola glacier in Tibet, China. Complete phenotypic analysis was performed revealing the great adaptability of the strain to a wide range of temperatures (5–40 °C), pHs (5.5–8.5), and salinities (0–15% w/v NaCl). Genome sequencing identified KRL4 as a member of the placeholder genus Exiguobacterium_A and annotation revealed that only half of the protein-encoding genes (1522 of 3079) could be assigned a putative function. An analysis of the secondary metabolite clusters revealed the presence of two uncharacterized phytoene synthase containing pathways and a novel siderophore pathway. Biological assays confirmed that the strain produces molecules with antioxidant and siderophore activities. Furthermore, intracellular extracts showed nematocidal activity towards C. elegans, suggesting that strain KRL4 is a source of anthelmintic compounds.

scholarly journals Towards Reduced CNNs for De-Noising Phase Images Corrupted with Speckle Noise

Photonics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 255
Author(s):  
Marie Tahon ◽  
Silvio Montresor ◽  
Pascal Picart
Keyword(s):  
Phase Error ◽  
Speckle Noise ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Benchmark Data ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Phase Images ◽  
Different Depths ◽  
Phase Data ◽  
Do So

Digital holography is a very efficient technique for 3D imaging and the characterization of changes at the surfaces of objects. However, during the process of holographic interferometry, the reconstructed phase images suffer from speckle noise. In this paper, de-noising is addressed with phase images corrupted with speckle noise. To do so, DnCNN residual networks with different depths were built and trained with various holographic noisy phase data. The possibility of using a network pre-trained on natural images with Gaussian noise is also investigated. All models are evaluated in terms of phase error with HOLODEEP benchmark data and with three unseen images corresponding to different experimental conditions. The best results are obtained using a network with only four convolutional blocks and trained with a wide range of noisy phase patterns.

scholarly journals Raman Spectroscopy Investigation of Graphene Oxide Reduction by Laser Scribing

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
Vittorio Scardaci ◽  
Giuseppe Compagnini
Keyword(s):  
Raman Spectroscopy ◽  
Graphene Oxide ◽  
Reduce Graphene Oxide ◽  
Oxide Reduction ◽  
Material Parameters ◽  
Laser Scribing ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Scan Speed ◽  
Laser Reduction

Laser scribing has been proposed as a fast and easy tool to reduce graphene oxide (GO) for a wide range of applications. Here, we investigate laser reduction of GO under a range of processing and material parameters, such as laser scan speed, number of laser passes, and material coverage. We use Raman spectroscopy for the characterization of the obtained materials. We demonstrate that laser scan speed is the most influential parameter, as a slower scan speed yields poor GO reduction. The number of laser passes is influential where the material coverage is higher, producing a significant improvement of GO reduction on a second pass. Material coverage is the least influential parameter, as it affects GO reduction only under restricted conditions.

scholarly journals Characterization of Polysaccharidic Associations for Cosmetic Use: Rheology and Texture Analysis

Cosmetics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Giovanni Tafuro ◽  
Alessia Costantini ◽  
Giovanni Baratto ◽  
Stefano Francescato ◽  
Laura Busata ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
Immersion Test ◽  
High Viscosity ◽  
Natural Polymers ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
First Choice ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Textural Parameters ◽  
Complementary Techniques

As public attention on sustainability is increasing, the use of polysaccharides as rheological modifiers in skin-care products is becoming the first choice. Polysaccharide associations can be used to increase the spreading properties of products and to optimize their sensorial profile. Since the choice of natural raw materials for cosmetics is wide, instrumental methodologies are useful for formulators to easily characterize the materials and to create mixtures with specific applicative properties. In this work, we performed rheological and texture analyses on samples formulated with binary and ternary associations of polysaccharides to investigate their structural and mechanical features as a function of the concentration ratios. The rheological measurements were conducted under continuous and oscillatory flow conditions using a rotational rheometer. An immersion/de-immersion test conducted with a texture analyzer allowed us to measure some textural parameters. Sclerotium gum and iota-carrageenan imparted high viscosity, elasticity, and firmness in the system; carob gum and pectin influenced the viscoelastic properties and determined high adhesiveness and cohesiveness. The results indicated that these natural polymers combined in appropriate ratios can provide a wide range of different textures and that the use of these two complementary techniques represents a valid pre-screening tool for the formulation of green products.

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