DOCSLIB.ORG

1926, Vol. 3 Russian Composer Sergei

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
1926, Vol. 3 Russian Composer Sergei A Year in Classical Music: 1926, vol. 3 Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, like so many other great artists at the time, called Paris home in 1926. The previous year had seen the premiere of his Second Symphony there under the baton of Koussevitzky, to an indifferent response from Parisian artistic circles. I really like the piece, but to be sure the Second Symphony is one of Prokofiev’s most dissonant and experimental works, inspired in part by the openness of Parisian audiences to the avant-garde and its “acceptance of difficult sounds” in music. After the Second Symphony the composer backed away from this experimental language, which he had used also to compose the Scythian Suite for orchestra and the Sacrasms for piano, among other works; he would say that the Second Symphony’s poor reception marked the one time in his career he worried that might be a second- rate composer. At around the time of the Second Symphony’s premiere Sergei Diaghilev, the great impresario and director of the Ballets Russes, suggested to Prokofiev that he compose music for a ballet on a communist theme. The idea delighted Prokofiev, who devised the ballet’s plot himself, in collaboration with painter and stage designer Georgy Yakulov, and named the work Le Pas d’Acier, or The Steel Step — perhaps better translated The Steel Dance. To be more accurate, The Steel Step doesn’t have a plot so much as it contains a series of related episodes that correspond to the propaganda posters of the Constructivist movement in Soviet art. The ballet’s first scene, which portrays the chaos of the world before the Glorious Revolution, depicts characters including street vendors and capitalist speculators at a train station. Then, in the second scene, these same characters have abandoned their errant ways are seen in a factory setting, operating machines. Constructivism was art in the service of the communist revolution; the glorification of machines and technology, depicted with an aura of religious mysticism as the tools by which Progress would be achieved and man would forge ahead toward the Utopia, was one of its primary concerns. Prokofiev composed The Steel Step in 1925 and ’26, orchestrating it while he was on tour in the United States that concert season. He adopted a simplified, diatonic style that moved away from the dense dissonance of the Second Symphony to lighter textures — not yet the Prokofiev of Peter and the Wolf, but a step in that direction. Prokofiev also prepared an abridged concert suite of The Steel Step in 1926; it’s about 13 minutes long, next to the 35-minute length of the complete ballet. There’s an exciting performance of the suite available by the Scottish National Orchestra under Neeme Järvi, on a solid album of Prokofiev orchestral music that also features the suites from his ballet The Buffoon and his opera The Love for Three Oranges. For a recording of the complete ballet, look for the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln with Michail Jurowski conducting; the album also contains Prokofiev’s ballet The Prodigal Son. The performances are a little bland next to Järvi, but they’re serviceable enough. There’s one other Prokofiev composition from 1926 to discuss: his Overture in B-flat, also called American Overture, op. 42. He wrote it during his concert tour of the States. It’s unusually scored for seventeen players: flute and oboe, two clarinets and a bassoon, two trumpets and a trombone, two double basses and a cello, two pianos and a celesta, two harps and percussion. I find it quirky but likeable — sort of like, say, Jeff Goldblum… they should make it his theme music in his next movie — and even if it’s not one of Prokofiev’s better works, it’s a good excuse to get a copy of the Prokofiev “Essential Classics” compilation Sony put together in 1997. Michael Tilson Thomas leads members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the American Overture, but the gem of the album is his performance of the Fifth Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra, a fantastic recording. Another Soviet composer associated with Constructivism — especially by way of his 1928 orchestral piece The Iron Foundry — was Alexander Mosolov. Where Prokofiev had abandoned his most experimental techniques by 1926 in favor of a more diatonic language, Mosolov kept to his own experimental language until around 1930, his music having by then come under attack by the Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians. The RAPM was the more conservative counterpart to the Association for Contemporary Music, which promoted cutting-edge Modernists such as Schoenberg, Hindemith, and Shostakovich, and to which Mosolov belonged. But Mosolov — a devout communist who had volunteered for service in the Russian Civil War, and who voluntarily submitted himself to the official Soviet dogmas on art and aesthetics — would balk at the RAPM’s criticism of his Modernist leanings, and by the early ’30s he had simplified his own style in response. Even this voluntary simplification was not enough to save him from Soviet censure, however; in 1936 he would be charged with “counter- revolutionary activities,” arrested, and sent to the Gulag for most of the following year. After that, just as it would affect Prokofiev a decade later, fear of the consequences of violating the dogma of “socialist realism” broke Mosolov’s creative confidence and muted his artistic voice. Mosolov began working on The Iron Foundry in 1926, and he composed his First String Quartet that year, as well. The quartet is a remarkable piece, with an austere first movement that lasts fifteen minutes, followed by three short movements, each around two or three minutes long, that function as something like epilogues. The Novosibirsk “Filarmonica” String Quartet offers a good reading on a album that also includes string quartets by Roslavets and Knipper. All of it is fascinating music of great seriousness, and a good album to hear if you’d like to find out what else was going on in early 20th century Russian music besides Stravinsky and Prokofiev. Also composed in 1926 were Mosolov’s Two Nocturnes, op. 15, for piano. The Two Nocturnes followed immediately after five impressive and hard-to-play piano sonatas Mosolov composed between 1923 and 1925. Each around three minutes in length, the Two Nocturnes offer a concise and poignant example of Mosolov’s 1920’s style: abstract, and by turns somber and aggressive. They’re well represented on Herbert Henck’s album of Mosolov’s piano music on the always-engaging ECM New Series label. The Two Nocturnes come in-between second and fifth of the sonatas on Henck’s program. By the time Arnold Schoenberg turned 52 in 1926, he’d held pride of place as history’s most infamous composer for most of the past decade. It had been twenty years earlier, around 1905 and ’06, that he’d begun to fully abandon tonality, and just two years earlier, in 1924, that the first of his entirely twelve-tone compositions, the op. 25 Suite for piano, was published. For as unlikely as it seems when you first listen to this sort of music, though, Schoenberg considered himself a traditionalist — a traditionalist who had perceived that the intrinsic logic of Western music had made the tonal system necessarily and unavoidably obsolete by that point in music’s historical development. This conviction — that a composer’s duty was to attend to the innate logic of the Western musical tradition — made Schoenberg sharply critical of trends that defied this logic, and that sought instead to adapt music to practical concerns or to trends in popular culture. Two such trends in German art music in the ’20s were Gebrauchsmusik and the Zeitoper. Gebrauchsmusik, with which we associate with Paul Hindemith among others, means “music for use,” or “utility music,” the idea being that art which also serves a practical purpose is of greater value than art solely for its own sake. The Zeitoper, a form of light opera that was wildly popular especially in Berlin during the Weimar period, was concerned with the social issues of the day, and with reflecting the realities of contemporary culture. It incorporated state-of-the-art 1920’s technology such as telephones and elevators, along with jazz and popular song styles. For Schoenberg, these trends missed the deeper meaning of music, reducing it to the level of passing fashion and novelty; and being the oversensitive and monumentally difficult man that he was, he was particularly angry when certain composers of the younger generation who embraced these trends criticized him personally. And so, in 1926, Schoenberg composed his Three Satires for Mixed Chorus. Each of the three satires is of one of the young composer who’d publicly attacked Schoenberg, but Schoenberg did not directly satire these composers’ musical styles; instead the music is strictly twelve-tone, the satire coming through the words Schoenberg set to music. The first, for a capella choir, is directed at Ernst Krenek, the quintessential composer of Zeitopern. The second, also a capella, mocks Stravinsky. These first two satires are brief movements, each around one minute long; the third and final satire is a ten-minute “Little Cantata,” the chorus accompanied by viola, cello, and piano. It’s a satire of music theorist Hugo Riemann, who had criticized Schoenberg in his Dictionary of Music. The text parodies a composer who experiments with various different musical styles in search of a musical orthodoxy, eventually settling on a “pure and perfect” classical style by the end. Given its masterful counterpoint together with Schoenberg’s remarkable new method of organizing his pitch material, the Three Satires are an incredible technical achievement in the craft of music composition; but they’re also twelve-tone music that’s a lot of fun to listen to.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Choral Music of Ernst Toch
    THE CHORAL MUSIC OF ERNST TOCH By MIRIAM SUSAN ZACH A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTL^L FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 1993 Copyright 1993 by Miriam Susan Zach ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author is grateful to Mikesch Miicke, life-partner and architect, for his patience, encouragement, and introduction to Venturi's thought. His ability to clarify mysteries of computers and the German language made this dissertation a reaUty. She would like to express her deepest gratitude to her parents, Margaret Munster Zach and Herbert William Zach, for a lifetime of support and for advocating the research, teaching, and performance of music. She feels fortunate to have had the opportunity to study music history and Uterature wdth Dr. David Z. Kushner, a master teacher, pianist, and researcher, a mentor who cares. The author is grateful to Dr. Otto W. Johnston for his persistence to help her develop a cogent argument, for responding promptly with thoughtful insights that focused fragmentary ideas, and his humor during the long process. She would also like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Budd Udell, Dr. Arthur Jennings, Dr. PhyUis Dorman, Dr. Russell Robinson, and Professor Reid Poole for their counsel and collective effort to teach her how to fish. She would like to honor Dr. Robert and MilUe Ramey for their encouraging presence and thoughtfulness. Marsha Berman and Stephen Fry at the UCLA Toch Archive gave their time and expertise during the author's two visits to the collection, and made long-distance research possible.
    [Show full text]
  • Underserved Communities
    National Endowment for the Arts FY 2016 Spring Grant Announcement Artistic Discipline/Field Listings Project details are accurate as of April 26, 2016. For the most up to date project information, please use the NEA's online grant search system. Click the grant area or artistic field below to jump to that area of the document. 1. Art Works grants Arts Education Dance Design Folk & Traditional Arts Literature Local Arts Agencies Media Arts Museums Music Opera Presenting & Multidisciplinary Works Theater & Musical Theater Visual Arts 2. State & Regional Partnership Agreements 3. Research: Art Works 4. Our Town 5. Other Some details of the projects listed are subject to change, contingent upon prior Arts Endowment approval. Information is current as of April 26, 2016. Arts Education Number of Grants: 115 Total Dollar Amount: $3,585,000 826 Boston, Inc. (aka 826 Boston) $10,000 Roxbury, MA To support Young Authors Book Program, an in-school literary arts program. High school students from underserved communities will receive one-on-one instruction from trained writers who will help them write, edit, and polish their work, which will be published in a professionally designed book and provided free to students. Visiting authors, illustrators, and graphic designers will support the student writers and book design and 826 Boston staff will collaborate with teachers to develop a standards-based curriculum that meets students' needs. Abada-Capoeira San Francisco $10,000 San Francisco, CA To support a capoeira residency and performance program for students in San Francisco area schools. Students will learn capoeira, a traditional Afro-Brazilian art form that combines ritual, self-defense, acrobatics, and music in a rhythmic dialogue of the body, mind, and spirit.
    [Show full text]
  • Sergei Prokofiev Russia Modern Era Composer (1891-1953)
    Hey Kids, Meet Sergei Prokofiev Russia Modern Era Composer (1891-1953) Sergei Prokofiev was born in Russia on April 27, 1891. He began studying the piano with his mother at the age of three. By the age of five Sergei was displaying unusual musical abilities. His first composition, written down by his mother, was called Indian Gallop. By the age of nine he had written his first opera, The Giant. At the age of thirteen Sergei entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory having already produced a whole portfolio of compositions. While at the conservatory he studied with Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Later in his life, Prokofiev was said to have regretted not having taken full advantage of this opportunity. The music that Prokofiev composed was new and different. He brought to the concert hall strange new harmonies, dynamic rhythms and lots of humor. When the Russian Revolution broke out, Prokofiev traveled to America. He hoped he would be able to compose in peace. American audiences, however, were not ready for his new sounds so he moved to Paris. In Paris, Prokofiev found greater success where his operas and ballets were well liked. Prokofiev returned to Russia in 1932 spending the last 19 years of his life in his home country. During this time, he produced some of his finest works including Peter and the Wolf for chamber orchestra and narrator, and the score for his ballet Romeo and Juliet which contained some of his most inspired music. Sergei Prokofiev died on March 5, 1953 as one of the most admired composers of the twentieth century.
    [Show full text]
  • Comparison and Contrast of Performance Practice for the Tuba
    COMPARISON AND CONTRAST OF PERFORMANCE PRACTICE OF THE TUBA IN IGOR STRAVINSKY’S THE RITE OF SPRING, DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH’S SYMPHONY NO. 5 IN D MAJOR, OP. 47, AND SERGEI PROKOFIEV’S SYMPHONY NO. 5 IN B FLAT MAJOR, OP. 100 Roy L. Couch, B.M., M.M. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS May 2006 APPROVED: Donald C. Little, Major Professor Eugene Migliaro Corporon, Minor Professor Keith Johnson, Committee Member Brian Bowman, Coordinator of Brass Instrument Studies Graham Phipps, Program Coordinator of Graduate Studies in the College of Music James C. Scott, Dean of the College of Music Sandra L. Terrell, Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies Couch, Roy L., Comparison and Contrast of Performance Practice for the Tuba in Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 in D major, Op. 47, and Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, Op. 100, Doctor of Musical Arts (Performance), May 2006, 46 pp.,references, 63 titles. Performance practice is a term familiar to serious musicians. For the performer, this means assimilating and applying all the education and training that has been pursued in a course of study. Performance practice entails many aspects such as development of the craft of performing on the instrument, comprehensive knowledge of pertinent literature, score study and listening to recordings, study of instruments of the period, notation and articulation practices of the time, and issues of tempo and dynamics. The orchestral literature of Eastern Europe, especially Germany and Russia, from the mid-nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century provides some of the most significant and musically challenging parts for the tuba.
    [Show full text]
  • The Musical Partnership of Sergei Prokofiev And
    THE MUSICAL PARTNERSHIP OF SERGEI PROKOFIEV AND MSTISLAV ROSTROPOVICH A CREATIVE PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE DEGREE MASTER OF MUSIC IN PERFORMANCE BY JIHYE KIM DR. PETER OPIE - ADVISOR BALL STATE UNIVERSITY MUNCIE, INDIANA DECEMBER 2011 Among twentieth-century composers, Sergei Prokofiev is widely considered to be one of the most popular and important figures. He wrote in a variety of genres, including opera, ballet, symphonies, concertos, solo piano, and chamber music. In his cello works, of which three are the most important, his partnership with the great Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich was crucial. To understand their partnership, it is necessary to know their background information, including biographies, and to understand the political environment in which they lived. Sergei Prokofiev was born in Sontovka, (Ukraine) on April 23, 1891, and grew up in comfortable conditions. His father organized his general education in the natural sciences, and his mother gave him his early education in the arts. When he was four years old, his mother provided his first piano lessons and he began composition study as well. He studied theory, composition, instrumentation, and piano with Reinhold Glière, who was also a composer and pianist. Glière asked Prokofiev to compose short pieces made into the structure of a series.1 According to Glière’s suggestion, Prokofiev wrote a lot of short piano pieces, including five series each of 12 pieces (1902-1906). He also composed a symphony in G major for Glière. When he was twelve years old, he met Glazunov, who was a professor at the St.
    [Show full text]
  • 2015-2016 Lynn University Wind Ensemble-Wind Works Wit'wit
    Lynn Wind Ensemble Wind Works wit' Wit LYNN Conservatory of Music Wind Ensemble Roster FLUTE T' anna Tercero Jared Harrison Hugo Valverde Villalobos Scott Kemsley Robert Williams Al la Sorokoletova TRUMPET OBOE Zachary Brown Paul Chinen Kevin Karabell Walker Harnden Mark Poljak Trevor Mansell Alexander Ramazanov John Weisberg Luke Schwalbach Natalie Smith CLARINET Tsukasa Cherkaoui TROMBONE Jacqueline Gillette Mariana Cisneros Cameron Hewes Halgrimur Hauksson Christine Pascual-Fernandez Zongxi Li Shaquille Southwell Em ily Nichols Isabel Thompson Amalie Wyrick-Flax EUPHONIUM Brian Logan BASSOON Ryan Ruark Sebastian Castellanos Michael Pittman TUBA Sodienye Fi nebone ALTO SAX Joseph Guimaraes Matthew Amedio Dannel Espinoza PERCUSSION Isaac Fernandez Hernandez TENOR SAX Tyler Flynt Kyle Mechmet Juanmanuel Lopez Bernadette Manalo BARITONE SAX Michael Sawzin DOUBLE BASS August Berger FRENCH HORN Mileidy Gonzalez PIANO Shaun Murray Al fonso Hernandez Please silence or turn off all electronic devices, including cell phones, beepers, and watch alarms. Unauthorized recording or photography is strictly prohibited Lynn Wind Ensemble Kenneth Amis, music director and conductor 7:30 pm, Friday, January 15, 2016 Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center Onze Variations sur un theme de Haydn Jean Fran c;; aix lntroduzione - Thema (1912-1997) Variation 1: Pochissimo piu vivo Variation 2: Moderato Variation 3: Allegro Variation 4: Adagio Variation 5: Mouvement de va/se viennoise Variation 6: Andante Variation 7: Vivace Variation 8: Mouvement de valse Variation 9: Moderato Variation 10: Mo/to tranquil/a Variation 11 : Allegro giocoso Circus Polka Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) Hommage a Stravinsky Ole Schmidt I. (1928-2010) II. Ill. Spiel, Op.39 Ernst Toch /.
    [Show full text]
  • Read Book Sergei Prokofiev Peter and Wolf Pdf Free Download
    SERGEI PROKOFIEV PETER AND WOLF PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Sergei Prokofiev | 40 pages | 14 Sep 2004 | Random House USA Inc | 9780375824302 | English | New York, United States Sergei Prokofiev Peter and Wolf PDF Book Prokofiev had been considering making an opera out of Leo Tolstoy 's epic novel War and Peace , when news of the German invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June made the subject seem all the more timely. This article contains a list of works that does not follow the Manual of Style for lists of works often, though not always, due to being in reverse-chronological order and may need cleanup. William F. You have entered an incorrect email address! The cat quickly climbs into the tree with the bird, but the duck, who has jumped out of the pond, is chased, overtaken, and swallowed by the wolf. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. To this day, elementary school children hear Peter and the Wolf during school assemblies or at concerts for young people. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. The Independent. However, Prokofiev was dissatisfied with the rhyming text produced by Antonina Sakonskaya, a then popular children's author. The Lives of Ingolf Dahl. Russian composer — Explore more from this episode More. Each character of this tale is represented by a corresponding instrument in the orchestra: the bird by a flute, the duck by an oboe, the cat by a clarinet playing staccato in a low register, the grandfather by a bassoon, the wolf by three horns, Peter by the string quartet, the shooting of the hunters by the kettle drums and bass drum.
    [Show full text]
  • Tonical Ambiguity in Three Pieces by Sergei Prokofiev
    TONICAL AMBIGUITY IN THREE PIECES BY SERGEI PROKOFIEV by DAVID VINCENT EDWIN STRATKAUSKAS B.Mus.,The University of British Columbia, 1992 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (School of Music) We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA October 1996 © David Vincent Edwin Stratkauskas, 1996 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of MlASlC- The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada •ate OCTDKER II ; • DE-6 (2/88) ABSTRACT There is much that is traditional in the compositional style of Sergei Prokofiev, invoking the stylistic spirit of the preceding two hundred years. One familiar element is the harmonic vocabulary, as evidenced by the frequent use of simple triadic sonorities, but these seemingly simple sonorities are frequently instilled with a sense of multiple meaning, and help to facilitate a tonal style which differs from the classical norm. In this style, the conditions of monotonality do not necessarily apply; there is often a sense of the coexistence of several "tonical" possibilities.
    [Show full text]
  • The Story of Peter and the Wolf
    The Story of Peter and the Wolf Early one morning, Peter opened the gate and walked out into the big green meadow. On a branch of a big tree sat a little bird, Peter's friend. "All is quiet" chirped the bird happily. Just then a duck came waddling round. She was glad that Peter had not closed the gate and decided to take a nice swim in the deep pond in the meadow. Seeing the duck, the little bird flew down upon on the grass, settled next to her and shrugged his shoulders. "What kind of bird are you if you can't fly?" said he. To this the duck replied "What kind of bird are you if you can't swim?" and dived into the pond. They argued and argued, the duck swimming in the pond and the little bird hopping along Just then grandfather came out. He was upset the shore. because Peter had gone in the meadow. Suddenly, something caught Peter's attention. "It's a dangerous place. If a wolf should come He noticed a cat crawling through the grass. out of the forest, The cat thought; then what would "That little bird is you do?" busy arguing, I'll But Peter paid just grab him. no attention to Stealthily, the cat his grandfather's crept towards him on words. Boys like her velvet paws. him are not "Look out!" shouted Peter and the bird afraid of wolves. immediately flew up into the tree, while the But grandfather duck quacked angrily at the cat, from the took Peter by middle of the pond.
    [Show full text]
  • A. Mosolov Complete Works for Solo Piano
    A. MOSOLOV COMPLETE WORKS FOR SOLO PIANO OLGA ANDRYUSHCHENKO 1 ALEXANDER MOSOLOV (1900-1973) COMPLETE WORKS FOR SOLO PIANO OLGA ANDRYUSHCHENKO, piano Catalogue number: GP703-04 Recording Dates: 19-22 February 2015 Recording Venue: CMS Studio, Moscow, Russia (CD1) Sovetskij Kompositor, Moscow (1 and 5), Universal Edition, Wien (2) Triton, Leningrad (1928) (3-4) (CD2) Sovetskij Kompositor, Moscow (1 and 3) Universal Edition, Wien (2) Producer and Editor: Galina Katunina Mastering Engineer: Slava Poprugin Engineer: Sergey Solodovnikov Piano Technician: Artjom Deev Piano: Steinway D Booklet Notes: Anthony Short German translation by Cris Posslac Artist photograph: Nicola Christov Composer portrait: Inna Barsova Cover Art: Tony Price: Moissac Abstract Study 4 www.tonyprice.org 2 CD 1 1 PIANO SONATA NO. 1 IN C MINOR, OP. 3 (1924) 10:55 2 NOCTURNES, OP. 15 (1925-26) 06:56 2 No. 1 Elegiaco, poco stentato 03:28 3 No. 2 Adagio 03:28 3 SMALL PIECES, OP. 23A (1927) 02:25 4 No. 1 00:55 5 No. 2 00:47 6 No. 3 00:43 2 DANCES, OP. 23B (1927) 04:17 7 No. 1 Allegro molto, sempre marcato 02:02 8 No. 2 Allegretto 02:15 PIANO SONATA NO. 2 IN B MINOR, OP. 4 “FROM OLD NOTEBOOKS” (1923-24) 23:35 9 I. Sonata 10:28 0 II. Adagio 06:38 ! III. Final 06:29 TOTAL TIME: 48:06 3 CD 2 1 PIANO SONATA NO. 4, OP. 11 (1925) 11:46 TURKMENIAN NIGHTS – PHANTASY FOR PIANO (1929) 11:41 2 I. Andante con moto 04:07 3 II. Lento 05:15 4 III.
    [Show full text]
  • Dissertation Body
    Summary of Three Dissertation Recitals by Leo R. Singer A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment Of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts (Music Performance) in the University of Michigan 2020 Doctoral Committee: Professor Richard Aaron, Chair Professor Colleen Conway Assistant Professor Joseph Gascho Professor Andrew Jennings Professor James Joyce Leo R. Singer [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2741-1104 © Leo R. Singer 2020 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation was made possible by the incredible faculty at the University of Michigan. Each course presented new information and ways of thinking, which in turn inspired the programming and performing choices for these three dissertation recitals. I would like to thank all the collaborators who worked tirelessly to make these performances special. I also must express my sincere and utmost gratitude to Professor Richard Aaron for his years of guidance, mentorship and inspiration. Lastly, I would like to thank my parents, Scott and Rochelle, my sister, Julie, the rest of my family, and all of my friends for their unwavering support throughout the many ups and downs during my years of education. !ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii ABSTRACT iv RECITALS I. MUSIC FROM FRANCE 1 RECITAL 1 PROGRAM 1 RECITAL 1 PROGRAM NOTES 2 BIBLIOGRAPHY 8 II. MUSIC FROM GERMANY AND AUSTRIA 10 RECITAL 2 PROGRAM 10 RECITAL 2 PROGRAM NOTES 12 BIBLIOGRAPHY 26 III. MUSIC FROM AMERICA 28 RECITAL 3 PROGRAM 28 RECITAL 3 PROGRAM NOTES 29 BIBLIOGRAPHY 37 !iii ABSTRACT In each of the three dissertation cello recitals, music from a different nation is featured. The first is music from France, the second from Germany and Austria, and the third from America.
    [Show full text]
  • MUSICAL CENSORSHIP and REPRESSION in the UNION of SOVIET COMPOSERS: KHRENNIKOV PERIOD Zehra Ezgi KARA1, Jülide GÜNDÜZ
    SAYI 17 BAHAR 2018 MUSICAL CENSORSHIP AND REPRESSION IN THE UNION OF SOVIET COMPOSERS: KHRENNIKOV PERIOD Zehra Ezgi KARA1, Jülide GÜNDÜZ Abstract In the beginning of 1930s, institutions like Association for Contemporary Music and the Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians were closed down with the aim of gathering every study of music under one center, and under the control of the Communist Party. As a result, all the studies were realized within the two organizations of the Composers’ Union in Moscow and Leningrad in 1932, which later merged to form the Union of Soviet Composers in 1948. In 1948, composer Tikhon Khrennikov (1913-2007) was appointed as the frst president of the Union of Soviet Composers by Andrei Zhdanov and continued this post until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Being one of the most controversial fgures in the history of Soviet music, Khrennikov became the third authority after Stalin and Zhdanov in deciding whether a composer or an artwork should be censored or supported by the state. Khrennikov’s main job was to ensure the application of socialist realism, the only accepted doctrine by the state, on the feld of music, and to eliminate all composers and works that fell out of this context. According to the doctrine of socialist realism, music should formalize the Soviet nationalist values and serve the ideals of the Communist Party. Soviet composers should write works with folk music elements which would easily be appreciated by the public, prefer classical orchestration, and avoid atonality, complex rhythmic and harmonic structures. In this period, composers, performers or works that lacked socialist realist values were regarded as formalist.
    [Show full text]