UNIVERSITY OF ARTS “GEORGE ENESCU” IAŞI FACULTY OF PERFORMING, COMPOSITION AND THEORETICAL MUSIC STUDIES
RESEARCH CENTRE “ŞTIINŢA MUZICII”
ARTES vol. 11
ARTES PUBLISHING HOUSE 2011 RESEARCH CENTRE “ŞTIINŢA MUZICII"
Editor in Chief: Professor PhD Laura Otilia Vasiliu
Editorial Board: Professor PhD Gheorghe Duţică, University of Arts “George Enescu” Iaşi Associate Professor PhD Victoria Melnic, Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts, Chişinău (Republic of Moldova) Professor PhD hab. Vladimir Axionov, Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts, Chişinău (Republic of Moldova) Professor PhD Valentina Sandu Dediu, National University of Music Bucharest
Editorial Team: Professor Liliana Gherman Lecturer PhD Gabriela Vlahopol Lecturer PhD Diana-Beatrice Andron
Cover design: Bogdan Popa
ISSN 2344-3871 ISSN-L 2344-3871
© 2011 Artes Publishing House Str. Horia nr. 7-9, Iaşi, România Tel.: 0040-232.212.549 Fax: 0040-232.212.551 e-mail: [email protected]
The rights on the present issue belong to Artes Publishing House. Any partial or whole reproduction of the text or the examples will punished according to the legislation in force.
C O N T E N T S
1) Structural and stylistic analyses
THE OPERA OEDIPUS BY GEORGE ENESCU AND THE OPERA- ORATORIO MEŞTERUL MANOLE / STONEMASON MANOLE BY SIGISMUND TODUŢĂ – TWO FACETS OF ROMANIAN SPIRITUALITY Professor Liliana Gherman, University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi, Romania………………………………………………………………………….…..7 EXPRESSIONIST TENDENCIES IN THE ROMANIAN OPERA OF THE FIRST DECADES OF THE 20H CENTURY PhD. Lecturer Loredana Iaţeşen, University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi, Romania……………………………………………………………………………15 DMITRI ŞOSTAKOVICI – A REPRESENTATIVE OF RUSSIAN NATIONAL MUSIC IN THE 20TH CENTURY - THE OPERA LADY MACBETH FROM MŢENSK, BETWEEN TRADITION AND MODERNITY PhD. Lecturer Cristina Maria Bostan, The Transylvania University of Braşov, Romania………………………………………………………………………….....23 LIVIU GLODEANU’S ZAMOLXIS, AT THE CONFLUENCE OF MUSIC, MATHEMATICS AND THEOLOGY PhD. student Claudia Nezelschi, University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi, Romania…………………………………………………………………………….29 CONSTANTIN GEORGESCU - FINDING A DESTINY AND A SONOROUS UNIVERSE PhD. Lecturer Ciprian Ion, University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi, Romania……………………………………………………………………………35 SYNTACTIC AND TIMBRAL STRUCTURES IN ANTON ZEMAN’S SYMPHONY NO. 2 “ALIAJE” Junior lecturer, PhD. Student Anca Leahu, University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi, Romania……………………………………………………………………….47 THE ADAPTATION OF BYZANTINE AND POST-BYZANTINE MONODY AND OF PSALTIC CHRISTMAS CAROLS IN VIOREL MUNTEANU’S CREATION PhD. Lecturer Irina Zamfira Dănilă, University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi, Romania…………………………………………………………………………….57 FIBONACCI PERENNIS - FROM W.A. MOZART TO L. BERNSTEIN Junior lecturer, PhD. Student Andrei Hrubaru-Roată, University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi, Romania……………………………………………………………..89
2) Stylistic and performance analyses
SITUATION-RELATED FACTORS OF MUSIC PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT PhD. Lecturer Dorina Iuşcă, Professor Viorel Munteanu, University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi, Romania…………………………………………….……101 BEETHOVEN’S PIANO SONATAS – EDITORIAL GUIDELINES PhD. Piano teacher Andrei Enoiu-Pânzariu, “Octav Băncilă” National Highschool, Iasi, Romania……………………………………………………..……………….113 STYLISTIC AND PERFORMANCE ASPECTS OF PIANO MUSIC REFLECTED IN THE CREATION OF THE COMPOSER ISAAC ALBÉNIZ (1860 – 1909) PhD. Piano teacher Raluca Pânzariu, “Octav Băncilă” National Highschool, Iasi, Romania……………………………………………………………...……………129 DISSONANCE OP. 34 NO. 13 BY S. RACHMANINOFF. STYLISTIC - INTERPRETIVE ANALYSIS PhD. Lecturer Ionela Butu, University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi, Romania………………………………………………………………………..….137
3) Aesthetic and sociologic analyses
MODERNISM OR MODERNITY? Associate Professor PhD. Elena Pârvu, University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi, Romania……………………………………………………………………….…..143 BENEFICIAL SUBLIMINAL MUSIC PhD. Student, Lecturer Rosina Caterina Filimon, University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi, Romania………………………………………………………....…153 ART AND MASS COMMUNICATION PhD. Lecturer Adrian Leonard Mociulschi, University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi, Romania……………………………………………………………………...165
This volume includes works accomplished both after the publication of ARTES 9-10 (2010) and before that date, mostly in the framework of doctoral and post-doctoral studies. The fairly diverse body of themes covering a wide range of interests was grouped in three major chapters: 1) structural and stylistic analyses, 2) Stylistic and performance analyses and 3) Aesthetic and sociologic analyses. Most of the authors are based in Iaşi (University of Arts “George Enescu” or National College “Octav Băncilă”), but the contents also feature collaborators from Bucureşti (National University of Music) and Braşov (Universitatea Transilvania – Faculty of music). Starting with this issue, the magazine will be published in a bilingual Romanian-English edition, with translations provided through the care of the article authors. In the case of footnotes and bibliographic notes, in order to render the volume unitary, we have continued to apply – as in the previous volumes – the indications supplied by TEHNICA SCRIERII ACADEMICE (The Technique of Academic Writing, rom.) by Şerban C. Andronescu (Foundation ”România de Mâine” publishing house, Bucureşti, 1997).
The Opera Oedipus by George Enescu and the opera-oratorio Meşterul Manole / Stonemason Manole by Sigismund Toduţă – two facets of Romanian spirituality
Professor Liliana Gherman (University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi)
“The poet or the artist sometime manages to encapsulate the aspiration for beauty of a people or an age. In their works, they manage to reflect perfectly the representative types that people or age wishes to imitate”. Franz Liszt After its Paris premiere of 1936, but especially after its Bucharest premiere of 1958, for many decades, George Enescu’s opera Oedipus dominated Romanian musical culture with the stature of a “spiritual Parthenon”; it has been a centre irradiating culture and also concentrating multiple energies outside musicological exegesis; and, at various levels, it has fecundated creation over a broad time span and a wide area. At the same time, Oedipus has been a focal point for our belief in the musical genius of the Romanian people, a representative landmark, a symbol, similar to Constantin Brâncuşi’s Endless Colum1. Without minimizing any of the undeniable achievements and successes of the Romanian school of composition, it was only the absolute first night at Cluj on October 1st 1985 of the opera-oratorio Meşterul Manole / Stonemason Manole by Sigismund Toduţă (with the interpretive ebullience it stimulated and the enthusiastic reception from the audience and critics) that allowed an insight into the profile of a vocal symphonic creation of artistic elevation similar to Enescu’s polar creation. Here are some verbal expressions of this collective intuition: “In our opinion, after Oedipus, Meşterul Manole by Sigismund Toduţă represents the momentuous point of our musical culture”. (Cornel Ţăranu)2 “A praise of creative sacrifice, the opera Meşterul Manole stands beside Enescu’s
1 A few opinions along this line can be revealing: “The performance of Geoge Enescu’s Oedipus at the Grande Opera of Paris is one of those events through which the people whom the great composer belongs to writes a glorious page in the record book of civilization”. George Enescu, INTERVIURI I. (Bucureşti: Ed. Muzicală, 1988), p. 255. “Cette œvre ne constitue pas seulement le sommet de la création du compositeur ou de l'opéra roumain, mais le passage de notre musique nationale vers la musique universelle“. Carmen Petra-Basacopol, L'ORIGINALITÉ DE LA MUSIQUE ROUMAINE (Bucureşti: Ed. Muzicală, 1979), p. 162. “...qu'il me soit permis de planter comme un frontispice au jeune temple de la Musique Roumaine cet OEDIPE“. id. ibid. p. 163. 2 Cornel Ţăranu, “Meşterul Manole de Sigismund Toduţă“ in Muzica, 6/1986, p. 9. 7 Oedipus, which it complements”. (Vasile Herman)3 “The premiere of the opera Meşterul Manole by Sigismund Toduţă has meant to me /…/ the first audition of a monumental compositional work; this creation can be rightly placed beside another great masterpiece, Enescu’s Oedipus”. (Emil Simon)4 “Manole’s moving phrases challenging the destiny with questions or dominating the terrible acceptance of the truth about sacrifice /…/ evokes Oedipus’ declamation from the same altitude” (Ada Brumaru)5. Two later commentaries of more general nature, yet similarly intended, could be added: “With each creation, and especially with his most recent ones, Sigismund Toduţă soars imperturbably to be near our great Enescu” (Alexandru Paşcanu)6. “Meşterul Manole – a landmark of national vocal symphonic creation” (Alfred Hoffman)7. On the other hand, Sigismund Toduţă himself declared to a reporter in his highly personal manner: “While I created the musical piece Meşterul Manole, Enescu’s adage haunted my mind ‘Bach is my daily bread’ in the adapted form ‘the scores of Oedipus are my daily bread’”8. We have to believe him, since a study of elevated musicological standards, proving knowledge of a wide bibliography, dates from the same period when the opera-oratorio was completed; this study with the title “An innovative aspect of the vocal structure in the lyrical tragedy Oedipus” was presented at the International Symposium held in 1981 on the occasion of the centennial anniversary of Enescu’s birth9. We can assume he may also have had in mind another adage of Enescu’s: ”Repeated forms in art are not advisable. As in painting or poetry, each form has to have its inner order, independent of the formal nature of a concept that seemed or actually was truly successful on a different occasion”10. In this respect, mentioning Oedipus could be interpreted as an attempt at emphasizing a benchmark for value he willingly adopted and in relation to which he managed to keep the appropriate distance. I should like to mention in this respect a detail which is apparently insignificant, yet telling of his detachment from the model, namely the fact that from among the versions of notation systems used by various composers to graphically represent vocal expression in the manner Sprechgesang and discussed in the previously mentioned study, Sigismund
3 Vasile Herman, “Eveniment muzical“ in Tribuna, nr. 45 / 7 noiembrie 1985, p. 7. 4 Demostene Şofron, “Meşterul Manole is a masterpiece of the idea,of the symbol…“ – An interview with conductor Emil Simon in Tribuna nr. 22 / 29 mai 1986, p. 7. 5Ada Brumaru, “Meşterul şi visul“ in România literară, nr. 48 / 28 noembrie 1985. 6 Alexandru Paşcanu, “Un ethos inconfundabil“ in Tribuna, nr. 2 / 14 ianuarie 1988, p.9. 7 Alfred Hoffman, “Toamna muzicală clujeană“ in România Literară, nr. 44 / 29 octombrie 1987, p. 18. 8 “Sigismund Toduţă: compozitorul este un poet al sunetelor“ – an interview written by Demostene Şofron in Steaua, 1985. 9 Muzica, 9/1981. 10 Pascal Bentoiu, CAPODOPERE ENESCIENE (Bucureşti: Ed. Muzicală, 1984), p. 300. 8 Toduţă retains for his own creation the system suggested by Arnold Schönberg in his opera Moses und Aron, without actually adopting the singing technique he had in mind; this makes Dan Voiculescu state: “Transcending singing into speech – a process which is reversed to that resulting in musical intonation – can be achieved from aesthetical positions different from those of Schönberg or Berg; it rather stands in the light of Enescu’s creation and especially of (Romanian) folk keens or incantations, with their power to move the heart”11. This reverential, yet not servile, attitude can also be identified on other occasions during his compositional evolution and activity. To give an example, his second Symphony, which was written a year after Geroge Enescu’s death (1956) and dedicated to his memory, has as its generating nucleus of the theme the initial phrase of the famous medieval sequence Dies irae (springing, as he himself declared12, from the “sap of the ancient cultural strata”), which he uses along the line of personal stylistic adaptations and internalizations – distinct from, even if not entirely alien, to that of his great predecessor – which will leave their traces on him (at a programmatic level, one could say) as early the first stage of his creative work13. We find the case of the String concerto no.2 (1972 – 1973) even more interesting; this signals, as it has previously been mentioned, a distinct renewal of Toduţă’s style14; in this piece, a melody profil inspired from the initial part of Enescu’s Sonata no.3 “in Romanian folk manner” appears, intertwined within the orchestral texture in an obvious (one might say, almost ostentatious) graphic emphasis from the very first pages. The poignant, geometrically stylized manner in which this motif is approached as a “fugue theme” is aimed at the same phenomenon of distancing himself in terms of structure, morphology and therefore of intonation; the long term fecundating effect that resulted from this piece is undeniable15. Another moving fact is also worth mentioning. After the completion of the opera Oedip, when asked if he intended to write a similar work, Enescu’s answer was: “…If I am lucky to live for another twenty or twenty-five years, I may be brave enough to attempt a second experience of this kind. I’ve been concerned with this idea for a long time… I’m thinking of an old legend from
11 Dan Voiculescu, “O înţelegere superioară a rolului artei“ in Tribuna, nr. 20/19 mai 1988, p. 6. 12 Within the radio programmes “Muzicienii noştri se destăinuie/Our musicians reveal themselves“ produced by Despina Petecel (1987). 13 Vasile Herman, FORMĂ ŞI STIL ÎN CREAŢIA COMPOZITORULUI SIGISMUND TODUŢĂ. I - De la începuturi la oratoriul Mioriţa. Cluj-Napoca 1986 (Manuscript). 14 Cornel Ţăranu, “Elemente înnoitoare în creaţia lui Sigismund Toduţă“ in Lucrări de muzicologie, vol. 14 (Cluj-Napoca: Conservatorul “G. Dima“, 1979), pp. 137-144. 15 Vasile Herman, FORMĂ ŞI STIL..., op. cit. II – “De la oratoriul Mioriţa la opera Meşterul Manole”, Cluj-Napoca 1987 (Manuscris, p. 22 ). 9 my country, about a woman built in the walls of a monastery. This piece would bear the name Meşterul Manole / Stonemason Manole”16. This project would become real half a century later at a level that the composer of the opera Oedipus himself would have agreed on; this would happen through the toil of another creator of sonorous beauty; the arc of spiritual continuity was thus bridged between the two. It may be said that just as Enescu may have needed a certain amount of time to free himself from his own creation, Romanian culture – still in search for its own way at the time – may have equally needed a time to “ripen”. For, as it was well stated by a researcher in creation as a phenomenon: “The work of art can be created only as a result of a collective effort, which at some point requires organization and development into more evolved forms. An work of art is predestined, it is not born at the will of an individual, or rather, the individual cannot yearn for it before it has settled out along the generations (author’s italics)…”17. The similitude derives on the one hand from the fact that both authors were complex personalities who combined extended musical knowledge (based on an interpretive basis in Enescu’s case, on a didactic and musicological basis in Toduţă’s case) with broader humanistic knowledge, and on the other hand from their capacity to imbue their masterpieces with maximum emotional, intellectual, spiritual charge, in a harmonious combination with a masterfully used composer’s technique, maximized by an ardent inspiration. Beyond this, natural differences appear, and language should be counted the first. Oedipus was conceived and perceived in French and however good Emanoil Ciomac’s translation of it into Romanian might be (which unfortunately I had no chance of listening to again after the Bucharest premiere of 1958, and neither did I have the change of listening to it integrally18), this translation could not equal that fine consonance between the melody and the inner cadence of the French libretto that the composer achieved in the original version. It was bound to be so. France had become the composer’s second fatherland. The greatest achievements of his career as a composer (from the first performance of the Romanian tone poem to that of Oedipus itself) happened in Paris. He spoke splendid French and sometimes preferred to speak this language
16“Oedip de George Enescu la opera din Paris. Ce declară compozitorul câteva zile înainte de premieră“ in Adevărul, Bucureşti, 50, nr. 15994, 12 martie 1936, p. 5 (apud George Enescu, INTERVIURI I, op. cit. p. 253). 17 Manuela Tănăsescu, ESEU DESPRE ETAPELE CREAŢIEI (Bucureşti: Cartea Românească, 1975), p. 11. Regarding cultural continuity, his connection with the land of Transyilvanioa is worth mentioning in Toduţă’s case; this connection begins with his forerunner Iacob Mureşanu considered to be the composer of the Romanian oratorio, his first creation of the kind being Mănăstirea Argeşului/Argeş Monastery. See Iacob Mureşianu, OPERE, vol. I (Bucureşti: Ed. Muzicală, 1983), p. 9 şi urm.; Vasile Herman, FORMĂ ŞI STIL..., op. cit. II). 18 Pascal Bentoiu’s comments on this are delightful, though also bitter, op. cit, pp. 287-288. 10 even with the Romanian journalists, who were no worse at it, for that matter19. However, the most important factor was his contact with the great art of the French tragedy writer Mounet-Soully. As a musician, his ear was impressed to the highest degree: “His melodious, resounding voice which phrased and recited as if in a song would stay in my memory to the last day of my life”20. His love of and attachment for the French language was manifested also in his lieds, and even in his tone poem Vox maris he remained within the same linguistic area. It is a general tendency of the age, going back to the 19th century and not only21; this is how Eugen Lovinescu presents it: “The simple fact that French poetry is still earnestly – without a track of snobbery – more appreciated than Romanian poetry, that I find it richer in sonorous associations, can be accounted for through its being much better known, so that it can offer us a larger number of musical, literary, or other kinds of associations /…/ Languages have their ‘nobility’ as they benefit not only from real values, but also from prominence rendered by external circumstances /…/ the special preeminence that the French language has over Romanian can be compared to that of ancient Greek in Rome…”22 Mircea Vulcănescu’s essays on the Romanian spirit are worth noting in this respect. Proposing the idea that „the spirit of a nation is but a structure of temptations” from outside as well as inside23, he wonders: “Who could argue, for instance, against the existence within the Romanian spirit of a French temptation, i.e. the tendency of the Romanian dislodged from his rural ascendance to integrate into a finer, more sophisticated universe, that the French world and society seems to offer? /…/ this French temptation is a continuation of an older temptation: the Greek one”24. Here are, therefore, captured in the concept of the “temptations”, both the language and the subject of the lyrical tragedy Oedipus! Research of other writings dating from the period between the two wars throws light upon another aspect of Enescu’s piece: the theme of man’s struggle
19 The enthusiasm he shows in one of his confessions is truly moving: ”I love France, for it is the country in which the most clashing conflicts are melted in the most surprising harmony. It is the country of order and freedom /…/ I don’t know; I have felt attracted to France from the very beginning. It is a spiritual attraction, perhaps based on its Latin character. At any rate, I do love France”. George Enescu, INTERVIURI I, op. cit., p. 250. 20 Bernard Gavoty, AMINTIRILE LUI GEORGE ENESCU (Bucureşti: Ed. Muzicală, 1982), p. 81. 21 Vasile Tomescu, HISTOIRE DES RELATIONS MUSICALES ENTRE LA FRANCE ET LA ROUMANIE (Bucureşti: Ed. Muzicală, 1973). 22 Eugen Lovinescu, ISTORIA LITERATURII ROMÂNE CONTEMPORANE (Bucureşti: Minerva, 1981), pp. 362-363. 23 Mircea Vulcănescu, “Un model ontologic al omului românesc“, in the volume DIMENSIUNEA ROMÂNEASCĂ A EXISTENŢEI (Bucureşti: Ed. Fundaţiei Culturale Române, 1991), p. 6. 24 Id. “Ispita dacică“, vol. cit., p. 43. 11 against destiny. Constantin Rădulescu-Motru, for instance, says: “The ambition of forging one’s own destiny – of the individual and the nation respectively, each within its own limitations – is specific of the spiritual climate of our times /…/ How different is the cultivated modern man from the cultivated ancient man in this respect! While the latter had a completely passive attitude towards his destiny, the former strives with all his being to master destiny”25. We should not forget that, at that time, Romania lived the ebullience of the Great Union… Touching on this philosophic issues in his Oedipus, Enescu – then at the height of his creative powers – proves thus to be perfectly integrated into the climate of his age; and if the indigenous layer of the music of this masterpiece has been shown with irrefutable evidence to be highly relevant, the possibility is revealed that it can be integrated entirely within the Romanian spirit, even in certain aspects that seem to dim or even obliterate it. Back to the opera Meşterul Manole, a comparatively different situation can be noticed. This piece was created integrally on Romanian territory and initially written in Romanian.26 In speaking about Mihail Jora’s lieds, the composer Ştefan Niculescu rightly remarked that “the Romanian lied had to wait not only for the general development of the Romanian music, but also for the poetic creation of such poets as Bacovia, Goga and especially Arghezi…”27 To these names, another one will be added, that of, in Edgar Papu’s terms, “the Blaga phenomenon”28. Tudor Vianu writes: “When in 1919 Lucian Blaga’s first poetry volume appeared, the enthusiasm it triggered was owing to a certain extent to the special circumstances of the time. In those years when new ways were being sought after, many things seemed obsolete and a fresh place was awaiting in the people’s souls for whoever was adept at filling it /…/ There seemed to be a general feeling of satisfaction for the fact that this voice everyone was awaiting came from Ardeal precisely, which thus proved that under prolonged oppression had nurtured a rich abundant life, capable to bear bounteous fruit”29. Much later, when Blaga had passed away, following a period that would brutally contradict the enthusiasm of the inter-war generation, his genius would begin to be fecund again in the scores of musical works. It is exactly what
25 C. Rădulescu-Motru, “Poate omul să-şi făurească destinul?“ in the volume AXIOLOGIE ROMÂNEASCĂ (Bucureşti: Minerva, 1982), p. 203. 26 It is, however, interesting to note that when he had to decide on a bilingual published form (as he had to in the case of the oratorio – ballad Mioriţa – Bucureşti: Ed. Muzicală, 1971, or the Lieds on poems by Lucian Blaga - Bucureşti: Ed. Muzicală, 1984), Sigismund Toduţă’s choice was Romanian and…French. 27 Iosif Sava: ŞTEFAN NICULESCU ŞI GALAXIILE MUZICALE ALE SECOLULUI XX. (Bucureşti: Ed. Muzicală, 1986), pag. 30. 28 Edgar Papu, LUMINI PERENE. (Bucureşti: Eminescu, 1989), p. 381. 29 Tudor Vianu, “Lucian Blaga poetul“, in the vol. SCRIITORI ROMÂNI ÎN SECOLUL XX. (Bucureşti: Minerva, 1986), p. 53.
12 Sigismund Toduţă would mention in one of his articles: “In its anfractuous evolution, musical creation has often periods when a particular genre develops. Dominated by the overpowering personality of a poet, the interaction between words and music can generate a climax in the development of the vocal-lyrical and choral genres” …and he remarked with undisguised admiration on “the poetic elevated state, so personal, the density of the ideas, the philosophical richness, the threads of stylized folk elements, the incantations, the latent 30 musical quality” of Blaga’s poetic creation . It is undeniable that Sigismund Toduţă’s style was born from the entire atmosphere of the evolution of the Romanian music during the inter-war period, and was refined through a symbiotic relation with folk literature and Blaga’s poetry; in this style – according to Mircea Vulcănescu’s concept – one could identify “the indigenous temptation”, the “Roman temptations” and the “German temptation”, while the great composer himself would have probably been classified among the “distinctively Romanian: the synthetic type”. The oratorio-opera Meşterul Manole has drawn its tragic streak not only from the actual drama of creativity, which in the late years of its completion the composer could regard with the composure of the sage, but from the countless suffering of an entire people, whose wings had been cut off and which was yearning for the day when his hopes for the better would no longer be shaken down like Manole’s walls. This is the reason why, from the very beginning, it has been received as intimately ours. The Opera OEDIPUS by George Enescu and the opera-oratorio “Meşterul Manole / Stonemason Manole” by Sigismund Toduţă – two facets of Romanian spirituality Professor Liliana Gherman (University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi) Abstract Starting from a statement Franz Liszt once made, that “The poet or the artist sometime manages to encapsulate the aspiration for beauty of a people or an age. In their works, they manage to perfectly reflect the representative types that people or age wishes to imitate.” the present text focuses on two ample vocal-symphonic pieces – George Enescu’s opera Oedipus and Sigismund Toduţă’s opera-oratorio Meşterul Manole / Stonemason Manole – whose first auditions took place at a distance of almost half century from each other (1936 and 1985 respectively) in distinct stages in the development of the Romanian music, as well as in the cultural and political configuration of the Romanian people. Far from attempting to be a comprehensive presentation of the two pieces which are of similar value according to the musical critics and counted as masterpieces, the paper points out several distinctive features they have and discusses them from the perspective of certain aesthetic and philosophical ideas that center round Romanian spirituality within its overall evolution and with its distinct stages circumscribed by the various circumstances.
30 Sigismund Toduţă:”Lucian Blaga cântat de compozitorii clujeni” in Tribuna nr. 7, 12 februarie 1987, pp. 1,6.
13
Expressionist tendencies in the romanian opera in the first decades of the 20h century
PhD. Lecturer Loredana Iaţeşen (University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi)
Expressionism in Romanian music in the first decades of the 20th century is not a novelty, because of the meticulous musicological research belonging to Clemansa Liliana Firca. We list the sections devoted to the particular manifestation of this orientation in the volumes Directions in the Romanian Music (1900-1930), Modernity and Avant-garde in the Pre- and Inter-war Music (1900-1940) or the study Resonances of Expressionism Esthetics in the Romanian Musical Creation, which proved phenomenon’s viability in certain creations of the orchestral (suite), scenic (ballet) sphere, and whose echoes were partially felt in the opera genre. Starting from the researcher’s pertinent remarks, this article aims at highlighting the adaptation of the European current features in the Romanian scenic area in the first half of 20th century, on the line of the exaggerated realism in The Misfortune (Sabin Drăgoi, 1927), of Igor Stravinski’s influence with his stille barbaro veiled in A Stormy Night (Paul Constantinescu, 1934), to the musical-dramatic peculiarities which attest the sublimated expressionism of Oedipus masterpiece (George Enescu, 1931)1. Even if the genre is treated in a different thematic and sonorous approach – drama (The Misfortune by Sabin Drăgoi), and comedy (A Stormy Night by Paul Constantinescu) – Caragiale’s dramaturgy represents an unifying element, impressing specific features to libretto’s modeling, with psychological or humoristic, parody, sarcastic valences. If in the first one the inspiration area contains a latent Expressionism, by accentuating the subjectivity of the late Romanticism, the sonority being impregnated by the national character, the comedy A Stormy Night ) gets distinguished by direct or indirect correspondences in the relationship libretto-music, because the high-spirited thematic – the Romanian suburb by means of agitated gestures or staring colors – sometimes require a violent musical language.
Expressionist tendencies in Sabin Drăgoi opera – Năpasta (The Misfortune)
Referring to Năpasta (The Misfortune) opera by Sabin Drăgoi, structured in 3 acts, inspired by Caragiale’s psychological drama, we can notice that characters’ conflict is not the only one which contributes to highlighting tension, there is also action concentration at temporal level, this one taking place in one
1 Clemansa Liliana Firca, DIRECŢII ÎN MUZICA ROMÂNEASCĂ (DIRECTIONS IN THE ROMANIAN MUSIC) (1900-1930) (Bucharest: Ed. Muzicală, 1974), p. 153.
15 night only. Characters’ obvious contrast allows sometimes their association with models belonging to the antic theatre area. It is the case of Anca – protagonist in Caragiale’s drama – who, by the gradual amplification of the desire of revenging her dead husband, can be framed in the complex feminine typology of the antic tragedy, personifying Elektra in the moments of sufferance concretization. On his turn, Ion, central figure in the opera, reveals according to Nicolae Rădulescu the idea that “madman would be a sacred being, tragically and hieratically, brilliant in his humanity aura”2. Even if in the realistic tendencies of popular musical drama it was compared to Boris Godunov (Modest Mussorgski) or to Jenůfa (Leoš Janáček), by the delineation of the grey ambiance of the Czech opera – rural environment, evil faith, strong passion conflicts – The Misfortune remains a national original scenic work with romantic sonorities and realistic libretto, the problematic of which approaches it to Expressionism.
Expressionist tendencies in Paul Constantinescu opera - O noapte furtunoasă (A stormy night)
It is well known that the expressionist esthetic and sonorous features found in the Romanian works have not the force of developing at European level, these ones getting distinguished more as a modeling in the sense of breaking a music, whose popular or psalm sources form a different spirituality. Moreover, in order to understand some peculiarities of Expressionism in the Romanian music, Theodor W. Adorno in Philosophie de la nouvelle musique offers a suitable idea: “From a social point of view” – states Adorno – “grotesque is usually the form which makes acceptable the alienated and avant- garde things. The bourgeois is ready to approve modern art provided that this one assures him by its very form that it should not be taken seriously”3. Compared to the national verismo with expressionist tendencies, derived from the correspondence between the accentuated realism of librettos and the folkloric character of the mentioned opera’s sonority, A Stormy Night in Caragiale version - Constantinescu proposes, under the influence of Igor Stavinski with his soft stille barbaro, different features of the objector current. They can be interpreted as adaptations of some esthetic categories exploited by Stravinski in certain moments of creation, which delineates mainly Romanian music Expressionism, having as background the “grotesque comic, caricature and parody”4.
2 Nicolae Rădulescu, SABIN V. DRĂGOI (Bucharest: Ed. Muzicală , 1971), p. 117 3 Theodor, W. Adorno, Philosophie de la nouvelle musique, p. 164, apud. Clemansa Liliana Firca, DIRECŢII ÎN MUZICA ROMÂNEASCĂ (DIRECTIONS IN THE ROMANIAN MUSIC) op. cit., p. 139. 4 Clemansa Liliana Firca, op. cit., p. 133.
16 As a matter of fact, there are obvious aspects in the autochthon programmatic and scenic creation inspired from comedy universe, which appeared as a reaction to the post-romantic or impressionist esthetics, but mainly to national music’s conventionalism. We can notice a concentration on language elements – used ironically or in charge spirit: cited from the vocal urban and instrumental-fiddler folklore, the call to Oriental, fanfare or entertaining music, the alternation of rhythms from the cultivated European source with the ones specific to the Romanian folklore, colored orchestral sonority, resulted from deliberately discrepant timber overlapping, etc. As follows, we will focus on a couple of elements regarding the relationship between Caragiale fruity text and the novel sonority of Paul Constantinescu in the masterpiece belonging to social satire musical theatre, A Stormy Night. In order to transpose in sounds the intrigue proposed by the dramatist – of suburb politicians’ demagogy and mediocrity – in a derided form, Paul Constantinescu preserves work’s comic sense, dynamism and structural hardness, adapted to the knowledge of epoch music, popular, Oriental, salon elements. Musical work’s dynamism imposes to the composer to concentrate the action, even modifying words order in Caragiale text, and improvisations in dramatist’s spirit. These are aspects which lead to characters’ vocal and scenic delineation, because of a recitative similar to Caragiale language, the correspondent of which is a particularly plastic sonority from a melodic, harmonic and orchestral point of view. We mention the music from Iunion, whose suburb sentimentalism is derided by a melodic line with shakes, appoggiaturas, syncopated rhythms, glissandos in orchestration, elements reflecting the absurd situation of certain characters overflowing with ridicule energy. Example no. 1 (11m. of the introduction)
17 Harmony and orchestration are not subject to the symphonic treatment, but to the dramatic principle, according to the sonority specific to the characters in the opera: Veta is recognized by waltz, canzonets and Ziţa by harmonically and timber distorted romances. We can notice that the heroes are highlighted by staring sonorous colors. We remember the episode when Ziţa appears on the stage thunderstruck after the fight with her ex husband and reads a letter received from him (scene 7). The musical ensemble offers a mixed sonority, the orchestration being obtained by means of the wooden instruments, pizzicato and chord, piano and triangle flageolets, together with the sordine trumpet. Of musicologists’ remarks – Clemansa Liliana Firca, Anatol Vieru, Vasile Tomescu – regarding the correspondence between text and music in A Stormy Night opera, we keep in mind that Paul Constantinescu composed a musical comedy in the neoclassical area, which contains expressionist accents, on the line of the expressive increase of the critical realism.
Expressionist tendencies in Oedipus opera by George Enescu
Of the multiple research performed for understanding this masterpiece, concluded by studies and volumes signed by Octavian Lazăr Cosma, Wilhelm G. Berger, Doru Popovici, Grigore Constantinescu etc. we discovered either analytical comments regarding composer’s contact with the European tendencies (Postromanticism, Impressionism), either detailed remarks on modalism valorization in all its intonations (melisms, ornaments, glissandos, accompaniments, non-temperate intonations), which attest the framing of this work in the Romanian music. In the opinion of the authors mentioned above, the partial manifestation of Expressionism in Oedipus provoked several debates. It is the case of Doru Popovici, who stopping in one of the chapters of Introducere în opera contemporană (Introduction to Contemporary Opera) on opera’s musical language, regarding monody, heterophony, polyphony, rhythm, timbrality – remarks that: “The sober and reserved content of this opera has nothing in common with the loose evolution of the romantic creators, not to mention Viennese expressionists’ concern”5. On his turn Grigore Constantinescu in the volume Orpheus Song offers a poetic, intensely spiritualized comment about the tensed atmosphere in the plague scene (3rd act) from the point of view of an exaggerated Romanticism, avoiding its affiliation with Expressionism. Concerned about the comparison between the initial tragedy of Sophocles and its subsequent vision, Radu Gheciu, in the paper How Opera Was Born Out of Tragedy frames in an indirect manner, by means of his remarks, the amendments imposed by the librettist in the 3rd act in the sphere of an intention expressionism. As opposed to the other
5 Doru Popovici. INTRODUCTI ON TO THE CONTEMPORARY OPERA (Facla Publishing House, 1974), p. 162.
18 musicologists, Clemansa Liliana Firca in Directions in the Romanian Music exceeds the immediate plan of the literary text, considering that music does not ensure only libretto fund, but it intensifies its mysterious, painful meanings, “its eventual affinities with Expressionism representations universe, with its inclinations for telluric, for the mythical past”6. Stopping on some tense moments from the dramatic culmination scenes – the dialog between the Sphinx and Oedipus and Sphinx death (2nd act, 3rd tableau), people’s lamentations in the scene of the plague which infests Thebes, Oedipus’s blindness scene, (3rdact) – the author explains, on the line of the structural-expressive thickening of intonation and vocal special effects (quarter tone, glissando, Sprechghesang, parlando, shout), the so-called “alienation expressionist complex”7. The researcher considers that these vocal moments frame in the imagination scope. Expanding the psychoanalytic aspects specific to Viennese Expressionism in the area of language chromatic evolution, we can notice that Viennese Sprechghesang valorization in the vocal procedures of Oedipus create “the specifically expressionist alienation effect”8. Associated with the expressionist shout, this effect has different meanings in the European scenic context of the first decades of the 20th century, from the morbid loneliness in Erwartung and the psychoanalytical approach in Elektra, to the self- knowledge feeling, to the image of truth in Oedipus. An interesting thing is represented by the analytical remarks of Myriam Marbé of the ample monograph dedicated to the composer, on the dramatic action culmination in 3rd act, achieved by means of certain “pre-serial elements”9, which reveal approaches to Alban Berg language. We refer to the dialogue between Oedipus and Jocasta, where the protagonist approaches the fatal truth. The musical discourse develops by sounds concentrations which are not distributed anymore as structures of a particular mode, but in the form of some sections which compose a scale of 11 sounds – natural la, natural mi, natural si, sol, natural mi, natural fa, natural do, fa#, re, do#, natural si.
6 Clemansa Liliana Firca, DIRECTIONS IN THE ROMANIAN MUSIC , op.cit., p. 141. 7 Ibidem., p.142 8 Idem. 9Mircea Voicana, Clemansa Firca, Alfred Hoffman, Elena Zottoviceanu. In collaboration with: Myriam Marbe, Ștefan Niculescu and Adrian Rațiu, GEORGE ENESCU: MONOGRAFIE (MONOGRAPHI). Coordinator: Mircea Voicana (Bucharest: Ed. Academiei R. S. R., 1971), p. 812
19 Example no. 2 (3rd act, reference point 256 + 3m.)
Pascal Bentoiu in Enescu’s Masterpieces also mentions the “tonal or rather atonal imponderability”10, with regard to the sonority at the beginning of the 3rd tableau (2nd act), whose strange expression is indirectly associated with the expressionist ambiance and language. Even if the long acordic pedals, tetra chords mixtures, successive harmonic structures oscillate between consonance and dissonance (seventh, none, undecim); these overlapping create an ambiguous sonority, the anxiety atmosphere being accentuated by the pregnant timber of the trumpets which intonate Sphinx’s melodic idea.
Example no. 3 (3rd act, 2nd tableau, reference point 137 + 2m.)
The same author gradually captures the tragedy in the 3rd act, the moments when the truth is revealed to Oedipus being indicated with the names of the successive interlocutors: Creon, Tiresias, Jocasta, Phorbas, the Shepherd. Analyzing in a concentrated manner the relationship between text and sonority within each stage of dramaturgic accumulation, from a rhythmic, melodic, harmonic, orchestral point of view, Pascal Bentoiu concludes the remarks for the 3rd act, insisting upon the fact that tension progression was achieved beyond the
10 Pascal Bentoiu, CAPODOPERE ENESCIENE (ENESCU’S MASTERPIECES), (Bucharest: Ed. Muzicală, 1984), p. 269.
20 libretto, mainly through music, by delineating the ascendant moments towards catastrophe and intensity decreases, from the climax to the end. Another important aspect which concerned musicologists with regard to Enescu’s Oedipus is the heterophony. We refer to the study Heterophony in
Expressionist tendencies in the romanian opera in the first decades of the 20h Century PhD Lecturer Loredana Iaţeşen (University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi) Abstract Expressionism in Romanian music in the first decades of the 20th century is not a novelty, because of the meticulous musicological research belonging to Clemansa Liliana Firca. We list the sections devoted to the particular manifestation of this orientation in the volumes Directions in the Romanian Music (1900-1930), Modernity and Avant-garde in the Pre- and Inter-war Music (1900-1940) or the study Resonances of Expressionism Esthetics in the Romanian Musical Creation, which proved phenomenon’s viability in certain creations of the orchestral (suite), scenic (ballet) sphere, and whose echoes were partially felt in the opera genre. Starting from the researcher’s pertinent remarks, this article aims at highlighting the adaptation of the European current features in the Romanian scenic area in the first half of 20th century, on the line of the exaggerated realism in The Misfortune (Sabin Drăgoi, 1927), of
11 Michaela Caranica Fulea, ”Heterophony in
21 Igor Stravinski’s influence with his stille barbaro veiled in A Stormy Night (Paul Constantinescu, 1934), to the musical-dramatic peculiarities which attest the sublimated expressionism of Oedipus masterpiece (George Enescu, 1931)14.
14 Clemansa Liliana Firca, DIRECŢII ÎN MUZICA ROMÂNEASCĂ 1900-1930 (DIRECTIONS IN THE ROMANIAN MUSIC) (Bucharest: Ed. Muzicală, 1974), p. 153.
22 Dmitri Şostakovici –representative of the national Russian music in the 20th century The opera Lady Macbeth from Mţensk, between tradition and modernity
Lecturer Cristina Maria Bostan PhD (The Transylvania University of Braşov – The Faculty of Music)
Considered today as being one of the greatest symphonist of the 20th century, Dmitri Şostakovici (1906-1975) imposes by the qualities of his musical talent and his vast artistic orientation. Although dramatically marked by his being born and having lived in the ideological space of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, the great Russian composer (having a Polish ascendance on his father’s side) imposes soon in the European musical life as pianist and composer due to his art’s authenticity and expressive force, by finding his refugee in his inventive and creative life. Assimilating the whole Russian musical tradition – in the sense of Mussorgski, Ceaikovski and Glazunov’s symphonism – Şostakovici continues the great experience of the Russian musical culture by an original symbiosis with the mahlerian symphonism and the musical thinking of his European contemporaries. Thus, starting from the tradition of the Russian classic music, Dmitri Şostakovici imposes a new frame for the development of the symphonic and chamber expression, without cutting off the relationship with the past. There are many examples, within his creation, of Şostakovici’s relationship with the Russian musical tradition, starting from Glinka, Borodin and Ceaikovski and including Stravinski şi Prokofiev also. The composer pays special attention to Modest Mussorgski’s creation, especially to his operas, to his original melodic language, and his vocal writing, where one can identify the declamatory recitative (by whose means Mussorgski had the intuition the natural national expression of the lyrical-dramatic musical language. Şostakovici revises the instrumentation of the opera Boris Godunov and adapts the harmonic language to the requirements of the melody’s modal structure. The melodious character of his creation stems from the Russian song (and the hidden polyphony of the melody). Şostakovici uses the sources of the Russian folklore in a personal manner, by assimilating them and by transforming the musical elements specific to the Russian song, (without avoiding certain connections to the Jewish music and to that of the Asiatic peoples) but especially by transforming the popular song by musical procedures which preserve its intonation and character. The art of attributing to the melodious construction the personality of the popular song is reflected by the composer’s tendency of attributing to the musical ideas (both in operas and in symphonic and concerto music) particularities of the popular peasant and city- like song, the latter imposing at a rate which reflects a certain fashion of the
23 time. Romance as genre is present in Şostakovici’s creation in Act I, in Katerina’s monologue: Today I am looking out of the window. The national character is revealed in the art of the musical thinking, within the opera, in the psychologic analysis, in the pathos of the symphonic paintings. But the great tradition of the Russian popular music appears under a new aspect in Şostakovici’s creation. The content and the sensibility of his music are anchored in the reality of contemporary life. It is true, his musical thinking deeply anchored in the musical folklore, does not exclude the original but rigorous assimilation of the west-European musical art. Şostakovici is famous for his born talent of a theatre man. At only 21 he composes the opera “The Godfather” (1928) which relies on the nuvella with the same name by Gogol. Using an expressionist musical language with atonal insertions, the composer underlines the drama elements which borders on absurd, the main character (Ivan Iakovlevici) oscillating between dream and absurd reality. The issue unleashes the moment Ivan discovers with stupor, in the loaf of bread that he was just slicing, his own nose. In 1932 Şostakovici finishes the opera Lady Macbeth from Mţensk, whose realist subject relies on a strongly dissonant musical language. The opera is coldly received by the authorities present at the premiere. Both the subject, considered immoral, and Şostakovici’s musical orientation were roughly criticised1. The opera Lady Macbeth from Mţensk relies on a libretto written by the composer together with A. Preiss, on the basis of a nuvella with the same name written by Leskov. The work for his opera, begun at the end of 1930 and ended in December 1932, in Leningrad, coincided with the period when the composer had ended the 3th Symphony and was working on his 4th. Only in January 1934 the premiere took place, in Leningrad, at the Academic Little Opera, under Zamosud and Zmoliş’s direction. Even if the premiere gave rise to heated discussions and vehement critics, throughout the next two years there were 82 representations of the opera! One year later, the opera was represented in Moscow as well. Then, shortly after, the opera entered the foreign stages: first in North America (New-York, Cleveland, and Philadelphia) in Russian, then in a German translation (at the New German Theatre in Prague and Zürrich, the same year). The composition of the orchestra is the following: flute piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 3 clarinets, clarinet-bass, 2 bassoons, counter-bassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba-bass, timpani, 2 harps, celesta, strings. The orchestra that performs on the stage presupposes an orchestra made of 4 cornets, 2 horns alto, 2 horns tenors, 2 horns baritone, 2 horns bass, 2 trumpets. The
1 Pravda diary, Moskow, 1936
24 composer introduces orchestra interludes at the end of the second scene of the first act as well as at the end of the second scene of the third act. The opera is a musical drama based on the idea of compassion towards woman’s condition in the contemporary society. It could be interpreted, from the subject’s point of view, as a tragic metaphor. Şostakovici considered it a “satiric-tragedy” where he magnifically mixes the tragic, the sarcasm and the grotesque. The emphasis of the “material” side, of human’s degradation to the level of pure physiology constitutes a parable. The composer stresses exactly the toughest, cruelest moments, the murders, trying to accomplish thus a “metaphoric” analogy between the expressionist artistic elements and the nightmare reality that he and his compatriots were experiencing. The repulsion that some scenes from the second act as well as the final scenes create hints at the cruel reality. The composer finds the most appropriate elements and musical means for keeping up the action and the characters’ descriptions. The Soloists are dedicated stylized melodic pages, with difficult elements in what concerns the interval leap. Orchestration is also authentic, by emphasizing some instrumental “voices” who are demanded a harsh timbre (scene V, trombones – every second, with a timbre that marks the resonance of the brass). The concise reasons have the purpose of convincing the audience of the realism of the dramatic situations. The second version of the opera, called Katerina Ismailova will be worked upon between 1949 and 1962. The composer revises two orchestra interludes from the perspective of the sonorities and orchestration, which he moderates; he will do the same in the case of the marital betrayal scene, scene from where he will eliminate some asperities, sarcasms and realistic even grotesque underlinings. Şostakovici preserves, just like in the first version, the antithesis, achieved by symphonic means, between the lyric pathos and the grotesque of the dramatic situations. The climax is represented by passacaglia – a masterly page, which makes the relationship between the scenes four and five; the bass tunes the theme which will be rendered by 11 polyphonic variations. The characters are outlined with the precision of a talented dramatist. Şostakovici combines the new gains of modern language (terse thematic motifs, exploitation of voice resources of each separate voice, by using both spoken statement and popular melodic motifs, of the arioso and of the recitative secco) with the melodic sources of the Russian opera, where the popular song and the mass impressive scene resound (as in the choral pages inspired from Musorgski’s creation). This type of melodic constructions can be found in Katerina’s monologue where the heroine sings a song inspired from a Russian romance, The song of the dove pair, or the chorus of the workers (as a consequence of Musorgski choral pages). The composer uses the arioso in the vocal writing and the spoken and sung statement. One can also identify the lyric genre much spread in 19th century Russia – the Russian lyric romance (chart 3).
25 The opera is built up by the combination between the variable numbers of the arioso, the melodic motifs and the secco recitatives and the lively choral scenes are at turns with the orchestra interludes. Katerinei Ismailova’s last monologue, from the last scene, is composed in the declarative style. One can also find intonations specific to the Russian popular melodies in the last scene of Şostakovici’s opera. As early as the first Act, after the short Prelude delivered in an open, almost harsh timbre, (with a well-controlled vibrato) of the clarinet, the voice of the soloist soprano – Ekaterina presents an ample musical monologue made of two episodes: a tense one which evolves in a difficult melodic line, in great leaps of discordant intervals, the voice being accompanied by the bassoon and then by the clarinet, bassoon and undertone strings, according to the symphonic thinking of the composer (the individualization of the individual timbres within a dense yet clear writing); the second episode of the melodic monologue is impregnated with inflexions particular to the popular song (reminding of a cradle song) and which reveals a Romance that lost its nostalgic-meditative character, full of bitterness, dissatisfaction and hopelessness with sarcastic accents (the voice being accompanied by bassoon and counter-bassoon). The instrumental interlude brings again to the foreground the bassoon which creates the preamble of the recitative – arioso when the short dialogue between the baritone and the soprano takes place (Serghei – Katerina) on intonations that perfectly blend with the dialect of the Russian language. The episode is strongly symphonized (brass, wood wind instruments, strings that back up the instruments’ solos well individualized of the blowers, from which the oboe stands out). The next declarative monologue belongs to the baritone. In the drama’s growing tension, Katerina develops a melodic line in a declamatory style, with leaps of great intervals. A new colorful element is introduced by the composer in the musical drama by the choral assembly (the chorus of the female and male workers). Without using the popular quotation, Şostakovici animates the scene by the dancing character of the music. The tragic-grotesque climax of the Second Act is preceded by the dancing rhythm in triple meter of a Polka, a short, revealing episode. Besides these clear hints which send to different popular sources, the music of the opera Lady Macbeth from Mţensk (Katerina Ismailova), having the status of singleness (as other famous examples from the 20th century modern opera literature: Pelléas et Mélisande by Claude Debussy, Wozzeck by Alban Berg, Oedipus by George Enescu) naturally integrates in the expressionist tendencies – with atonal inflexions of the European music during Şostakovici’s life. Despite the authentic modernity of the writing, the musical substance of the opera reveals the spiritual and cultural appearance with ancient Russian roots.
26 Generation colleague with Aram Haciaturian (born in 1903 at Tbilisi) and Dmitri Kabalevski (born in 1904 at Sankt-Petersburg), Şostakovici represents the climax of the Russian musical culture due to his vast creation that contains all genres. As important representative of the 20th century Russian symphonism, Dmitri Şostakovici will give to the musical world 15 Symphonies (of the 24 that he intended to compose), 15 String Quartets (of the 24, that he had intended to compose), 6 Solo Instrumental Concertos (2 for the piano – of which one with trumpet, 2 for violin and 2 for cello) and a Concertino for two pianos, interpreted by the composer with his son, the pianist Maxim Şostakovici. He also composes 3 Operas: The Godfather (based on Gogol, 1928), Lady Macbeth from Mţensk (based on Leskov, 1932), revised two years later and getting the new title Katerina Ismailova and The Player (based on Gogol, 1941, unfinished). Şostakovici’s creation contains also 3 Ballets: Golden Age (1929- 30), The Scarab (1930-31), The Clear River (1934-35) and an Operetta: Moscow, Neighborhood Cernomîşki (1958, which was a great success). The orchestral and stage music is more representative, containing also random creations. An important segment of his creation is represented by the music written for different film scripts (the most famous being Alexander Nevski). The repertory of his vocal-symphonic creations consists of The Oratorio (Cântarea Pădurilor, 1949) and The Cantata (Execuţia lui Stenka Razin, 1964, based on a poem by Evtuşenko). Besides these, many chamber instrumental creations ranging from duos to octets: 2 Sonatas for Piano, Sonatas for viola, for violin and for cello with piano accompaniment, as well as Melodies for different voices and piano (From the Hebrew poetry, for soprano, contralto and piano), 4 Monologues, based on Puşkin, Spanish songs for voice and piano and Lieds for voice and orchestra (Fables, Romances). His diverse activity as pianist, composer, and professor left his blueprint on the musical Russian and universal culture. His critic spirit was well-known by his contemporaries. Even if his opinion was feared, the young musicians had great confidence in the composer’s opinion, which they always considered honest and fair, unbiased and grounded on strong musical arguments. Şostakovici actually encouraged and backed up the young musicians.
Dmitri Şostakovici –representative of the national Russian music in the 20th century The opera Lady Macbeth from Mţensk, between tradition and modernity Lecturer Cristina Maria Bostan PhD (The Transylvania University of Braşov – The Faculty of Music) Abstract The opera Lady Macbeth From Mţensk is a musical drama based on the idea of compassion towards woman’s condition in the contemporary society. It could be interpreted, from the subject’s point of view, as a tragic metaphor. Şostakovici considered it a “satiric- tragedy” where he magnifically mixes the tragic, the sarcasm and the grotesque. The
27 emphasis of the material side, of human’s degradation to the level of pure physiology constitutes a parable. The composer stresses exactly the toughest, cruelest moments, the murders, trying to accomplish thus a “metaphoric” analogy between the expressionist artistic elements and the nightmare reality that he and his compatriots were experiencing. The repulsion that some scenes from the second act as well as the final scenes create hints at the cruel reality. The composer finds the most appropriate elements and musical means for keeping up the action and the characters’ descriptions.
28 Liviu Glodeanu’s Zamolxis, at the confluence of music, mathematics and theology Claudia Nezelschi PhD student (University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi)
Liviu Glodeanu completed the opera entitled Zamolxis in 1969, his starting point being the play with the same name written by Lucian Blaga in 1921. The text is charged with meaning, almost tangent to poetry and at times paradoxical, even shocking. From a musical perspective, Liviu Glodeanu concentrated the discourse until he reached a type of music that had substance, simplicity and order, music at the confluence between mathematic generation and ritual gestures, music that pertains to modalism, with influences from Messiaen. Just like the play, the opera has five tableaux. The main protagonists are Zamolxis and the Magus; the crowd is the collective character and, at the same time, a decisive one during the play. There are several levels of interpretation of an opera and we may argue that the deepest one is the one at which the characters are actually symbols, personifications, metaphors, explicitations of feelings, ideas, states of the human soul. From this perspective, the protagonists of the confrontation in the opera can be seen as symbols that bring to the surface, in the world of conscience, the Living God, as perceived in the depths of the heart of man (Zamolxis) and what man perceives as god, the false image of God in the mind of man (Magus). The crowd, the collective character of the opera, could be interpreted as a sign of the multitude of thoughts and shadows in the restless mind of man. Thus, everything that happens throughout the opera leads towards the final conclusion according to which what we believe and feel about God is rarely close to what God really is in his infinite Kindness and Light. Our image is a static, rigid one that sometimes confuses us, gives birth to contradictions and determines us to move away from what we believe God to be. We will proceed by presenting the plot of the opera and by mentioning a number of interpretations and theological explicitations1 and in the end we will identify several interferences with Messiaen’s system of composition. These interferences have implicit correlations with mathematics, and we may notice that recurrent sequences and combinatorics are also present in this work, at the level of substance. The first tableau, the Pagan Ritual is a “celebration by the Magus of a myth of creation”, as mentioned by Liviu Glodeanu in his stage directions. In a
1 In several essential moments of the opera, Liviu Glodeanu leaves the text without music and this can be construed as another modality of emphasizing the abundance of theological meaning of Blaga’s text. 29 couple of lines that could be construed as an aphorism or as an epiphany, Blaga synthesizes: “Lumea nu este decât coaja lui Gebeleizis El o însufleţeşte întru bine şi rău întru urâţenie şi frumuseţe.” In other words, “all creatures are plasticized versions of the Supreme Reason, of the Maker’s Word”2. Referring to the One who „enlivens the world in goodness and badness, in ugliness and beauty”, Blaga offers us a variant of the holy text: „I (God) kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand” (Deuteronomy 32,39). Cioran gives us a detailed explicitation in which he reveals the paradox: “Philosophy has no answers. Compared to philosophy, saintliness is an exact science. It gives us precise answers to questions that philosophers do not even dare consider. Its method is suffering and its goal is God”. The second tableau, Exoration, pertains to Zamolxis’s world, the transfigured world in which man enters a real dialogue with God. Blaga formulates, in a quasi-poetic manner, precise mystic truths related to mysticism, hesychasm: “Iată sunt făptura Ta Şi-aici sunt ochii mei, îi vrei? Din clipe, ca din muguri plini rodesc în neam o mare de lumină” A possible interpretation of this fragment would be that the immediate presence of God-Love (“Tulburatorul chiot vine-vine“3) prepares the man for complete abnegation, in the spirit of self-sacrifice („Aici sunt ochii mei, îi vrei?”). Willing to sacrifice himself, man receives the gift of passing into the Infinite which fills everything (“din clipe, o mare de lumină”) and of getting to know what fulfillment feels like, through the transformation in the infinite of what he gave from his finite condition (“ochii rodesc o mare de lumină”). The third tableau, Opprobrium, presents the dialogue between the crowd and God. The crowd, which is blinded, believes that God is also blind and, failing to understand the purpose of pain, wants to crucify God: “Ne povăţuieşte învăţătura unui orb Să-l facem orb ca zeul lui”. The narrow-mindedness of the human mind in relation to the Absolute Mind and Love is revealed by Blaga with the help of a metaphor under the form of a paradox: „God, blind and old”. Failing to understand the great purposes of life and the pain through which God gives man the possibility of getting to understand and to feel the mystery of living and of putting to death what must
2 His Holiness, the Metropolitan Daniel, in a theological presentation Pr. Stăniloae. 3 In hesychasm, the efforts are directed towards the preparation for the arrival and the lighting up of the inner fire, sign of man’s deification 30 die, so that only what is eternal remains, man, who is given the chance of becoming infinite, locks himself up in his mind and judges the Creator according to human standards: “If God does not see so much pain, God must be blind”. Zamolxis is blinded by the crowd and Blaga’s text reaches an intensity which reminds us of God’s unsettling presence in the Old Testament: “O, oameni neputincioşi sămânţa de înţelepciune ce zace-n voi o aruncaţi în prund dorinţa de înalt o jertfiţi fricii”.
“Un gol umplut cu disperare un gol de necredinţă un gol umplut cu patimi”.
The fourth tableau, Conjuration, depicts the condition of man in the absence of Harmony4, distanced from God; however, this man, that is made present in the opera by the Magus, still has some Light within him and has struggled to reach the Light. Again, Blaga reveals in a poetic, aphoristic, elliptical manner, deep truths: “Din cuibul veşniciei (El) s-a coborât pe trepte de lumină să vă-nveţe tinereţea şi durerea”. According to the truths explained by Priest Staniloae, the warm nest of eternal life is the communion between the Persons constituting the Holy Trinity, this being “the structure of supreme Love”. Christ is the one who brings freshness and joy into the world (“youth”), which have their origin in the power of Resurrection, as well as complete submission to the will of God, submission of the kenosis type, the “pain” that is the only path towards Resurrection. The fifth tableau is entitled Ritual for Zamolxis. In his text, Blaga made several implicit references to God-Christ, That of the sacrament5, That of the Apocalypse6. The God-Christ revealed through Zamolxis is also that of kindness and humility:
4 Sometimes the music is absent and the text is present by itself, which suggests a breaking of the Harmony. 5 “caut în nisipuri/ Sângele ce-a curs/ din trupul Său/ Când sorb o picătură/ mă dezmeticesc/ şi iarăşi mă fac om”, ”Tot sângele vărsat din trupul lui Zamolxe/ adune-se-n aceste picături de vin”, ”Ne-a adus pe Dumnezeu/ orbul e iarăşi printre noi/ şi-n noi” 6 ”Întoarce-te, Zamolxe-ntre/ stăpânii cei dintâi/ ai gândurilor, brazdelor, luminii şi ai apelor!/ Răsune stelele-n ecouri/ Sub sandalele nălţării Tale/ Urcă pragul veşniciei/ Şi mângâie cu mâna Ta/ Ursita ăstui trist norod” 31 “Pleoapele-mi se zbat de cerul tău ca nişte fluturi de-o fereastră nu-i numai o poveste sunt aic”. One interpretation would be that the mind of man, with his vast potential (“cerul tău”) becomes closed to God through any sign of doubt (“Nu-i numai o poveste”). God’s all-knowing eye (“Pleoapele-Mi”) is close, but respects, with the delicacy of a „butterfly”, the freedom of man, man who sometimes does not even suspect that the Infinite can lie in a moment (“Sunt aici”). In the end, Zamolxis is killed, a sign which suggests that man can fall incessantly, until he reaches that spark of the divine which lies within himself. To become aware of this fall and to repent (“life is Zamolxis”), brings through God’s kindness: - Resurrection – “Nemuritorul chiot vine.” - growth, until one becomes worthy of the entire creation – “Pământul răspunde, munţii răspund, apele răspund” and - the exit from the time of evolution in order to enter the eternity of light – “Din clipe ca din muguri plini/cresc veşnicii rodind în neam/o mare de lumină”.
The entire opera is based on the modal structure 1312131, which is naturally associated with the structure 1331, that which is in a complementary 7 relation with the overall chromatic. We noted the mode with 7c (C, D-flat, E, F, G, A-flat, B, C). Its complement is noted with 5d and is (D, E-flat, F-sharp, A, 8 B-flat) . Generally, the complement of 7x is 5x+2 for any x of Z12. Amongst the techniques used by Messiaen, procedures that are present especially in the Turangalila Symphony, we find: 1. the logic–aesthetics of numbers, reaching, in the third tableau, „a poetry of numbers”, expression used by Messiaen in his presentation of the Turangalila Symphony, presentation included in his Traité de rythme, de couleur, et d'ornithologie; 2. the sound-duration association 3. the rhythm-intonation dissociation 4. permutations 5. the preference for prime numbers. The sound-duration association In the third tableau, in measures 13-20, the 5c mode is used at the hornpipes. A duration expressed through a number of options is associated to each sound: D-flat – 1, G-2, C-3, E-4, A-flat -5. By arranging the sounds according to the order that we inferred from the ascending
7 Thus, the initial sound andthe cardinal are mentioned 8 Again, the notation mentions the initial sound and the cardinal 32 arrangement of the durations, we obtain the succession D-flat-G-C-E-A-flat, with the modal structure 6546 which reminds us of the quartal harmony of Messiaen, with the structure 65656. W.G. Berger’s idea of taking as a unit of measurement another interval but the small second is also present here. We may also notice a modification of the resulting sequence, if the perfect fourth (5) is taken as a reference. The rhythm-intonation dissociation. At the brass, in measures 13-20, the mode 7B-flat is also used: 7B-flat= (B-flat, B, D, E-flat, F, F-sharp, A, B-flat). Also present in the melodic pedals that overlap one another at each voice, is another permutation of the generating cell (the mode), all the permutations being cyclical. Just like in the Turangalila Symphony, from a rhythmic perspective, the latent polyphony of a chromatism of duration, with a pedal of rests in eighth notes is used at each voice. For example, at trumpets 1, the resulting rhythm is 3141516171112 (the duration is expressed in eights, the underlined numbers represent the durations of the rest; each voice has a different cyclical permutation of durations, which means that some cyclical permutations are used for the pitches of the sounds and some others for the durations of the sounds, fact which proves, in a rigorous manner, the rhythm-pitch dissociation). If we note, like in mathematics, the elements of the set {B-flat, B, D, E-flat, F, F-sharp, A, B-flat} with a=E-flat, b=D, c=F, d=F-sharp, e=B, f=A, g=B-flat, we obtain the pitch-duration associations A3 B4 C5 D6 E7 F1 G2 C7 D1 E2 F3 G4 A5 B6 E4 F5 G6 A7 B1 C2 D3 G1 A2 B3 C4 D5 E6 F7 B5 C6 D7 E1 F2 G3 A4 D2 E3 F4 G5 A6 B7 C1 F6 G7 A1 B2 C3 D4 E5 On the vertical plane, we find the “by twos” sequence at the level of the letters and the “by fours” sequence at the level of the numbers. The preference for prime numbers An illustrative example can be found in the fourth tableau: the musical form is determined by the meaning of the text and is circumscribed to a periodicity of 13 measures, periodicity that is also characteristic to the development of the dramatic scenes: measure 13 “Am fost întâiul care l-am brodit / C-o piatră în obraz”. measure 26 “Nemuritorilor, vă zvântă necredinţa”. measure 39 “El nu s-a-ntors, dar totuşi e aici.” measure 52 “Zamolxe n-a fost om” measure 65 “Poporul va striga”.
33 The explicit mathematical system used comprises the combinatorics and the recurrent sequences. There are the permutations generated in lexicographical order, as they appear in the structure of the first tableau: if we note a=F, b=E- flat, c=F-sharp at the oboe, we will obtain the sequence abc, acb, bca, bac, cab, cba – cyclical permutations. In the first tableau, at the chorus, various timbers are assigned to the word “Ehove”: we observe that we have cyclical permutations comprised of 5 elements out of 6. The recurrent sequences are present in the second tableau. As far as the rhythm is concerned, we may notice the overlap of the voices, each voice having its own generation mode, governed by a sequence. Voice I results from the sequence inspired by Fibonacci: xn+2=xn+1+xn, the number-durations being 1, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, the respective sequence being exposed in a direct or recurrent manner. Voice II results from an arithmetic progression with ratio-3, the number- durations being 21,18,15,12,9,6,3, in a direct or recurrent sequence.
Liviu Glodeanu was extremely talented at music, as well as at mathematics. The Zamolxis opera stands out through its simplicity and concision that are the result of the attainment of reaching depth and substance.
Liviu Glodeanu’s Zamolxis, at the confluence of music, mathematics and theology Claudia Nezelschi PhD student (University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi)
Abstract This study aims at presenting L Glodeanu's opera, Zamolxis, with emphasis on the interferences between his work and O. Messiaen’s universe of composition, on the mathematic notions underlying the musical structures and on the theological meanings outlined by the ethos of music, starting from the poetical and aphoristic work of Lucian Blaga.
34 Constantin Georgescu - Finding a Destiny and a Sonorous Universe1 -
Lecturer Ciprian Ion PhD (University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi)
Constantin Georgescu should represent for the contemporary generation of Romanian musicians from Iasi and Romanian musicians in general much more than a name found in some lexicons, articles or footnotes. The conditions of the period in which he lived and created may be the reason why he passed into obscurity, but that historical time has long past and we think that it is time to start an objective analysis of his personality and creation. Thus we try to restore in the public consciousness a personality whose opuses have not been published or analyzed and, much less, interpreted. A success in this endeavour would mean the revival of a lost sound world and an act of justice for the activity and career of the composer Constantin Georgescu. From the brief bibliographic sources we learn that we are dealing with a musician born in Bucharest in 1895. In the years of study he benefited from the guidance of prominent personalities: D.G. Kiriac (music theory and solfeggio) and Alfonso Castaldi (harmony, counterpoint and composition) at the Conservatory of Bucharest. He continued his studies at Schola Cantorum in Paris with Vincent d’Indy (composition and orchestration) and Paul Le Flem (counterpoint). His thorough knowledge of music has resulted in a vast creation that has received recognition at the time, receiving two awards: Second Honourable Mention (1921) and First Honourable Mention (1927). Unfortunately, due to the conditions of the period during which they were created, his compositions are now less known and it is necessary to make an effort to bring forth the personality, the artistic activity, and thus the creation of the composer. His teaching activity was carried out at George Enescu Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in Iasi between 1924 and 1950, where he contributed to the training of young composers through the subjects he taught: Composition, Harmony and Counterpoint. His results as a teacher were outstanding: „many of his students shone while still in school, receiving awards, competing even for the Enescu Prize: in 1931, Constantin Constantinescu won an Honourable Mention for Feature Entertainment for The Religious Concert and four choral pieces. Other awards were also received by Rodica Şuţu, in 1933, for the song Obsesie [Obsession],
1 Research funded through the project “Institut de Studii Muzicale Doctorale Avansate” – MIDAS (Music Institute for Doctoral Advanced Studies), POSDRU/89/1.5/S/62923, a project co-financed by the European Social Fund through the Sectoral Operational Programme for Human Resources Development 2007 – 2013.
35 Mansi Barberis, in 1934, for Viziuni simfonice [Symphonic Visions] and Scherzino pentru pian [Scherzino for Piano], Emanoil Elenescu, in 1937, for Rapsodia română [Romanian Rhapsody] and the poem Jalea haiducului [The Outlaw’s Yearning]” (G. Pascu, 100 Years Anniversary of the Foundation of Conservatory of Music George Enescu of Iasi). From 1950 until the end of his life, in 1960, he was a teacher, subject Harmony, at the Popular School of Arts in Iasi. In this case we need to make a few remarks related to the historical aspects in order to avoid the confusion that can be caused by the appearance of a “demotion” in an institution that offers training to a particular kind of musicians, more passionate rather than professional. This last period of 10 years coincided with the decade of absence of higher artistic education in Iasi, an absence imposed by reasons hard to accept, including budget reasons. The real reasons were due to the lack of enthusiasm manifested in politicizing the courses, the reluctant attitude of the students towards the new guidelines: „The students have a low ideological and professional level /.../ We need a total re-education of the students”, informed Mircea Brucăr, a recently affiliated teacher among the teaching staff. Shutting down the Conservatory has caused a large number of musicians to leave Iasi: (Alexandru Zirra – directs the opera in Bucharest, then withdraws permanently from the public life; Serafim Antropov – continued his interpretative career, being known as one of the great cellists of the country, and at the same time he became the dean and pro-rector at the Conservatory of Bucharest; Radu Constantinescu – pianist, former rector of the Conservatory of Iasi and founder of Moldova Philharmonic, whose qualities as a manager and teacher would be known to a lesser extent in Bucharest, as his past was not approved by the new regime; Emanuel Elenescu – became instrumentalist in the Symphonic Orchestra of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company, and then one of the representative conductors of Romania; Ioan D. Vicol – eminent professor of ensemble and choral conductor transferred to Bucharest and later became head of department and dean of the Conservatory, etc. Eliza and Antonin Ciolan moved to Cluj-Napoca, their merits in the development and affirmation of the Romanian performing arts being well known), others remained in the medium schools of Iasi (Achim Stoia, Florica Niţulescu, George Pascu, Ella Urmă, Alexandru Garabet or Constantin Georgescu). Unfortunately, for Constantin Georgescu, when the Conservatory resumed its activity in 1960, it was too late. He was a member of the Union of Romanian Composers and Musicologists.
Given the role of the composer Constantin Georgescu in the musical life of Iasi, his teaching activity and his creation, we can say that all these are counter-proportional to how they were later reflected in the season programs of the professional institutions or in the research subject of musicologists.
36 However, his name is mentioned often in dictionaries and encyclopaedias pertaining to the Romanian music world. References to his personality are short, and most of them have in common the lack or scarcity of information. However, his presence in these dictionaries is praiseworthy:
Cosma, Viorel. MUZICIENI ROMÂNI. LEXICON [ROMANIAN MUSICIANS. LEXICON]. Bucharest: Ed. Muzicală, 1970. Cozmei, Mihail. EXISTENŢE ŞI ÎMPLINIRI [LIVES AND SUCCESSES]. Iaşi: Artes, 2010. Popescu, Mihai. REPERTORIUL GENERAL AL CREAŢIEI MUZICALE ROMÂNEŞTI [THE GENERAL REPERTOIRE OF ROMANIAN MUSICAL CREATION], vol. I. Bucharest: Ed. Muzicală, 1979.
Another category of musicological writings in which the composer’s name is mentioned is represented by the historiographical syntheses that have as subject the artistic institutions in Iasi.
Pascu, George. FILARMONICA DE STAT „MOLDOVA” – IAŞI, 1942-1957. Cincisprezece ani de activitate [“MOLDOVA” STATE PHILHARMONICS – IASI, 1942-1957. Fifteen Years of Activity]. Iaşi: Întreprinderea Poligrafică, 1957. Cozmei, Mihail. 125 DE ANI DE ÎNVĂŢĂMÂNT ARTISTIC DE STAT. 1860 – 1985 [125 YEARS OF ARTISTIC STATE EDUCATION. 1860 – 1985]. Iaşi: George Enescu Conservatory, 1985. Chelaru, Carmen. FILARMONICA „MOLDOVA” LA 65 DE ANI [“MOLDOVA” PHILHARMONICS AT ITS 65TH ANNIVERSARY]. Iaşi: Edit. Fundaţiei Academice AXIS, 2009.
Also in the specialized literature, the personality of the composer is mentioned in several works with memorialistic character. They can be of some importance in our research approach, especially the monographic section, as they present us with the image of Constantin Georgescu through the eyes of his contemporaries: Pascu, George / Sava, Iosif. MUZICIENII IAŞULUI [MUSICIANS OF IASI]. Bucharest: Edit. Muzicală, 1987. Elenescu, Emanuel. MĂRTURISIRILE UNUI SENIOR AL BAGHETEI (consemnate şi adnotate de Mihaela Făşie Cudalbu) [THE CONFESSIONS OF A TOP CONDUCTOR (recorded and annotated by Mihaela Făşie Cudalbu)]. Bucharest: Ed. Societăţii Române de Radiodifuziune, 2001.
37 These volumes are supplemented with a few articles published in specialized magazines: Pascu, George. „Georgescu Constantin (Necrolog)” [“Georgescu Constantin (Obituary)”], in Muzica, Bucharest, 1, 1960. Friduş, Al. I. „Cine eşti tu, muzică. De vorbă cu muzicologul George Pascu” [“Who Are You, Music? Interview with the Musicologist George Pascu”], in Cronica, Iaşi, 29 V 1987. Florian, Irina. „Oameni care au fost: Constantin Georgescu” [“People from the Past: Constantin Georgescu”], in Arta (new series), Iaşi, February 4, 1996. As it can be noted, these writings are not concerned with an analytical insight into the composer’s creation, but mainly refer to his personality and work. The only work we know to be also concerned with the analysis of a composition is written by: Toronciuc, Maria. SONATA PENTRU VIOARĂ ŞI PIAN ÎN CREAŢIA COMPOZITORILOR IEŞENI ÎN SECOLUL XX [SONATA FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO IN THE CREATION OF COMPOSERS FROM IASI IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY]. Iasi: Artes, 2007, a volume in which we find the analysis of Sonata pentru vioară şi pian [Sonata for Violin and Piano] by Constantin Georgescu. The book mentioned above provides a very important piece of information concerning the existence of an audio document, a recording in documentary sound archives at Radio Bucharest. It is composition from his youth, Choral cu variaţiuni pentru pian [Choral with Variations for Piano], composed during his studies in Paris, in the style of the Bach– Franck tradition, and interpreted by the pianist Paul Jelescu in 1965. We have the score, given us by Mrs. Sanda Georgescu, the musician’s daughter, but the recording will be the subject to our searches in the future. The most unpleasant aspect we must note refers to the complete oblivion into which fell the entire creation of the composer. In this regard, even a minimal gesture represents much more than has been done until now. Our research may be the beginning in the rediscovery of a valuable creation, which is actually the first and most important potential contribution for this restoration. We identified and we gathered the few books and articles referring to the personality of the composer Constantin Georgescu, as well as a few scores signed by him. The searches started in the libraries of the musical institutions in Iasi (The Library of the University of Arts G. Enescu, the Library of Moldova Philharmonics, the Library of the Romanian National Opera and the Library of the School of Arts O. Băncilă), without finding any significant score signed by composer.
38 A large number of manuscripts were provided by Mrs. Sanda Georgescu, with whom we have established a extremely fruitful relationship in order to carry out this research. She, musician in turn, provided us with manuscript scores covering different genres in the composer’s work: the symphonic poem Culoare şi lumină [Colour and Light], about which we find several references in the doctoral thesis of Mrs. Maria Toronciuc, published by Artes Publishing House in 2007: „the poem consists of eight episodes in which the composer unifies elements of sonata with those of fantasy, succeeding in a contrast of movement /.../ with the tone colours of the instruments interweaving, the author choosing the counterpoint fabric. Thus, all parties in the orchestra are involved, by imitations that give colour to the work”. Other manuscripts provided are lieds with lyrics by M. Codreanu, two suites for string orchestra, several works for piano. With Mrs. Georgescu’s help, we have identified the institutions that have a considerable number of manuscripts, especially the Romanian Academy Library. Studying the scores fund in Bucharest we had the joy to discover a part of the symphonic creation of the musician, but also the regret that some compositions are incomplete, which gives them only a documentary value. Two of the incomplete scores are, unfortunately, ample compositions, complex in terms of all the musical parameters: the symphonic poems: Marea [The Sea] (out of which there have been preserved 26 pages) and Ursan – poem cromatic [Ursan - Chromatic Poem] (from which we can peruse 76 pages). However, a significant number of orchestral works are in acomplete and graphically decipherable version, which could then be used. These are: Adagio pastoral [Pastoral Adagio], Joc [Game], Pace [Peace] and a symphonic poem with no title. Within the chamber music creation, we noticed a string quartet, complete, a vast composition that deserves to be studied. The work that, in the future, will require a detailed analysis, also found in the scores fund at the Academy Library is Symphony II. There are two variants of this vast composition, first in pencil, an early form, and a manuscript in ink, with a few additions and changes, a polished variant. For the School of composition of Iasi, in particular, this is a valuable restoration, the symphony genre being less addressed in the first half of the twentieth century by Constantin Georgescu’s contemporaries. In fact, only Alexandru Zirra, with his three symphonies (Ţărăneasca [Peasant] I, Descriptiva [Descriptive] II and III) has addressed this genre among the composers of his generation from Iasi. We went through the manuscript page by page and, at first glance, it seems that we are dealing with a well-developed, vast composition that combines traditional folk elements with classical architectural structures. The composition is complex, comprising of four parts preceded by an introduction (Adagio-Allegro, Adagio, Scherzando and Final). The main themes are
39 developed throughout the work, reminiscent of the technique used by Cesar Franck, the movement of the motifs which gives the genre unity.
In order to get familiar with the language of the composer, we chose an overview of the lieds with lyrics by Mihai Codreanu. We do not know exactly the total number of songs that were included in the cycle. We managed to find four lieds and the last, unfortunately, is not complete. The poet, contemporary and colleague of Constantin Georgescu, one of the great artistic personalities of Iasi and Romania, is considered the most prolific Romanian sonneteer. He held top management positions in the cultural institutions in Iasi (director of the National Theatre and rector of the Conservatory George Enescu from 1933 to 1939), and received national recognition, being a correspondent member of the Romanian Academy. The relation between the two is strengthened by the fact that both are offspring of the French culture, Constantin Georgescu through Schola Cantorum, and Mihai Codreanu through his translation the play Cyrano de Bergerac (Rostand Edmond) for which he received the French Legion of Honour. He was also Knight of the French Academy. The poems chosen by the composer from the poet’s vast work are: Ispăşire [Atonement], Urna [The Urn], Extaz [Ecstasy] and Lună plină de mai [May Full Moon]. The language used is tonal, intensely chomaticized, with some modal insertions. From a stylistic point of view we see the mixture of the harmonic language of a Late Romanticism, similar to that of Fauré, with the Impressionist structural freedom. The imprint of the sonorities of the French music from the beginning of last century is filtered through its structure, the composer having a particular tendency towards polyphony.
Example no.1.
The introductory phrase of the first lied proves his knowledge of classical composition techniques. Although the tonal framework is not exceeded (sib m), hypersensitivization, the exclusive use of accords with sevenths and delays
40 creates a complex harmonic language, comparable to the post-Romantic one of the western composers. On the vertical plane, we observe the coexistence of two sensitives, upper and lower, within the same accord (see the accord of the dominant in the semi-cadence that ends the introductory phrase in the example above), as well as the use on the horizontal plane of a sensitive of the sensitive (the sound re# from the second measure). The use of a triple sensitivization on the melodic plane, a rare method derived from the hyperchromatization of the discourse, can be found in the fourth measure the second lied, Urna [The Urn]:
Example no. 2
The crowns marked by the composer on each of the three sensitives increase, largely, the effect of gravitational instability. A paradox that results from the moderation of the tonal system is that the first sensitive (fa #) coincides in terms of height with sound towards which this series of sensitives tends to resolve itself, solb in the first time of the next measure. Another kind of instability, modal this time, is given by the third sensitive, sol, which is actually the major third of the tonic accord. It thus creates a kind of major-minor latent right on first pitch of the basic tone of the second lied, mib minor. The mobility of pitches is actually a feature of the language in the three vocal-instrumental miniatures, a factor that causes a wealth of harmonic colours. This effect, combined with the artistry of the associations, recommend Constantin Georgescu as one of the composers dedicated to the explorations in the harmonic plane of the musical construction. The architectural beauty can also be distinguished in the manner in which the microelements are used. In Constantin Georgescu’s work, even a seemingly homophonous writing actually includes motif and polyphonic uses of some rhythmic-melodic generator cells:
41 Example no. 3
The imitations of the microelements shown in the example above (the introduction of the second lied, Urna [The Urn]) are achieved in the most different forms. Also, the structure subjected to polyphonic treatment undergoes various variational transformations: reversal, embellishment by adding an exchange note, the decrease of the intervals (the diatonic section becomes chromatic), or the augmentation of the values. Returning to the first example, we note the artistry in the polyphonic overlap between the upper and the lower voice, the latter being an augmented and elliptical variant of the first.
Example no. 4
The voice is treated as part of the polyphonic fabric, throughout the musical development the melodic structure is achieved through the complementarity of the two partners.
Example no. 5
42 The two examples presented above (no. 4 and no. 5) highlight the different methods of polyphonic treatment, the first case is close to the heterophonical treatment through the superposition of two different variants of the same melodic structure, the second is rather reminiscent of the rigour of the Baroque counterpoint. In the second example we observe the bitonal tendency, resulting obviously from polyphony, but the polyphony does not prevail, such harmonic clashes being transient. As he is still indebted to tonality, although the language exceeds its limits in large areas, the composer uses the armour.
Example no. 6
Although functionally logical, the writing thus becomes overloaded, the double alterations are common in this cycle of lieds, and the influence of the French composers who were his mentors is obvious. We note, however, that in other compositions, in which the modal organization of the musical material is dominant, Constantin Georgescu refrained from using the armour. One such case is the work Preludiu şi Fugă [Prelude and Fugue] for string orchestra, where on the first page we find the following indication: The accidences have value only strictly within the measure and at the same party. (the word strictly was underlined by the composer himself). Along with exemplary mastery of the composition techniques, the rich harmonic world or the dynamic colours found in these vocal miniatures, we note the strong connection between the musical meaning and the message of the word. Example no. 7
43 To emphasize the emotional depth of the text, the composer used different ways of interpretation, such as parlando (but a parlando restricted by the suggestion of the sound height and the observance of a rhythmic structure), as well as the use of breaks with expressive role. The return to the manner of the cantabile interpretation is made in the low register, on an emphasized sound, precisely in order to strengthen the meaning of the adjective sombre. The emphasis on the gravity of the text is also augmented by the extreme nuance imposed by the composer (pp), as well as the distribution of the first syllable on two connected sounds, thus building a kind of atypical emotional culmination: in the low register and with an extremely low nuance.
The choice of tone or mode is directly related to the emotional message of the text. We note that for the poems with a repressive message, the composer uses tonalities or modes with armour composed of flat notes, while the poem Extaz [Ecstasy], with an optimistic message, is assigned an organizational structure with armour made of sharp notes.
Example no. 8
In Constantin Georgescu’s case, it is noted this constant endeavour to achieve the most suitable colour in the development of the full harmony with the state and the message of the text, which shows a profound expressivity based on the full understanding of the poet’s language and metaphor. As regards the architectural complexity of his music, it is better to talk about this in relation with the larger compositions developed throughout his life. We note the obvious fondness for the Baroque genres, the polyphonic writing, and the influence of Cesar Franck comes between the composer and the past. Proofs of all this are Preludiul şi Fuga [Prelude and Fugue] for string orchestra or Choral cu variaţiuni [Choral with Variations] for piano where a threefold influence can be easily identified: the baroque form, the late French Romanticism and the Romanian Modalism. We thought that Enescu’s Preludiul la unison [Prelude in Unison] is unique in the field of cult music, but the prelude in the composition for string orchestra mentioned above is composed in an identical manner. The manuscript contains a single melodic line, along which there are noted the parties that are to
44 interpret the musical discourse. This second prelude in unison of the Romanian music is different, though, in terms of dramatic consistency or motif development, from Enescu was taken only the basic idea, not the language or the structure. The free character of the prelude monody contrasts with the rigorous counterpoint of the fugue, a section that highlights the qualities of a composer attracted to the developing possibilities of the imitative polyphony. Along with Neo-Baroque compositions, we also note vast works that are based on the sonata form and genre: Cvartetul de coarde [String Quartet], Sonata pentru vioară şi pian [Sonata for Violin and Piano] and Simfonia a II-a [Symphony II]. Their analysis reveals the knowledge of composition techniques, motif development and movement throughout the entire genre, reminding us of the basic principles of the cyclical sonata Franck had promoted in his creation. In regards to the symphonic poems, they are not programmatic in the sense of connecting the musical discourse with a storyline, but rather use the evocation of deeper feelings. The biographical information, the bibliographical sources and the brief insight into the creation of Constantin Georgescu, highlighted in this article, represent the first step in our objective to place him once again where he was meant to be included, together with personalities who have been created, studied or influenced destinies. Besides the natural respect we should have for a School founder, the strongest argument for the restoration of his personality is the value of his own creation. Promoting his compositions, we will honour his memory and, at the same time, we will better understand our roots.
Constantin Georgescu - Finding a Destiny and a Sonorous Universe Lecturer Ciprian Ion PhD (University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi) Abstract The content of this article refers to the personality and creation of a musician whose achievements have entered into obscurity for reasons difficult to understand. The article’s aim to restore Constantin Georgescu’s name to the attention of the music world is supported by a brief insight into his work, highlighting those stylistic and compositional features that emphasize the rigor and depth of his compositions. The few biographical references related to the career of Constantin Georgescu are intended to outline the historical, social and cultural background of the first half of the 20th century, which is important for understanding the influences on his musical language.
45
Syntactic and Timbral Structures in Anton Zeman’s Symphony No. 2 – “Aliaje”
Junior lecturer Anca Leahu PhD student (University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi)
The score of Anton Zeman’s Symphony No. 2 – Aliaje –1, distinguished in 1973 with the Romanian Academy George Enescu Prize and dedicated to the conductor Ion Baciu, uses a certain language and composition technique anticipated in his previous orchestral works, confirming the existence and steadfastness of an extremely personal style defined by modernity, complexity and by the particular vision upon the Romanian spirit outlined in various forms such as izvoade (manuscripts), crestături (notches), arhitecturi (architectures) or aliaje (alloys)2. Conceived in a single part, the Symphony springs into existence from a transformational evolution of the areas with global effect – the protuberant syntax – with various manifestations as concerns the sound density, the technical construction or the a timbral nature. The composer employs quite a large orchestral structure3, where the percussion plays a particular role, dominating by its variety of timbres and effects. At times, the percussion section takes on an independent function and assimilates other instruments, too, which are occasionally given a strictly rhythmic role without releasing any sound; they acquire therefore the status of percussion instruments through a particular manner of blowing or hitting, outlined in the score by means of special icons which define the composer’s style. Ex. 14
1 Anton Zeman, Symphony No. 2 – Aliaje (Alloys), general score (G.S.) (Bucharest: Ed. Muzicala, 1983). 2 Titles from Anton Zeman's symphonic oeuvre. 3 Three woodwinds of every kind, four brasses of the same sort, seven groups of percussion instruments, thirty-six violins, fourteen violas, ten cellos and eights double basses. 4 Indications from the score's preface. 47 Moreover, the fondness for percussion and for the special effects and combinations used within the score thoroughly serve the title, as the term brings in the idea of timbral alloy, the composer opting mostly for sonorously colourful doubles and mixtures and not so much for pure timbres. By associating and enriching the score of an instrument or of a section of instruments with certain effects, the author creates several sonorous characters, inducing the impression that there is a formal concept of motif in the auditory perception of the music. The best example to this purpose is the harp whose each occurrence, except for some short instances, exhibits the same melodic, rhythmical and effective profile. The composer creates a permanent oscillation within the range of a perfect fifth by means of the glissando, in opposite directions as concerns the two lines of each harp as well as their relationship to each other. Ex. 2 (A. Zeman – Symphony No. 2 – ”Aliaje”, page 5/G.S.)
In its turn, the piano acquires such a statute by identifying itself (also with some exceptions) with the cluster, embodied either by a special icon (ex. 3), or as a pre-cluster (ex. 4), yet always with the same effect due to its approach mostly as percussion instrument.
Ex. 3 (A. Zeman – Symphony No. 2 – ”Aliaje”, page 11/G.S.)
Ex. 4 (A. Zeman – Symphony No. 2 – ”Aliaje”, page 14/G.S.)
Another element with a similar function, although not entirely so, is the alternative development, upwards and downwards, of a tetrachord (transposed on various sounds, sometimes with shifting steps) within the section of the
48 woodwinds and that of the chordophones5, mention being made of the same opposite direction, similar to the harps, between the instruments that register the same formula. As for the rhythm, the steadfastness of the semiquavers outline a distinct profile, easily recognisable at all times. Ex. 5 (A. Zeman – Symphony No. 2 – ”Aliaje”, page 24/G.S.)
Although the composer doesn’t lay emphasis on the formal construction, but mostly on the syntactic one, the manner he places these elements in the score, the timbral componence and the differentiated writing types, all these suggest the existence of three areas with a centre that brings such contrast and a reprise that leads the sonorous discourse towards a final climax. From another perspective, other characters of the sonorous dramaturgy which concur to the achievement of the multi-layered syntaxes are the static element (particularly defined within the first and the last section) and the mobile element (predominantly within the median section); the former is rendered by means of cluster pedals (ex. 6) or ostinatos, and the latter by means of elements similar to the already described ones (see again examples 2 and 5) or by superposing certain melodic lines of a melismatic nature within some heterophonized texture surfaces (ex. 7). Ex. 6 (A. Zeman – Symphony No. 2 – ”Aliaje”, page 36/G.S.)
5 The only timbral exceptions are performed by the trumpet (p. 69-71) and the horn (p. 77- 81). 49
Ex. 7 (A. Zeman – Symphony No. 2 – ”Aliaje”, page 43/G.S.)
The manner of approaching the sonorous compartments engenders some autonomies, meaning that certain types of sonorous surfaces are distributed only to some timbral sections, which entails the division into the three formal sections. Although they all make use of the textured syntax, it is the inner multilayered structure and the nature of the sonorous layers that mark the difference. Thus, the first section (up to R 26) operates mainly with the contrast of levels, where the resulting texture changes its appearance quite fast as opposed to the second section, where the modifications occur following more extended surfaces, often through a transformational process of derivation. The work opens with a sonorous alloy created by the tunable percussion instruments, the piatto and the piano, generating a bell effect and being joined by the two harps (see ex. 2) which, due to their sonorous profile, simulate the vibrational waves generated by the bells. This sonorous drawing creates a support for the expression of the repetitive formulas within the woodwind section (see ex. 5) which initially start from a trichord with shifting steps (ex. 86) and then settle in the ambitus of the aforementioned tetrachord. Ex. 8 (A. Zeman – Symphony No. 2 – ”Aliaje”, page 1/G.S.)
6 According to the composer's instructions in the preface of the score, “accidentals are only valid for the note that follows”. 50
The resulting texture opposes the static element (by means of long clusters pedals) against the mobile one (repetitive modules, the glissando oscillation of the harps), a compositional principle according to which the sonorous layers composing the global effect surfaces are built throughout the score. Nevertheless, these elements experience in their turn a transformational direction, full of dynamism and colour, especially due to the percussion section which ensures the main line of this musical work by its almost continuous presence. The variability of the sonorous layers is also achieved by resorting to various procedures and effects, such as inversion/reversal (see ex. 5), glissando, tremolo. Thence, loose and congested areas alternate permanently with different facets. The sonorous discourse of the first section is also engraved with some solo moments pertaining to some percussion instruments which are rather seldom invested to play such a role in a symphonic context: the timpani, the xylophone, the marimba. Ex. 9 (A. Zeman – Symphony No. 2 – ”Aliaje”, page 18/G.S.)
A certain degree of rhythmic indetermination emphasized by means of a special icon (see ex. 9, piano7) occurs in a fluctuating metric framework either by substituting the measure with temporal indications (each measure lasting 1 second), or by specifying the metrics, or again by combining both methods which sometimes results in polymetry.
7 The indication for performing such an outline lies in the preface of the score:”A sound (an interval, a chord) repeated unevenly”. 51
Ex. 10 (A. Zeman – Symphony No. 2 – ”Aliaje”, page 19/G.S.)
The second section (R26), the most abstract and with the highest degree of indetermination, proposes another writing and another structural constitution of the textures. Preceded by a general rest of about 3-5 seconds, the music line starts from a single element, flute 1, in a monodic moment and an approximate evolution both intonational and rhythmical, suggesting a parlando rubato. The other two elements which join it, a mobile pedal vestured in glissando and tremolo in the section of the chordophones and a syntax resembling an attack polyphony in the woodwind section – which will however generate a pointillist writing –, create the two-layer support of a new recurrence of the monody, each occurrence swaying from one flute to another and becoming more and more melismatic. Ex. 11 (A. Zeman – Symphony No. 2 – ”Aliaje”, page 38/G.S.)
The alternation of the three factors in the texture’s development starts to operate with modifications with regard to both the timbres as well as the syntaxes. The monody grows into heterophony, the pointillist writing shifts into
52 the section of the tunable percussion, of the harps and of the brass, the chordophone pedal is more dynamic through an even higher degree of mobility, and the sound densities become more and more ample. A brief loose area which succeeds the heterogeneous texture leaves room to outline a new moment of the second section (at R42), mostly focused on the timbres and the effects of the non-tunable percussion section. The result is also a compositional creative work with global effect in which the detail is not perceptible and which embodies, maybe in its most edifying state, the sonorous alloys. Ex. 12 (A. Zeman – Symphony No. 2 – ”Aliaje”, page 58/G.S.)
Gradually, by means of an additional process, known elements begin to reappear and to come into prominence into the sonorous evolution, namely the heterophony or the pedal from the beginning of the second section, in the same timbral make-up, as well as some sonorous characters from the first section, the repetitive modules – this time extended up to a pentachord with shifting levels –, the harps oscillation in glissando – between the same sounds – or the bell effect from the beginning achieved by the percussion (R58). Although these elements are extended on more ample areas, they do not take up a reprise role, they merely anticipate it, as the writing – subject to a higher degree of randomness – evolves towards a new area of outlining the elements displayed at the beginning of the second section. Thus, the multilayered structure is enhanced, as the textured heterophony, the pointillist writing and the chordophone pedal return within the discourse, but new elements also emerge, subject to a random development and imbued with special effects, this configuration gradually absorbing the entire sonorous discourse. A few graphic signs indicate, with some of the instruments, the limits of the sonorous courses.
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Ex. 13 (A. Zeman – Symphony No. 2 – ”Aliaje”, page 87/ G.S.)
A 2 second-general rest makes room for the concentrated reprise (R72). The same sonorous characters and the same overlap of static and mobile elements combine so as to achieve the final section's last surfaces with a global effect; the closure occurs in a surprising manner, through a generalised pointillist texture, an element specific to the median formal area.
The symphonic character of the score arises from the manner of organising the sonorous levels and joining the composing layers, from the density of the musical space, the complex writing, the massive sonorous dramaturgies and, last but not least, from the means of approaching the timbral compartments. The composition technique and the related icons bear the mark of an apparently tough modernity, yet, in fact, built on the emerging pedestal of the Romanian spirituality. Overall, the sonorities are metallic through various effects and manners of sound or noise emission and, although most of the textured sonorous areas
54 which give birth to the Alloys are heterogeneous, the relationships between the composing syntaxes are not conflictual but merged, and they generate some complex timbral mixtures with a highly artistic, descriptive role imbued, at the same time, with a deeply confessional substance.
Syntactic and Timbral Structures in Anton Zeman’s Symphony No. 2 – “Aliaje” Junior lecturer Anca Leahu PhD student (University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi) Abstract Conceived in one single movement, Anton Zeman's Symphony no. 2 ”Aliaje” exhibits, thanks to the modern language, compositional technique and graphic icons employed by the composer, an instance of his view on Romanian spirituality. The symphony springs from a process of transformational evolution of the areas having a global effect, with various manifestations of sonorous density, technical constitution or timbral nature. There are several sonorous characters of a syntactic, dramaturgic or timbral sort which give voice to the Aliaje (Alloys) in a complex symphonic background.
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The adaptation of Byzantine and post-Byzantine monody and of psaltic Christmas carols in Viorel Munteanu’s creation
Lecturer Irina Zamfira Dănilă Ph.D (University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi)
The idea of adapting Byzantine music has found its most representative champion in Viorel Munteanu. In times when composing religious music was almost impossible, the Romanian composer succeeded in creating an extremely valuable piece, which received the “George Enescu” Award of the Romanian Academy in 1980. This piece is the vocal-symphonic poem The Voices of Putna, based on Byzantine sacred music from the manuscript sources of the 16th century1. How was this possible? The answer lies in the courage, enthusiasm and inquisitiveness of the young musician who had been educated in the new school of composition within the Iaşi Conservatoire under composer Vasile Spătărelu; these qualities enabled him to find new sources of inspiration and musical expression unsought for before. This act of creation was possible also thanks to the renewal occasioned by the research done by a team of Romanian and foreign musicologists at the important centre for the learning and teaching of Byzantine arts at the Putna Monastery during the reign of Stephen the Great and up to the end of the 17th century. Within this context, between 1969 and 1976, the Byzantinologist Grigore Panţiru published several papers on the musical centre at Putna: Unpublished musical manuscripts from the Putna Monastery2, The musical school at Putna: 1) unidentified musical manuscripts; 2) An old hymn on Saint John the New from Suceava3. In turn, Byzantinologist Gheorghe Ciobanu published valuable studies on the musical school at Putna: The musical school at Putna during the period of Stephen the Great and his successors4, The musical school at Putna5, The manuscripts at Putna and some issues related to mediaeval Romanian music6, The manuscripts at Putna and the question of the Romanian – Bulgarian relations during the Middle-Ages7 (vol. XII, Bucureşti, 1976). Both researchers were also the first publishers of the musical transcriptions of a number of chants, among which The Hymn of Saint John the
1 Bucureşti: Edit. Muzicală, 1982. 2 In Biserica Ortodoxă Română, an. LXXXVII, nr. 3-4 martie-aprilie (Bucureşti: 1969), pp. 434-441. 3 In Studii de muzicologie, vol. VI (Bucureşti: Ed. Muzicală, 1970), pp. 31-67. 4 Excerpt from the Annals of the Romanian Academy , Bucharest, Ed.Academiei, an.100 (1966), secţ. a IV-a, vol. XVI, pp. 587-593. 5 In Studii de etnomuzicologie şi bizantinologie, vol.I (Bucureşti: Ed. Muzicală, 1974), pp. 418-440. 6 In Studii de etnomuzicologie şi bizantinologie, vol. II, Bucureşti, Ed. Muzicală), pp. 293- 305. 7 În Studii de muzicologie, vol. XII, Bucureşti (Ed. Muzicală, 1976), pp. 99-118.
57 New from Suceava (Gr. Panţiru) and The Chalice of redemption (Gh. Ciobanu). These impressive achievements in Byzantinological research impressed young composer Viorel Munteanu; drawing his inspiration from the melodies of the hymns from Putna, he composed the symphonic poem The Voices of Putna, a piece which has enjoyed appreciation and success and is interpreted on almost all the continents. The composer also benefited from Gh. Ciobanu’s expertise, who helped him understand the specific features of the Byzantine monody as they are found in the Putna manuscripts and offered some musical suggestions. In his composition The Voices of Putna, the composer Viorel Munteanu aimed at recreating the praying spirit and meditation atmosphere, of spiritual elevation at Putna Monastery using the musical means of the string orchestra and male voice choir. The composer was impressed by the melodic richness and expressiveness of two illustrative Byzantine chants belonging to two Romanian composers, Dometian Vlahu and Evstatie the Protopsaltis, and used a number of musical motifs which he further adapted using specific musical means and succeeded in recreating the atmosphere of prayer and deep piety in monasteries. On rediscovering the charm and expressive richness of the Byzantine music and relying on the old canons, the Romanian composer created a monody supported by means of the isons, the spatialization of the sound flow as the various musical motifs are played by various instruments, the combination between antiphonic and heterophonic singing.
Section I of the poem The poem reveals a large strophic form of the type A B Avar, where each stanza is constituted freely of a number of articulations. The beginning of stanza A creates an atmosphere of mystery, introducing the suggestion of monastic life through an imitation of the bell ringing and semantron sound. The semantron beat is suggested as the second violin repeats with rhythmic variations the musical interval of a minor ninth re-mi’, as well as through the onomatopoeic repetition of the semantron beat, performed by the cello solo, rhythmically hitting the instrument with the bow con legno. The suggestive incipit of the piece is augmented by the sudden performance of a harmonic cluster by the entire orchestra (m. 1 – 2), which sounds like a bell whose reverberations increase the atmosphere of mystery and suggest the night service (Midnight Service8). The Romanian composer drew his inspiration from a Byzantine sticheron of great beauty, namely The Hymn of Saint John the New from Suceava9, possibly one of the most accomplished and illustrative musical
8 This is the service at midnight at monasteries according to a well established typikon. 9 Saint John of Suceava was a young Christian man killed by the Turks at Cetatea Albă (1330) because he didn’t accept to be converted to Islamism. He was thus crowned as a martyr and his relics capable of performing miracles were brought by Prince Alexander the Kind at Suceava in 1402. Apud Ioan M. Stoian, Dicţionar religios, Bucureşti, Ed. Garamond, 1994, p. 134. 58 creations of Evstatie the Protopsaltis of Putna, the most important composer of the Musical School at Putna. The text is supposed to have been created by the learned priest and writer, the Greek Grigore Ţamblac10, while the music is supposed to have been composed by an anonymous psalm reader. Later, during the reign of Stephen the Great, the melody of the hymn was re-created and recorded using the koukouzelian notation by Evstatie; versions of this chant can be found in the manuscripts belonging to the Musical school of Putna11.
10 Idem, p. 278. 11 One of the versions can be found in Evstatie’s Antologhion (Antologhionul lui Evstatie protopsaltul Putnei, Ms. 350) at the State History Museum of Moscow (document fund Sciukin), f. 138v (cf. Antologhionul lui Evstatie Protopsaltul Putnei, in the collection Izvoare ale muzicii româneşti, vol. V, Documenta, edition and notes by Gheorghe Ciobanu şi Marin Ionescu, with a preface and an introductory study by Gheorghe Ciobanu, Bucureşti, Ed. Muzicală, 1983, p. 488). 59 Once the monastic atmosphere is created, the composers go on to expand the state of meditation and prayer by gradually diminishing the intervals, starting from the initial generating cell (based on the interval of a minor ninth, performed by the second violin, m.5); in this way the entrance of the voice chanting is announced.
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61 The first anticipation of the motif of the Byzantine monody is intoned in the head register as a solo by the first violin (which intones the semantron motif, m.5); this is answered to by the orchestra with a bell sound (the harmonic tone cluster) and the semantron sound of the cello (at m.6). Gradually the smaller intervals are introduced, such as the seconds and thirds and a heterophonic moment is introduced for the first time (m. 7–8) between the first and the second violin, composed in counterpoint in a melody motif playing the role of countermelody (to be later found again in other parts of the piece) and the repetition of the semantron signal (performed by the cello) (m. 9-10). The Byzantine hymn can be detected starting from measure 11 in the chest of violas when the tempo is changed from the initial Larghetto-rubato to the Poco andantino which later flows uninterruptedly and successively take over the melody conduct by the various instruments playing solo or in instrumental groups: the violas in counterpoint with the cello and violins (m. 11 – 20); the first and second violins in chorus, supported by the violas and the cello; tutti in chorus (m. 26) with cadencing in chorus on the finalis (first step) of the echos, re, which concludes the first section A (at m. 27):
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64 Thus, in this first part of the poem the composers induces the atmosphere of prayer at Putna Monastery through the sound of the bells and the semantron, as well as through the melodic invention inspired from the Hymn of Saint John, which consists of the authentic echos I with the first step on re. The melodic invention of Byzantine influence plays other roles as well, which places it on a higher plan than the original, since it is invested with an important role in the general structure of the piece. The string ensemble (first and second violins, violas, cellos and double bass) chosen by the composer as the main expressive means is organized in such a manner that it renders most suggestively the monadic character and the atmosphere of the religious chant. To achieve this, Viorel Munteanu took over certain elements of style of Byzantine inspiration from Evstatie’s hymn; these elements are particularly prominent; one of them is derived from the intoning formula (apechemata) of mode I: ananes:
The first musical motif of the of the melody invention of the section A of the symphonic poem The Voices of Putna is very similar in terms of melodic interval with this intoning formula (if we consider its second placed vertically and in a wide position). Another method used to raise the melodic invention to a level higher to that which inspired it is the melodic contour, created not through repetition and motif sequencing (which were methods specific to the composers at Putna) but rather through melodic gradation. This is particularly obvious in the scalar profile of the ondulatio type leading to a culminatio (m. 11–16). The sound climax of the first section is achieved not only through melodic gradation, but also through dynamic gradation achieved in two distinct ways: 1) through gradual increase of the nuance from p to sost. f; 2) through the tempo indication implorare initially deriving from the transcription of the cheironomic sign of expression parakalesma. The effect is also enhanced through the gradation of the sound and timbre amplitude achieved through orchestral means. Thus, at m. 11–12 the monody supported only by the chest of violas is emphasized by the first violins that play a double rhythmic pedal in mixtures of fourths, as well as by the second violins that perform a trill sul tasto in chorus on important sounds in the scale, while the low-pitched strings intone the ison with rhythmical interventions at the first step of the mode or in a subtonic. In another example the composer intends to emphasize an important cadence of the monody, for instance that at the end of the end of section A, which is performed by the
65 orchestral tutti in chorus with small differences in the second and third (m. 26- 27).
Section II of the poem The end of section A is a point of departure for section B, composed in the tempo poco sostenuto since, along with the previous cadence (on D) the motif of the semantron is reintroduced, transformed in the cello; further on, the melodic conduct is taken over by the second violin solo, while the first violin evokes the semantron signal again:
66 In the first section the melody consists of Byzantine musical motifs in the original 1st echos, which corresponds to the Dorian mode in transcription; in the second section, the composer creates a passage to a different mode, that of the 4th plagal mode, which is a temperate correspondent of the Ionian mode; in this case, he uses as his source the koinonikon Paharul mântuirii / The chalice of redemption12 by Dometian Vlahul, transcribed by Gr. Panţiru:
Thus, the first to achieve is the modulation towards the Ionian mode through the intonation of a number of brief melodic inventions in the Byzantine style, which are in turn taken over by the second violin solo, the group of first violins (the first one emphasizes the bell motif, then the semantron motif) (m. 31 –34). The modulation is achieved through another melody fragment in the Dorian mode (m. 31–35), supported through the harmonic aggregates created on
12 Paharul mântuirii / The chalice of redemption is a part of the group of weekly koinonikons (each weekday is attributed a special koinonikon). In this case, the koinonikon is performed at the Liturgy on Wednesdays. 67 the sounds that constitute the melody and performed by the second violins and the violas. In order to mark the passage from one harmonic aggregate to the next the glissando is used masterfully, but not in one instrument only, but simultaneously in all the instruments with a harmonic function; in this way, the composer points out the vocal origin of the melody:
68 Starting with m. 35, from the tempo indication Andantino, through the intrusive cadence of the previous phrase the monody is taken over by the group of low-pitched strings; the first cello leads the melody in the plagal of the 4th mode (Ionian), inspired from the Koinonikon while the double bass plays the role of the ison on the finalis C of the 4th plagal mode (m. 35–39). Starting with m. 40, the melody is expanded and becomes more rounded as it is performed by the chest of violas. The Byzantine monody with modal features is emphasized through its accompaniament by the ison performed by each group of string instruments; this is achieved through the vertical summation of these pedals; harmonic aggregates are thus created again from important sounds of the echos. Had he done differently, for instance by using a classic harmonic accompaniment, the scale of the mode could have easily been misunderstood for a Western type tonality, in this case that of C major, while the entire modal atmosphere would have been marred. It is also interesting to note the manner in which the composer treats the issue of the mobile steps, of the modulating inflexions or of the modulations used on the melody path of the original chant. In order to enrich the expressive colours of the exclusively diatonic monody, the composer resorts to a short fragment in which the 4th step, the mobile note B as well as the alteration A flat (m. 74). This feature is specific to psalm chant, in practical chanting the phenomenon of attraction between certain important degrees on the scale can be found, such as in the plagal of the 4th mode, when zo (B) is sung natural in the raise and flat in the descent. Another such instant is that in which in the original Byzantine melody the chromatic ftora of the 2nd mode on di (G) appears, with the role of altering the nature of the melody from the diatonic to the chromatic (m. 50). In this case, the composer treats the fragment under discussion as the harmonic major scale; however, the Byzantine monody is not affected through the modal accompaniment based on the ison vertically cumulated as a harmonic aggregate.
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Another aspect has to be pointed out, as well: the expressive role played by the bell motif, based on the harmonic cluster occurring at the beginning of the piece, as well as during the poem; its role is to enhance the archaic, mysterious atmosphere. In this second section, the composer uses a gradation, a gradual accumulation of the monody tension both on a dynamic level through the crescendo starting from a subtle p or mp and on a timbre level through the orchestral means of a cumulation of the various the groups of instruments. In this way, the monody starts from a simple univocal conductus which like a thin clear spring grows into a powerful river gradually including the entire orchestra (for instance, the parallelism of eighths in the part of the first and second violins, counterpointed by violas and supported harmonically by the double pedal of the low-pitched strings (at m. 52–54) or the climax that follows, achieved in a similar manner (at m. 60-63). In a classical piece, for instance, the climax point is usually associated to illustrating the feelings of elation, exuberant joy; in this poem dedicated to the medieval religious tradition in Stephen the Great’s
72 lifetime, the melody climax is achieved by an association with the feelings of deep spiritual experience which is suggested by the composer through median nuances of mf and full (f), as well as through the indication implorare13. Together with the glissando, which is a technique inspired from the specifically Byzantine manner of singing, frequently used by the composer in this piece, this indication (implorare) which occurs in the moments of greatest expressiveness of the musical discourse, is another confirmation of the fact that the composer had a good understanding of the deep meanings of the expressiveness of the Byzantine melody and could express it masterfully and touchingly. The final part of section B is created mainly through dynamic diminution (mp), and also through the transfer of the melody path from the area of the acute sounds of the first violins to the middle sounds performed by the second violins accompanied by the violas and the faint ison of the cellos, which uses a melodic cadence formula borrowed from the koinonikon as a monodic source.
Section III of the poem In the final section of the poem, Avar, the composer reconstitutes the austere, highly spiritual atmosphere of monastic prayer, which is perhaps an ideal of spiritual life in the Orthodox Church during the medieval period; this is made possible as the composer introduces an new very important instrument – the human voice. Viorel Munteanu reveals the melodic invention of Byzantine intonations from Saint John’s Hymn; he also uses them in the first section, but in this third section they are closer to the original scores of Evstatie the Protopsaltis. In this final part in Larghetto-rubato (the same as the introductory part A of the poem), the main musical motifs used in the first part are repeated: the semantron motif, based on a diminished seventh, the onomatopoeic imitation of this pseudo-instrument, the motif anticipating the hymn performed in the 1st echos, too, which is transcribed in the temperate manner (as the Dorian mode); they are all wrapped in a different atmosphere, less dramatic, possibly because this time the intense bell motif, created through clusters, is no longer used. The composer expressively uses his musical images to render almost graphic visual associations. The instrumental motif preceding the Byzantine monody (m. 72, first violin, solo) is followed by the direct performance of this motif by the entire group of violins in the unison (while the other groups of instruments have the role of counterpointing the melody and then of counterpointing the harmonic pillars), accompanied by the semantron motif performed by the cello (m. 73– 74) in a vigorous gusto representing the expressive climax of the entire piece. As soon as the melody flow quiets down again, the tempo is quickly changed to Andantino-rubato and the male voices enter, randomly dispersing among the
13 The original scores that served as his inspiration use at certain points the cheironomic sign parakalesma, which is explained and interpretated by paleographers as “expressiveness of imploration” (of the Divine Being, n.n.). 73 instruments14, thus representing the monks’ choir. They intone in a molto espressivo, calmo manner a cantus firmus that contains the melody pillars of the hymn of Saint John on a text inspired from the original text of the stichera: “Land from above, rejoice and sing / Son among the suns of our branch, / Voice among voice you bring forth…”. The Byzantine hymn is performed by the cello, with its warm tone colour, similar to that of the male voices:
The finale developing in a calm serene atmosphere is built mainly through the means of heterophony. The voices involved in heterophony are the male choir, the first violin solo and the first cello; the other voices support the pedals (the low-pitched strings, the violas) or counterpoint the melody through a rhythmic motif, based on a descending major second (the first violins):
14 As the composer indicates in the scores on page 33. 74
In the last measures of the piece the cadence is on the double pedal (formed from the finalis of the echos, D and its fifth, A) counterpointed by the musical motif of the first violins, that illustrate the infinity, in combination with the semantron sound of the second violin. The monody gradually fades away, in the pp extended into niente, suggesting at the same time the Deity, the infinity that monks draw near in their prayer, as well as possibly that the Byzantine melopoeia, so rich and significant, has not disappeared along with the School at Putna and continues to be performed in both the choirs of the Orthodox churches, through the tradition of modern chanting of Byzantine influence, and
75 in the concert hall; such masterpieces as the piece presented above create this link:
To conclude, it can be said that in The Voices of Putna, the composer Viorel Munteanu undoubtedly proves to have the vocation of the monody, which he shapes and raises to unprecedented heights, thus continuing in a personal style and with modern means the idea of orchestral unison brilliantly illustrated by George Enescu in A Prelude in the Unison in the 1st Suite. This is one of the possible explanations for the appreciation that this poem enjoys all over the world.
76 At the Birth of the Holy Virgin: The Virgin Today
In another piece, also a vocal symphonic one, namely The 2nd Suite for Christmas15 the composer Viorel Munteanu draws his inspiration from old church music and also from ancient Christmas carols, either folk or of psaltic origin. One of the pieces in this suite, with the title The Virgin Today, centres round the theme of the short hymn of praise at the Saviour’s Birth; its text was written for the first time in the 6th century by Saint Roman the Melodist. Byzantinologist Ioan D. Petrescu, the father figure of Romanian paleography, published a seminal study, The Short Hymn of Praise at the Saviour’s Birth16; by using a comparative approach, he proved the lexical and musical continuity of this hymn from the first written documents to our time. Among the musical versions of this hymn that Ioan D. Petrescu studied are some dating from the 18th century written in Greek; others were found in manuscripts discovered on the territory of Romania, dating from the 18th to 19th century. In the musical praxis in the historic provinces of Romania, Wallachia and Moldavia, the version in the notation of Macarie the Hieromonk, Anton Pann, D. Suceveanu is still used for the religious service. However, in Transylvania and Bukovina, where due to foreign dominance the Byzantine chant was not influenced by oriental music (Gh. Ciobanu), an older, more archaic version is preserved, with a structure which is similar but not identical with that used in the provinces. The musical characteristics of the hymn in its Transylvanian version caught the attention of composer Viorel Munteanu; he took it over and adapted it for soloists, children’s choir and orchestra. The following groups of instruments are used: wood winds (two flutes, an oboe), percussion instruments (vibraphone, campane da chiesa, campane tubolare, sonagli, semantron), plucked and struck strings (harp, pianoforte, celesta), bowed strings (first and second violins, violas, celli, double basses). The selection of the instruments is such that their specific colour could render as suggestively as possible the mysterious and spell-binding atmosphere of the winter holidays (especially the church bells, the semantron, the celesta, the harp etc.):
15 In Viorel Munteanu, Strop de ler, vol. II (Iaşi: Trinitas, 2000). 16 Ioan D. Petrescu, Condacul Naşterii Domnului, Studii de muzicologie comparată, Bucureşti, Tip. Universul,1940. 77
The melody of the hymn is performed by the solo soprano and tenor voices; in the composer’s view, they are meant to remind of the Romanian
78 protopsaltis of old interpreting chants of Byzantine origin; many inflections are introduced, also reminiscent of Romanian music. The melody path also makes use of the main characteristics of the stichera time: the calm free tempo (fourth=80), the presence of melismas of 2 to 6 sounds to a syllable and of specific ornaments (appoggiaturas, echapé).
For the adaptation, the composer analysed the original melody, taking into account its modal and expressive characteristics. The melody of the hymn belongs to the 3rd echos, which in psalm musical theory contains quarter tones which, through tempered transcription becomes diatonic in nature. As it is an old
79 melody, the middle ambitus of the voice of a major sixth is used; especially the gradual scalar profile of the ascensio-descensio and undulating type are used for construction. The highly expressive melody was changed from ga (F) to di (G) and the composer did not alter its original contour. In order to emphasize the archaic character of this music, the vocal technique of the glissando was used for interpretation, a technique which is commonly used in Romanian performance of Byzantine chants. Children’s choirs usually play a very important part supporting the timber of the solo part and suggest the clear voices of the children, the first that bring news of the Saviour’s Birth and its celebration in the traditional archaic rural world. To emphasize with the help of the childish voice timbre the atmosphere of celebration specific to the winter holiday, the composer decided to use two choirs of this type and a varied set of musical means: passages which are common with the soloists’ melody path, common isons at various moments of the chant; isons intoned differently at different intervals: second, fifth, sixth, eighth. In this musical piece, Viorel Munteanu reveals himself as masterful exploiter of the ison technique, for instance by dividing the second choir on a double pedal at a fifth interval, while the first choir leaves the ison through a scalar profile, similar to a countermelody; the result is a rhythmic complementary opposition with the soloists’ melody plane (m. 45–53). Sometimes this technique leads to the formation of sound aggregates of the type: mib-F#-lab-C (m.60). The children’s choir does not perform entire sentences but mainly long sounds (isons) or the incipits and endings of certain sentences. The orchestra according to the composer’s choice of instruments, however, has the role of creating the original sonorous atmosphere which gives this piece in The Second Christmas Suite its entire charm. The composer proves his quality as an orchestrator by making best use of the qualities of each group of instruments. Thus the wood winds and the percussion have the role of performing the mixtures of fifths that create the harmonic support of the psalm melody. At certain points, the harp accompanies the soloists’ main melody path and contributing to the sonorous richness of the whole through its specific clear colour. The piano, an instrument with manifold resources, has the role of emphasizing the modal harmonic support by intoning the harmonic aggregates or the chords resulting from the vertical superposition of all the groups of instruments and vocal parties. The bowed strings are especially involved in supporting the double ison, performed at a fifth; there are, however, moments in which they perform a counter melody, so they rhythmically and melodically complete the main melody conduct, as do the two choirs. As a large musical form, the short hymn consists of two stanzas, A and A1, each of which is structured as a chain of sentences; A follows the text “The Virgin today gives birth to the One higher than the skies. The Earth the cave to the One Who is untouchable provides. The angels bring forth the news, while the magi travel guided by the star, for unto us a new child was born, God before
80 the ages”; part A1 playing the role of a reprise – identically repeats the first sentence “The Virgin today gives birth to the One higher than the skies”. The harmonic and polyphonic means used by the composer are modal, in a writing in which the vocal plane of the soloists accompanied by the two choirs are made to stand apart; the other groups of instruments have the role of supporting the modal harmony consisting mainly of double isons evolving into mixtures. Through this masterful adaptation for the orchestra, soloists and children’s choir, the composer transforms the simple melody of the short hymn of praise The Virgin Today in the third echos into a beautiful vocal instrumental miniature which convincingly and movingly renders the Christmas atmosphere and the mystery of the Lord’s Birth of the Virgin Mary.
You Are the Holy Light
Another piece that is also part of The Second Christmas Suite is You Are the Holy Light; here the composer resorts again to the Byzantine source, but this time it is not extracted from the chanting performed in the church choir in the 16th – 17th centuries, or the modern Chrisantic chants, but from the folk music. The inspiration is drawn here from the Christmas carol You Are the Holy Light; whose text is inspired from the service books, while the melody is of church chant origin, therefore related to psalm music. The carol was included in the famous collection of Carols by George Breazul17: for instance the monody-type carol. The text of this carol is a genuine folk poem of Christian expression, referring to the mystery of the virginity of Mary, Mother of God, and her role of saving mankind from sin through the birth of Jesus: “You are the holy light / Blessed Mother of God / For you gave birth to the Holy Son / for the people on Earth / You are the spring of life / You quench the thirst with sweetness / and are the true Mother / for you gave birth to a fatherless Son / more revered / holier than the sun / You are the manger inhabited / and the sealed book”. The melody is impressive through its beauty and expressiveness and its psaltic origin is observable in both its sound scale belonging to the 5th mode on Pa (the first musical sentence) and to the 1st mode on Pa (the second sentence) and through the prevalent gradual scalar and undulating profile, which is specific of psaltic music. From a literary point of view, this carol is obviously part of folk poetry: the eight-syllable acatalectic lines of verses, paired rhyme, the architectural form consisting of four melody lines prove it. In this piece, the carol melody represents the main expressive means, while the instrumental part is an illustration created by the composer to settle the
17 G. Breazul, Colinde (Bucureşti: Fundaţia Culturală Regală ,,Principele Carol”, 1938), nr. 66.
81 atmosphere specific to religious holidays (the bells, the semantron, the vibraphone). In the vocal adaptation of the carol the composer uses free imitative polyphony, the counterpoint and the harmonic pedal. The interesting thing, however, is that, displaying amazing intuition, before quoting the actual melody, the author introduces in the second choir the intonation formula ananes18 used in the 1st mode of Byzantine music:
18 See the previous explanation of the apechema ananes. 82
Besides producing these important elaborate creations, addressing professional or semi professional vocal instrumental groups and meant to be performed in concert halls, composer Viorel Munteanu was also remarkable for his small size creations inspired from folk music and meant for the musical education of the young. This is the case of the volume Strop de ler19, published at Iaşi, in collaboration with Viorel Bârleanu20, a professor and folklorist who
19 Viorel Munteanu, Viorel Bârleanu, Strop de ler, vol. I (Iaşi:Editura Trinitas a Mitropoliei Moldovei şi Bucovinei, 2000). 20 Viorel Bârleanu is known as an highly experienced ethno-musicologist well versed in collecting and researching folklore as well as for his didactic qualities. As an extrenla contributor to the Folklore Archive of moldavia and Bukovina of the Institute he published in collaboration with ethno-musicologist Florin Bucescu several volumes dedicated to the musical folklore in Moldavia and Bukovina, as well as studies in various specialised journals. The Folklore Archive Moldavia and Bukovina was founded at Iaşi by Ion H. Ciubotaru in the 70-ies; it published the collection Caietele Arhivei de Folclor in 10 volumes; in some of these 83 had collected an anthology of Romanian carols for which he selected the most interesting melody types from all the Romanian provinces that had been published by various authors in the past. The subtitle of the anthology clarifies what types of melodies are anthologized: Christmas carols, songs of the star, wishes, The Little Plough and other songs for the New Year. Answering Viorel Bârleanu’s proposal, composer Viorel Munteanu selected a part of the melodies in the anthology and adapted them so that they could be used for school choirs in two or three voices. The initiative of this anthology is particularly welcome and useful, as Viorel Bârleanu showed in the Foreword to the volume, since in the period before 1989 “almost no collection of original full-text Christmas carols and songs for the star had been published,” since many had been censored or even forbidden due to their religious content. The collection is therefore a restorative gesture of filling a void in the didactic music dedicated to children; the authors considered that “it is necessary to include carols with genuine unaltered musical structure along with those based on psalm chanting, which are both acknowledged to be of considerable age and to play an important role in a child’s education.” Other adaptations of carols existed between 1960 and 1990 masterfully created by talented composers such as Tudor Jarda, Vasile Spătărelu, Adrian Pop and others, but such collections were not meant for pupils and they did not have a religious content, they were mainly for mixed choirs and the texts were lay or adapted. A part of the carols and songs of the star adapted for two or three voices by Viorel Munteanu display the presence of a melody of psaltic influence. Here are some of the titles: for two voices: Mary was walking, Christ’s Holy Mother, Under two apple trees, under two plum trees, Whose mansion is this, The Holy Mother has started Her journey, The Star is up, Three magi from the East (two versions), Adam if he sinned, We are a’carolling oh Lord, Before these handsome mansions, Between the valleys and the mountains (Mioriţa), The came down, and down they came, Unto me was born and was brought up, High, low and high again, Wake up, ye mighty lords (two versions), In the town of Bethlehem, Leru-i o Lord. The composer Viorel Munteanu has also recently created several choir adaptations for two – three – four mixed voices which were included in a new collection of choir pieces We Praise the Lord21: Rejoice, oh, Holy Mother (tenor and bass baritone), Up at the gates of heaven (soprano + tenor), the triptych Wake up, ye mighty lords, Out ye come, ye mighty lords, UP at the gates of
volumes there are musical studies and collections authored by the above mentioned ethno- musicologists; volume 9, Melodii de joc din Moldova (1990) contains only musical folklore and an ample introductory study. See the study “Melosul popular în Caietele Arhivei de Folclor” by Fl. Bucescu and V. Bârleanu, in Anuarul Muzeului Etnografic al Moldovei – X. In honorem prof. univ. dr. Ion H. Ciubotaru. 21 Viorel Munteanu, Viorel Bârleanu, Florin Bucescu, Lăudăm pre Domnul – Antologie corală (Iaşi: Artes, 2010). 84 Heaven (soprano, alto and tenor), the choirs pieces for four mixed voices Leru-i o Lord, We are a’carolling oh Lord, and the Voices of Putna – a piece inspired from the homonymous vocal symphonic poem. The means used to adapt these pieces are suited to the moral and aesthetic goal. Consider, for instance, the following carol:
Thus Viorel Munteanu uses mainly a light polyphonic and harmonic writing, well balanced and as simple as possible so it can be performed by children or young people.
85 Here are some of the polyphonic means he uses in the adaptations of the carols: the imitation at various intervals (prima, fourth, fifth etc.), especially in polyphonic entrances of the voices, imitation in stretto; imitation in canon (less frequently); free counterpoint writing on limited melody paths. Some of the harmonic means he uses are: melody intervals (especially in the adaptations for two voices); tone modal chord combinations, such as trisons in authentic and plagal relations; the harmonic pedal (ison) as a specific means to accompany the melodies of psaltic origin; the rhythmical pedal. The adaptations of psaltic carols published by the composer Viorel Munteanu in the volume mentioned previously and the choir anthology We Praise the Lord are a felicitous completion to the musical literature for the youth; they emphasize the quality of the melodies of psaltic origin of being particularly useful – in either monadic original form or in adapted form for the choir – for the musical education of the young, as they enhance their propensity for the beautiful in general and for sacred music especially.
Conclusions regarding Viorel Munteanu’s musical creation of Byzantine and psaltic influence
Through his musical creation, which is illustrative of the last three decades, composer Viorel Munteanu has a distinctive place in today’s Romanian music, due to his openness to almost any musical genre and the fact that the used extremely valuable sources, and due to his original style and expression. His most valuable creations are those that draw their inspiration from the folk Romanian music or from the Byzantine chant. His melodic creativity was manifest in all his work; however, when it touches upon the religious feeling, his creativity acquires a special quality through its lyricism, the novelty of the musical language and its expressiveness. Pieces such as The Voices of Putna and Concerti grossi are remarkable, as well as the later pieces such as the adaptations of psaltic carols, The psaltic Tryptich, The 1st and 2nd Suites for Christmas.
The adaptation of Byzantine and post-Byzantine monody and of psaltic Christmas carols in Viorel Munteanu’s creation Lecturer Irina Zamfira Dănilă Ph.D (University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi) Abstract For his piece for voice and orchestra The Voices of Putna, composer Viorel Munteanu drew his inspiration from the Byzantine melodies stored in the manuscripts at the Musical school at the Putna monastery. He borrowed several motifs of two distinctive Byzantine chants by Romanian composers Dometian Vlahu and Evstatie the Protopsalt, which he adapted using specific musical methods. Relying on the old canons, he thus succeeded in producing an original monody supported by the use of isons, the spatialization of the sound flow as the various musical motifs are played by various instruments, the combination
86 between antiphonic and heterophonic singing. In The Voices of Putna, composer Viorel Munteanu recreates the atmosphere of piety and prayer to be found in monasteries. In his Second Christmas suite, Viorel Munteanu draws his inspiration from old church music (in the piece The Virgin Today), as well as from old archaic Christmas carols, from either folklore or psaltic music (in You Are the Holy Light). In the volume A drop of ”ler”, Viorel Munteanu adapts with harmonic methods and polyphonic methods of a modal nature folklore Christmas carols, both lay and religious carols for two-voice and three-equal voice choirs, which can thus be used for youths, especially in schools.
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Fibonacci perennis - From W.A. Mozart to L. Bernstein -
Junior lecturer Andrei Hrubaru-Roată PhD student (University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi)
Nothing could be more exciting, in terms of theoretical exercise, than the attempt to comprehend why certain personalities in various intellectual domains feel the need to assume their art in order to use it ultimately to assert some ideas which belong to their areas of interest. For instance, in the preface to Iocari serio – Ştiinţă şi artă în gândirea Renaşterii (Iocari serio – Science and Art in Renaissance Thought), Ion Petru Culianu wrote: “The religion historian is not merely an interpreter, but rather a meta-interpreter, since the language which represents his domain of operation is interpretation itself. The abstraction level of the meta-language will be proportional to the number of interpretation plays: Heraclitus probably interprets an Orphic myth, Nietzsche interprets Heraclitus and the Orphic myth, Nicolaus Cusanus interprets the play as a world symbol relating to the Orphic myth, Nietzsche interprets Renaissance as an age which interpreted play, and so on. The conclusion of such an approach is not necessarily agnostic: only in play can the interpretation play be interpreted. Hermeneutics is an Art”1. It is from a completely opposed direction that Bertrand Russell invokes art, as the mathematician and philosopher who did not in the least share the idea that most people admit and feel the need to have faith in a superior power. But even he, who believed that the human mind would answer, or not, by itself all the dilemmas of the universe, even he felt the need of an alliance with the artistic beauty in order to prove the infallibility of mathematical thought. “Mathematics – he wrote – is not only the ultimate truth, but also the ultimate beauty – a cold, austere beauty, like that of a sculpture, without exerting any attraction on whatever part of our weak character, having sublime purity and capable of such stern perfection which one may only see in the highest art”2. We have resorted to these two quotes, where art is involved only as a comparison with the significance of absolute perfection in order to be assimilated to other domains, in this case hermeneutics and mathematics, to the purpose of showing that, no matter how different these two may be, both have deep connections with art, in general, and with the art of sounds, in particular. Living in the middle of the musical phenomenon (as a professional pianist), we have gladly found, after having read the aforementioned books, that
1 Ion Petru Culianu, IOCARI SERIO – ŞTIINŢĂ ŞI ARTĂ ÎN GÂNDIREA RENAŞTERII (IOCARI SERIO – SCIENCE AND ART IN RENAISSANCE THOUGHT ) (Iaşi: Polirom, 2003), p. 18. 2 Paul Johnson, INTELECTUALII (THE INTELLECTUALS) (Bucharest: Humanitas, 2006), pp. 281-282.
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the association between art (in this case, music) and hermeneutics and mathematics is not only possible, but it offers the possibility of creating a commutative group where music is the neutral element since, as a term of comparison, it may lie on the right, as seen in the two quotations, but also on the left, that is: music, generating interpretations and meta-interpretations, or music, where we can discover the precision and rigour of mathematics. These are the thoughts that we shall display here, without ever claiming to hold absolute truths, since our profession, as previously declared, is other than art aesthetician or theorist. We have been prompted in this enterprise by two arias on the occasion of a singing recital where we performed as an accompanist: the concert aria “Mia speranza adorata … Ah, non sai qual pena” by W.A. Mozart and Cunégonde's aria “Glitter and be gay”, from the operetta Candide by L. Bernstein. Having analysed them (which is not an openly-stated obligation, but rather an implicit one), we have found that in both their structures there lies an undeniable presence of mathematical thought, which brings these arias closer to each another although they were created over two centuries apart. Hence, the title of the article. Without any pretentious intentions, we believe that our decision to express several ideas on the art we are practising is also warranted by the fact that, in the equation of the musical phenomenon, the performer may well be considered an “interface” between the composer and the receiver, and his “performance/interpretation” – given the theoretical arguments it is based upon, and having priority over the receiver's “meta- interpretation” – is worth our consideration, since it is on its framework that is built the first concrete image of the musical work. From a philosophical and aesthetic point of view, this issue is vast and surpasses our possibilities for an exhaustive presentation. Nevertheless, there is a need for a brief explanation regarding the accents on highlighting the formal structures expressed by numbers which we have chosen, as this is derived not from openly adopting one or another from the many aesthetics, but, since we work in education, we are aware that we cannot pass on knowledge otherwise than in a coherent form, and this is only possible when everything is clear to us in the first place. From the perspective of language, in his monumental work Poetica matematică (The Mathematical Poetics), Solomon Marcus proposes, starting from Pius Servien's Aesthetics, an analysis of the artistic language by means of the mathematical one. “By approaching the issue in this manner – he says in another book – we may avoid on of the main downsides of traditional research, where the meta-language employed is of the same type as the investigated language. Therefore, the language employed should necessarily be of a different type from the artistic one”3.
3 Solomon Marcus, ARTĂ ŞI ŞTIINŢĂ (ART AND SCIENCE) (Bucharest: Eminescu, 1986), p. 91.
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In analysing the arias previously mentioned we shall try such an approach, but not before stating our standpoint in the controversial issue of style, when we refer to composers who wrote music in tonal language. The main parameters of this language in which they expresses themselves (innovated), each in his own way (style), the vocabulary, morphology, syntax or form could be rendered mathematically as follows: - 12 sounds set in the temperate chromatic scale: a geometric progression with the ratio 12 = .05946.12 Of these, 7 were initially used (set in the diatonic tonal scale) and, gradually, a total of 12 was reached (the chromatic scale); - the durations (between 6 and 8 values), set in a geometric progression with ratio 2; - the meter (standard), in reference to which the successions of rhythmic values are set; it remains constant or may be altered; - the chords, set by thirds, are hierarchized in the tonal scale; - a set of rules to settle any dissonances into consonances; - a set of rules regarding the succession order of the parts of a form, as well as the outlines of the forms: the lied, the menuet, the rondo, the sonata and so on (all this is based upon the measuring of the parts and establishing the relationships between the parts, between the parts and the whole). Many of these will be associated to two mathematical notions: the string and the algebraic group structure which we present next without further demonstrations. Actually, these are taught in high school, and the division in extreme and mean ratio is taught in secondary school.
1. The Fibonacci string a + 51 ,1,1 naaaaa ≥+=== 3, lim n+1 = Φ 21 nnn −− 21 , where n ∞→ = =1,618…(the golden an 2 number) 2. Group – a set of elements among which an operation was defined which makes that one element of the set corresponds to two of its elements so that three characteristics are fulfilled: a) associativity, that is, A*(B*C)=(A*B)*C; b) have a neutral element so that A*E=E*A=A; c) each element has a corresponding reversed element, that is, A*A −1 =A −1 *A=E. If it is also commutative, A*B=B*A, it is called abelian group. We will associate the group of the congruence classes modulo 12, defined on addition, to the analysis of the tonal level of the analysed works, and we will set the tonalities in the order of the fifths ascending on the tonal quadrant.
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Do – la Fa – re Sol – mi 0 11 1 Si ≅ – sol Re – si 10 2
≅ 9 3 La – fa # Mi – do
8 4 La ≅ – fa Mi – do # 7 5 Re ≅ – si ≅ 6 Si – sol # Fa # – re #
+ 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 0 2 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 0 1 3 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 0 1 2 4 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 0 1 2 3
5 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 0 1 2 3 4 6 6 7 8 9 10 11 0 1 2 3 4 5 7 7 8 9 10 11 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 8 9 10 11 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 9 10 11 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
10 10 11 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 11 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
If Bach and Haydn imposed the tonal language as a form of artistic communication, the oeuvre of W.A. Mozart (1756 – 1791) meant its stability and establishment. It is said that, most of time, the composer first drew up an outline (the tonal plan) and only after that he would write the composition, neatly and correction-free. This made us very curious as to how the outline of the concert aria “Mia speranza adorata...” might have looked like, starting from the pillars of harmony which later gave birth to the melodic motion and the architecture of the form, which, eventually, make up the defining elements of style.
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Si ≅ - sol Mi ≅ - do Fa - re 0 11 1
La ≅ - fa Do - la
10 2
Re ≅ - si ≅ 9 3 Sol - mi
8 4 Fa # - re # Re - si 7 5 Si – sol # 6
La – fa # Mi – do #
Attempting to rebuild Mozart's path, we drew the outline of the form according to his very own indication, RONDO, and we concluded that it didn't really fit. First of all, there are two movements, Andante sostenuto ( = 63) and q Allegro assai ( = 120) which is interrupted, at one point, by the brief re- q occurrence of the first idea in Andante, and then, until the end, Allegro. The letters A, B, A, C, A send us to the Rondo form, the ending in C, and the fact that there are two movements, made us believe that in fact this is an original form, conceived to achieve diversity (namely the two movements) as well as
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(tonal) unity of this construction; at the same time, counting the bars until Allegro, we came up with a total of 78, of which A and the bridge to B have 30 and the rest 48, 78 : 48 = 1.625, a number very close to the value of Φ . Then we counted the bars in Allegro, including those inserted in Andante, and we came up with 107, of which C and A have 41 and the rest until the end 166, 107 : 66 = 1.621, even closer to the value of Φ . These findings led us to the idea that there may be two Fibonacci strings that lie at the foundations of this architecture, the former being 6, 6, 12, 18, 30, 48, 78, and the latter 2, 7, 9, 16, 25, 41, 66, 107. The former, dividable by 6, is the sixfold multiplication of the basic Fibonacci string 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13. The latter, with 8 terms, has a ratio between the last and the last but one (the whole and the larger part) closer to Φ . According to the features of the string, the ratios of the lesser terms become gradually more distanced from the value of Φ . Hence, in the former 48 : 30 = 1.6, and in the latter 66 : 41 = 1.61. So there could be an innovation in terms of form, where there occur two closely-related forms, meaning that the Andante is a three-part A B A lied written , plus a “bridge” of 20 bars, and the Allegro would be a a bb' av sonata where C is the exposition with two ideas, one in Sib and another in sib, and in the development there occurs a divertissement consisting of the first idea in Andante. In the reprise both ideas in C occur in the same tonality, Sib. This resourcefulness is no exception with Mozart, as most of his works testify of the composer's constant intention to avoid patterns. We were saying lied and sonata, but, at the same time, the repetition of a refrain after each part (here, A) means that the rondo is the one which gives unity to the form. And, as a refinement, to the idea of unity which perhaps Mozart might have thought of, we can count the 10 bars of Andante, inserted in Allegro, with a double duration (as given by the indication of the agogic, = 63 şi = 120), coming up with a total of 117 bars q q instead of 107, and the Fibonacci string would be 9, 9, 18, 27, 45, 72, 117, which is actually the multiplication by 9 of the basic Fibonacci string, the golden section thus being in bar 45, on the highest note in the aria. This would be the ultimate proof of unity for the entire aria, based on the same Fibonacci string, in different multiplications (6 and 9 times). And there would also be another small sign which Mozart perhaps leaves to this purpose, namely adding a bar at the end, when to the final cadence group in Si ≅ with 4 bars are added 5, not 4, thus getting a total of 9 (8+1) and not 8, as it would have been natural according to a axial symmetry. But with 9 over all the equation a n = a n−1 + a n−2 , is completed, that is, 117=72+45, hence entailing the symmetry of the golden section (117 : 72 = 1,625 Φ≈ ). Thus, we are entitled to assume that Mozart knowingly avoided a static symmetry in favour of a dynamic symmetry4, as if he had meant to say:
4 Matila Ghyka, ESTETICĂ ŞI TEORIA ARTEI (AESTHETICS AND ART THEORY), (Bucharest: Ed. Ştiinţifică şi Enciclopedică, 1981), p. 342.
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here I multiplied the Fibonacci string by 9, so that the Andante sostenuto with 2 78 bars represent of the total of 195 bars, and the Allegro assai with 117 bars 5 3 of the whole. The terms of these ratios also belong, as can be seen, to the 5 Fibonacci string. Nevertheless, as exciting as our “interpretation” may be, it is a matter of possibility, of chance. The readers are therefore invited to make their own choice. From the standpoint of the tonal level, one may observe on the outline of the form and the graphic representation of the group the tonal shifts towards the neutral element (0 – in the group table it occurs diagonally), which here is the tonality Si ≅ and with respect to which the other 10 are organised symmetrically. If we have in view the fact that the group of congruence classes (mod 12) is isomorphic, beside the multitude of tonalities, and with the multitude of intervals, then the composition of the tonalities of this aria, as agreed upon, would be equal to 60 ≡ 0 (mod 12).
Sib Fa Reb Fa Sib sib sol Mib sol Sib sib Sib 1 + 8 + 4 + 11 + 9 + 3 + 11 + 1 + 0 + 9 + 3 This means that the circle of fifths was run 5 times (60:12=5). It is a quantitative assessment, but it is worth considering since it expresses rigorously the great harmonic richness of this aria. In Cunégonde's aria from the opera Candide, Leonard Bernstein (1918 – 1990) offers us the opportunity of a new encounter with the Fibonacci string. In volume II of the cycle Who's Afraid of Music History? Ms Carmen Chelaru, a Romanian musicologist and doctor of music, regarded Bernstein's choice of Part I of the Jupiter Symphony, within the televised Concerts for youth, as highly significant in explaining the classical sonata form. By analysing the aria from the American composer's opera, we shall see to what extent Mozart's oeuvre was influential as a model of minute elaboration of each detail, although the outer aspect of Bernstein's music makes us think rather of jazz music, a music of spontaneity and not by far one of mathematical rigorousness. Its form is classical, with two repeated compound parts and a coda, which is enlarged the second time and is is obviously the fruit of an intense elaboration.
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Evidently, this repeated form is required by the text which reflects the two contrasting moods of the character. Therefore, we are not dealing with a three-part form, like in Mozart's aria, where the text had been a mere pretext. The dramatics demands here a certain mood at the end, and the recurrence of the initial atmosphere and mood are thus inappropriate. However, the inner structures of the form contain some very interesting harmonic or rhythmical elaborations.
The harmonic scheme above, of the first phrase of this aria, displays a skilful mastery of chromaticism and enharmonic modulation on 6 and 4 ascending fifths, respectively. Moreover, the three consecutive minor chords in bars 5, 6, 7 are simply juxtaposed within a descending semitone from one another (that is, in a chord sequence of 5 ascending fifths – sib la, lab), the parallelism of the voices being eluded by their ingenious conducting. By modelling mathematically these modulations, and by imagining the table of the group (modulo 12) like we did with Mozart's aria, the neutral element (0) is in this case do, and the composition of the set elements would look as follows: do fa# sib la lab do 0 + 6 + 4 + 5 + 5 + 4 = 24 ≡ 0 (mod 12) In order to render the heroine's sorrow, we can notice that the composer employed deliberately only minor tonalities – 5. Three of them belong to a diminished triad (do, fa#, la). This was short of a minor third, mib, to go back to the basic tonality. But less is more. The composer avoids the fourth minor third as well. When it comes to major thirds, their repeated succession shifts from b to b'; starting from Do, which was brought, through a tierce de Picardie, after do. The composition of the set elements (mod 12) would look as follows: Do Mi Lab 0 + 4 + 4 = 8 (mod 12) Lab is the tonality of b'. There should be another major third to go back to Do. The composer avoids this, since the aim is to go back to A, that is, to do. In this case, the composer modulates in other ways.
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To conclude, a used minor thirds, and b used major thirds. Moreover, the tonalities are also major, and the intervals are large. Naturally, since the heroine's state of mind is totally different.
B's comeback is followed by an amplified coda (Un poco piu mosso) which brings about a relatively new period made up of the identical triple repetition of three bars in four beats and a final bar in five beats. That sums up to 17 beats. The bass, on a dominant pedal, marks the quavers by threes. It was all this that led us to the idea that the author wanted, eventually, the mirror symmetry with motifs and phrases as large as the powers of 2 to follow another order, dynamic, based on the Fibonacci string. Starting from a quaver (0.5 of a beat) we have constructed the Fibonacci string: 0,5; 0,5; 1; 1,5; 2,5; 4; 6,5; 10,5; 17.
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Here is where the 17 beats come from. 17:10,5 = 1,619 – one thousandth of Φ . We came quickly to this result. It is only natural. If we look closer, this string results from the division by 2 of the basic string: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34. Here is the graph of this division conforming to the golden section:
The melodic cells (of crotchets) approximate this scheme.
If the composer had wished to highlight even better this division, the phrase could have been written as follows:
However, the composer wants another one, suggested by the legato and the metre: three bars in 4 beats and a final one in 5, as occurs in the score, that is, 4 * 3 + 5 = 17. Since 17 is repeated 3 times, the period has 51 beats. Thus can be explained the occurrence of the three-beat bar (126) added at the end of b', apparently with no reason, to sum up to 51, that is, 48 + 3 = 51. In this way, the two sections have symmetric, “mirroring” durations, but on the inside, each has its own individual organisation. We also have to underline that b' mostly contains a canon at the octave one beat apart. This and the polyrhythms in the coda, underlined intelligently by means of the orchestration, bring vivacity and exquisite delight to the ending of this aria. The knowledge outside the musical area that has been used in this article to define the internal dialectics of the musical forms, structures and systems, of the harmony, counterpoint, theory, orchestration and aesthetics issues, they all must be put to serve the artistic achievement, and the pianist, fully mastering his or her technique, must fold entirely on the soloist's intentions, sometimes amplifying the limited strength of the voice by the sonorous force and amplitude of the piano, and some other times fading out discretely so that the audience may hear even the softest pianissimo. This is work which demands perfect collaboration. It is what we have tried to achieve. But to what extent knowing these things bore any influence at all on the artistic quality of the recital we gave, this can only be stated by the audience present at the event, and this text (an excerpt from the recital presentation) has
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merely attempted to reveal one of the possible “interpretations” we assumed as “mediators” between the composer and the audience. If the hypotheses proposed in this article may seem to some far-fetched, we shall resort, as a conclusion, to a quotation from Andrei Pleşu's Călătorie în lumea formelor (A Voyage to the World of Forms) from which one may understand that the very spirit occurring in Mozart's works, and which we found 200 years later in Bernstein's, actually has a wider range, “haunting” both the macrocosm as well as the microcosm, both the nature as well as the spirit of the art in general: “And if today the canvas is mastered with a casualness which is less observant of the rigorous calculations, let us not forget that the Villon brothers, Mondrian and, before them, Sérusier, they all knew what the gold section is and what it is used for. And if, at one point, we shall discover that, let's say, Munch, sometimes creates according to the same canons as Botticelli, this does not necessarily mean that Munch read Alberti, but it might mean that his instinct followed the footsteps of a law well-recorded in his visual memory. Hence, our discovery stands. No artist is a stranger from the spirit that the just research of its letter stirs up, even if its letter is not explicitly or exclusively related to that spirit”5.
Fibonacci perennis - From W.A. Mozart to L. Bernstein - Junior lecturer Andrei Hrubaru-Roată PhD student (University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi) Abstract It is widely accepted that an Ariadne`s thread ties the antique Egypt’s monuments to the antique Greek’s temples and sculptures, the Renaissance’s picture and gothic cathedrals, the Picasso’s paintings and Le Corbusier`s architecture, and that this thread is in fact a proportion, the golden proportion. If this has relevance in the temporal arts, in music especially, it is an issue harder to cut. The intuition of space and time, although interconnected, presents undeniable features. In this studies we answer favorably to this dilemma, not from the esthetics point of view, but of the interpret, witch, having the privilege to be the one who lifts the first of the many veils that hide the mystery of creation embedded in the score, “playing” that mystery in the face of the audience, has the obligation to understand, as much as possible, and at a rational level, what where the subtle ins and outs of it , in what way they have the power to produce on the listener the desired effect imagined by the creator. Counting on the known historic value of the two pieces of work in discussion here belonging to the representatives of two different eras, Mozart and Bernstein, and on the correctness of our judgment, we hope to have contributed, even in a small measure to the consolidation of our point of view that we have previously presented.
5 Andrei Pleşu, CĂLĂTORIE ÎN LUMEA FORMELOR (A VOYAGE TO THE WORLD OF FORMS) (Bucharest: Meridiane, 1974), pp. 82-83.
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Situation related factors of music performance assessment
Lecturer Dorina Iuşcă PhD Professor Viorel Munteanu PhD (University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi)
The latest research in music psychology has discovered that music performance assessment is susceptible to a series of factors that, ironically, have nothing to do with the performer himself, but with the context where the evaluative process takes place. An illustrative example is offered by Martin Bergee (2006) who validated a theoretical model of extra musical influences in music performance assessment by analyzing more than 7000 scores obtained by performers in American national music festivals during 2002-2004. This model proved that, if evaluated in the afternoon, a solo instrumentalist coming from a large metropolitan institution which offers a large amount of money for including the performer in the contest has significant more chances on having success. This study to synthesis these psychological situation related factors that were previously researched in literature.
1. The measurement strategy Research, artistic and educational practice of music performance has revealed a general controversy related to music performance assessment strategies and instruments, showing that there isn’t a consensus between musicians concerning the use of either segmented or global evaluation. Global evaluation reflects the situation where judges assign an overall rank or score that reflected their overall impressions from their personally selected implicit or explicit criteria (Wrigley, 2005). Segmented evaluations on the other hand involve explicit and clearly defined criteria that have usually formed a criterion-based rating scale of specific and valued musical constructs, such as ratings of intonation, articulation and tempo. A relatively recent study (Stanley et al., 2002) has identified that university music teachers have different opinions related to the use of segment assessment of music performance. O qualitative analysis of their interviews has revealed that, while some of them consider the segmented scale as a useful instrument in focusing on the important aspects of the performance and in offering a more objective feed-back to students, others see the criterion based scale as a way to narrow the wide perspective on the complexity of music performance. The first researchers who approached music performance evaluation (Fiske, 1975, 1977, 1983; Burnsed, Hikle & King, 1985; Burnsed & King, 1987 apud Forbes 1994) have discovered that inter-judge reliability is higher in the case of global assessment. Moreover, the high correlations obtained between
101 each scale factor and the general score have raised the problem of the redundancy of using the segmented scales. This fact determined Fiske to suggest: “Juries members should give only one global mark for one music performance. It is better for them to focus their attention in making not more than one decision per performance, considering the short time they have for assessing the music performers. Acting this way will lower the chances of error.” (Fiske, 1975 apud Forbes, 1994, p. 12). Many other researchers share Fiske’s opinion and exposed certain advantages of using global assessment of music performances. Among those is ecological validity by “maintaining the interference in the musical process to a minimum” (Thompson & Williamon, 2003, p.25). In addition, Mills (1991 apud Thompson & Williamon, 2003) explained that segmented scales have also a general score which, being just a mathematical function of the items, doesn’t reflect a real overall image of the performance. Moreover, there are many present studies (Ryan & Costa-Giomi, 2004; Wapnik et al, 2000; Thompson et al, 2007; Geringer et al, 2009) which adopted the global evaluation due to reasons related to simplifying the research methodology. The most up-to-date scientific frameworks have questioned the methodological relevance of the studies which insist on the superiority of global evaluation and have proved the possibility to utilize valid and reliable segmented scales (Bergee, 2003; Geringer et al 2009; Zdinski & Barnes, 2002). Therefore, the multidimensional approach of music performance is more and more at hand. By using standard instruments music performance evaluation becomes a more objective and fair process and this is why in recent times there have been intense interdisciplinary efforts to develop segmented scales that provide evidence for increased validity and reliability. The research space includes music performance assessment scales applicable either to all classical instruments (Thompson & Williamon, 2003; Haroutounian, 2007; Burrack, 2002), either to an instrumental group – for example the Woodwind Brass Solo Evaluation Form (Saunders & Holahan, 1997 apud Hewitt 2007) or the String Performance Rating Scale (Zdzinski & Barnes, 2002) – either to single musical instrument. The interjudge reliability coefficient differs from one scale to another, but there are scales with really high standard qualities. The following paragraphs describe some of the most frequently utilized and well known scales. In 1973, Harold Abeles created and validated the Clarinet Performance Rating Scale, CPRS) by analyzing o series of essays written by instrumental music teachers from Maryland University where they described “auditory characteristics of clarinet performance” (Abeles, 1973, p.247). The qualitative analysis of the essays established 54 items that were consequently attached to other 40 items previously taken from Hosmer’s theoretical model (Hosmer,
102 1949 apud Wrigley, 2005). The 94 items were pre-tested and included into the factorial analysis that revealed the presence of 6 factors: interpretation, intonation, rhythmical continuity, tempo, articulation and tone. By adding a five points Likert marking scheme, the final form of the scale consisted of 30 items, with 5 items for each factor. Alpha Cronbach coefficient of 0.90 showed high internal reliability. The construct validity of the scale was sustained by the similarity with the sexta-factorial structure of music performance, also present in the initial theoretical model of Hosmer. In 1989, Martin Bergee conceived the Euphonium-Tuba Performance rating Scale, ETPRS by content analysis of three information sources: essays written by prominent performers, comments of adjudicators on music performance and research articles from literature. The 112 initial items, that came down to only 27 items in the final version, were included in a 5 point Likert scale and developed a five factor perspective of music performance, as follows: interpretation / musical effect, tone / intonation, rhythm / tempo, technique and rhythm / intensity. The 0.94 interjudge reliability coefficient and obtaining 0.50 for the criterion validity proved to important standard qualities that allowed the use of this scale for all brass instruments (Wrigley, 2005). Therefore, in 1993 Bergee modified the scale and created the Brass Performance Rating Scale, BPRS that, after calculating the reliability coefficients, revealed 4 factors of music performance: interpretation / musical effect, tone / intonation, technique and rhythm / tempo. By obtaining 0.83 for internal consistency confirms the efficiency of the scale (Bergee, 2003). For the percussion instruments, the most well-known scale belongs to J.P. Nichols who validated it in 1991 as the Snare Drum Rating Scale, SDRS. The final version includes 18 items equally distributed in 3 factors: technique / rhythm, interpretation and tone. The superior statistic parameters (0.91 for intra- judge reliability, 0.69 for inter-judge reliability and 0.79 for criterion validity) determined the use of this scale in many researches (Bergee, 2003). In 2002, with the intention to solve the deficiencies of older assessment instruments for string music performance, Stephen Zdzinski and Gail Barnes have validated the String Performance Rating Scale, SPRS. The authors pursued the established steps in developing the instrument and obtained a valid (0.87) and reliable (0.93) scale. The 28 items are distributed in 5 factors: interpretation / musical effect, articulation / tone, intonation, rhythm / tempo and vibrato (Zdzinski & Barnes, 2002). In conclusion, we confidently state that the research road to music performance is open to obtaining relevant results, considering the fact that future experimental efforts can rely on the use of objective and efficient assessment scales.
103 2. Music performance presentation format The artistic and research fields have showed that the way music performance is presented in front of adjudicators may significantly influence the evaluation scores. Most of evaluative contexts use music performance in its live version, but this strategy is often accompanied by a series of errors that have been frequently studied in educational literature. Recording the music performances could eliminate some of these errors. Radocy (1989 apud Forbes 1994) revealed that recordings can be played for several times, in different successions and this will reduce the contrast effect and the order effect. Also, in their audio version recordings will eliminate all the errors associated with the visual aspect of performers. The controversy related with presenting music performance in its strictly audio or audio-visual version determined musical institutions to adopt diverse practices when evaluating soloists competing for jobs in philharmonics, operas etc. These practices may include performing behind a curtain so that the soloist can not be seen by evaluators or recording the performance and playing it in front of the jury, in a strictly audio version. This kind of situation stirred music psychology researchers’ curiosity. Subsequently, they put together certain experiments and discovered that the music performance presentation format may determine significant differences in rating the same performance. Thus Gillespie (1997) realized an experiment where a group of violinists and violists were filmed while performing and were later rated for their vibrato execution, in an audio-visual presentation of their performance. After 6 months, the same performances were rated by the same evaluators, this time in the audio only version. Statistical analysis showed that these professional performers were rated significantly lower in the audio only condition, for their vibrato stability. A Canadian study (Wapnick et al, 2004) revealed the importance of music performance presentation format on evaluation scores on a research realized 18 professional piano players of different nationalities who participated in an international piano performance contest1. The audio only recordings were evaluated by 95 musicians and the audio-visual ones were evaluated by 132 musicians. One of the main discoveries was that performances in the audio- visual format received higher rates than the performances in the audio only format. This confirms previous findings (Wapnick et al, 1998; Wapnick et al, 2000) which showed the tendency of adjudicators to over-evaluate performances presented audio-visually. Furthermore, it was discovered that evaluators who are also piano players were not affected by the presentation format and rated audio only and audio-visual piano performances in similar manner. Unlike these professional musicians, evaluators with little experience in piano performing
1 Eleventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, 25 May-10 June 2001, Fort Worth, Texas;
104 have rated audio-visual performances higher than audio only performances (Wapnick et al, 2004). Ryan and Costa-Giomi (2004) have shown that music performance presentation format influences not only rating variability, but also interjudge reliability. As a result, on a study performed on pianists, interjudge reliability was lower in the audio condition than in audio-visual condition. The findings were explained by the fact that audio-visual recordings offer more information on music performance and create the opportunity for performers to express their musical intentions more obviously. This situation will always result in obtaining higher consensus between adjudicators. In conclusion, although the research space related to the influence of music performance presentation format on music performance obtained ratings stands at the beginning of experimental exploration, the results researchers revealed so far draw the attention to its importance for the evaluation process. Inherently, the differences between ratings may raise the question if the measurement of audio-visual music performance does not include other evaluation criteria than the measurement of audio only performances.
3. Evaluators’ musical experience It is expected that experienced musicians to differ from non-musicians in regarding to the way they evaluate music performance. Related to this idea, Winter (1993) drew attention on the importance of previous evaluative experience of adjudicators and the training they make prior the evaluation process. Kinney (2009) has proved that interjudge reliability in higher in the case of experienced musicians, probably due to their common knowledge about music performance that they acquired during university studies. Another main aspect is represented by the fact that non-musicians tend to be more affected than professional musicians by the physical characteristics of performers, during the evaluation process of music performance (Ryan et al, 2006). A closer look on this aspect revealed that not only the general experience in music is relevant, but also the musical specialization of adjudicators impacts the ratings on music performance. Therefore, when adjudicators rate the performances of the same instrument they specialized in tend to offer higher scores (Wapnick et al, 2004). Also, when pianists evaluated other pianists, undergraduates rated the same performances lower than graduates (Wapnick et al, 2004, 2005). Authors associated these findings with the tendency, often seen among students, to be hypercritical in appreciating other performers. The experience in playing a certain instrument may result in the embracing of a more severe attitude when evaluating music performance, considering the fact that this experience offers the chance of knowing, at a higher level, the technical opportunities of the instrument (Thompson & Williamon, 2003). The same researchers have also shown that university
105 professors, when asked to evaluate instruments other than the one they specialized in, tend to carry out this task with difficulty. This situation doesn’t seem to be available beginners (Hewitt & Smith, 2004; Hewitt, 2007). In this case, music specialty of teachers didn’t influence the ratings given to gymnasium music students for their instrumental performance.
4. The duration of music performance audition National and international music performance contests usually practice the audition of the complete musical pieces. This state of affairs often results in using a lot of effort for the evaluative process. Although it very time consuming, this kind of practice has developed probably due the evaluators’ intention in being more accurate and objective. For example, the 2005 “Arthur Rubinstein” International Piano Contest, has asked the participants to perform to recitals of 100 minutes, a chamber composition of half an hour and two concerts of at least 50 minutes. As a result, the participants spent almost 3 hours performing in front of the jury (Wapnick et al, 2005). Recent studies (Geringer et al, 2009; Wapnick et al, 2005; Thompson et al, 2007) have shown that listening to music performance for a longer period of time doesn’t change the evaluation scores and becomes redundant in some situations. Geringer and collaborators (2009) draw the attention to the big number of performers that participate annually to American violin contests (between 100 and 200) participants in a single contest) and to the loss of considerable evaluative resources for this process. Alternatively, they suggested to cut out the time for listening to music performance up to one minute for each performer, considering the very high correlations (over 0.90) between ratings given after one minute of audition and ratings given after listening the complete piece. Another study (Thompson et al, 2007) has investigated the time evaluators needed to rated one of Bach’s Prelude. Researchers were also interested in how ratings vary along audition time. Results have shown that the first evaluative decision appears after 15-20 seconds of audition. Between the first and the last decision, ratings vary significantly, with the tendency of rating higher towards the final score. Even so, the final rating is given after no more than one minute of audition. A synthetic approach of the duration of time needed to rate music performance revealed that most studies use the interval from one to three minutes and most researchers tend to ask evaluators to rate music performance in less than one minute (Wapnick et al, 2005).
5. The presence of accompaniment The evaluation criteria influenced by the presence of accompaniment are related to intonation (Madsen et al, 1991 apud Brittin, 2002), expression, rhythmical accuracy and dynamics (Geringer & Madsen, 1998). Madsen,
106 Geringer & Heller (1991) have revealed the tendency of musicians to rate music performances higher for intonation when they evaluated an accompanied vocal soloist (soprano / tenor) or string player (violin / cello). Two years later (Madsen et al, 1993 apud Brittin, 2002) they repeated the research and focused on tone quality. The results have shown no significant impact of accompaniment on music performance ratings. Also, by performing with accompaniment, instrumentalists get higher scores for expression, rhythmical accuracy and dynamics (Geringer & Madsen, 1998). The authors have explained the findings by the fact that the presence of accompaniment may distract evaluators’ attention from the soloist performance by adding another element into the attention field. Brittin (2002) suggested that in educational context, the presence of accompaniment may bring a series of advantages by offering certain models for tone, technique, phrasing, and dynamics and by encouraging soloists’ musicality. When played digitally, the accompaniment my help the soloist in maintaining a steady tempo.
6. The chosen repertoire and jury’s familiarity with it In the space of classical music performance, an American research (Wapnick et al, 2004) proved that a certain chosen repertoire may have significant effects on the evaluative process. Authors have recorded professional pianists who participated in an international music contest. The resulted recordings (of around 18 minutes long) included 8 fragments of classical compositions (Haydn and Beethoven) and 8 fragments of Russian music from the early period of the twentieth century (Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev). The 227 evaluators rated the repertoire from the romantic period higher than the repertoire from the classical period and this phenomenon was more significant in the audio only condition. The researchers explained the findings through the greater virtuosity required by the two Russian composers that create different expectations from evaluators. A recent study (Kinney, 2009) has shown that evaluators’ familiarity with the performed repertoire raises interjudge reliability on both technical and expressive dimensions of music performance.
7. The visual characteristics of performers The idea that visual characteristics may have significant impact on one’s appreciation by others was repeatedly proven in experimental situations. In many human activities people tend to make decisions based on visual impression created by an object, phenomenon, person or situation. This is why we may expect a way somebody presents himself visually to influence others evaluations of his abilities. Different studies have shown that physical appeal of people raise their chances in being admitted to college (Shahani et al, 1993 apud Wapnick et al, 1998) or in getting o job (Cann et al,
107 1981 apud Wapnick et al, 1998). In general, attractive people are perceived as being more intelligent and more socially competent (Eagly et al, 1991 apud Griffiths, 2009). Also, teachers who work with gymnasium and primary school students have lower academic expectancies from less attractive students (Adams, 1978 apud Wapnick et al, 1998). In the musical field, the visual characteristics of performers have an important impact on music performance assessment. The most frequently studied variables associated with performers’ visual aspect are gender, race, dress, appeal, and stage behavior. Wapnick and collaborators (1998, 2000) have revealed the tendency of adjudicators (men and women equally) to overrate male violinists. Furthermore, attractive performers have received higher ratings than non-attractive ones. Also male attractive performers were rated higher than female attractive performers. So, there is a powerful effect of gender and appeal on music performance assessment. Researchers have discovered that the higher ratings of attractive performers are present not only in the audio-visual condition, but also in the audio only condition. The authors tried to explain the results by suggesting that attractive people benefit from more encouraging social interaction and educational opportunities. By contrast, Ryan and Costa-Giomi (2004) have suggested that appeal affects men and women in a different manner. Therefore, attractive women and unattractive men received the highest ratings, according to their experimental results. The physical characteristics had the biggest impact on good and very good pianists and were not significant in the case of medium and unprepared performers. The same researchers have discovered that gender is also relevant for music performance assessment. When asked to appreciate professional male pianists, men evaluators rated attractive performers lower, while female evaluators behaved in opposite manner. The results have been confirmed in a subsequent study (Ryan et al, 2006) where men underrated both attractive and well dressed performers while women overrated these categories. The authors noticed the difficulty in explaining these findings and the probability that the two genders might have different perspectives of what means to be attractive. There is also a race influence on music performance assessment. Elliot’s study (1995/1996 apud Thompson & Williamon, 2003) has shown that Afro- American performers were rated lower than Caucasian performers. In another research (McCray, 1993 apud Bermingham, 2000) caught an effect of race even on musical preferences; accordingly, evaluators tend to prefer music performers of the same race; this phenomenon is more obvious in the case of Afro- American evaluators. Regarding performer’s stage outfits, a recent study (Griffiths, 2009) showed that it is necessary for the performers dress to match the music style. A sample of 33 musicians rated one female violinist performing in a club short
108 strapless dress, or in long concert dress, or in a sporty outfit of blue-jeans and T- shirt. Evaluators weren’t aware of the fact that the musical background was identical in all three cases. The results have shown that the performer was rated higher when wearing the concert dress. The statistical data was explained by the fact that the club dress (which obtained the lowest scores) tend to distract evaluators’ attention from the music performance to other physical characteristics that lower concentration. Also, performer’s movement comfort in bigger when wearing the concert dress and this improves instrumentalist opportunities to express his or her musical intentions. Finally, the concert dress acts like a prototype of the successful performer because it is most common on prestigious stages. The movement amplitude of the performer constitutes another factor that influences music performance assessment. Playing an instrument involves movement anyway. Movement also helps performers to express psychological states which the performer can be more or less aware of. Literature showed that movement was associated with the expressive abilities of the performer. Davidson (1994 apud Juchniewicz, 2008) suggested that visual clues are more relevant the audio information in expressing performers’ musical intentions. Juchniewicz (2008) asked 112 musicians to measure the musical level of a pianist who played the same musical fragment in three conditions: “no- movement” condition (the situation where he made only the minimum necessary movements), only face and head movement condition and whole body movement condition. Evaluators didn’t know that all three conditions included the same audio musical performance. The researchers noticed that the three conditions resulted in different ratings. The performer was considered better as the movement was bigger. Even so, Davidson (2007) suggested that not all big movements are expressive, but only the ones that are in harmony with the music performed. To raise the expressive level of music performance, Seitz (2005) created the “Dalcroze” method of improving the rhythmical abilities by movement training. The exercises he approached develop the coordination between hands, voice, legs and body. In conclusion, the visual characteristics of the performer impact music performance assessment and this information may be utilized by musicians in order to improve their musical career.
References Abeles, H. F. (1973). Development and Validation of a Clarinet Performance Adjudication Scale, Journal of Research in Music Education, 21(3), 246-255. Adams, G. (1978). Racial Membership and Physical Attractiveness Effects on Preschool Teachers’ Expectations, Child Study Journal, 8, 29-41. Bergee, M. J. (2006). Validation of a Model of Extra Musical Influences on Solo and Small- Ensemble Festival Ratings, Journal of Research in Music Education, 54(3), 244-256. Bermingham, G. (2000). Effects of Performers’ External Characteristics on Performance Evaluations, Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 18(2), 3-7.
109 Brittin, R. V. (2002). Instrumentalists’ Assessment of Solo Performances with Compact Disc, Piano, or No Accompaniment, Journal of Research in Music Education, 50(1), 63-74. Burnsed, V. & King, S. (1987). How Reliable Is Your Festival Rating? Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 5(3), 12-13. Burnsed, V., Hinkle, D., & King, S. (1985). Performance Evaluation Reliability at Selected Concert Festivals, Journal of Band Research, 21(1), 22-29. Burrack, F. (2002). Enhanced Assessment in Instrumental Programs, Music Educators Journal, 88(6), 37-32. Cann, A., Siegfried, W., & Pearce, L. (1981). Forced Attention to Specific Applicant Qualifications: Impact on Physical Attractiveness and Sex of Applicant Bias, Personnel Psychology, 34, 65-75. Davidson, J. W. (1994). Which Areas of a Pianist’s Body Convey Information about Expressive Intention to an Audience? Journal of Human Movement Studies, 6, 279-301. Davidson, J. W. (2007). Qualitative Insights into the Use of Expressive Body Movement in Solo Piano Performance: A Case Study Approach, Psychology of Music, 35(3), 381-401. Eagly, E. H., Ashmore, R. D., Makhijani, M. G., & Longo, L. C. (1991). What Is Beautiful Is Good, But…: A Meta-Analytic Review of Research on the Physical Attractiveness Stereotype, Psychological Bulletin, 110, 109-128. Elliott, C. A. (1995/1996). Race and Gender as Factors in Judgments of Musical Performance, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 127, 50-56. Fiske, H. E. (1975). Judge-Group Differences in the Rating of High School Trumpet Performances, Journal of Research in Music Education, 23(3), 186-189. Fiske, H. E. (1977). The Relationship of Selected Factors in Trumpet Performanc Adjudication, Journal of Research in Music Education, 25(4), 256-263. Fiske, H.E. (1983). Judging Musical Performances: Method or Madness? Update, 7-10; Forbes, G. W. (1994). Evaluative Music Festivals and Contests – Are They Fair? Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 1, 16-20. Geringer, J. M., & Madsen, C. K. (1998). Musicians’ Ratings of Good versus Bad Vocal and String Performances, Journal of Research in Music Education, 46(4), 522-534. Geringer, J. M., Allen, M. L., MacLeod, R. B., & Scott, L. (2009). Using a Prescreening Rubric for All-State Violin Selection: Influences of Performance and Teaching Experience, Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 28(1), 41-46. Gillespie, R. (1997). Ratings of Violin and Viola Vibrato Performance in Audio-Only and Audiovisual Presentations, Journal of Research in Music Education, 45(2), 212-220. Griffiths, N. K. (2009). “Posh Music Should Equal Posh Dress”: An Investigation into the Concert Dress and Physical Appearance of Female Soloists, Psychology of Music, 1-19. Haroutounian, J. (2007). Perspectives of Musical Talent: A Study of Identification Criteria and Procedures, High Ability Studies, 11(2), 137-160. Hewitt, M. P. (2007). Influence of Primary Performance Instrument and Education Level on Music Performance Evaluation, Journal of Research in Music Education, 55(1), 18-30. Hewitt, M. P., & Smith, B. (2004). The Influence of Teaching-Career Level and Primary Performance Instrument on the Assessment of Music Performance, Journal of Research in Music Education, 42(4), 314-326. Hosmer, H. (1949). As the Adjudicator Hears It, The Etude, 67, 224-262. Juchniewicz, J. (2008). The Influence of Physical Movement on the Perception of Musical Performance, Psychology of Music, 36(4), 417-427. Kinney, D. W. (2009). Internal Consistency of Performance Evaluations as a Function of Music Expertise and Excerpt Familiarity, Journal of Research in Music Education, 56(4), 322-337.
110 Madsen C. K., Geringer, J. M., & Heller, J. (1993). Comparison of Good versus Bad Tone Quality of Accompanied and Unaccompanied Vocal and String Performances, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 119, 93-100. Madsen, C. K., Geringer, J. M., & Heller, J. (1991). Comparison of Good versus Bad Intonation of Accompanied and Unaccompanied Vocal and String Performances Using a Continuous Response Digital Interface (CDRI), Canadian Music Educator: Special Research Edition, 33, 123-130. McCray, J. (1993). Effects of Listeners’ and Performers’ Race on Music Preferences, Journal of Research in Music Education, 41(3), 200-211. Mills, J. (1991). Assessing Musical Performance Musically, Educational Studies, 17, 173- 181. Radocy, R. E. (1989). On Quantifying the Uncountable in Music Behavior, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 88, 22-31. Ryan, C., & Costa-Giomi, E. (2004). Attractiveness Bias in the Evaluation of Young Pianists’ Performances, Journal of Research in Music Education, 52(2), 141-154. Ryan, C., Wapnick, J., Lacaille, N., & Darrow, A. A. (2006). The Effects of Various Physical Characteristics of High-Level Performers on Adjudicators’ Performance Ratings, Psychology of Music, 34(4), 559-572. Saunders, T. C., & Holahan, J. M. (1997). Criteria-Specific Rating Scales in the Evaluation of High School Instrumental Performance, Journal of Research in Music Education, 45, 259-272. Seitz, J. A. (2005). Dalcroze, the Body, Movement and Musicality, Psychology of Music, 33(4), 419-435. Shahani, C., Dipboye, R., & Gehrlein, T. (1993). Attractiveness Bias in the Interview: Exploring the Boundaries of an Effect, Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 14, 317- 328. Stanley, M., Brooker, R., & Gilbert, R. (2002). Examiner Perceptions of Using Criteria in Music Performance Assessment, Research Studies in Music Education, 18(1), 46-56. Thompson, S., & Williamon, A. (2003). Evaluating Evaluation: Musical Performance Assessment as a Research Tool, Music Perception, 21(1), 21-41. Thompson, S., Williamon, A., & Valentine, E. (2007). Time-Dependent Characteristics of Performance Evaluation, Music Perception, 25(1), 13-29. Wapnick, J., Mazza, J. K., & Darrow, A. A. (1998). Effects of Performer Attractiveness, Stage Behavior, and Dress on Violin Performance Evaluation, Journal of Research in Music Education , 46(4), 510-521. Wapnick, J., Mazza, J. K., & Darrow, A. A. (2000). Effects of Performer Attractiveness, Stage Behavior, and Dress on Children’s Piano Performances, Journal of Research in Music Education , 48(4), 323-336. Wapnick, J., Ryan, C., Campbell, L., Deek, P., & Lemire, R. (2005). Effects of Excerpt Tempo and Duration on Musicians’ Ratings of High-Level Piano Performances, Journal of Research in Music Education, 53(2), 162-176. Wapnick, J., Ryan, C., Lacaille, N., & Darrow, A. A. (2004). Effects of Selected Variables on Musicians’ Ratings of High-Level Piano Performances, International Journal of Music Education, 22(1), 7-20. Winter, N. (1993). Music Performance Assessment: A Study of the Effects of Training and Experience on the Criteria Used by Music Examiners, International Journal of Music Education, 22, 34-39. Wrigley, W. J. (2005). Improving Music Performance Assessment. Griffith University. Zdzinski, S. F., & Barnes, G. V. (2002). Development and Validation of a String Performance Rating Scale, Journal of Research in Music Education, 50(3), 245-255.
111 Situation related factors of music performance assessment Lecturer Dorina Iuşcă PhD Professor Viorel Munteanu PhD (University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi) Abstract Music performance assessment of constitutes a complex activity that is influenced by a series of psychological factors which may result in obtaining a certain artistic quality. Most of them are associated with performer’s individual characteristics that refer to the interaction between musical aptitude and musical training. Recently, studies in literature showed that obtaining a certain musical level is conditioned by a series of external factors like: assessment strategy, music performance presentation format, adjudicators’ musical experience, audition timing, the presence of accompaniment, the repertoire and adjudicators’ familiarity with it and the visual characteristics of performers. The present study aims to illustrate a synthetic view of these factors.
112 Beethoven’s piano sonatas – editorial guidelines1
Piano teacher Andrei Enoiu-Pânzariu PhD (“Octav Băncilă” National Highschool)
This article intends to offer assistance to the musicians who wish to approach the 32 piano sonatas written by Ludwig van Beethoven. We will analyze and remark upon some of the most important editions, revised by famous musicians who influenced the interpretative visions of the future generations. These sonatas are included in the great concert halls’ list of events and are never left out of the universal piano repertory. Since the first edition, published in the composer’s days, up to the present, these sonatas have been assimilated and revised by established musicians. Most of them assert that they are reproducing the original text, based either on the manuscript or on the first editions. The Urtext editions2 are regarded as the most accurate and complete editions. However, great importance is also attributed to the editors or, more exactly, to those revising the editions, who add most of the times the fingerings and the footnotes remarking upon various technical and performance problems. Following the PhD studies, I acquired and compared a number of 17 complete editions: 1. First editions. 2. The Associated Board of the Royal School of Music Edition, edited by Harold Craxton, London, 1931. 3. Alfred Masterwork Edition, revised by Steward Gordon, 2004. 4. Breitkopf & Härtel, Edition, Leipzig, 1862. 5. Carl Fischer Edition, revised by Eugene d`Albert, New York, 1981. 6. Casa Ricordi Edition, revised by Alfredo Casella, Milan, 1919, reissued in 2000. 7. Curci Edition, revised by Arthur Schnabel, Milan, 1949, reissued in 1977. 8. C.F. Peters Edition, revised by Carl Adolf Martienssen, New York, 1948. 9. C.F. Peters Edition, revised by Claudio Arrau, Leipzig, 1973. 10. C.F. Peters Edition, revised by Louis Köhler and Adolf Ruthardt, Frankfurt, 1890. 11. Dover Edition, revised by Heinrich Schenker, New York, 1975. 12. G. Henle Edition, revised by B.A. Wallner, Munich, 1975.
1 Research project funded by the Institute of Advanced Studies PhD Music - MIDAS (Music Institute for Advanced Doctoral Studies), POSDRU/89/1.5/S/62923 project co- financed by European Social Fund through The Sectorial Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007-2013. 2 Original text. Translated by the author.
113 13. G. Schirmer Edition, revised by Hans von Bülow and Sigmund Lebert, U.S.A, 1894, reissued in 1967. 14. G. Schirmer Edition, revised by Robert Taub, New York, U.S.A, 2010. 15. Henry Lemoine Edition, revised by Dominique Geoffroy, Paris, 1992 16. Kalmus Edition, revised by Carl Krebs, the first edition was published in 1898. 17. L. Holle Edition, revised by Franz Liszt, Wolfenbüttel, 1847, reissued in 1995.
By comparing the numerous editions, I discovered valuable indications concerning the interpretation. We can mark down the L. Holle edition, edited by Franz Liszt3, the G. Schirmer edition, edited by Hans von Bülow4 and Sigmund Lebert5 and the Curci edition, revised by Arthur Schnabel6. When studying an edition, many musicians believe that they are seeing a transcription of what Beethoven wrote, or at least of what he meant to write, which is far from true. In fact, from the 32 sonatas he wrote, only the manuscripts of twelve sonatas were preserved, respectively op.26, op.27 no.2, op.28, op.53, op.57, op.78, op.79, op.90, op.101, op.109, op.110 and op.111. Apart from these, there is also the first part of the op.81a sonata. It’s possible that there could be other parts of other sonatas. Nevertheless, most of the manuscripts aren’t available for the current editions, not even for the researchers. Thus, we can draw the conclusion that the modern „urtext” editions are mostly based on the first editions. Any person who published books or scores knows that the first edition contains many printing mistakes, originated from different reasons. Although Beethoven’s manuscripts were very difficult to decipher, he was particularly careful with the accuracy of the editions. The numerous letters the composer sent to the editors were about printing mistakes which had to be rectified. As an example, we can cite the list of mistakes sent by the composer to the editor Breitkopff & Härtel in 1815, related to the sonata op.69 for piano and cello, in A Major (1808). These printing mistakes were rectified by Donald F. Tovey7, in an edition published in 1918. Naturally, most of the corrections are embedded in the Urtext editions. The first editions generally, not just Beethoven’s, contain numerous incongruities related to phrasing, articulation, the placement of the dynamic
3 Ferenc Liszt, 22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886, Hungarian composer, teacher and pianist. 4 Hans Guido Freiherr von Bülow, 8 January 1830 – 12 February 1894, German director, composer and pianist. 5 Sigmund Lebert, 12 December 1821 – 8 December 1884, German teacher, who taught at Stuttgarter Musikschule. 6 Artur Schnabel, 17 April 1882 – 15 August 1951, Austrian pianist, composer and teacher. 7 Donald Francis Tovey, 17 July 1875 – 10 July 1940, English critic, musicologist, composer and pianist.
114 indications and so on. The same musical idea can be phrased in several ways. For this reason, the typographers opted usually for the easiest printing method, as opposed to the composer’s notation. As Dinu Lipatti said, not only the „Urtext”is important, but also the „Urgeist”-ul8. In other words, not only the text matters, but also the spirit of the play. Beethoven believed that his works didn’t contain enough performing indications and for this reason he wished to revise them. Carl Czerny, Ferdinand Ries and Anton Felix Schindler observed, on specific occasions, the manner in which the musician interpreted his sonatas. Due to his deafness, which manifested itself from youth, the musician had renounced to public recitals. Consequently, nobody remembered the way in which he interpreted sonatas, especially those composed when he was deaf. Beethoven’s most famous and talented student, Carl Czerny, also abandoned public interpretations. In the central European space, respectively Austria-Hungary and Germany, two great personalities of the XIXth century influenced the interpretative view on Beethoven’s sonatas: Theodor Leschetizky9 – Austria- Hungary and Franz Liszt – Germany. They were both Carl Czerny’s talented students, inheriting from their teacher the tradition of interpreting Beethoven’s sonatas.
Theodor Leschetizky (22 June 1830 – 14 November 1915) was born in a family of musicians, at Count Potocki’s court in Łańcut, south-east of Poland. He began studying piano with his father, but he was soon sent to Vienna to work with Carl Czerny. At the age of 11 he performed a Czerny concert in Lemberg and at 14 he began to teach. By the age of 18, he had become a renowned pianist, known both in Vienna and in the rest of Europe. At the invitation issued by his good friend, Anton Rubinstein, Theodor went to St. Petersburg, to teach piano at the court of the duchess Helen. Between
8 According to Beethoven – Sonaten für das pianoforte, Band 1, preface by Janos Cegledy, Làszló Simon, Tokyo, 1995 9 Theodor Leschetizky, 22 June 1830 – 14 November 1915, pianist, teacher and composer.
115 1852 and 1877, he lived in St. Petersburg, becoming one of the founders of the Conservatory (1862). In 1878 he returned to Vienna, where he created one of the most important schools of the time, of the same scope and dimensions as Liszt’s piano school from Weimar. Among Theodor Leschetizky’s most famous students were Anna Yesipova, Ignaz Friedman, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Artur Schnabel, Mark Hambourg, Alexander Brailowsky, Benno Moiseiwitsch and Mieczysław Horszowski. The tradition of interpreting Beethoven’s sonatas in Germany is mostly due to Franz Liszt and Clara Schumann. In fact, Liszt rediscovered and reinterpreted Beethoven, including in his recitals many of Beethoven’s works. Rellstab10 noted, for example, that Liszt interpreted during his stay in Berlin, between 1841 and 1842, the sonatas op.26, op.27 no.2, op.31 no.2, op.57, op.106, the concerts for piano and orchestra number three and five and the choral Fantasy, op.80 (1808). Liszt drafted the first complete edition with Beethoven’s creations. In his footsteps followed the editors Hans von Bülow, d`Albert and Lammond, all of them Liszt’s prominent students. The following generations of musicians also became famous for interpreting Beethoven’s sonatas. Most of the pianists known worldwide take after Liszt when interpreting Beethoven’s sonatas, being considered his disciples (see example 1).
Example 1:
10 Heinrich Friedrich Ludwig Rellstab, 13 April 1799 – 27 November 1860, German poet and music critic.
116 When editing the two volumes, Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) didn’t have access to the manuscripts of the sonatas; he only had access to the editions of his time. His musical training ensured him an important advantage: besides having studied piano with Carl Czerny – Beethoven’s pupil, he had also studied in detail composition with Antonio Salieri, which had been Beethoven’s teacher. Another mentor of Liszt’s was Ferdinando Päer11, a renowned composer of the time. Thus, Franz Liszt developed in the musical climate governing Beethoven’s style, which provided him with a unique view when he tried to solve certain incongruences of the musical text. The dynamics indications offered by the editor are extremely valuable, emphasizing Liszt’s interpretative view as a pianist. In some excerpts Beethoven doesn’t offer any kind of indications, so the editor adds subtle and interesting dynamic changes, suggesting that the Lisztian view was very dramatic. Donald Francis Tovey accentuates that those who don’t possess stylistic knowledge and don’t have the necessary experience to “translate” the text of an Urtext edition can follow Liszt’s indications. The inconsistencies of phrasing were rectified by Liszt. In most cases, he writes his indications in the Exposition, including the version from the first editions in the Recapitulation. A unique feature of the edition is the explicit indication of the periods and sections with block letters written over the staff. These indications help to distinguish the musical form, especially in the great fugues of the sonatas op.106 and op.110, explaining Liszt’s musical thinking. The pedalisation indications are changed in certain excerpts by the editor. Another change made by Liszt is the change of measure from alla breve to breve. We can’t find an explanation for these changes, and a printing error is out of the question, because we encounter them in six sonatas: - op.10 no.1, part III - op.10 no.3, part I
11 Ferdinando Päer, 1 July 1771 – 3 May 1839, Italian composer.
117 - op.14 no.2, part II - op.27 no.1, part I - op.27 no.2, part I - op.31 no.2, part I
In a subsequent edition, Liszt organizes the 32 piano sonatas written by Ludwig van Beethoven in the following order, based on the difficulty level (see example 2).
Example 2:
118 The first edition under the name of „Urtext” was published in 1898 by Breitkopff & Härtel Publishing House, under the guidance of Carl Krebs. This edition was carefully drafted and many critics and musicians consider it the complete and accurate edition of the 32 piano sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven. In the preface to the edition, Carl Krebs remarks upon the phrasing and ornamentation. The end of the legato indication didn’t entail the closing of the musical phrase. The sequenced phrasing had to be interpreted according to the message of the musical speech. We can put forward two examples where the phrasing doesn’t have to be observed literally (see example 3).
Example 3:
Sonata op.2 no.3 in C Major, part I, measure 1-2
had to be performed in this manner,
Sonata op.13 in C minor, part II, measure 70
had to be performed in this manner.
This phrasing is specific to string instruments and entails in practice the change of direction for the bow stroke. I believe that in piano sonatas, the legato indications can be conceived as expression elements, whereby each motif can acquire a certain musical „direction”, a specific dynamic swell. Usually, in Beethoven’s piano sonatas, the legato indication doesn’t take more than one measure, two at most. Occasionally, in a continuous legato or staccato passage, the phrasing is specified only in the first measure; the following phrases don’t have any indications, implying the keeping of the previous phrasing. In some passages, the phrasing and dynamics indications are described elaborately, but when they recur, there aren’t any indications, being assumed that the performer will follow the previous model. The indications for appoggiatura are inordinate. As Franz Wüllner12, Max Friedlander13 and Ernst Rudorff14 stated previously, there was a practice in the Viennese musical techniques of the time to write a semiquaver as a cut quaver and the thirty-second-note as a semiquaver with a cut stem (see example 4).
12 Franz Wüllner, in the revised preface to W.A. Mozart’s edition of sonatas, p. 3f 13 Max Friedlander, in the appendix to Franz Schubert’s album of works, p. IV ff. 14 Ernst Rudorff, in the preface to the Urtext edition for W. A. Mozart’s piano sonatas.
119 Example 4:
Due to the music technique used at the end of the XVIIIth century and the beginning of the XIXth century, it is difficult to determine which appoggiatura is long and which is short. Nevertheless, Beethoven marks the short appoggiatura with a small note (grace note), while the long appoggiatura appears like a note of normal dimensions (see example 5).
Example 5:
Sonata op.2 no.1 in F minor, part III, measures 19-23
We can see from the example that in the first and third measure, Beethoven wants a short appoggiatura, while in the fourth and fifth measure, he indicates a long appoggiatura. The accent of the short appoggiaturas causes controversies. The composers from north Germany, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach15, Martin Agricola16 and Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg17 wanted the appoggiatura to be interpreted on measures, with a small accent. The composers from south Germany, Leopold Mozart18, Cramer19, Hummel20 and Czerny, claimed, on the contrary, that the accent should fall on the base note, thus the appoggiatura was executed before measure. Ludwig van Beethoven, as a composer from south Germany, presumably kept to the practice imposed in that region, that is performing the appoggiatura before measure. However, Carl Krebs observes, the
15 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), classic musician and composer, Johann Sebastian Bach’s fifth child. 16 Martin Agricola (6 January 1486 – 10 June 1556), German composer and teacher who lived during the Renaissance period. 17 Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg (21 November 1718 – 22 May 1795), German music critic, theoretician and composer, who lived in the age of Enlightenment. 18 Johann Georg Leopold Mozart (14 November 1719 – 28 May 1787), German composer, director, teacher and violinist, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s father. 19 Johann Baptist Cramer (24 February 1771 – 16 April 1858), English musician, born in Germany. 20 Jan Nepomuk Hummel (14 November 1778 – 17 October 1837), Austrian composer and pianist.
120 piano masters have concluded that in Beethoven’s case, appoggiaturas should be executed on measure. The pedalisation indications in Beethoven’s sonatas are minimal. It's obvious that the pedal has to be used in more passages than specified by the composer, considering, naturally, the instrument and acoustics of the concert hall. On this subject, Czerny wrote: „... He used the pedal exceedingly, more, in fact, than it was indicated in his compositions”21. On the other hand, in the sonatas op.27 no.2, part I, op.31 no.2, part I, op.53, part III and in Alla turca of the sonata op. 101, the excessive marking of the pedalisation constitutes the subject of several comments. Beethoven used in his compositions two staccato indications, respectively the pointed dashes and round dots (see example 6).
Example 6:
Sonata op.2 no.1 in F minor, part I, measure 1
- pointed dashes
Sonata op.2 no.1 in F minor, part I, measures 93-94
- round dots
The graphical sign with round dots (example 2) is thus executed as portato. In the first „Urtext” edition of the editor Carl Krebs, the staccato was marked exclusively with round dots. The confusion between the two signs was caused both by the manuscript which served as a model and by the printer of the first editions, who usually printed with the tools that were available to him, without making a difference between the two graphic notations.
21 Thayer, Beethoven vol. II, p. 348.
121
Hans Guido Freiherr von Bülow (8 January 1830 – 12 February 1894) was born in Dresda and was a German conductor, pianist and composer of the Romantic era. At the age of nine, he began studying piano with Friedrich Wieck, Clara Schumann’s father. In 1851, he became a student of Liszt’s and in 1857 he got married with Liszt’s daughter, Cosima. During the 1850s and 1860s, he became famous as a pianist and composer both in Germany and Russia. In 1864 he became Hofkapellmeister in Münich and in the following years (1865 and 1868) he conducted the premieres of two Richard Wagner operas, Tristan and Isolda and The Mastersingers of Nuremberg. His teaching career began in 1867, when he became director of the Conservatory in München; there he gave piano lessons in Liszt’s manner. He was the soloist in the first audition of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concert which took place in Boston, in 1875. In 1880 von Bülow moved to Hamburg, but continued to tour both as a conductor and pianist. Due to his illness, he was forced to seek a warmer climate (1893), leaving to Cairo, Egypt, where he died after only ten months. In the preface to G. Schimer’s edition, the editor Sigmund Lebert remarks upon the inconsistency, position and length of the phrasing. The beginning and ending of the phrasing indications is frequently ambiguous, whether because of the printer or of the manuscript serving as a model. In some cases, the editor has made changes or additions where the composer didn’t specify this sort of indications. The dynamics indications, particularly those of sf and crescendo/ descrescendo were reviewed because they might have shifted during printing, from left to right or vice versa. The sf indications usually apply to a single musical idea. The editor, copyist or composer often wrote these indications in the middle of the stave, without making any differentiations. The placement of the sf indication in these fragments was changed, in order to ensure its execution only by the intended voice. Hence, in the edition revised by von Bülow, the sf indications are placed either above or below the stave. The agogic indications, such as ritardando and ritenuto, as well as accelerando are also specified by the editors. They mustn’t be exaggerated,
122 though, and the clarity of the rhythm and of the general tempo unit must be preserved. The accuracy of the text was affected in some cases, especially where the instrument’s ambitus influenced visibly the musical discourse. The fragments requiring a hand stretch were simplified in order to allow their execution by the students with a small hand. According to the editors, the notes which can be omitted are marked with square or round brackets. All the editor’s indications are written in small letters. If there are two superposed legato indications, the upper indication is foreground. The original phrasing was sequenced, but the editors prefer a continuous and uninterrupted legato. Certain modifications, such as the positioning of crescendos and descrescendos or the placement of the sf indications, couldn’t be marked out. Also, the originality of the staccato, respectively staccato and staccatissimo indications can’t be guaranteed. All the tenuto indications in this edition are specified by the editors. In certain situations, the quavers, semiquavers, etc. were arranged differently compared to the original. The editors suggest a classification of Beethoven’s piano solos on three levels of difficulty:
In von Bülow’s view, the easiest works for piano solo are: Sonata op. 49 no. 2, Sonata op. 49 no. 1, Variations on the theme “Nel cor più non mi sento”, Variations on a Swiss song, Variations in sol minor, Rondo op. 51 no. 1, Sonatina op. 79, Sonata op. 14 no. 1, Sonata op. 14 no. 2, Sonata op. 2 no. 1, Rondo op. 51 no. 2.
The pieces with average level of difficulty are: Sonata op. 10 no. 1, Sonata op. 13, Sonata op. 10 no. 3, Bagatelles op. 33, Sonata op. 10 no. 2, Sonata op. 28, Sonata op. 2 no. 3, Sonata op. 26, Sonata op. 31 no. 3, Variations op. 34, Sonata op. 22, Andante in Fa Major, Sonata op. 7.
The most difficult works for piano solo are: Sonata op. 27 no. 2, Sonata op. 27 no. 1, Sonata op. 31 no. 2, Sonata op. 2 no. 2, Sonata op. 54, Sonata op. 78, Sonata op. 90, Sonata op. 81a, Sonata op. 31 no. 1, 32 Variations in do minor, Variations op. 35, Sonata op. 53, Sonata op. 57, Sonata op. 101, Sonata op. 111, Sonata op. 110, Sonata op. 109 and Sonata op. 106.
In this edition, each sonata is also analyzed formally, on sections, respectively Main Theme, Secondary Theme, Conclusive Theme, Development, Reprise (Reexposition), Bridge, Intermediate Theme and Episode, (see example 7).
123 Example 7:
Arthur Schnabel (17 April 1882 – 15 August 1951) was an Austrian pianist, composer and teacher, renowned for his musical seriousness and intelligence. Among the 20th century's most prominent musicians, the pianist Schnabel imposed his interpretative view on pieces composed by Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert. His interpretations set a benchmark of performance and his best-known recordings are the 32 piano sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven. He was born in Kunzendorf, in a Jewish family, being the youngest of the three children born in the Schnabel family. The family moved to Vienna in 1884, when he was two years old. He began taking piano lessons at the age of four and at the age of six he began studying with professor Hans Schmitt of the Vienna Conservatory. Due to his amazing talent, at the age of nine he was accepted as a student by the renowned professor Theodor Leschetizky (22 June 1830- 14 November 1915), with whom he studied for seven years, from 1891 to 1897. His debut concert took place in 1897, in Bösendorfer hall of Vienna. He moved to Berlin in 1898, where he performed in Bechstein hall. Schnabel held several concerts during the First World War, visiting U.S.A., Russia and England. In 1925, Arthur Schnabel began teaching at the Berlin State Academy, but in 1933 he was forced to leave the city, taking refuge in England. In the meantime, he also gave several master classes at Tremezzo on Lake Como in Italy. In 1939 he moved to U.S.A. and after being granted citizenship (1944), he took a teaching post at the University of Michigan. Arthur Schnabel was one of the greatest musicians who interpreted Beethoven’s piano repertory. His interpretative art lies in an ideal perception of
124 the sound, directly associated with the text. Schnabel was the second pianist after Hans von Bülow, who interpreted in his recitals all 32 piano sonatas composed by Ludwig van Beethoven. In 1927 he recorded the sonatas for the first time on the occasion of the centenary after Beethoven’s death. The edition revised by Arthur Schnabel is based on the sonata’s manuscripts, which were in the first and most important editions. His edition is defined by great accuracy and authenticity of the text. It doesn’t contain any arbitrary notations, facilitations, additions or omissions attributable to the editor. Nevertheless, we can acquire special sound effects by keeping to the specified indications. The pianists who wish to discover new valences in the performance of sonatas can find particular comments in the footnotes. Similarly, the pedalisation indications are carefully written, as a must in order to acquire the sound clarity necessary in some passages. Due to the variety of information, this edition is not only requisite to the study, but for those who already have an edition, it represents a text to be studied when the musician wishes to approach a new interpretative view. In this edition we can find seemingly unusual fingerings that, in editor’s view, were intended not only for the technical simplification of the passage, but mainly for the accentuation and security of the musical expressiveness (see example 8).
Example 8:
Sonata op.28 in D Major, part III, measures 5-7
We can observe in the example above the fingering stipulated for the right hand, respectively 4-2-2, which was intended for the security and accentuation of the phrasing, that is two legato quavers, followed by a staccato quarter note. The pedalisation was specified summarily, due to the pedagogical belief that pedalisation in the classical period was used only in case of necessity and not as a means of expression. Consequently, we should try to shape melodic fragments without the help of the pedal. The fingering and the pedalisation are specified almost invariably by the editor. The manuscripts, as well as the first editions, lack almost completely this sort of indications. The phrasing, the accents and the notations related to the
125 touch were occasionally specified by the composer. The editor changed these indications according to his musical instinct, but his changes aren’t particularly accentuated. All the other notations made by the editor can be recognized either by the size of the letters or by their arrangement in brackets. In this edition, Arthur Schnabel uses certain graphical signs that are explained in the preface. The Roman numbers highlight the periods which don’t correspond to the square form of eight measures (four plus four). The square bracket signalizes the periods, the phrases, the motifs and occasionally, the insertions. The graphical sign refers to a short caesura (see example 9).
Example 9:
- marks the beginning and the ending of a musical idea. - marks the subdivision of the musical ideas. - marks a caesura. - marks the places where the editor considers that the musical discourse can be fragmented. - marks the beginning of a new arpeggiato chord, or if an appoggiatura is executed on time or not, as well as the place were the pedal has to be actuated. - marks the note that has to be accentuated, in the editor’s view, without exaggerating. m.d. - right hand. m.s. - left hand.
In 2011, the established editions are the G. Henle edition, revised by B.A. Wallner, Münich 1975 and the Wiener Urtext Edition, revised by Peter Hauschild, 1999. In the preface to the Henle edition, the editor Bertha Antonia Wallner remarks that the new publication lacked all sort of additions or amendments; the manuscript, when there was one, represented the direct source.They studied the manuscripts of the sonatas op.22, op.27, op.27 no.2, op.28, op.53, op.57, op.78, op.79, op.81a (first part), op.90, op.101, op.109, op.11and op.111. The first editions of the sonatas represent a point of reference, because they can offer important information, provided Beethoven supervised personally their editing. Apart from these sources, the following editions were also studied. The notation inaccuracies and the printing errors weren’t passed to the following editions. In order to keep the writing from being excessively burdened with too many brackets, the omitted notations- printing errors or simplifications of certain passages in some editions, weren’t marked out. For that matter, not only the restoration of the text was attended to, but also Beethoven’s indications,
126 such as the writing style, the note’s repartition on the stave, as well as the use of rest periods, the phrasing, etc. Beethoven didn’t use to note the phrasing indications (legato) on the entire phrase, as it’s wont to do at present, or even uniformly in similar passages. The Henle edition keeps the original phrasing, without making any changes. When two or more short notes were followed by a long note, Beethoven commonly used two different notations: in the first case, the legato sign comprised only the short periods, while in the second case, it was also extended over the long period (see example 10).
Example 10:
Sonata op.2 no.2 in C Major, part III, measure 1
Sonata op.14 no.2 in G Major, part III, measures 1-2
From the letter addressed to Carl Holz in 1825, we can note that Beethoven desired a strict differentiation between the two notations of the time. The G. Henle edition keeps the original phrasing of the text. The staccato indications, pin or point, aren’t specified very clearly in the manuscripts or in the initial editions, so we opt for the use of the point, regardless of the passage. The execution of the trill is also controversial. Beethoven lived in a period of transition from the old practice of beginning the trill with the upper note, to the new practice of beginning the trill with the main note. The Henle edition leaves the execution of the trills to the interpreter, without indicating or influencing his decision. The graphical sign of the modern appoggiatura is originated from this practice. The small notes, with the tail cut or uncut, were randomly specified by Beethoven and indicated a short appoggiatura which had to be executed prior to the measure. On the other hand, long appoggiaturas, that are always written at the same size used for the other notes, must be executed on measure.
127 The composer’s original fingering appears written in italic in this edition. The new fingering indicated by Conrad Hansen is of little interest and the musician can change these indications or leave them out in some cases. By studying these editions in detail, we can understand their views on the interpretation of Beethoven’s piano sonatas in the central European space. At present, the editions revised by Franz Liszt, Hans von Bülow and Sigmund Lebert, as well as the edition revised by Arthur Schnabel are regarded with skepticism by the pianists, because of the small changes made to the text and because of the dynamics and agogic indications. However, the study of these editions can offer valuable interpretative clues that reveal the interpretative view of the pianist-editor. Due to the variety of information, these editions represent a text to be studied in all the cases when the musician wishes to approach a new interpretative view.
Beethoven’s piano sonatas – editorial guidelines Piano teacher Andrei Enoiu-Pânzariu PhD (“Octav Băncilă” National Highschool) Abstract This article intends to offer assistance to the musicians who wish to approach the 32 piano sonatas written by Ludwig van Beethoven. We will analyze and remark upon some of the most important editions, revised by famous musicians who influenced the interpretative visions of the future generations. The Urtext editions are regarded as the most accurate and complete editions. Most of them affirm that they are reproducing the original text, based either on the manuscript or on the first editions. However, great importance is also attributed to the editors or, more exactly, to those revising the editions, who add most of the times the fingerings and the footnotes remarking upon various technical and performance problems. By comparing the numerous editions, I discovered valuable indications concerning the interpretation. We can mark down the L. Holle edition, edited by Franz Liszt, the G. Schirmer edition, edited by Hans von Bülow and Sigmund Lebert and the Curci edition, revised by Arthur Schnabel. In 2011, the established editions are the G. Henle edition, revised by B.A. Wallner, Münich 1975 and the Wiener Urtext Edition, revised by Peter Hauschild, 1999. By studying these editions in detail, we can understand their views on the interpretation of Beethoven’s piano sonatas in the central European space. At present, the editions revised by Franz Liszt, Hans von Bülow and Sigmund Lebert, as well as the edition revised by Arthur Schnabel are regarded with skepticism by the pianists, because of the small changes made to the text and because of the dynamics and agogic indications. However, the study of these editions can offer valuable interpretative clues that reveal the interpretative view of the pianist-editor. Due to the variety of information, these editions represent a text to be studied in all the cases when the musician wishes to approach a new interpretative view.
128 Stylistic and performance aspects of piano music reflected in the creation of the composer Isaac Albéniz (1860 – 1909)
Piano teacher Raluca Pânzariu PhD (”Octav Băncilă” National Highschool)
Isaac Albéniz was born in Camprodon, province of Girona, in the Alavia region. Albéniz was a child prodigy who first performed at the age of four. At age seven, after taking lessons from Antoine François Marmontel, he passed the entrance examination for piano at the Paris Conservatoire, but he was refused admission because he was believed to be too young. His concert career began at the young age of nine when his father toured both Isaac and his sister, Clementina, throughout northern Spain. By age 15, he had already given concerts worldwide. Albéniz did travel the world as a performer, however he was accompanied by his father. As a customs agent he was required to travel frequently. After a short stay at the Leipzig Conservatory, in 1876 he won a scholarship in Brussels. In 1883, he takes lessons from the teacher and composer Felipe Pedrell, who inspired him to write Spanish music. The apex of his concert career is considered to be 1889 to 1892 when he had concert tours throughout Europe. During the 1890s Albéniz lived in London and Paris. In 1900 he started to suffer from Bright's disease and returned to writing piano music. Between 1905 and 1908 he composed his final masterpiece, Iberia (1908), a suite of twelve piano ”impressions". In 1883, the composer married to Rosina Jordana. They had three children, Blanca (who died in 1886), Laura and Alfonso. Albéniz died on 18 May 1909 at age 48 in the turistic region Cambo-les- Bains of Bright's disease, and is buried at the Montjuic Cemetery, Barcelona.
Piano works – Classification
1. Instrumental miniatures: Marcha militar, Pavana – capricho, Barcarola, Seis pequeños valses, Estudio impromtu, Dos Mazurkas, Seis mazurkas de salón: 1. Isabel, 2. Casilda, 3. Aurora, 4. Sofia, 5. Christa, 6. Maria, Serenata árabe, Suite ancienne nr. 1: Gavota, Minuetto, augustia: Romanza sin palabras, Balbina valverde (Polka brillante), Diva sin par (Mazurka-capricho), Menuet nr. 3, Suite ancienne nr. 2: Sarabande, Chacona, Suite ancienne nr. 3: Minuetto,
129 Gavota, Andalucia, Barcarole (Pe apă)), Mazurka de salón, Menuet (sol minor), Recuerdos (Mazurka), Cotillón – Album de danzas de salón, Pavana fácil para manos pequeñas, Dos mazurkas de salón, La fiesta de aldea, Dos danzas españolas: Jota aragonesa, Tango, Suite española 2: Zaragoza, Sevilla, Cádiz- gaditana, Serenata española, L’Automne (Toamna –Valse), Mallorca (Barcarola), Zambra granadina (Danse orientale), Zortzico, Espagne: Souvenirs – Prélude, Asturias, Alhambra: Suite pour le Piano.
2. Mid-size works: Rapsodia cubana, Siete estudios, Recuerdos de viaje: 1. En el mar (Barcarola), 2. Leyenda (Barcarola), 3. Alborada, 4. En la Alhambra, 5. Puerta de tierra (Bolero), 6. Rumores de la caleta (Malagueña), 7. En la playa, Seis danzas españolas, Doces piezas caracteristicas: 1. Gavotte, 2. Minuetto a Silvia, 3. Barcarolle, 4. Prière, 5. Conchita (Polka), 6. Pilar (Valse), 7. Zambra, 8. Pavana, 9. Polonesa, 10. Mazurka, 11. Staccato (Capricho), 12. Torre Bermeja (Serenata), Album de miniaturi – Les Saisons (Anotimpurile): 1. Le Printemps (Primăvara), 2. L’ete (Vara), 3. L’Automne (Toamna), 4. L’Hiver (Iarna), Cantos de España: 1. Prélude, 2. Orientale, 3. Sous le palmier (Danse espagnole), 4. Córdoba, 5. Seguidillas, Yvonne en Visite: 1. La Révérence, 2. Joyeuse Rencontre et quelques penibles événements, Azulejos (Albăstrele - terminată de E. Granados), Navarra (terminată de Déodat de Séverac).
3. Large works: Sonata nr. 1, Suite española: 1. Granada, 2. Cataluna. 3. Sevilla, 4. Cádiz, 5. Asturias, 6. Aragón, 7. Castilla, 8. Cuba, Rapsodia española pentru piano solo, Sonata nr. 3, Sonata nr. 4, Sonata nr. 5, Suite España: Six Feuilles d’album: 1. Prélude, 2. Tango, 3. Malagueña, 4. Serenata, 5. Capricho catalán, 6. Zortzico, Suita Iberia - Primul caiet: 1. Evocacion, 2. El puerto, 3. Fête-Dieu à Séville, Caietul doi: 1. Rondeña, 2. Almeria, 3. Triana, Caietul trei: 1. El Albaicin, 2. El polo, 3. Lavapies, Caietul patru: 1. Málaga, 2. Jerez, 3. Eritaña, Lucrări orchestrale: Rapsodia española, Concierto Fantástico.
Style features
In his desire to perfect his composition technique, Albéniz went beyond the limits of salon music, beyond plain folklorism, and created a new style of Spanish music, based on the inclusion of harmonies and elaborate forms, which lent his works emotional and intellectual depth. Albéniz was thoroughly familiar with the rhythms of flamenco. He would place a greater weight on the genres of canto jondo than foreign composers did, as they knew Spanish folk music only superficially and thus stayed within the limits of lighter genres, such as jota and habanera.
130 Structural analysis
Structural analyses aim to highlight the characteristic features of a composer's work. They encompass all the coordinates of the composition style: order and structural symmetry, harmony and modal intonations, balance of sound parameters.
Suita España op. 165, 6 Feuilles d’Album pour piano
I. Prélude
Form: AA’BAvBv and Coda
The first piece in the cycle has the role of introducing the audience to the specific atmosphere of Spanish music. We can distinguish here the modal intonations, which, together with certain rhythm/melody formulas, contribute to the portrayal of national ethos.
Ex. 1, Suita España, Prélude, p. 3, ms. 1-4
II. Tango
Form: ABABv1Bv2ABv3
The second piece in the cycle is a tango, a dance genre originating from South America, more precisely from Argentina. The specificity of this dance is its rhythm, individualised in a punctuated formula of quarter-sixteenth followed by two eights.
131 Ex. 2, Suita España, Tango, p. 7, ms. 1-4
III. Malagueña
Form: ABA
The name of the piece originates in the name of the Spanish harbour Malaga. The alert tempo in which the ternary pulsation is executed, alternating with moments in which the sound flow suddenly calms down, in an obvious dynamic contrast, lend the dance a special pathos.
Ex. 3, Suita España, Malagueña, p. 11, ms. 1-4
IV. Serenata
Form: ABA and Coda
The fourth piece aims to capture, as the title suggests, the fairy-tale atmosphere of a Spanish evening. The architectonic structure is a complex three- part one, with an unusual organisation of section A.
132 Ex. 4, Suita España, Serenata, p. 16, ms. 1-3
V. Capricho catalan
Form: ABA
The fifth piece has a particular formal organisation. It is built around the same lied pattern, ABA, the middle section having a transformation role for the elements of section A. Thus, both sections contain in fact the same melodic material, the differences occurring at tonal and morphological level.
Ex. 5, Suita España, Capricho catalan, p. 22, ms. 1-5
VI. Zortzico
Form: ABA and Coda
The last piece excels in terms of meter and rhythm, standing out within the suite due to its heterogeneous 5/8 measure and its isorhythmical punctuated aspect, maintained unfailingly throughout the piece.
133 Ex. 6, Suita España, Zortzico, p. 26, ms. 1-3
Pavana – Capricho Form: ABA
Structured in the form of a lied, explicit in terms of organisation, the piece is surprising despite its architectural simplicity, but due to the beauty of its melodic and harmonic development. The composition effort is underpinned by a unitary morphological plan, deriving from a few elements that are essential for the musical development.
Ex. 7, Pavana-Capricho, p. 1, ms. 1-6
Stylistic and performance analysis
This analysis relies on the argumentation of the musical phenomenon using the works written for piano by Spanish composers. I have tried to enrich the documentary collection in order to provide the technical and interpretative means required for the performance of these works, as they are included in piano repertoires around the world.
- the legato manner of attack is predominant
134 - the melodic line is emphasized - the ornaments are clearly rendered - the rubato technique – performed Spanish-style (Tango) - warm touch, detailed, covered sonority - clear differentiation between staccato and legato - pedal – on the first beat - constant and accurate rendition of the punctuated rhythm (Capricho Catalan, Zortzico)
Conclusions
The piano music is marked by the folk charcater of the melody, Isaac Albéniz composes an orchestral type of pianistic writing, traditional, with wide sounds, made by different instruments (guitar, castagnete) and peculiar flamenco rhythms. The composer combines very well the tonal and modal aspect, we also find the polifonic structure in Iberia. We often find polirhythm aspects, and also dance beats, for example in the Tango from the work (España: Six Feuilles d’album, op. 165 – present in the articol). The piano works of the composer Isaac Albeniz are highlightened by virtuosity, nerv and various rhythm.
Bibliography Clark, W. A. ISAAC ALBENIZ, PORTRAIT OF A ROMANTIC. Oxford University Press, 2007. Laplane, Gabriel. ALBÉNIZ, Ed. Milieu Du Monde, 1956. Morgan, Robert P. LA MÚSICA DEL SIGLO XX, Nr. 6, 8, Madrid: Editura Akal, s.a., 1999, 2000 Sagardia, Angel. ALBENIZ, Translator Esdra Alhasid, Bucharest: Musical Publishing House, 1971. DICŢIONAR DE MARI MUZICIENI, LAROUSSE (GREAT MUSICIANS DICTIONARY, LAROUSSE). Bucharest: Publishing House Enciclopedic Univers, 2002.
Stylistic and performance aspects of piano music reflected in the reation of the composer Isaac Albéniz (1860 – 1909) Piano teacher Raluca Pânzariu PhD (”Octav Băncilă” National Highschool) Abstract The articol Stylistic and performance aspects of piano music reflected in the creation of the composer Isaac Albéniz reveals some elements concerrning the biographic aspects of the composer, the classification of piano works in 3 wide categories. There are mentioned small style features and also a short stylistic and performance analysis of the works Suita España op. 165, 6 Feuilles d’Album pour piano and Pavana – Capricho. The articol finishes with general conclusions of the entire piano works of the composer Isaac Albéniz and of the piece analized - Suita España op. 165, 6 Feuilles d’Album pour piano.
135
Dissonance op. 34 no.13 by S. Rachmaninoff. Stylistic - interpretive analysis
Lecturer Ionela Butu PhD (University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi)
The song Dissonance - the longest in its genre written by Rachmaninoff is an extremely complex work in terms of expression and writing, combinig stylistic features which go beyond the chamber miniature framework. Is is a story of intense expression about the non-fulfillment drama, ideal, hope, disillusionment and happiness - as a state of completeness unattainable by those who can not live, but only exist; in order to be understood and interpreted, the ability of authentically reasoning at the essential dimensions of life is required. The cyclic structure reveals a balanced architecture, the beginning and the end being marked by similar verses: 2nd verse - Пусть другой обладает моей красотой! / Even if another enjoys my beauty; last line: Пусть владеет он жалкой моей красотой! / Even if others enjoys my sad beauty! In the described framework, dominated by the emotional dissonance of the characters involved, I. Polonsky and S. Rachmaninoff create a unique artistic world, located in the realm of evocation. In terms of performance, the most important aspect is how the contrast between the dramatic and lyrical episodes is rendered, the expressive ambitus of the work being circumscribed between p dolce (pp leggiero) - ff con fuoco. The chromatic diversity is also an important coordinate. By modelling the last dimension, the extension of the work acquires a new quality - the impression created being that of subjectively compressed temporality. The introductory passages - Non allegro agitato – describe the inner state of the text which is beyond words; the legato rendering is important, with somber sound tone, not dynamic in itself / f. We suggest the gradual, progressive upwards realization of the repetitive formulas. Coda, firmly configured on the same structures (m. 80-94), will similarly summarize the implacability of the previously exposed happenings; therefore, the perfomance variant proposing the rendering of the final in identical tempo is due to formal (cyclic) reasons. Note that in the preamble, Tempo I concerns the piano match, invested with triggering role in the expressive scheme of the music - on this background the Meno mosso vocal interventions allow the expressive underlying of significant words (such as судеб / fate) with more expressive accuracy (rit. portato). The agogic plan of the work intimately folds on the spiritual developments rendered by the text. This aspect should be taken into account from the first stage of the performance for it allows estimation of the overall expressive perspective. Due to its large dimensions, the shift between sections plays an important part: agogic-dynamic anticipations, sometimes the use of the subito effect (moods like expectation, anxiety expressed by the text predisposing
137 to metamorphosis of this kind - i.e. the moment Poco più mosso. Agitato / pp barely whispered, correspondind to the mood created by the word дрожу / trembling / m. 27). We see, as in other works belonging to op. 34, that the temporal variability created by the difference a tempo, tempo I plays an important part in rendering the overall agogic balance. From the dynamic point of view, the particular character of each shade depends on the sensitive rendering of the associated expression indications: p / mf dolce, pp / mf agitato, ff con fuoco, p / piu tranquillo, mf / cantabile, etc. creating thus the moods diversity pre-requisites, which represents a fundamental goal. Thus, the climax living intensity may be singularized unlike the previous moment noted identically / ff (m.56). The climax / con fuoco corresponds to the word впервые / for the first time - a significant moment in the intimate history of the characters: подслушал ты душу мою.../ Я душою сливаюсь с твоею душой -- / on this bench, where my soul and yours merged for the first time. The ff moment of the measure 56 is placed in a different semantic space: Ты не смеешь отдаться безумствам любви / Я не смею дать волю влеченьям своим // You do not dare to believe madly in love/ And I can not express freely my desire (ff emphasizing the word влеченьям / desire, inclination). The culmination - other than climax - is located in the m. m. 59 / pp / p (Andante, on the same sound as the climax - si 2), on the word милый ты мой! / my dear! - zone of great tenderness, buit on the piano motif (atypical context in Rachmaninoff’s songs). The large breathing musical phrases can be properly delimited considering as landmark the literary text and the organization (metamorphosis) of the musical structures and not the specific signs indicated in the score - impossible to note according to the real musical meaning. It is important to follow the melodic line in connection with the phrasing configuration in the instrumental plan, with the suggestion that the portato slight voice withholdings should not harm the piano fluency sometimes expressly required, as it happens in the following passage m. 11-15:
138 where the emphasis falls on the word крыльях / wings (dream wings), which is a shade within the context. Relevant here is this continuity of the piano melodic phrase - which represents the first symbolic freeing (musical analogon of the idea suggested by the text0 from the psychological fixity of the introductory formula. We suggest comparing the moment (initial turmoil dispersion towards evocation)1 with the final one (where music moves in the opposite direction - conclusive). m. 1-2:
Returning to the idea of developing uniform interpretation, it becomes obvious that the sections of the work are built on a small number of formal structures - noticeable in the piano part, for the metamorphosis of the main musical material occurs in this plan. The chromatic element, basic in this work, takes three shapes: 1) thematic motif (dramatic in character) 2) its variation by diminishing the interval range in attenuated expressive context (pp, dolce, Tranquillo, Meno mosso / m. 22-26, 39-42) 3) chromatic background (Più tranquillo m. 49- 58). For instance, the p dolce passage / m. 39-42, which sketches the initial cell of the motif, aims to create a new state (the piano plays a major role in the configuration of the expression - by means of colour, dynamic and articulation)2; the cantability of the half-tone unit - adjacent structure derived from chromatism - will subsequently render fluency to the entire Meno episode. (p dolce / m. 38). m. 35: m. 38-39:
1 The beginning of the passage / m. 11 must be rendered softly, with a subtle legato, at the key surface, that suggests the non-reality / subjectivity that pervades the entire work. 2 The moments of dense texture stand in contrast with the transparence of the dolce passages. The soft episodes (i.e. Meno mosso. Tranquillo / m. 15-21) balance the bursting moments. To render them tenderly, we suggest a thin legato, resonant and without any strike of the key / i.e. the repeated notes in the left hand part (their expression and articulation will be taken over by the bass-pedal of the next passage). 139
It is found again in m. 49-57, on extended chromatic background:
m. 52-53:
In its original, thematic form, it expressively unifies the middle part of the work.
m. 23: m. 27
The final arching (m. 74-83), consistently descending (with small illuminations, quickly turned off), will be shaped by the same structure. At the background of the structural unit described, we emphasize the role of timbrality in organizing the work expression. The colours create shape, perspective, allowing the accentuation of the language structures. Dense piano writing contains at least two relevant moments of latent timbral poliphony: m. 22-26 end 49-52. In both, the harmonic pedal requires distinct colour - as a static background of the sound developments / depending on the next meaning: in the firstcase, / m. 22-26, descriptive - За прудом, где-то в роще, урчит соловей... / over the pond, somewhere in the grove, where the nightingale sings...; in the secod / m. 49-52, highly emotional - С болью в трепетном сердце, с волненьем в крови / Ты не смеешь отдаться безумств ам любви / Heart trembling with pain / I can see that you do not dare to believe madly in love.
m. 22-24:
140
In terms of performance, it is useful to notice that this moment (m. 49-51) is the variation of the beginning measures of the song, both contexts being centered on the same ground - aspect provided with expressive and architectural significations at the level of the whole work. m. 49-50 m. 1:
The female character soul obsession is played in the episode Più tranquillo, through the sound-axis movement in various registers (see the si portato sound avatars, on the pitch-scale between m. 50-59, anticipatory to the resumption). The harmonic changes comprehending the point endowed with expression requires equally the chromatic subtle differenciation of the sonority - not only dynamic - while maintaining the agogic linearity. m. 54: m. 56-60:
Finally, the pesante passage (m. 43-47), customized by the portato means of articulation, has nothing rhetorical, despite the great nuance and the boarded chord writing; we suggest a legato (on the contour of the soprano line, in great values), with warm, vibrating sonority, achievable through non-attack (controlled application of the piano weight) because the text express only a moment of lightness in the personal drama of a soul that is, in fact, alone ... Это ты меня за руку взял, милый друг?! / Это ты осторожно так обнял меня, / Это твой поцелуй -- поцелуй без огня! / Are you the one holding my hand, dear friend? / You embrace me tenderly! / and kiss me ... But your kiss is weak, passionless. A final issue, from the perspective of balancing sound relations. The complexe piano writing compels sometimes to syntheses on the harmonic coordinate so that the functional similarity creates a non-redundant sound-effect (simple echo of the main function - i.e. m. 53-55 la 7/9, m. 74-77). Also, because of the frequent exceeding of the vocal registry by the accompanying part (a constant feature in Rachmaninoff’s songs, starting with op. 21),
141 discretion is imposed while performing it, despite the high dynamic level, which must be related to context3. Finally, we consider useful to make some observations regarding the area of the technical-musical problematic of the vocal part. The voice is confronted here with a large ambitus - si/small octave, si 2; also, one must cope with the requirements of playing (soft nuances on high notes situated on vowels difficult to utter - exemple the end of the development - - si flat 2 on the “i” vowel / милый); finally, a challenge from the vocal point of view (as from the accompanying perspective) is to create colour diversity. Beyond many techniques specific to the vocal training, the solution to many problems of the soprano’s part locates in the chamber music area coordination - the mutual dynamic, agogic and colour folding so that the ensemble contours, by mutual support on the mentioned coordinates, the impression suggested by the text.After all, the key of a successful chamber music performance is still the mutual adjustment of the partners’ intentions in a common direction - continuously variable from a hermeneutical point of view, as new perspectives are discovered in the surface or depth layers of the writing. The succint observations done on the work, prior from the piano point of view, emphasized some aspects which allow the ordering of signs around landmark-senses which helps the understanding of the artistic message.
Dissonance op. 34 no.13 by S. Rachmaninoff. Stylistic - interpretive analysis Lecturer Ionela Butu PhD (University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi) Abstract The stylistic - interpretative analysis of the song, primarily done from a pianistic point of view, emphasized some aspects which allow the ordering of signs around landmark-senses which helps the understanding of the artistic message. The main coordinates - specifically interpretative - dynamic, agogic, timbre, sound (sound form in relation to the written one) ordered their meanings by relating to the coherence required by the chamber ensemble exigencies, with its own laws of configuration. Their inter-relationship stylistically nuanced on the mentioned background enables the whole architectural balance. Because Dissonance op. 34 nr. 13 is a final opus of the composer in the song’s genre, we consider useful the synthetic observations where the text allowed their insertion, in order to create the semantic environment necessary to understand the particular aspects. Also, we made references to similar works of other composers, despite the different stylistic areas compared. Thus, specificity is easily highlighted by contrast. An important topic of the study is represented by the non-coincidence betweeen the climax of the work and the culmination - main landmarks based on which the interpretation can be truly constructed, as they express the expressive ambitus of the work, beyond the surface indications.
3 The dense piano writing reminds of the Le balcon, by Cl. Debussy (Cinq Poèmes de Charles Baudelaire - no.1), written in 1888. Even though the authors’ stylistic origin is different, the comparison is useful from the point of view of the piano sonority analysis. 142 Modernism or modernity?
Associate Professor Elena Ovănescu Pîrvu PhD (University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi)
One of the most complex concept of philosophical and aesthetic thinking, the term modern presents a dense semantic complexity, due to its vectorial functionality. The polysemy of the term is amplified by the “confusion, false synonymies, and ambiguities”1 between the derivates that make up the lexical family (for instance, between modernist, modernism, modernity). Certainly, the essential element in the definition of the term modern is the temporal perspective considered in historically, socially, philosophically, scientifically and technically, artistically and culturally. Thus, the Explanatory Dictionary of Romanian Language defines the notion in terms of time2, with brief references to social (according to nowadays’ fashion) and cultural issues (modern language or education that preferably attaches importance to humanities). A broader approach of the concept is reflected in the Le Petit Robert dictionary, which highlights the antinomy between the term modern and ancient, old, both in terms of historical development, and (especially) in arts and culture3. In the famous dispute, known as La querelle entre les antiques et les moderns (within the French Academy of the late seventeenth century), initiated by Charles Perrault4 (who, praising the age of Louis XIV, advocates a new art
1 Adrian Marino, MODERN, MODERNISM, MODERNITY (Bucharest: Ed. for Universal Literature, 1969), p. 36. 2 EXPLANATORY DICTIONARY OF ROMANIAN LANGUAGE, Second Edition (Bucharest: Romanian Academy - "Iorgu Iordan” Institute of Linguistics, Encyclopedic Universe Publishing House, 1996), p. 645: modern - belonging to times close to the speaker, recent, actual, according to the current progress; which belongs to an era following antiquity. ◊ Modern history - a) (past) era of the late Middle Ages between 1453 (the fall of Constantinople) and the 1789 French Revolution; b) (actual) period between the 1789 French Revolution and the 1918 Union. Modern language - living language, spoken by a population actually present. ♦ (On education), which attaches importance preferably to humanities. ♦ According to the fashion of the day. 3 Le Petit Robert: modern - contemporary with the person who speaks or relatively recent. I. 1 - actual, contemporary [...], 2 - benefiting from technical and scientific progress [...], 3 - (especially in the arts) that is designed, made according to contemporary rules and practices; corresponding to present taste and sensibility [...], 4 - (referring to a person) which takes account of developments in his field, of the period of time one belongs to. [...]. II (as opposed to the terms of old, antique) 1 – which belongs to an era following Antiquity [...], 2 - (hist.) modern age (and by extension) modern history [...], 3 - modern education, which includes sciences and spoken languages (as opposed to the classical ones). [...] Modern Languages. 4 Perrault, Charles (1628-1703), French writer, author of The Stories of My Mother, the Goose. On 27 January 1687 he presented at the French Academy the poem of Louis the 143 adapted to contemporaneity and new art forms) and Boileau5 (supporter of Greek and Roman Antiquity as an expression of artistic perfection),worsens the antithetical aspect of the two aesthetic models – one resulted from the respect of ancient art forms and regulations, as a standard of the “absolute beauty” and one of imaginative and creative freedom, of inspired, lively and contemporary art. From this perspective, the dialectical relationship between old, ancient and modern, the innovative elements in the aesthetic thinking of each era constitute the modern element, which ensures the transition to the next epoch where it will generalize (representing the dominant trait), crystallize and become routine (by excessive practice),being replaced by a new modern element. Relevant to this respect is Fontenelle's statement6 (in Digressions sur les anciens et les modernes, 1688) according to which “after a long series of centuries the moderns will become contemporaries of Greeks and Latins”7. On the other hand, according to Adrian Marino „classics are classics because they are modern, permanent, present, assimilated to one or other side of contemporary sensibility”8. Of the two axioms there can be inferred the “eternal variable” character of the historic dimension, “subject to continuing shifting boundaries”, of the term modern9. Referring to the term contemporary, Encarta Encyclopedia, assimilates it to that of modern which is extrapolated from its original meaning (historical) towards social, scientific, artistic and cultural areas10. One of the most complete and precise meanings of the term, considered in its three facets (historical, socio-cultural and dialectical), belongs to the Larousse Universal Encyclopedia11.
Great’s Century, in which he disputes the model value of Antiquity, considering the age of Louis XIV as ideal. 5 Nicolas Boileau, also known as Despréaux Boileau (1636-1711), poet, writer and French critic, leading theorist of aesthetics in classical literature, in the seventeenth century. 6 Fontenelle, Berdard Le Bouyeri de (1657-1757), mathematician, philosopher and French writer, member of Académie française, Académie des sciences, Académie des inscriptions, Académie de Rouen. 7 Cf Adrian Marino, op. cit., p. 34. 8 id., p. 35. 9 id., p. 42. 10 http://fr.encarta.msn.com/dictionary_2016018503/moderne.html: modern (adj.) - 1 - representing contemporary trends (modern art), 2 - latest developments in a domain (modern medicine), 3 - recent or that has recent features synonymous with contemporary (modern society), 4 - who fully integrates his time (modern parents), 5 - HIST. - A period which lasts from late Renaissance to the French Revolution (modern history), 6 - LING. - Which reflects contemporary use of language (modern meaning of a word). Modern (nominal phrase) - ART - contemporary style. Modern (noun) - 1 - ART - artist or writer who, in his work, represents the values of his time, 2 - person representing tastes and mores of his era. 11 http://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/#larousse/51821/11/moderne: modern - belonging to present or to a relatively recent era, enjoying the latest progress, made according to contemporary techniques, rules and taste (as opposed to old), that entirely adapts to 144 Summarizing, we can determine the functionality of the term modern compared to its dialectical and opposable report with terms as old, classic, in all aspects of social, scientific and technical, cultural, artistic, religious, in historical eras subsequent to the Middle Ages. Derived from medieval Latin - modernus (now, actual, today), and from Classical Latin - modo (recent), the term generates inflexion forms with subtly differentiated semantics, such as modernism and modernity. Thus according to Encarta Encyclopedia12 modernism may mean “innovation that represents or exceeds contemporary trends” (e.g. work of excessive modernism, sometimes with pejorative meaning), or (in art) "creative impulse to break up with the classical and to reach a freer expression (e.g. choreographic revolutions of modernism). Similar meanings are also found in Larousse Encyclopedia13 (“nature of what is extremely modern” – e.g. city of an emphasized modernism, or “taste, search of what is modern, actual, contemporary, as opposed to traditionalism”), or in the Explanatory Dictionary of the Romanian language14. On the other hand, modernism refers to a literary and cultural movement. Thus, the term is applied to the Spanish-American literary movement of the late nineteenth century15 (under Parnassian and symbolist influence), and also to the Brazilian one, appeared in Sao Paulo in the early twentieth century (1922). This movement rejects European academism, being focused on themes from nature or from national culture. Similar to Latin American modernism, Catalan modernism (which includes many artistic movements of the late nineteenth century, such as symbolism, decadence, or Art Nouveau) is a cultural trend that lasted from 1811 (year in which the first international exhibition takes place in innovations of the time (which belongs to his time), which opposes the term: classic (in humanistic education - classical languages, modern languages). It is used to describe the current status of a language (as opposed to classic, old), art forms that are the most innovative in every age especially in the twentieth century (Cubism, abstract art, functional architecture, etc.), and even all arts sometimes (in the West) from the Renaissance. It also describes recent parts (addition, rehabilitation, reconstruction, generally in the nineteenth and twentieth century) of a building, a sculpture, a piece of old art. Modern History – refers to the three centuries which were so-called "classics" from Renaissance to the late eighteenth century. Modern Movement – in architecture - synonymous to international style. 12 http://fr.encarta.msn.com/dictionary_2016018503/moderne.html 13 http://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/ # larousse/51821/11/modernism 14 EXPLANATORY DICTIONARY OF ROMANIAN LANGUAGE, op.cit., p. 645: modernism - 1 – attribute of being modern, character of what is modern: modern attitude: (exaggerated) preference towards everything that is new, modern. 2 - current or trend in twentieth-century art or literature that denies tradition and sustains new creation principles. 15 Cf http://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/ # larousse/51821/11/modernisme
145 Barcelona, city that becomes the cultural center of this trend) to 1911 (once with the disappearance of Joan Maragall, its representative poet). Marked by anti- traditionalism and “profound individualism”16, the current aims at the revival of Catalan culture, with the intention of raising it to the level of other European cultures. The most significant aspects of this current are Art Nouveau style in architecture and art, symbolism, decadence, Parnassianism and Nitzscheean vitalism (life force, the will to) in literature and philosophy, as well as transforming and upgrading traditional Catalan music. Therefore, the two trends, Latin American and Catalan Modernisms, reject European academism and reconsiders themes of nature, national cultures, individualism, by integrating the current in the universal cultural contemporariness. Likewise, in the same line with the formal upgrading and inclusion within the social and cultural contemporariness, modernism also appears in religion as a “Christian movement which proposes a new interpretation of traditional beliefs and doctrines, in agreement with modern exegesis” (Le Petit Robert) or as a “body of doctrines and trends with the aim of renewing theology, exegesis, social doctrine and Church leadership role to reconcile them with what is considered to be contemporary necessities” (Larousse Encyclopedia). In theology modernism is an intellectual movement generated by social changes of the second half of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The 1848 Revolutions (after which Italy, Germany and Austria-Hungary are unified, and the Papacy loses temporarily its state autonomy), the period between the two world wars (1870 and 1914, during which the conflict between the three state empires emphasizes) and the appearance (in 1859) of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species (which moved creationist theory) are events that lead through the conceptual conflict with traditional doctrines and spiritual education, to the modernist crisis of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. In fact, in 1864 Pope Pius IX published the Syllabus17, a list of 80 "modern errors", in which he attacks liberalism in all its forms, and thus ideas emerging modern spirit of the age (political democracy, liberalism and socialism in economics, scientific and technical rationality, freedom of culture). It is to be noted that from the multiplicity of cultural and aesthetic movements, considered within the whole historical evolution, the papacy is involved in only two of them: the Baroque and Modernism. If Baroque is sustained and developed by the church, being defined as an “art of Catholicism” (the Council of Trent, 1545-1563), due to its arts “dramatic” style that promote
16 Cf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernisme 17 Cf http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syllabus
146 the implementation of religious ideas with a “direct and emotional involvement”18, papacy has a rather reserved, even stiff, attitude towards the phenomenon of modernism, considered as a danger to public order or authority of the Catholic Church. Starting with the pontificate of Pius IX and culminating in that of Pius the Tenth (1903-1914), the papacy condemns modernism, which hampers research into religion. Thus modernist crisis arises from the conflict between “traditional and fixed” dogmas ecclesiastical education, intersected by “modern science and its positivist methods” 19. Moreover, the intrinsic meaning of modernism contains both the idea of new, innovative, and the denial (and therefore cancellation) values considered classical, traditional, academic. Originally appeared as a positivist, progressive attitude, modernism degenerates through an excessive and perpetual experimentation and by exacerbating a negative attitude towards these values of the past, in aesthetics of ugliness, non value, amorphous and expressionless. The continuous search of adapting modern ideas and values to the „spirit of the time” gives a specific dynamics to modernism, which becomes an active and aggressive creation principle, nurturing shocking effects “spectacular novelty”, stupefaction (which, incidentally, is “one of the earlier modernist principles” - after Giambattista Marino20 “he poet’s goal is to marvel”)21. Relevant in this respect is Apollinaire's22 statement that “new is surprise only”23. Thus, the continuous experiment generates a lack of stylistic consistency and the modernist attitude, defined by harshness, extreme individualism, exorbitance, theatricality, through challenging classical values and growing fashion and snobbery, and especially through affected, precious expression, can be determined as a pseudo-modernity. Considered by Larousse Encyclopedia as synonymous to modernism, modernity is explained by other bibliographic sources in a vaguer and thus more comprehensive way. Thus, Romanian Explanatory Dictionary defines modernity as „the nature of what is modern”, Le Petit Robert dictionary nuances, adding “especially in art”, and Encarta Encyclopedia considers modernity as “all contemporary trends” or “specificity of elements that outrun contemporary art rules”. In fact, modernity includes the essence of both the idea of modern and
18 Cf http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque 19 Cf http://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/nom-commun-nom/modernisme/7081 20 Giambattista Marino, (1569-1625), poet of the Italian Baroque period. 21 Cf Adrian Marino, op. cit., p. 107. 22 Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918), French writer and poet of Polish origin, poet and theorist of the Esprit Nouveau, precursor of surrealism. 23 Cf. http://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/personnage/Apollinaire/105814
147 that of modernism, with flexible time limits, defining the nature of what is modern, but the term itself appears much later. Although the concept of modernity appears once the work of Balzac24 (Zola says that „the title of the modern epic, set in France, is Human Comedy and its author is Balzac”), the term is “invented” by Chateaubriand. It was first used time in his Mémoires d'outre-tombe, published between1849-1850. The semantics of the term is nearly equivalent to that of its linguistic source (the frame-term of modern), because “its main constituent is the meaning of unrepeatable time”25. For Baudelaire, the concept of modernity is the continuous search for the beauty of the ephemeral, which, preserved and revealed by the artwork remains in eternity. He argues in his essay On Modernity (from the collection of essays The Modern Life Painter, XIII, 1863), that modernity is “the fugitive, the transitory, the unpredictable, the half art, the other half being the eternal, the immutable”. The artist’s aspiration to capture the ephemeral, to offer classical values to the snapshot captured by the artwork sets clear bounds between modernity and modernism, an attitude specified by denying classical values. Adrian Marino admirably expresses the essence of modernity, in his study Modern, Modernism, Modernity: “To rise to the universal, through transfiguration and creative crystallization the modern ephemeral - this is the real and profound modernity of art and literature and, at the same time, the technique of achieving this modernity”26. From this perspective, modernity is an essential principle of creation, with universality value both historically and conceptually. If the term modern is framework-concept and modernism - an attitude marked by exaggerations and experimentations, modernity is both a creative concept and a stylistic era that encompasses post-romantic aesthetic trends. In fact, modernity has some similitudes with Romanticism, as the assertion of extreme individuality, “the reaction against the fundamental claims of classicism”27, freedom of imagination or subjectivism. Matei Calinescu believes that in terms of the denial of traditional values, the aesthetic modernity appears from the end of the eighteenth century and early nineteenth century, „disguised as romantism”28. Placed, conceptually, within the interface between the two aesthetic models, Baudelaire emerges from the classical model, by including modernity as a poetic reason. The beauty of ugliness (Les fleurs du mal), violence and sensuality (Une Martyre), ecstasy and horror (Mon coeur mis à
24 Cf http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor%C3%A9_de_Balzac # Balzac_inventeur_du_roman_ moderne 25 Matei Calinescu, FIVE FACES OF MODERNITY (Iasi: Polirom, 2005), p. 39. 26 Adrian Marino, op. cit., p. 118. 27 Matei Calinescu, op. cit., p. 18. 28 ibid. 148 nu29), protest apology30 and discovery of modern sensibility31, these shocking juxtapositions, make Baudelaire one of the precursors of symbolism and surrealism, and will be reflected in the aesthetics of twentieth-century modernity. Treated as a stylistic period, modernity in literature and arts starts in the early nineteenth century and continues until the second half of the twentieth century, reaching its peak expression by the Dada movement (Tristan Tzara) and abstract art (Wassily Kandinsky). In music, however, the split with tradition is not so abrupt and permanent, for musical modernity in its stylistic diversity has different and sometimes contrary aesthetic features, developing on the triad tonal music – modal music - atonal music. The generic title of "modern music" refers to the music of the first half of the twentieth century, that of the second half of the century being called “contemporary music”. The multitude of experimentation and diversity of aesthetic guidelines lead to a lack of stylistic unity, which determines the regrouping of composers of different genres (such as Debussy, The Group of the Six, Stravinsky, Bartók, Richard Strauss, Enescu, Ravel, Sibelius, Schönberg, etc.) under the name of “modern composers”. According to J.J. Nattiez “the music of the twentieth century represented a profound transformation, not only because of stylistic changes it underwent from Debussy to Boulez (symbolically speaking) in terms of classical tonality, but also because the long road of musical modernity has not yet reached the stability of a new universal musical language”32. Essentially, musical modernity primarily involves the separation of the expressive semantics of the stress- relaxation arc, generated by harmonic and tonal functionality, and also the renouncement at thematic elements which is a fundamental creation principle in tonal music. In the late nineteenth century, the complexity of tonal-harmonic relationships increases in proportion to the introduction and development of the chromatic total, consecrated in instrumental music by Franz Liszt and Johannes Brahms, and in opera by Richard Wagner. The tonal-harmonic magnetism is
29 CF. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Baudelaire - in Mon coeur mis à nu, in 1864, Baudelaire says: "As a child, I felt in my heart two contradictory feelings: ecstasy and horror of life." 30 In the introduction to the three poems of Paris Saloon from 1846, Baudelaire wrote that "an artist's first concern is to replace man with nature and to protest against it." 31 In the 1859 Saloon, he asserts that "the beautiful is always bizarre (strange)”. 32 Jean-Jacques Nattiez, „Comment racconter le XXe siècle”, in: MUSIQUES - UNE ENCYCLOPÉDIE POUR LE XXE SIÈCLE, 1, sous la direction de Jean-Jacques Nattiez (Ed. Actes sud, 2003), p. 48.
149 firstly dissipated by the ambiguity that suspends the need for ties (according to Pascal Bentoiu)33 and then by the transfiguration of the whole harmonic concept. The four directions of the evolution of modern harmonic concept (modalism, the chord transfer from harmonic to melodic, atonalism and polytonality), having a generative nature, corresponded either to experimental steps, or to stylistic influences, or to defining features (but not exclusivists) in the creation of modern composers. Schönberg, for instance, begins as a romantic composer following the tradition of German music (being a great admirer of Wagner, Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart and Bach) and then becomes the “father” of dodecaphonism and Serialism, to return to tonal writing in the Chamber Symphony no. 2 (started in 1906 and completed in 1939). In addition, he states (referring to tonal writing) that “there are still so many beautiful things to be written in C Major”34 34. Also, the work of Debussy, essentially impressionist, includes all other aspects (modalism, polytonality and even atonality). A conclusive example is Strawinsky’s work structured into three periods - Russian (marked by modal folk), neoclassical and serialist periods. The dissipation of tonal-harmonic magnetism (an intrinsic component of the classical and romantic music) is associated (in the modern era) to the transfiguration of two other creation principles characteristic to tonal music – thematic elements and extensive developments leading to the reformulation of architectural principles. Original, rhythmic and architectural melodic compositions, characteristic to the new aesthetics, coexist in the modern era with classical, romantic and baroque elements, exactly as the harmonic concept. Thus in music, unlike in literature and fine arts, the break with tradition and academism is not complete and does not occur aggressively. Moreover, the stylistic plurality that exists in this period is experienced or adopted by most composers, so that we cannot certainly assert exclusive affiliation of a particular composer to a certain trend. On the other hand, one of the defining features of modernity is a reaction against existing values. In music, each trend either opposes an anterior or a parallel one. Thus, Neoclassicism (and Impressionism) appears as a reaction against Romanticism, and includes composers such as Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Ravel, Hindemith, Reger, Bartok, but also Francis Poulenc and Darius Milhaud who belong to the Group of the Six. Expressionism which includes composers of the Second Viennese School, but is also found in Ravel's or Stravinsky’s works, is an attitude against Impressionism (as the Group of the Six). Therefore Ravel has both impressionist and expressionist influences, while Eric Satie (joining the
33 Pascal Bentoiu, MUSICAL THINKING (Bucharest: Music Publishing House, 1975), pp. 126-134. 34 Cf. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Sch% C3% B6nberg.
150 Group of the Six) presents impressionist influences. The coexistence of different, even opposable trends in a composer’s work proves once again the flexibility of aesthetic thinking regarding musical modernity, imbued in a stylistic and conceptual plurality.
Modernism or modernity? Associate Professor Elena Ovănescu Pîrvu PhD (University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi)
Abstract If the term modern is framework-concept and modernism - an attitude marked by exaggerations and experimentations, modernity is both a creative concept and a stylistic era that encompasses post-romantic aesthetic trends. Adrian Marino admirably expresses the essence of modernity, in his study Modern, Modernism, Modernity: "To rise to the universal, through transfiguration and creative crystallization the modern ephemeral - this is the real and profound modernity of art and literature and, at the same time, the technique of achieving this modernity”. Essentially, musical modernity primarily involves the separation of the expressive semantics of the stress-relaxation arc, generated by harmonic and tonal functionality, and also the renouncement at thematic elements which is a fundamental creation principle in tonal music.
151
Beneficial Subliminal Music
Lecturer Rosina Caterina Filimon PhD student (The University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi)
„The greatest illusion is that mankind has limitation.” Robert Monroe
The present doctoral paper is a follow-up the research paper “Subliminal music” published in the journal “Artes” (Vol. 6, pp. 141-154), which focused on presenting the harmful effects of the messages hidden in the musical discourse. According to this paper, “information perceived subliminally is processed and appropriated at a subconscious and unconscious level; thus subliminal programming becomes an instrument used to influence and alter behavior” 1. The present paper, Beneficial subliminal music, describes the use of subliminal music to obtain beneficial effects on the human mind and organism with the help of the technologies Binaural Beats şi Hemi-Sync. The human body is conceived in such a manner that it can vibrate with the sonic waves. We hear not only with the aid of the auditory apparatus, but also with the neural cerebral system, while it is self-evident that “the auditory system can operate only because it is connected to the nervous system. The human body is similar to a reverberating musical instrument” 2. The frequency of the audible sonic wave is between 30 and 15.000 vibrations per second, measured in Hz. The intensity of audible sonic waves is between 0 dB (corresponding to the lowest sound that the human ear can perceive) and 140 dB (the intensity of a sound so loud that it almost reaches the pain limit). This is how Yehudi Menuhin describes the vibrations that surround us and the way they are captured by the auditory apparatus: “Since music consists of audible vibrations, I would like to consider the human ear for a moment. What an extraordinarily strained instrument this is and how indefatigable, as ears continually demand to be satisfied and are never entirely idle. It is symbolically significant, to my mind, that we are endowed with eyelids to cover our eyes, but there is no stop for the ears, no way to block or remove the noises around us. Our ears can cause us to wake from the deepest sleep and only the deaf person, whom I conceive of as the loneliest of people, can imagine a world of total silence. At best, our ears can detect sounds that vibrate at less than 30 beats per second to 15,000 beats per second. These sounds, however, represent only one fraction of the much wider set of vibrations existing in the world; some of them can be perceived by our
1 Rosina Caterina Filimon, „Muzica subliminală”, revista Artes, Vol. 6 (Iaşi: Artes), p. 141. 2 Dorothée Koechlin de Bizemont, EDGAR CAYCE. MUZICOTERAPIE – MAGIA VINDECĂRII PRIN MUZICĂ (Editura PRO, 2005), p. 59. 153 ears as distinct individual beats, for instance the heart beats, at an average of 72 per minute, while others can only be seen, such as the ocean waves, the day- night cycle, the phases of the moon, the change of the seasons”3. The entire body is permeated by sound and responds with a sound, like a genuine musical instrument. Both musicians and music therapists, Steven Halpern and Louis M. Savary have put forward the idea that ”if on the one hand our body cells and our senses may be seen as vibration transformers, on the other hand the whole body is an instrument that releases its own vibrations and sounds. Some sounds such as the breathing rhythm and heart beats are audible, whereas others are more subtle and more profound and seem to escape us. Were we endowed with the appropriate auditory apparatus we could «hear» our own harmony”4. The human body captures the vibrations, then internally transforms them into emotions and responds through its own vibrations, through its own music. Menuhin stated that „there is sound right in the middle of the vibrations’ cycle. I am very sure that music helps us stay in touch with all the vibrations in the world. When the lowest sounds of a big church organ are heard, we can feel the vibrations in the whole body: also the violin which releases sounds up to the seventh octave has a similar impact on us”5. The human body responds to a sound with another sound due to the resonance phenomenon. While the science phenomenon of resonance has been known for a long time, its impact on health has just recently been studied. In 1665, The Dutch physicist and mathematician Christiaan Huygens (1629 – 1695) (who is also the scientifically who developed the undulatory theory of light) noticed that two pendulums located one next to each other on the same wall show a tendency to synchronize their oscillatory motion, getting the same rhythm by a mutual transfer of energy6. In fact, the two pendulums mutually synchronize their own frequency. Similarly, sounding a tuning fork which emits a sound wave with a constant frequency of 440 Hz, will determine another sounding fork to start vibrating spontaneously in response to the sound waves released by the former. Resonance has an impact on the whole universe and manifests itself at sound, electromagnetic, nuclear and gravitational levels. If we carefully listen to the effect that a speaker has upon some glasses positioned in its vicinity, apart from the music from the speaker we will perceive some other sounds emitted by the glasses that have started resonating with the vibrations from the sound source. Upon trying various types of music we will notice that vibrations bear different impact on the glasses. The same is true when the human body is in contact with
3 Yehudi Menuhin, Davis W. Curtis, MUZICA OMULUI (Bucureşti: Ed. Muzicală, 1984), p. 22. 4 Gianfranco Inserra, Il corpo e la musica, http://www.psicoterapia-corporea.com/ 5 Yehudi Menuhin, Davis W. Curtis, ibidem. 6 Richard Gordon, QUANTUM-TOUCH: THE POWER TO HEAL (Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books, 2006), p. 16.
154 sound vibrations, in cases such as audition in a concert hall, or producing sounds ourselves. Not all sound sources have a positive impact on health: for instance, atonal contemporary music creates a physical and mental state of discomfort in the body by the multitude of dissonances, and so do hard rock and heavy metal music, as well as the noise in the surrounding environment. A physician specialized in alternative medicine Masaru Emoto (b. 1943) made it possible to visualize the effects of vibrations generated by music, words, and feelings based on research results related to wave fluctuation measurement in water. Frozen water crystals previously subjected to vibrations were photographed in special conditions and showed that due to resonance, the transmitted vibrations had changed the water’s crystallographic structure to a great extent. In Masaru’s opinion, this structural modification is valid in the case of water contained by the human body as well, taking into account that water in the human body amounts to a huge ratio (90% at birth, 70% in adulthood and 50% in old age). In the case of classic music “that water was exposed to well- formed crystals resulted, with distinct characteristics. In contrast, the water exposed to violent heavy metal music resulted in fragmented and malformed crystals at best”7. The picture gallery authored by Emoto comprises harmonious images of crystals created using pieces by composers Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky. “Be mindful, then, of the music you’re listening to, for it is like food: we should not limit ourselves to a superficial taste, but we should try to evaluate what effects it has on us, or whether we ‹‹digest it›› well or whether it is harmful, for if we listen to a certain type of music, our state of well being may increase or decrease”8. Just as we avoid food additives, so we should avoid the musical equivalents of food additives! The resonance phenomenon accounts for brain waves-related occurrences. Even though by nature people are characterized by a specific combination of different brain waves, research shows that related individuals exhibit a cerebral synchronization of as much as 90%. These findings have created opportunities for assessing phenomena such as empathy, telepathy, and couple affection. Similarly, it has been found that when the brain was subjected to visual, sound or electric impulse, it had a natural tendency to synchronize itself with the transmitted impulse. The phenomenon was called Frequency-Following Response (FFR)9. For example, when the cerebral activity induced stress in the body and the subject was exposed to a different frequency stimulus corresponding to a state of relaxation, the brain would modify its activity due to resonance with the induced pattern. These investigations were the starting point
7 Masaru Emoto, MESAJELE ASCUNSE ÎN APĂ (Braşov: Ed.Adevăr Divin,2006), p. 25. 8 Enrico Cheli, I poteri nascosti dei suoni, http://www.globalvillage-it.com/enciclopedia/med 9 F. Atwater Holmes, “Accessing Anomalous States of Consciousness with a Binaural Beat Technology”, Journal of Scientific Exploration, Society for Scientific Exploration, Vol. 11, No. 3, 1997, p. 263.
155 that led to the discovery of frequencies called Binaural Beats10. The technology was discovered in 1839 by the German physicist Heinrich Wilhelm Dove (1803 – 1879) and tested on the encephalograph by the American biophysicist Gerald Oster (1918 – 1993)11 in 1973 at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. The Binaural Beats technique is a recent discovery in music therapy and currently it counts as “the best known method of mental training”12 , being researched and experimented upon in various research centres and universities. The use of binaural beats is achieved through mixing them with music or various sounds. When put into practice, this acoustic alchemy resulted in a significant increase in the creative power and in the acceleration of the learning process, in decreasing pain, anxiety and depression, in inducing sleep, relaxation, meditation and hypnosis. This happens when two sounds of dissimilar frequencies are sent separately through earphones to each ear, while the brain operates a difference in phase between the two sounds. The brain processes the two different sounds of 1000 Hz maximum frequency and creates the sense of a third sound called Binaural Beats. This sound must not exceed 30 Hz so that the brain may be stimulated in a positive way only, thus inducing the desired cerebral wavelength. Since the human ear does not perceive sonic waves with a frequency lower than 30 Hz (classified as infrasounds), it has to be “deceived” through this special technique. Electronics and computers applied to music make the use of such frequencies possible through the special sonic waves. Depending on the frequency of the stimulus, a certain brain wave is induced, which is associated to a certain state of the organism. To conclude, Binaural Beats are in fact a subliminal aural message because they cannot be captured by the human ear and are perceived unconsciously at brain level. For example, if a sound of 510 Hz frequency is released in the right ear and another of 500 Hz is simultaneously released in the left ear, the difference of 10 Hz will be perceived and decoded by the brain which in turn will be stimulated as a reaction to the new sound generated by this innovative technique. Binaural Beats are brain’s auditory responses Fig. 1 Graphic representation coming from the superior oval nucleus of each of the Binaural Beat wave cerebral hemisphere (Fig. 1). “In the case of
10 ibidem, pp. 263-274. 11 Gerald Oster, “Auditory beats in the brain”, Scientific American Magazine, Nr. 229, 1973, pp. 94-102. 12 Vadim-Alexandru Pungulescu, “Câteva consideraţii despre remodelarea cerebrală frecvenţmetrică”, Sesiunea de comunicări ştiinţifice „Spaţiul sud-est european în contextul globalizării” (Bucureşti: Ed. Universităţii Naţionale de Apărare “Carol I”), 2007, p. 163.
156 binaural beats, the brain acts like a mixer. These impulses encourage mental training. In ancient cultures monoaural beats were used to induce a state of trance in the brain using rhythmic drum sounds and other instruments that generate such waves, a specific example being the Zulu and the South American rituals”13. The brain is in a permanent flow of electric and chemical activity, releasing electric impulses called brain waves: Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma whose combinations determine an individual’s different states of conscience. In order to understand the underlying principles in beneficial subliminal music it is necessary to understand our brain waves activity. The states of conscience are associated with brain waves frequency patterns illustrated by the electroencephalograph. These wave frequencies calculated in Hz vary depending on the individual’s state of conscience. The brain waves used in the binaural technology have been categorized into four frequency bands which correspond to the four frequency patterns reflecting different brain activities. Delta waves ranging between 0.5 Hz and 4 Hz correspond to deep physical and mental relaxation of deep, dreamless sleep. They also define the clinic condition of unconsciousness and are produced in either self-degeneration or self-healing processes. Theta waves which are located between 4 Hz and 8 Hz accompany deep meditation and REM dream-type sleep. They also associate with artistic, creative processes as well as with eager study habits. Children, more than adults, are by nature in the Theta stage, therefore learning and retaining information is much easier for them. Alpha waves have a frequency ranging between 8 Hz and 14 Hz and characterize the vivid yet relaxed state of conscience, calm and receptive mind, and are typical of meditation. Beta waves ranging between 14 Hz and 30 Hz underlie our fundamental activities related to survival and are associated with brain’s alert intellectual activity (Fig. 2). For instance, on reading these lines your brain produces beta waves. At times of stress and anxiety, the Beta waves allow us to keep the situation under control and easily find solutions.
Cerebral waves Wave band Cerebral states
Delta 0.5 Hz – 4 Hz deep sleep
Tetha 4 Hz – 8 Hz drowsiness and the first stage of sleep
Alpha 8 Hz – 14 Hz relaxation
Beta 14 Hz – 30 Hz alertness and focus
Fig. 2 The cerbral waves, their respective wave bands and the brain states they induce
13 ibidem, pp.163-164. 157
The EEG signal dominant frequency establishes the brain’s state: if, for instance, the Alpha wave amplitude is higher than of the others waves, the brain is in the Alpha state. If Beta waves are predominant and a 10 Hz stimulus corresponding to Alpha waves is induced, the cerebral activity will change and get synchronized with the frequency to which it was exposed, thus changing the individual’s mood. When the brain’s state is closer to that of the stimulus applied, this state is even more efficiently induced. In fact, if the desired effect is the leading of the brain cells to a certain state of “emission”, it is necessary to apply a frequency that corresponding to their “wavelength” at that moment, which should then be augmented or reduced, so that the brain is in permanent resonance with the stimulus applied, until the desired state is reached. The cerebral synchronization occurs naturally on a day-to-day basis but only incidentally and on short term periods. The majority of people in modern society use the vigil state of their brains, leading to Beta wave predominance. This wave frequency is typical of analytic thinking as well as permanent tension, concern and anxiety, based on which most of the cerebral wave transformers attempt to convert Beta waves in Alpha ones. The easiest methods of brain stimulation are put into practice using auditory and visual subliminal stimuli. Such techniques are already used in space missions. For example, when for technical reasons the astronauts have to work long hours without a break or stay awake to monitor the equipment, they are submitted to a treatment based on intermittent light and sounds which alter their biological clock and reactivates focus, enabling them to fight sleep and fatigue. Many companies have applied the Binaural Beats technology in creating the so-called Mind Machines which induce the desired state in the brain thus yielding similar effects to yoga meditation, autogenous training, but in a much shorter time and through easier techniques. One such device is Reson-8 (Fig. 3), a miniature Binaural Beats generator that synchronizes the cerebral hemispheres to the Alpha, Theta or Delta wavelengths. Reson-8 is equipped with a microprocessor containing eight audio programs on different frequencies: three programs for inducing Alpha waves, three for Theta waves, and two programs for Delta waves. The use of Fig. 3 Reson-8 the device is very simple, requiring mere program listening using a headset. Reson-8 was created to improve the learning processes, to help cure insomnia and headache, addiction to medicine, drugs, alcohol, or smoking, and to support excessive weight loss. Ronald Montplaisir from Saint Louis, State of Missouri (USA) shared his experience using Reson-8 wave generator “to help me learn to create more endorphins so I could quit taking morphine. I have a rare bone disease (Erdheim-Chester). /…/ I searched 158 the Internet and found the brain wave generator. I set up a 10 voice profile and used it for 4 months almost non stop day and night. Next month I stopped taking Zoloft and 13 months later I was completely off pain killers. From time to time the pain rises up and I use the generator for a few days. /…/ My case is very well documented and I would be happy to discuss it. This technology is quite remarkable.” 14 Rod Paille from Mount Carmel, State of Illinois (USA) stated that “for years I have been suffering from cycles of insomnia, sometimes sleeping only 4 hours a night for days in a row. As owner of a health food store I have access to all herbal products for sleep. These would help sometimes but only for a while. […] When I tried the brain wave generator I was able to design some presets that have worked extremely well for me. I fall asleep easily and if I wake up usually a few minutes with the tape is all it takes. My insomnia has decreased by at least 90%. I am greatly impressed!”15 The subliminal cell phone is one of the Samsung Company’s notable achievements, apart from cell phones capable of fingerprint recognition or movement detection. Samsung SCH-S35016 promoters state that this cell phone can induce Alpha waves in order to increase mental vividness and focus. The Alpha waves are released by a cell phone-integrated MP3 player. The Binaural Beats phenomenon was also researched by Robert Monroe at the research centre bearing his name – The Monroe Institute (TMI)- founded in 1974 and aimed at the development of human potential. In his experiments, Monroe proved that certain sounds can be mixed so that they modify the cerebral activity, triggering a change in the individual’s mood from deep relaxation or sleep to states of expanded consciousness. The technology studied and developed by Monroe based on the Binaural Beats phenomenon was called Hemi-Sync17. Robert Allan Monroe (1915 – 1995) (Fig. 4) was an American engineer, businessman, inventor, a pioneer in investigating the human consciousness, radio station producer and director, and was also known as a radio, TV and cinema music composer. Born in Lexington, Kentucky in 1915, he graduated engineering at Ohio State University and in 1937 became a producer and manager at two radio stations in Ohio. Two years later, he extended his radio career to New York, where he produced and Fig. 4 Robert Monroe managed weekly radio shows and finally set his own
14 Brain wave generator: testimonials from users, http://www.bwgen.com/comments.htm 15 ibidem. 16 Samsung's SCH-S350 emits alpha waves, http://www.engadget.com/2005/04/18/samsungs- sch-s350-emits-alpha-waves/ 17 Hemi-Sync reprezintă prescurtarea de la Hemispheric Synchronization (sincronizarea emisferelor cerebrale)
159 broadcasting company; in the 50’s and 60’s this company produced around 28 radio programmes. In this period, Monroe became notorious as a composer of music for the radio, television and cinema. He bought several radio stations in North Carolina and Virginia and engaged in the development of cable television; he was one of the founders of the company Jefferson Cable Corporation. While he continued his successful radio activity, he initiated his first experiments in the states of expanded consciousness. In 1956 he created a research and development department to study the effect of various sound patterns on human consciousness. He initiated experiments of methods and techniques aimed at learning processes acceleration, including the possibility of learning while sleeping. Furthermore, Monroe worked in close connection with physicists, biochemists, doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists to add more perspective to his initial findings. His preliminary studies were published in his first book “Journeys Out of the Body” 18 (1971) available in 8 languages. His research led to remarcable discoveries on the nature of the human conscience and in 1975 Monroe patented his Hemi-Sync audio technology. In the 70’s he started to present workshops on the explorarion of the conscious mind in various areas of the United States; in 1979 The Monroe Institute moves in its own building in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia Fig. 5 Monroe Institute, (Fig. 5). The methodology promoted by the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia Monroe institute does not contain any political or religous creed; it is rather a non-invasive method – the attendants exercise their free choice and retain their convictions. Monroe’s research has triggered the development of an extended industry of audio products for the mind; millions of people have benefited of them so far. The programmes within the Monroe Institute are accompanied by CD-s containing Metamusic aimed at helping and cheering the listener and do not contain any subliminal messages. Metamusic mixes the Hemi-Sync technology with various types of music ranging from classical to New Age. Through these CD-s the brain is stimulated by auditory means and the immediate effects are deep muscle relaxation, diminished pain, a feeling of deep calm and peacefulness and increased well being.
18 Robert Monroe, ULTIMATE JOURNEY (New York: Broadway Books, 2000).
160 Examples of metamusic audio materials released by The Monroe Institute: The CD “Einstein's Dream” 19 (Fig. 6) is aimed at intensifying mental abilities using the Mozart Effect20. It addresses the spirit and the intellect, stimulating focus and imagination. It is also meant to help patients suffering from Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), dyslexia and other learning challenges. The CD includes Albert Einstein’s favorite pieces, i.e. Mozart’s thaumaturgic Sonata Fig. 6 for Two Pianos in D major, K. 448 to which the Hemi-Sync Einstein's Dr eam sound technology was added in order to facilitate the desired cerebral synchronization. The CD “Portraits”21 (Fig. 7) use Hemi-Sync sound technology to balance and focus the brain and includes music by Bach, Mozart and Beethoven in recognition of their genius. The CD is exploring the imaginary possibility for the three composers to create using the presently available technology and puts forward a reevaluation of the Fig. 7 Portraits existent audio material. The CD “Baroque Garden”22 (Fig. 8) contains pieces composed by Bach, Vivaldi, Corelli and Albinoni combined with the Hemi-Sync technique in order to create a suitable environment for concentration and creativity. The music on this CD is interpreted by Arcangelos Chamber Ensemble and produced by Richard Lawrence and Joshua Leeds. For instance, the first entry on the CD is the second part Largo Fig. 8 in Vivaldi’s Concerto for Oboe and Violin, RV 548. On Baroque Garden comparing the original form of this composition with the one recorded on this CD, it can be seen that even if the original form has been preserved unaltered, some changes have been made: while the soloist instruments are the oboe and the violin, on the CD the oboe is replaced by the flute; the version recorded on the CD has a simplified melody of the solo part, interpreted in Largo by the flute, while the melody ornaments and variations on a theme are eliminated; the figuration accompaniment of the violin in arpeggios is intepreted in pizzicato. All these alterations were performed for the recording to accomplish the CD’s declared vision of a “Baroque Garden”. The audio
19 Einstein's Dream, Primary Artist: J.S. Epperson, Record Label: Monroe Products, Music with Hemi-Sync® Binaural Beats, 1996. 20 Rosina Caterina Filimon, „Efectul Mozart. Sonata KV 448”, revista Artes, Vol. 5, pp. 242- 247. 21 Portraits, Record Label: Monroe Products, Music with Hemi-Sync® Binaural Beats, 2000. 22 Baroque Garden, Record Label: Monroe Products, Music with Hemi-Sync® Binaural Beats, 2000. 161 material rearranged by Richard Lawrence does not on the beauty of the original composition: it offers a new perspective to which value was added by means of interpretational accuracy. Richard Owen Lawrence (1946 – 2005)23 (Fig. 9), Richard Owen Lawrence (1946 – 2005), born in Troon, Scotland, Lawrence was a violinist, composer, orchestrator, producer and sound engineer. At 12 he won the Edinburgh Music Festival trophy and went on to study the violin at The Royal Scottish Academy of Music in Glasgow. He studied under the Amadeus Fig. 9 Quartet’s guidance, was a member of the BBC Richard Lawr ence Orchestra in Bristol and of other orchestras and chamber music ensembles in Europe, Canada and America thus performing a vast repertoire. As a musical director of the company The Arcangelos Chamber Ensemble and Advanced Brain Technologies (ABT)24, Lawrence combined his musical talent with his skill as a sound engineer. He produced audio recordings for ABT aimed at enhancing focus development, learning, thinking, motivation, productivity, inspiration, and relaxation support (Fig. 10).
Fig. 10 CD-s produced by ABT Music
As with other metamusic recordings, the CD-s in this series contain re-orchestrated classic music whose parts have been reorganized in order to increase the effectiveness in reaching the targeted aim. For instance, “Music to Relax”25 (Fig. 11) is focused on mental relaxation, rest and rejuvenation, muscular hyperactivity decrease, and reflective ability improvement and contains the following Fig. 11 Sound Health – Music to Relax musical pieces: 01. Bach – Arioso from Concerto for harpsichord, strings and basso continuo No. 5
23 A Tribute to Richard O. Lawrence, EEG Newsletter, Vol. 5, issue 5, February 2006, http://www.eeginfo.com/newsletter/vol5_issue5_newsletter.htm 24 Advanced Brain Technologies, http://www.advancedbrain.com/ 25 Music to Relax, Artist: The Arcangelos Chamber Ensemble, Record Label: Advanced Brain Tech, 1998.
162 in F minor, BWV 1056; 02. Beethoven – Adagio from Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat Major (“Emperor"), Op. 73; 03. Chopin – Largo from Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58, CT. 203; 04. Corelli – Adagio from Concerto Grosso in G minor (“Christmas Concerto"), Op. 6, No. 8; 05. Schubert – Andante from Piano Trio No. 1 in B flat Major, D. 898; 06. Bach – Air from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068; 07. Bach – Adagio from Concerto for 2 harpsichords, strings, and basso continuo in C minor, BWV 1060; 08. Vivaldi – Largo from Concerto for violin, strings and basso continuo in A minor Op. 3, No. 6, RV 356; 09. Schumann – Träumerei from Kinderszenen for piano, Op. 15/7; 10. Bach – Arioso from Concerto for harpsichord, strings and basso continuo No. 5, in F minor, BWV 1056. The musical pieces have been selected based on his research and experience as a violinist on the one hand and his studies spanning over 20 years to determine the impact of music on the psyche and the human body, on the other hand. In producing the CD-s, Lawrence’s personal experience was supported by other researchers’ findings in studying the phenomenon, including the Bulgarian psychiatrist Georgi Lozanov (n. 1926) who studied the effects of baroque slow musical movements on learning and memorization processes, the English composer Cyril Scott (1879 – 1970) who wrote extensively about several composers’ music effects and influence on the social life of the time, the French doctor Alfred Tomatis (1920 – 2001) who researched the effects of music on the auditory function and cerebral processes, doctor John Diamond (b. 1934) who looked at the effects of music on interpreters and orchestra directors. The ABT project accomplishment was for Lawrence an alternative to the noise of contemporary world. ”All of us, children and adults, are bombarded every day by noises and sounds that have deleterious effects on our nervous systems and well-being. Even when we consider our houses to be quiet, there is often a hum from the lights, refrigerator, and other electrical appliances. We have to work hard to «tune out» extraneous sounds in order to focus on conversations, our studies, or the task at hand. One practical solution to this modern problem is to create healthy sound to mask the irritating environmental noise pollution”26.
Beneficial Subliminal Music Lecturer Rosina Caterina Filimon PhD student (The University of Arts “George Enescu”, Iasi)
Abstract The PhD study hereafter is a follow-up to the scientific dissertation titled “Subliminal Music” and published in Artes journal (Vol. 6, pp. 141-154), in which the harmful impact of subliminal messages hidden in musical speech has been debated.
26 Richard O. Lawrence, Creating Sound Health, www.advancedbrain.com/resource_center/articles/Article_Creating_Sound_Health.pdf 163 The present study, Benefic Subliminal Music, describes the usage of subliminal music set to incur beneficial effects on the human mind and body through the Binaural Beats technology and Hemi-Sync technology. The Binaural Beats technology was discovered by the German physicist Heinrich Wilhelm Dove (1803–1879) in 1839 and tested on the encephalograph by the American biophysicist Gerald Oster (1918 – 1993) in 1973, at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. This procedure represents a recent discovery in the musicotherapy field and a new brain training technique, studied and tested in many research centers and universities. The cerebral hemispheres synchronization technology Binaural Beats was applied by Robert Monroe (1915 – 1995) as Hemi-Sync sound technology by means of mixing cerebral wave frequencies with music, nature sounds, and verbal guidance to the result of something more than music – Metamusic. This acoustic alchemy put into practice has yielded significant results in creative capability development, learning processes acceleration, pain relief, anxiety and depression amelioration, as well as in relaxation, meditation, and hypnosis induction.
164 Art and Mass Communication
Lecturer Adrian L. Mociulschi, Ph.D. (National University of Music Bucharest)
In front of a tree struck by the flashes from heaven, our ancestors would have seen in this phenomenon an act of power and magnificence of the natural world. The individual presence was full of fear and astonishment. The „signs” from heaven, lightning and burning, had been preceded the formation of community opinion across tribal communities. The stage of the natural events will be transformed into a cosmic sanctuary. The crowd is assumed to be formed around the source of heat and light. Behavior derives directly from the views of the group members since the opinion is created through the act of communication. For troglodytes, the meaning of the things was invariably the same. For example, the fire would have been undoubtedly sacred. The normative perception, created by the reddish flames, had operated at the level of collective beliefs, shared by the entire community. Thus, we see that attention - as mental activity to observe nature in action - allowed the first humans to record in their memory all the details they will engrave later on the rocky caverns. It goes without saying that the prehistoric artist painted from memory. We could not imagine him or her doing sketches “by model” or drawing a live antelope leap, the run of a bison or the mammoth monumentality1. The art of the imitation will be for Prehistory people a method to gain “power” over the visible world through the unseen ways, and so the walls of the caves will be drawn in the smallest details with animal images. The cave paintings materialize the humans’ aim to gain an identity between living nature and their abstract signs, painted or incised on the stones. Undoubtedly that any outward appearance held up to us from the ancient times, depicts an ideational content which often comes from a distant past, as the starlight. The fact that people have dedicated resources and energy to create – in fact to communicate – shows the importance of the art for any human activity, beyond the immediate needs related to survival. We might think as the German sociologist Tönnies, that the roots of opinions and beliefs shared by community as a whole are the judgment and the will. The “Thinker” of Hamangia is perhaps one of the best example : a three- dimensional image of a character musing in a meditative position, leaning his head in his hands, had been proved the prehistoric artist's abilities to express an abstract idea. This work is an act of will, a testimony of an ancient power of our
1 Marcel Brion, HOMO PICTOR, traducere de Maria Vodă Căpuşan şi Victor Felea (Bucureşti: Meridiane, 1977), p. 33.
165 ancestors to communicate consciously or not an artistic message. The symbols have been interpreted to signify differently by those who came in direct contact over history, but they were regarded with the same eyes, belonging to the same people from different times and locations. Therefore, the “Thinker” inherited from Neolithic culture in Dobrudja (Romania) has certainly a higher audience today than it has in the past. Archaeological discovery of the ancient ceramic statuette meant the choosing an interpretation of its data, according to the contemporary human commitment to its own belief system projected in the filed of the mass communication. This might be the triumph of significance given through the recognition of homo sapiens’ stylized personification: the thoughtful human being. At a closer look, opinions contain at least potentially, the trend of exclusion of other views, explicitly or implicitly rated as unsatisfactory. The act of expressing an opinion reveals the faith of the speaker that his or her views are correct, while other views are either “false” or does not cover the parts of the truth that the speaker seeks to reveal. This report of „exclusivity” is present in the expression of each opinion2. According to Ferdinand Tönnies, in his fundamental book Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft (1887), we are differentiating the concept of “community” (Gemeinschaft) in respect of rural specific association (governed by unwritten customs and traditions), and the concept of “society” (Gesellschaft) in which traditional duties (family, religion) fades in favor of relations objectified by economic and political factors. This may occur a significant change in the perception, referring to the same object. For example, cave paintings such as Altamira, Lascaux or Val Camonica reflects the primitives’ understanding of nature as religion (such as animism), while the contemporary perception, in the 21st century, is related to the public opinion. This determines the attention which clot out the crowd towards the forms and the content of life. We can also observe the interaction between Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft through the acculturation of populations that have adopted the behavior of the dominant culture - urban civilization. According to the memorandum signed by Robert Redfield, Melville J. Herskovits and Ralph Linton in 1936, “acculturation understands those phenomena which result when groups of individuals having different cultures come in contact with cultural changes in the original model of one or both groups”3. So we can conclude that all cultural components, taken together, are restructuring the contacts between different cultures, which will
2 Paul Dobrescu, Alina Bârgăoanu, Nicoleta Corbu, ISTORIA COMUNICĂRII (Bucureşti: Comunicare.ro, 2007), p. 56. 3 Robert Redfield, Ralph Linton, J. Melville Herskovits, „Memorandum for the study of acculturation”, AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, vol. 38, 1936, p. 149.
166 merge finally in the global culture. In this transformational process, the decisive role is played by the public opinion, which determines the appearance of criticism, that dissemination of opinion who can generate groups “pro” and “against”. For example, rural youth, who left home to live and work in the cities, brought jeans matched with jackets, shirts or blouses in regions where only traditional port was wearing. Folk dances, rites or ceremonies related once agrarian were replaced with rhythmic movements played in the discotheques. This subject is regarded by some contemporaries as the inevitable consequence of progress, and by others as a loss for our civilization. The differences of opinions can take, sometimes, radical forms, as noted with continued history of iconoclastic crisis that shook the Christian world of the first millennium after Christ. During a century, the „public opinion” in Byzantium and throughout Europe was split between iconoclasts, the prosecutors of the icons (seen as a way to idolatry) and iconodules, the advocates of figurative sacred images. Even if the opponents of the iconodules were emperors of Byzantium, the public opinion won because it had consensus of the collective will, being more powerful even than imperial policy. Other situations, less tense, resulted in a syncretism process, such as Brazilian religious environment, merging the Roman Catholic faith (brought by Christian missionaries in Latin America) with the ancient African rites. Perhaps one of the main attribute of the public is, paradoxically, to be critical. Its ability to resist, do express the adherence to the collective will. If the public will cease to make judgments, it will dissipates into a homogeneous mass. Thus, the bruitiste experiments has failed, despite the critics’ efforts to impose them as „values” in the public conscience. The concert halls remained empty, unable to collect a number of spectators at least equal to the number of musicians on the podium. In the absence of the audience, only a few experimenters and their supporters can be seen in the concert halls. Why Beethoven's music, despite the fact it comes from a relatively distant time, clot out the most music lovers today, filling the philharmonics up to the brim? Stefan Niculescu seems to give us an answer in his book, Reflections on Music (1980), by his study about Beethoven. It rightly says: “Beethoven lives among us”, sentence verified by the impressive number of concerts, records, studies, etc. constantly dedicated everywhere. But just as fair might say, by a substitution: “We live by Beethoven” - a reality that we are much less aware, despite the fact it is complementary to the first one4. Eventually, cave paintings and Renaissance paintings, once entered into the field of mass communication, along with early music or the Classicism art become contemporary aesthetic assets of our time - meeting the public
4 Ştefan Niculescu, REFLECŢII DESPRE MUZICĂ (Bucureşti: Ed.Muzicală, 1980), p. 231
167 consensus. Moreover, let’s notice a paradox while saying that contemporary art, in this sense, comes mostly from the past. The innovative artistic inspiration in major artists such as first Viennese classics, is the basis of belonging to this ongoing work. Beethoven’s sonata reach the peak of its development centuries old and proves, in this author, aesthetic opposition between two groups of subjects after a similar scheme evolving from ancient or classical tragedy (Beethoven has often declared himselh a great admirer of Shakespeare) : exposition of themes, their conflict and the end reveals the three steps of music growth (exposition, development, conclusion) like the famous Hegelian triples (thesis, antithesis and synthesis)5. Therefore, we distinguish Beethoven’s sonata as a form of musical drama or as a tragedy in which the characters are even the musical ideas that modulates one to another. Sonata is built from the material of tonality. The music harmony expresses what is standing in humans - the aspiration towards a balance established between reasoning and intuition. Opera is free from any historical conditioning today, via mass media. A synchronous perceive as reality, whether it is a Hieronymus Bosch painting or Magritte, whether it is an amazing work of Mozart or Puccini, whether is a poetry of Tristan Tsara or a stochastic composition of Iannis Xenakis. Music can be listened today beyond the concert halls, it might be listened while driving the car, broadcasted by the radio, it might be watched TV or DVD or via Internet or reached even on ISS. The pictures, no matter they belongs to primitives or avant-garde painters, they might be seen in the artistic albums, in reproductions, or via Internet. The art is transformed in the present days in a mass art, since it is transmitted, televised, put on air, advertised and relay by all our modern means of communication.
Bibliography Adorno, W. Theodor. ESSAYS ON MUSIC, translations by Susan H. Gillespie. University of Califonia Press, Berkely and Los Angeles, 2002. Berger, René.MUTAŢIA SEMNELOR, translations by Marcel Petrişor. Bucureşti: Meridiane, 1978. Brion, Marcel. HOMO PICTOR, translations by Maria Vodă Căpuşan and Victor Felea. Bucureşti: Meridiane, 1977. Dobrescu, Paul; Bârgăoanu, Alina; Corbu, Nicoleta. ISTORIA COMUNICĂRII. Bucureşti: Comunicare.ro, 2007. Faure, Élie. ISTORIA ARTEI. ARTA ANTICĂ, translations by Irina Mavrodin. Bucureşti: Meridiane, 1970. Maltese, Corrado. MESAJ ŞI OBIECT ARTISTIC, translations by Anca Giurescu. Bucureşti: Meridiane, 1976. Niculescu, Ştefan. REFLECŢII DESPRE MUZICĂ. Bucureşti: Ed. Muzicală, 1980.
5 Ştefan Niculescu, op. cit., p. 232.
168 Pânişoară, Ion-Ovidiu. COMUNICAREA EFICIENTĂ. Iaşi: Polirom, 2008. Redfield, Robert; Linton, Ralph; Herskovits, J. Melville. „Memorandum for the study of acculturation”. AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, vol. 38, 1936.
Art and Mass Communication Lecturer Adrian L. Mociulschi, Ph.D. (National University of Music Bucharest) Abstract The essay proposes a perspective over the contemporary artistic phenomenon, reported to the technological changes that have been resized and redesigned the artistic events, from cave paintings to Beethoven's sonatas, in the field of mass communication set up by the mainstream of the information society. Through mass communication channels, the artistic message spreads from the past to present days, across radio, television, Internet etc. being perceived by the public. Today, Beethoven's music is equally contemporary music, like Xenakis’.
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