MULTIMODAL PERFORMER COORDINATION AS A CREATIVE COMPOSITIONAL PARAMETER

This article looks at a creative trajectory in my recent work, an ongoing exploration of how the coordination of and precise interaction between performers in music-performance can be considered a primary compositional parameter (and perhaps compositional material in its own right). This investigation began with a survey of performer interactions in Olivier Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du temps and older music of my own. This led to an interest in the entanglement of ‘instrumental theatre’ and compositional scenarios in which performer behaviours, in relation to coordination and interaction, contribute idiosyncratically (i.e. outside of the more typical interpretation/improvisation models) to the music.

Bayan in the Works of Contemporary St. Petersburg Composers

Статья посвящена обзору баянного творчества современных петербургских композиторов А. Радвиловича, М. Крутика, С. Левковской, И. Остромогильского, Е. Петрова, Г. Банщикова, В. Раннева, Б. Филановского, С. Хисматова. Автор рассматривает тематику и художественные образы баянных композиций. С позиций приближения к свойствам инструментального театра исследуется метод взаимодействия инструментов в ансамблевых сочинениях с баяном. Описываются исполнительские приемы, используемые современными композиторами в пьесах для баяна. The article is devoted to the overview of bayan works by contemporary St. Petersburg composers: Alexander Radvilovich, Mikhail Krutik, Sofiia Levkovskaya, Ilya Ostromogilsky, Evgeny Petrov, Gennadiy Banshchikov, Vladimir Rannev, Boris Filanovsky, Sergey Hismatov. The author considers the subjects and artistic images of the bayan music pieces. The way of interpretation of musical instruments in ensemble with bayan is explored as a kind of an instrumental theatre. The performing techniques used by the composers for bayan are described.

Instrumental Theater in the Modern Ukrainian Composers’ Creativity

Relevance of research. Instrumental theatre as a specific phenomenon of musical creativity was first recognized in the mid-1960s. Researchers note the following features of the instrumental theatre: the search for a new musical language; the presence of sound drama; appeal to the voice and the word as a background or semantic subtext; hidden polyphony; openness to protest and provocation; the stage game of the musicians-performers. However, this original artistic phenomenon remains little investigated in Ukrainian musicology. The purpose of the article is to actualize the samples of the instrumental theatre in Ukrainian musicology, presented in the works of L. Yurina, S. Zagitchka and S. Yarunsky, and based on the analysis of new works to conclude the directions of the development of contemporary musical thinking. Methods of the research – analytical, the complex of musicological methods’ research (based on the classification of works by the number of participants). Conclusions. Regardless of the genre variety, practically for all considered opuses, characteristic fixation in the scores of the smallest nuances of execution is common. Changing the paradigms of writing, performing and perceiving music, in many works the spectacular factor dominates over the actual musical, the increasing visualization and theatricalization of the musical process became evidence of the transformation of modern musical thinking. Practical significance. The instrumental theatre is a relatively new phenomenon both in world culture and in Ukrainian music. Further research of this phenomenon will help not only to distinguish its specific features, but also to realize new spiritual constants of the present.

Borealis Festival, Bergen

It wouldn't be the worst idea if Anthony Braxton's Composition No. 58 were used to kick off every music festival. In any event, it's hard to think of a fanfare more fitting for the common fan, whether of classical, jazz or experimental rock. It could, for example, quite easily be followed by a piece of Mauricio Kagel's instrumental theatre or a parade by the Sun Ra Arkestra or the precisely played experimental excursions of the Brooklyn avant-rock outfit Zs.

Instrumental, Vocal and Choir Theatre of Juris Karlsons

The purpose of this article is to introduce the instrumental, vocal and choir music of the Latvian composer Juris Karlsons (*1948) in the context of music theatricality research. The article is based on discoveries and conclusions outlined in the doctoral thesis “The Theatricality Phenomenon in Music. Theatrical Space of Juris Karlsons”. The author introduces the current issues of theory and artistry in the instrumental theatre genre, as well as the contribution of Juris Karlsons to this genre and composition technique of the late 20th century. The thesis employs the following research methods: - theoretical methods (research studies): method of abstract analysis (gathering and evaluation with the purpose to create a general background) – studies of theatricality theory, studies of musical theatricality theory, analysis of Karlsons’ oeuvre; - methods of musicological analysis: approach to Karlsons’ works based on the genre analysis and classification method, defining and describing of the immanent characteristics, as well as musical style analysis method; - empirical and deductive methods (contributed from personal experience) – research, comparison and evaluation (determination of tendencies and guidelines), personal perception experience, observations and discoveries, writing and publishing articles for scientific conferences, music history lectures at JVLMA, secondary music schools and other institutions, own conductor’s experience; - semiotic method (significance of a system of symbols in Karlsons’ oeuvre); - data processing methods – evaluation, comparative analysis and systematization, including hypothetical modelling; - comparative research methods, providing parallel view comparison of musical practices, Karlsons’ oeuvre, as well as other means of expression in music and other arts – music and theatre, music and literature, music and visual arts; - methods of selection – evaluation of scientific research works and selection of analytical works; - field research methods – interviews with Karlsons and his contemporaries.

A System of Coordinates in Pierre Boulez’s and Salvatore Sciarrino’s Music: A Problem of Aesthetic Conceptualisation of Musical Composition

Is devoted to the disappearance of tonal system as a unifying principle in various aesthetics and techniques that led Pierre Boulez, Salvatore Sciarrino and other composers to alternative ideas of composition. Boulez’s concept of “gesture” and his two compositions “Rituel: In Memoriam Bruno Maderna” (1974-75) and “Messagesquisse” (1976) are considered within the philosophical and aesthetical contexts. The main tendencies of a new solo music as a “system of coordinates” (new notion of sound, virtuosity, instrumental theatre) are shown on the example of four plays from a cycle of “L’оpera per flauto” by Sciarrino (1977-2000). The new Boulez’s concept of gesture and Sciarrino’s “real field of operations” demand re­thinking the theory of composition as the art.