Academic literature on the topic 'Concertos (Rachmaninoff, Sergei)'

This article addresses Rachmaninoff?s activities in Paris, both a musical capital of the world and unrivalled cultural centre of the Russian emigration until 1940. It looks at the small number of concerts performed by the pianist there and places them in the context of the French press. It attempts to understand his ambiguous personal relationship to the city, the activity of his publishing company ?TAIR?, and finally assesses the extent of the composer?s charitable endeavours for the Russian community. The article concludes Rachmaninoff was of monumental significance for the ?Russian? Paris.

The revival of spiritual culture on the verge of centuries, interest and respect for the traditions and ceremonies of the Orthodox Church, the rapid spread among the regents of the works of spiritual themes - all this led to the emergence of the style direction called nova musica sacra (by N. Gulianitskaya). Complex processes taking place in the field of contemporary composer creativity on the verge of the XX - XXI, cannot but show the affect on the church singing repertoire. Religious themes are increasingly appearing in the works of well-known Ukrainian artists (L. Dichko, E. Stankovich, M. Skoryk, V. Stepurko, G. Havrylets) and new authors of church chants - Volodymyr Feiner and Olena Yunek. Olena Yunek’s creativity is an example of liturgical as a secular concert application of the church repertoire. The education of a mistress’s personality took place on the basis of the Orthodox worldview. Her preferences of Ukrainian choral music from childhood were combined with participation in church-singing practice. The vast majority of works - spiritual content in the composer’s work refinement of the O. Yunek. The purpose of the article is to detect the identity of modern church music of young Ukrainian composers, whose works are becoming more popular in the choral performance of secular and spiritual collectives. The object of research – the work of Ukrainian church composers at the present stage; the subject – features of the individual composing style of O. Yunek, that been found on the material of the chants of the cycle "All-night vigil" (2007-2015). Research methodology. The presented material is the result of the interaction of musicological approaches to composing text (genre, composition, style, functional) and liturgical-theological discourse. Analysis of recent publications on research topic. A problem of author’s reading of canonical text by Ukrainian composers at the end of the XX - XXI centuries finds a solution in the thesis of O. Tyshchenko in terms of the correlation of the rite and genre [6]. The measure of the preservation of canonical features in the works of Ukrainian and Russian composers is determined in the work of N. Sereda on the material of the cycles of the Liturgy [4]. However, the cycle of "All-night vigil" in the works of contemporary Ukrainian composers has not yet become the subject of scientific interest on the part of musicology. The author of the article considered the problem of forming an individual style on the example of the All- Nightly V. Feiner, in which the original stylistic features of the polyphony of the Renaissance and the Ukrainian choral concert were originally combined [1]; The study of the work of O. Yunek in the master’s thesis was initiated. Presenting main material. When compiling their own church compositions Olena Yunek relied on the history of such outstanding artists as O. Yunek Georgy Sviridov, Sergei Rachmaninov, Arvo Pyart, Valery Kalistratov, Oleksiy Larin, Moris Duryuflie, Lesya Dichko. «All-night Vigil» is written for mixed choir. It consists of 19 chants, each of which is a separate independent composition, which can be performed independently of others. In the sequence of chants there are no traceable patterns associated with the dramatic organization of the whole. According to the author, she did not plan to create a separate cycle at the beginning, but in the process of composer’s searches, as well as through participation in the church choir at different times, a number of major chants of this cycle were created. Written at different times, the works do not have a common tonality. In general, mineral complexes predominate. The leitmotif system in the loop is absent, however, a number of composer techniques and means of expressiveness, combining works, can be traced. The article provides a holistic analysis of three chants from the cycle: Psalm 103, «O gladsome light», «From my youth». By their example, the presence of the melo-formula – singing, and constantly repeating rhythmic groups is clearly demonstrated. A detailed analysis of the harmonic sequences, the change of texture and the course of melodic lines made it possible to identify certain features of the composer’s individual style and the methods of writing that he uses to create church compositions. A comparative analysis of the canonical text and its interpretation in compositions by O. Yunek is presented. Conclusions. O. Yunek’s personal style is characterized by a high level of possession of the technique of choral writing: the variety of harmonious, timbralregister and textural means while preserving the canonical liturgical text, a careful attitude towards it. The choral style of sounding differs by the ease, the availability of perception. In her compositions, the words of the chants are completely audible - without bills, overlays; no sharp contrasts in the dynamics. The primary role among means of expressiveness is given to harmony. It is at its level that certain elements of the Eastern Slavic singing are found (plagiarism, the use of medial chords, the linear nature of the formation of the accordion), the West European classical type of harmony (chords of the main functions in typical relations) and modern musical language (the presence of dissonant consonants, not the classical sequence in the middle construction, accordion of the nontheric structure). The role of melodies is very important. Often harmonic changes occur due to the linear motion of the melody in separate voices. Layout intonations and rhythmic figures common to compositions contribute to the integrity of the cycle and allow it to be perceived as such. In particular, it is observed in conducting the main melody frequent use of singing, gradual mirror-symmetric movement of voices, passage and auxiliary non-chord sounds. These melodic cells have the same features with the sounds of a significant singing, which confirms the composer’s tendency to the ancient chants. Similar rhythmic patterns (dashed rhythm, two sixteenth and eighth, eighth and two sixteenth, fourteenth and sixteenth), osintato also contributes to the integration of the cycle. The choral texture is characterized by flexibility and richness of presentation. Often there is a chord composition with elements of singing in separate voices, as well as contrasting fragments of unison («Blessed man»), chanting (two voices) («Virgin Mary, rejoice», «Praise the Name of the Lord», «Blessed art Thou, O Lord»). Changing the invoice occurs organically and appropriately to the performance requirements, which indicates the professional approach and knowledge of the composer’s choral writing. Consequently, all the inventions and means of expressiveness that were invented during the analysis show that the work of the contemporary composer of Kharkov, Olena Yunek, is an example of an original author’s reading of the canon in the field of church music. Together with the embodiment of the church canon, the principles of individual thinking operate and a modern link of church-composing creativity is formed.

Thesis (D.M.A.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2006.<br>Thesis research directed by: Music. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.

This treatise aims to uncover possible reasons as to why composers rework their compositions. In attempting to answer questions regarding musical and extra-musical (referential) criteria, surrounding conditions and the role performers play in acting as conduits of the aforementioned, the study focuses on three versions of Rachmaninoff’s second Piano Sonata, opus 36. The first of these was composed in 1913, the second constitutes the composer’s revision of this work in 1931, and the third, a subsequent amalgamation of both previously mentioned versions by pianist Horowitz in 1943. The research is grounded in the theoretical ideas of organicist musical structuralism and thematic/motivic transformation (Reti), musical hermeneutics and phenomenology, musical forces (Larsen) and authenticity in musical performance (Taruskin). In addition this study explores methods of critical reading that may be used to disclose the conflicting yet complementary demands of “conciseness” and “drama” contained within the parameters of the three aforementioned versions of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Sonata Op. 36. An introductory chapter is followed by one in which a historical context provides the intertextual matrix against which the musical personae of Rachmaninoff and Horowitz, as well as the three versions of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Sonata Op. 36, may be understood. The chapter thereafter provides a concise overview of the history of musical analysis and the Tendenzwende which signified the change from a purely positivistic analytical approach to a post-modernist perspective on musical critique, against which background a motivation is provided for the analytical approaches applied in this treatise. Chapters 4 and 5 present detailed readings of the sonata from the perspective of “conciseness” and “drama” respectively. In conclusion, the final chapter reflects on findings made and conclusion drawn, with particular reference to the authenticity debate in current musicological discourse.

HOREJŠOVÁ, Martina: George Gershwin: Concerto in F for piano and orchestra [Diploma thesis]. Charles University in Prague. Faculty of Arts. Institute of Musicology. Supervisor: prof. PhDr. Jarmila Gabrielová, CSc. Prague 2016. The main theme of the diploma thesis is a musical analysis of Concerto in F - the only Gershwin's piano concert from 1925. This diploma thesis also contains information about composer's life, contemporary historical context with relation to American cultural, social and political climate. As well text includes contemporary musical production, which influenced Gershwin's compositional technique. There will also be a comparison between George Gershwin and two other composers (Sergei Rachmaninoff and Maurice Ravel) who also created concert for piano and orchestra in the early 20th century.