Journal articles on the topic 'Piano methods (Jazz)'

The article highlights the ways of development of jazz accompaniment skills of future music teacher in the process of his piano training. It examines the genre and stylistic peculiarities of solo piano jazz standards, specificity of jazz trio music playing. It suggests the methods and musical creative tasks for effective development of jazz accompaniment skills. A piano is an important musical instrument which plays a significant role in jazz development. The artaesthetic development of student, his creative abilities training and formation of music performing competence occur in the process of such education. An important aspect of development of jazz accompaniment skills is mastering the stride-piano technique. This style requires a perfect performing technique and ability to play with the left hand as fluently as with the right one. Considering the individual peculiarities of a future music teacher, his technical level and a step-by-step methodology will provide for effective stride-piano technique mastering in the process of his piano training. The use of the jazz accompaniment creation method will provide for the broadening of a performing capability of a future music teacher while accompanying a solo singer or a music band. In the following article the musical creative tasks and practical exercises aimed at the development of the left-hand playing technique and coordination on a piano keyboard and mastering the basic jazz accompaniment elements, its rythmic patterns have been suggested.

This article characterizes development trends in jazz piano from its origins in the “third-layer” (Konen, V., 1984) of music (ragtime and other “pre-jazz” forms) to the present time (avant-garde and retro styles of the late 20th – early 21st centuries). Main attention was devoted to the stylistic sphere, which represents an entirety of techniques and methods of jazz piano improvisation and combines genre and style parameters. In this context, the currently available information about jazz pianism and its sources (Kinus,Y., 2008; Stoliar, R., 2017) was reviewed, and sociocultural determinants, which contributed to the advent and changes of jazz piano styles were highlighted. Standing out among them at the first (traditional) stage are the schools and individual creative techniques known under generic name “stride piano” and based on the ragtime technique. At the second (contemporary) stage beginning from bebop, jazz piano stylistics gradually diverge from standardized textural formulas of homophonicharmonic type and attain fundamental diversity depending on creative attitudes of leading jazz pianists. The question of jazz piano stylistics is one of the least studied in jazz theory. The existing works devoted to this subject address mostly the sequence of the advent and changes of jazz piano styles along with the general characteristics of their representatives. Beginning from approximately the 1920s, jazz piano styles appeared and changed so fast that they left no time for their comprehension and perception (Kinus, Y., 2008). Only in the newest stylistics of the period after bebop, which divided the art of jazz into traditional and contemporary stages, did these styles attain a certain shape in new modifications and become the components of a phenomenon defined by the generic notion “jazz pianism”. It was stated that the genesis of this phenomenon is usually seen in the art of ragtime, carried in the United States of the late 19th – early 20th centuries by itinerant pianists. This variety of “third-layer” piano music playing produced a significant impact on the art of jazz in general, which is proved by its reproduction in the Dixieland and New Orleans styles as some of the first examples of jazz improvisation. The stylistics of ragtime influenced the entire first stage of jazz piano, which traces its origins back to approximately the 1910s. It combined mental features and esthetics of two traditions: European and Afro-American, which in the entirety produced the following picture: 1) popular and concert area of music playing; 2) gravitation toward demonstration of virtuosic play; 3) domination of comic esthetics; 4) objectivity of expression; 5) tendency toward the completeness of form; 6) inclination toward stage representation. In technological (texturalpianistic) aspect, ragtime, reproduced in the jazz stylistics of stride piano, demonstrated the tendency toward universalization of piano, which combined in the person of one performer the functions of solo and accompaniment, derived from the practice of minstrel banjoists related to the percussion-accented rhythmics of dance accompaniment (Konen, V., 1984). It was stated that ragtime as the transitional bridge to jazz piano existed simultaneously with other forms of “third-layer” music playing found in the Afro-American environment (unlike ragtime itself, which was an art of white musicians). These were semi-folklore styles known as “barrel house” and “honky-tonk(y) piano” cultivated in Wild West saloons. The subsequent development of jazz piano stylistic went along the lines of more vocal and specific directions related mostly to peculiarities of playing technique. Among the more global origins equal in significance to ragtime and stride pianists derivative, blues piano stylistics is worth noting. It represents an instrumental adaptation of vocal blues, which had the decisive influence over the melodics and rhythmics of the right hand party of jazz pianists (ragtime and stride piano highlighted and consolidated the typical texture of accompaniment, i.e., the left hand party). Blues piano style is a multicomponent phenomenon that shaped up as a result of efforts taken by a whole number of jazz pianists. It was developed, and continues to exist until presently, in two variants: a) as a solo piano variant, b) as a duet variant (piano and vocal). Along with blues piano, a style known as “boogie-woogie” was cultivated in jazz piano stylistics of the period before bebop as the new reminiscence of the pre-jazz era (with rock-n-roll becoming a consequence of its actualization in the 1950–1960s). A stylistic genre known as “Harlem piano style” (its prominent representatives include Luckey Roberts, James P. Johnson, Willie “the Lion” Smith, and Thomas “Fats” Waller) became a sort of compendium that combined genetic components of traditional jazz piano. This school has finally defined jazz piano as a form of solo concert music playing, which also determined the subsequent stylistic varieties of this art, the most noteworthy of which are “trumpet piano style”, “swing piano style” and “locked hands style”. Their general feature was interpretation of the instrument as a “small orchestra”, which meant rebirth at the new volute of a historical-stylistic spiral of the “image” of universal piano capable of reproducing the “sounds” of other instruments, voices and their ensembles. Outstanding pianists of various generations have been, and are, the carriers (and often “inventors”) of jazz piano styles. It should suffice to mention the names of such “legends” of jazz as Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Bill Evans, and also Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett (older generation), Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Brad Mehldau, Vadim Neselovskyi, Robert Glasper (middle generation), Eldar Djangirov, Tigran Hamasyan, Cory Henry (younger generation). Conclusions. The description of the stages of development of jazz piano pianism made in this article proves that its polystylistic nature is preserved, and the main representative of certain stylistic inclinations were and remain the texture. Textured formulas serve as the main objects of stylistic interpretations for jazz pianists of different generations. These readings are represented by two vectors – retrospective (revival of jazz traditions) and exploratory, experimental (rapprochement with the academic avant-garde). Of great importance are the styles of personalities, in which polystylistic tendencies are combined with the individual playing manners and improvisation, which, in general, is the most characteristic feature of the current stage of development of jazz piano art.

Russian music school has undergone major changes over the past 20–30 years. The emergence of mass musical styles and genres and their huge popularity, the opening of pop and jazz faculties and training areas, as well as private music schools and studios – all this aff ects the approaches to teaching piano in modern preprofessional music education. The approaches to the development of performing piano skills described in this article include not only traditional methods of studying the academic piano repertoire, but also methods of development in pop and jazz stylistics, using which one can achieve both improved fluency and the development of new sound skills.

AbstractThis article explores composer David N. Baker's use of elements of jazz and vernacular music to articulate formal structures and suggest extramusical commentaries in his concert works, with particular focus on the Sonata for Cello and Piano and the Sonata I for Piano. Themes of homage to and respect for jazz saxophonist John Coltrane resonate through these works. Various features bring the jazz legend to mind, but Baker's compelling play with implication and quotation provides fertile ground for studying musical signification and the use of vernacular emblems within Western compositional structures and the concert music of African American composers. Conventional analytical methods are combined with readings of referential symbols to work toward interpretations that address both structural and expressive domains. This approach allows discussions of compositional techniques to intersect with cultural and philosophical considerations. By addressing issues of musical structure and expressivity, this article seeks to move beyond commonplace surface-level descriptions of black vernacular emblems in the concert music of African American composers.

Background. Jazz is one of the most significant phenomena of the entire twentieth century, which in a very short period of time has won the attention of listeners around the world. Finally, many explores are interested in the study of jazz art as a significant element of the world’s musical heritage. There are a lot of works written by national and foreign musicologists who study jazz music from different viewpoints. A great variety of studies in jazz art include works devoted to the technical aspect, on the one hand: the study of scale harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, and on the other hand – the issues of historiography and style formation. However, focusing mainly on the identification of specific methods of using individual elements of the entire complex of music and expressive means of jazz art, scientists are less interested in the study of more «in-depth» issues, such as interpretation in jazz art, form building, semiotic and hermeneuticmethods of jazz music evaluation, musical dramaturgy. The concept of jazzmusic making remains unexplored. In our understanding, the study of musical dramaturgy deserves special attention, because at its level the coordinates of jazz music as a complex improvisation process converge. Objectives. The purpose of the article is to identify and study the main factors that determine the principles of formation of jazz musical dramaturgy at the level of solo piano composition. It is the improvisational nature of the composing and performing arts as well as the absence of a detailed musical notation that indicate the need to study the subject and an attempt to provide its scientific substantiation. Methods. The methodology of the study includes analytical, comparative, systematic and stylistic methods. This methodological basis allows us to identify the principles of jazz musical dramaturgy from the standpoint of piano jazz art, which, in the author’s opinion, gives an opportunity to speak about the peculiarities of organizing a musical text with the texture of different types of arrangement. Results. Over the last decades, jazz, without losing its specificity, has increasingly shown a tendency to interpenetrate with academic musical art, and at the same time become universal. An example of this could be the creative work of the renowned Kharkov jazz pianist Sergey Davydov. Turning to the specifics of the solo improvisational mastery of the pianist, we should distinguish the following important vectors in his work: commitment to the synthesis of jazz and academic traditions, tendency to polyphonize the textual presentation of the musical text, the use of the sonata principles as a consistent processual development of the whole complex of music and artistic ideas. The subject of the analysis offered in this study is a demonstrative example of the arrangement of the musical text of S. Davidov’s solo improvisation, which he demonstrated at the international festival “S. Rakhmaninov and Ukrainian Culturе”, which took place in Kharkiv in 2007 (the analysis was made on the basis of the video footage). The uniqueness of this example is that the pianist in his improvisation synthesized jazz intonation-rhythmic idiom with constructive and creatively inventive correlation of textural and compositional techniques of S. Rachmanino’s pianism. The conducted analysis confirms that S. Davydov, in addition to using the whole arsenal of specific jazz means of organizing sound fabric, adapts in his improvisation texturally-theatrical principles characteristic of S. Rakhmaninov’s work, and not only at the expense of quoting, but and at the intonational level. The factual organization of the composition, in this case, is based on the use of the potential of large and passage techniques, which brings together S. Davydov’s creative concepts with the aesthetics of virtuosity of European pianist composers of the Romantic period. Solo improvisation is analyzed – a kind of musical recital, which lacks the traditional jazz principle of formation based on variational construction, and is dominated by freely interpreted sonatas. Conclusions. Thus, the basic principles of musical dramaturgy formation in jazz art are: the use of specific jazz means of expression, which in the light of textual organization of the musical text realize the emotional and meaningful tension, forming a clear dramatic outline of the whole composition. Conflict, as a multilayered, comprehensive process of choosing an aesthetic position in the climax, reaches a point of dramatic ignition due to specific performance factors: dynamics, agogics, textural-rhythmic combinations. Not only specific performing skills but also energetic translation of the ideological content of the whole composition are involved in this process. In the context of jazz musical dramaturgy, one more important factor, which is fundamental in both solo and ensemble jazz art, is specific communication. However, when compared to academic music, where the listening strategy is interpreted as a «strategy of co-intonation to the sound form» but in jazz culture it is the listener who, at the level of the performer or interpreter, is a direct participant of musical dramaturgy creation. This is expressed by applause at times of intense tension or after the most successful improvisation of one of the ensemble members. Summarizing all the above, on the basis of the analysis we have tried to give our corrections to the concept of «musical dramaturgy in jazz» – is a thematic process of juxtaposition and interaction of elements of jazz language that contains various polystylistic complexes of Western European academic art, directing the energy of communication to the higher artistic unity of a jazz work.

The purpose of this article is revealing the main methods of synthesizing jazz stylistics with the means of expressiveness of music of the twentieth century in the genre context of the suite. The research methods are based on the use of musical-cultural, comparative-historical, theoretical-analytical and textual approaches. Scientific novelty. For the first time, a camera analysis of suite „1922” by P. Hindemith and „Suite of Sentimentsˮ by Y. Chugunov 1) in the context of genre updating of the suite by elements of jazz style and jazz performances, 2) in the aspect of the interaction of harmonious, accord-tonal, form-forming means of expressiveness of jazz and music of the twentieth century. Conclusions. The interaction of the jazz language with the academic tradition essentially influenced the renovations of the genre in the suites „1922ˮ by P. Hyndemith and „Suite Sentimentsˮ by Y. Chugunov. Jazz influence has contributed to: 1) individualization of the musical decision of the suite, increase of unique expressiveness (skepticism about dance in Hindemith, rich and dynamic palette of lyrical feelings, with contrast of contemplation and mobility in Chugunov); 2) release of the genre character and structure of the cycle from Baroque-classical genre-structural normativity (in the first work, the dance genres of music of the twentieth century, in the second – different emotional states, become decisive); 3) combining the form of a suite cycle (not a simple sequence of plays based on theestablished tempo principle, but a plastic improvisational transition, with the loss of the boundaries of the parts) (in „Suite of Sentiments” by Chugunov), with a through metro rhythm and internal unification with ironic author overtones expressed by harmonic, textured and rhythmic means (in the Suite „1922ˮ by Hindemith); 4) the formative role of rhythm formulas of jazz music (emphasizing weak parts, syncopation, rhythmic brokenness of melody, triple rhythm formulas and unstable formulas with small rhythmic meters), typical jazz performing techniques (fermat, „hangs”, discontinued melodies) and Latin American music of harmonic means (movement by parallel chords, active use of trio sounds, seventh chords, non-chords with alterations), jazz features of intonation (false fingering); 5) application of compositional features of ragtime, swing (cadences, improvisations, repetitions).

"Modern jazz can be considered an equal part of modern music, owing to the numerous experiments, at times considered strange or not really agreed by the audience. When talking about modern musical life and the possibilities for making music in a proper manner, no doubt that the value and genius of composers like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or Ludwig van Beethoven must be recognized. However, one must also realize that modern life, with its modern, contemporary music is also needed. The great jazz saxophonist, Charlie Parker considered improvisation the middle of the earth, the place where, if only for a few brief moments, one can be the best and the greatest composer in the world. Furthermore, the idea of a song (theme) is the only reason for musicians to come and elaborate together, with variational spontaneity, a unique and maybe unrepeatable musical manifestation. The works of Chick Corea reflect this point of view, as the analysis of the work Spain (1972), discussed in the article bellow, will demonstrate. The work represents the fusion between Spanish music and the compositional methods of modern jazz music, reflecting Corea’s unique style. Improvisation lies at the basis of this composition, offering the musician a multitude of possibilities for expressing his ideas regarding freedom and human nature. Keywords: jazz, piano improvisation, spontaneity, creativity, harmonical knowledge, contemporary "

The relevance. The article covers the topics of popularization of instrumental performance of button and piano accordionists in terms of genre improvement of the concert repertoire, based on the idea of expanding the stylistic boundaries of the programme, offering new methods and techniques of instrumental arrangement when training and performing pop and jazz music in the preferred genres and styles, adapting the musical content to one’s performance. The aim of the article. The study explores the relevance of button and piano accordionists’ concert programme originality, as well as the need to add light genre pieces. The article also substantiates the question of the expediency of arranging the music of those genres which can sound more natural and be conveniently performed on instruments. The novelty. The study gives recommendations on structuring a composition in the standard form to facilitate the perception and understanding of complex rhythmic schemes of accompaniment for playing the part with the left hand and partially with the right one. The methodology. Methodology on the performing repertoire in the final stage, that is, on demonstrating the results of developing the programme at professional and other stages. For a detailed and practical approach to the work process, the swing style is proposed using the example of a vocal genre composition ‘Ain’t That a Kick In Head?’ by composer Jimmy Van Heusen to the lyrics of American author Sammy Cahn. There are also musical examples of working material for clarity of the practical process and consideration of key aspects of the issue of adaptation and arrangement of pieces in the content. The conclusions. The relevance of the problem of piano accordion and button accordion popularity among modern youth and beyond lies in many reasons. One of them, perhaps, is the general tendency of studying at music institutions to prepare performances rather for competitive events characterised by competitive spirit than for concerts, where the performance is aimed at the audience’s interest. The demonstration of video and audio materials and live performances of masters of this art in prestigious radio and television programmes is not widespread enough.

Statement of the problem. The globalization process of modern music art constantly creates new phenomena in the research field worthy of detailed study and scientific justification. The active expansion of Jazz in different parts of the world and its interaction with the local folklore and home music production led to the formation of such phenomena as Latin Jazz that presented the world a number of outstanding performers and composers who opened up new horizons for the further development of musical art. Among unique pearls of Latin-American Jazz, the creative personality of a Brazilian performer (piano, vocals) and composer Tania Maria should be highlighted. Analysis of recent research and publications showed that Tania Maria’s creative work in the context of Latin Jazz development has not been sufficiently studied at the present time, being limited mainly by short references to biographical articles and interviews with the artist in foreign online publications. Thus, Tania Maria’s work requires a much deeper study that determines the feasibility and scientific novelty of the proposed research, which aims to reveal the genre and stylistic specificity of Tania Maria’s work in the 80s of the 20th century, the period, when the complex of her individual compositional and performing characteristics was formed. The result of the study was the disclosure, based on historical-genetic, comparative, analytical methods, of the genre-stylistic origins of Tania Maria’s “intonation vocabulary”, where the metrorhythmic and melodic structures of Brazilian samba and the hot-jazz component closely interact with each other, as well as the intonation-textural features of some compositions of the 1980s from the albums “Piquant” and “Come With Me”. Conclusions. Tania Maria’s creative work in the 80s of the 20-th century exemplified by compositions “Yatra ta”, “It’s Not for Me to Say” and “Come With Me” is a combination of genre and stylistic features of funk, Latin-American samba and elements of pop music (jazz-Latin-pop-funk). The musical art of the second half of the 20th century demonstrates a variety of styles and trends that were quite quickly “re-intonated” in the jazz language, which testifies to the universality of jazz as a unique form of musical thinking, creativity and cooperation of musicians. The combination of these styles is organic in line with the trend of development of musical art of that period and at the same time is the basis of Tania Maria’s unique performance style as a representative of both, South American and European jazz music.

Before a patient undergoes surgery, they are likely to complain of anxiety to various degrees. To address this issue, we designed and implemented a composition program using TensorFlow Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) to select music for learning. The nurses’ preferences and needs were assessed using the Geneva Emotional Music Scales-9 (GEMS-9) tool and focus group interview (FGI) methods for currently used sound sources and nurses at the operating room entrance. An FGI and GEMS-9 for preference analysis were conducted by nurses who currently work in the operating room, had experience with managing the operating room’s background music, and wished to participate voluntarily in this study on 31 January 2019 in an operating room simulation center. Interviews were held with a total of three nurse. The data were analyzed using a qualitative thematic analysis. Using GEMS-9 to evaluate 16 sample sources, the average of the sad–happy values was highest at four points, with a lower tension of 1.48. Happy, Joy, and Peaceful were classified as appropriate for background music in the operating room. Additionally, the top six songs were selected as suitable songs by calculating the difference in values among Sad, Tension, Tender, Nostalgia, and Trance, which were judged to be inappropriate along with Power and Wonder. The songs selected were two jazz songs, three bossa nova songs, and two piano classical songs. The results of this study show that music used in the operating room should contain a slow tempo such as slow classical, piano, strings, natural acoustics, and new age music. Music consisting of only musical instruments (preferably containing smaller arrangements of less than five instruments) is preferred over music containing human vocals. Based on the study findings, the conditions of the sound source to be used for learning were suggested after consulting with a music expert.

Background. Musical culture of Kharkiv has a rich history associated with the names of prominent musicians such as R. Genika, I. Slatin and others. But the creative work of our senior contemporaries, artists, who created in the second half of the XX and early XXI century, made a great influence on the formation of the modern musical face of Kharkiv, the state of professional music education, too. O. I. Litvinov, a composer, pianist (as well as accordion player, performer on wind instruments), conductor and arranger, is no doubt among those artists. However, the creativity of this outstanding musician, who was actually the founder of professional jazz education in Kharkiv, is not currently the subject of widespread discussion in contemporary Ukrainian musicology. There are few sources that would cover O. I. Litvinov’s life and career. For the first time, he is mentioned as the founder of pops’n jazz performance department in a print publication dedicated to the 85th anniversary of KhNUA named after I. P. Kotlyarevsky. In the same context, O. Litvinov’s name is found in O. Kononova’s essay on the evolution of music education in Kharkiv in the jubilee edition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the University. There is a biographical article in this very anniversary publication. In the earlier anniversary edition “Pro Domo mea” (on the 90th anniversary of the institution) there is some information about O. Litvinov regarding the history of the jazz department creation. Basic biographical data are briefly presented in the article of I. O. Litvinova in the Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine. A small booklet dedicated to the major milestones of O. Litvinov’s life and creative work was published in the KhNUA (then KhSUA) named after I. P. Kotliarevskyi to mark the 75th anniversary of the musician. There are also several publications devoted mainly to specific dates in the creative life of the maestro (concerts, anniversaries, etc.): by H. Derev’ianko, L. Lohvynenko, M. Dvirnyi, A. Moshna, I. Polska, and O. Sadovnikova. Among purely research works devoted to this striking personality are the Master’s work by Yu. N. Shikova, which was written under the guidance of І. І. Polska at Kharkiv State Academy of Culture. The purpose of the article is to systematize existing information on the life and creative path of the prominent Kharkiv musician, give a brief description of the main features of his performing and composing style. Methods. The work employs historicobiographical, analytical and comparative methods, as well as a genre-stylistic approach. Results. O. Litvinov was born on November 17, 1927 in Zaporozhye. He received his elementary education at a piano music school. From 1943 to 1951 he was in military service, participated in the World War II. After the war, he continued to study music at Kharkiv Music College named after B. Lyatoshynsky, later at the Composition Faculty of Kharkiv Conservatory. He was expelled from there because of his passion for jazz. From 1951 he continued his musical activity as an artist of the MIA Variety Orchestra (in Dnepropetrovsk), in 1955–1956 he was a soloist of the Sakhalin Oblast Philharmonic and Khabarovsk Regional Philharmonic. In 1956–1958 he was the leader of the variety band of the Palace of Culture for Food–Industry Workers, in 1958–1961 he was the leader of the concert band of the Palace of Culture for Builders. From 1961 to 1973, he was the director of his own collective – Honoured Variety Ensemble “Kharkivyanka” at Kharkiv Electromechanical Plant. In 1965 he received the title of Honored Artist of Ukraine, in 1978 – People’s Artist. From 1973 to 1978 – Artistic Director and Conductor of the “Donbass”, Honored Mining Ensemble in Donetsk; from 1978 to 1980 – assistant at the Department of Cultural Studies, director of the Jazz Orchestra at Kharkiv Institute of Law. Since 1980 he worked permanently at Kharkiv I. P. Kotliarevskyi State Institute of Arts: first as a senior lecturer, later as an associate professor of the Chamber Ensemble Department, then as a professor of the Orchestra Wind Instruments Department. Since 1994 he created and headed the Department of Variety Orchestra Instruments, and at the same time he directed the variety-symphony orchestra of Kharkiv State Academy of Culture, the violin ensemble of the National Academy of Law named after Yaroslav the Wise. Since 1999 O. Litvinov was a full member of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences of National Progress. In 2001 he became a diploma winner of the regional competition “Higher school of Kharkiv region – the best names” in the nomination “Head of Department”. In 2002 he was awarded the Honorary Medal of the Ministry of Culture and Arts of Ukraine. He died on March 15, 2007. O. Litvinov’s creative personality combines the image of composer, arranger, conductor, performer-multiinstrumentalist (apart from piano O. Litvinov played the accordion, organ, wind instruments, violin). O. Litvinov’s works employ the best achievements of world classics and Ukrainian academic music, in particular, the Kharkiv composition school, and embody the best features of jazz and, more broadly, variety music of the twentieth century. These stylistic origins often coexist organically in one piece by O. Litvinov. The performance style of O. Litvinov as a conductor is characterized by very clear, bright, emotional gestures, especially outstanding sounding of the orchestra, the ability to clearly show every change in the thematic development of the piece. The style of O. Litvinov’s arrangements was significantly influenced by the music of Hollywood films, the art of contemporary Soviet composers – Saulsky, Broslavsky, Pokrass, Dunaevskyi, jazz masters – Tsfasman, Utesov, Bernstein and others. Conclusions. O. Litvinov’s creative life was very bright and rich, and his musical activity was diverse and multifaceted. In the present works, the main focus is made more on the “polyphony” (according to A. Mizitova and A. Sadovnikova (2002, p. 17) of this life, its external events. Characteristics of the composer’s, performing, conducting styles of the artist are “inscribed” in this polyphony only as its “voices”. However, each of these voices needs, in our opinion, more detailed consideration. For example, O. Litvinov’s compositional heritage is very large, but only a few of his compositions are performed today and well known to the public. In fact, only one piece for violin ensemble (or for violin and piano), “Eternal Movement”, received true popularity among the performers and the public. Most other works are not published, and the fate of most scores is unclear. So, the direction of further research can be related to a more detailed study of some particular works of O. Litvinov that have survived as well as to deepening knowledge about his performing and pedagogical activity.

A considerable amount of pedagogical manuals and the programs devoted to methods of instruction of improvisation is connected with examining improvisation in the context of jazz pedagogy, or the art of performance (most frequently — piano). However, the development of the composer’s improvisational skills is deemed to be more important. The diffi culties of creation of the algorithm of instruction of this type of activities, but quite apparent is the set of conditions connected, fi rst of all, with the natural inclination towards improvisation, and also the presence of compositional abilities; second, with the mandatory mastery of an entire complex of music theory knowledge. Upon the combination of these two factors, it becomes possible to speak of a high level of development of improvisational skills. The article offers the point of view regarding the organization of the process of acquisition of skills of improvisation, the basis of which is comprised by six basic components, presenting six types of improvisation: melodic, poetical, harmonic, textural, ornamental and genre-related. Each separately presented subject is signifi cant, most notably, for the content of the course of “Composition,” which reveals the basic laws of construction of a musical composition, which, in their turn, are fundamental for the development of improvisational abilities. And because improvisation frequently becomes the fi rst impulse for creating a musical composition, which presumes its expression through spontaneity, it follows that both improvisation and composition thereby exist in close mutual connection.

Problem statement. Among Kharkiv composers, one of the significant places is occupied by Igor Kovach (1924–2003), a representative of the Kharkiv School of composers and Ukrainian musical culture of the 20th century. His works include music and stage, orchestra, concert, song, choral and literary-musical compositions, music for theatre performances, music for films and TV films. The creative legacy of Igor Kostyantynovych Kovach has a close connection with the children’s audience; it includes both instrumental music for young performers and theatrical music, where children from performers become listener, among them the fairy-tale ballets “The Northern Tale” and “Bambi”. The children’s music by I. K. Kovach did not receive proper consideration except for short newspaper essays and magazine notes, M. Bevz’s (2007) article devoted to children’s piano music. Thus, the problem of holistic study of children’s stage music by Igor Kovach still remains open. Objectives. The present article is devoted to the identification of musicalthematic, timbre-texture, genre-stylistic features, with the help of which the multifaceted figurative world of the ballet “Bambi” is embodied. The aim and the tasks of this research – to reveal the specifics of the figurative world of the fairytale ballet “Bambi” and to identify the musical means by which it is embodied. The role of the orchestra is established, the means of thematic characteristics of the characters are traced, and the peculiarities of the musical language stipulated by the requirements of the chosen genre are noted. Methodology. To achieve the aim we have used special scientific methods: genre, stylistic, intonation-dramaturgical and compositional ones. The presentation of the main material. The music for the fairy-tale ballet “Bambi” belongs to two authors: Igor Kovach and his son Yuri. The new features inherent in the sound palette are manifested in the instrumentation, where along with the usual composition of a modern symphony orchestra there are saxophones, rhythm- and bass-guitars, drums, which due to their timbres bring a sharp taste of emotional and behavioural looseness. Introducing the qualities of non-academic tradition into the academic orchestra, the authors, on the one hand, use them according to their origin, on the other – turn them into an organic part of the symphonic score. By making a “concession” to pop music, simplifying harmonious language, freeing it from the extreme manifestations of expanded tonality, bringing it closer, on the one hand, to classical-romantic, on the other – to jazz, Igor Kovach showed his inherent sense of modernity, “address quality” of creativity. Conclusions. Thus, the fabulous multifaceted world of “Bambi” is revealed in the ballet owing to the bright thinking and language of the composer. The action of the ballet takes place against the background of bright genre sketches, which are as if immersed in the very density of life. This impression arises due to the dynamics of rhythms, colourful orchestration, and a variety of styles, addressed to the sound world of today. Generalized intonations of academic art organically coexist with the turns of song quality of different origins, dance quality, march quality, jazz improvisations, which was facilitated by the co-authorship with Yuri Kovach.

Introduction. Art would always be a great mirror that reflects various historical epochs with their unique philosophical ideals, aesthetic and ethical principles, and the twenty-first century is no exception in this sense. At the same time, a specific feature of contemporary art is the desire to actualize the heritage of past centuries in the conceptual dialogue of cultures remote in time and space – a tendency that belongs to the basic philosophical and aesthetic characteristics of postmodernism as the dominating cultural paradigm of the XXI century. In modern musical art, the actualization of cultural heritage occurs in many ways, among which the most well-known and studied are citation, collage and stylization. All these phenomena are the subject of close attention of musicologists and cultural scientists. It is worth referring to the famous works of U.Eco, F.Jameson, V. Bibler. Of the Ukrainian musicologists who study these phenomena, let’s call D. Ruzhinskaya, O. Protopopova, O. Samoilenko. But music practice constantly generates new phenomena that also require attention. A striking example of the original use of musical material from previous eras is the compositional work of the Canadian virtuoso pianist Marc-André Hamelin. Having received recognition as an outstanding performer, he also created his own recognizable writing style, and his opuses are of undoubted interest for the music community. The objective of this article is to consider the specifics of the postmodern tendency to actualize the cultural heritage of the past and implementation of this intention on the example of the composer creativity by M.-A.Hamelin. This research is based on structural-functional and genre-style methods. The methodological basis is the works of U. Eco, F. Jameson, V. Bibler, dedicated to the philosophical and aesthetic concepts of postmodernism and, especially, the dialogue of cultures, which reflect the problem of interaction of the old and new in modern art. Research results. The compositions by M.-A. Hamelin are presented now by a significant number of piano miniatures, the cycle of “12 Etudes in all minor keys”, by variation cycles and transcriptions. Most of them involve someone else’s thematic material in one way or another. It can be presented as quotations, which, however, are not entered in the original form, but undergo certain changes at the first appearance. One of the ways of the composer’s interpretation of thematicism is to transfer melodies to a new multi-voiced context, which is so different from the original one that a theme is no longer just a new re-harmonization. For example, M.-A. Hamelin’s Toccata is based on the melody of the famous Renaissance song “L’homme armé” (“The Armed Man”). This work was commissioned as a mandatory piece for the Fifteenth international Van Cliburn piano competition. Using a song theme in the Toccata genre, M.-A. Hamelin accelerates movement not only due to the tempo (molto movimentato, ansioso (ma non senza nobiltà)), but also the relentless movement of the sixteen in the accompaniment, creating the effect of continuous development. The important point in the composer interpretation of the source material is also the “register” transformations of the melody transferring in different octaves. The bright example of reinterpretation of the thematic material of the Renaissance is the variation cycle “Pavane Variée” on the theme “Pavane Belle qui tiens ma vie” borrowed from Tuano Arbo’s treatise “Orchesografia”. This work, like the previous one, was written to order: for the ARD International music competition 2014. When presenting the Pavane theme, the composer almost exactly preserves its original appearance, but makes small changes in the harmony that “modernize” the theme. Further development of the theme is based on a significant transformation of its textural and figurative content. The variation cycle as a whole is characterized by a modified harmonic component, thanks to which the Pavane finds itself in atypical conditions, and as if it begins to “talk” in the musical language of impressionism and jazz, as well as gets away on a rather significant distance from the original theme. For example, in variations No. 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, only the general outline of the topic is guessed. In addition to the actual themes of past eras, M.-A. Hamelin sometimes uses old musical forms, filling them with new content. Such example is Ländler III from the collection of plays, which is called “Con intimissimo sentimento”. In this work, the artist imitates the form of an old French couplet Rondó, the peculiarity of which is the thematic similarity between the refrain and the episodes and the immutability of the refrain itself. Precisely following this specific form, M.-A. Hamelin creates a vivid theme for the refrain and develops it in three episodes. At the same time, by its harmonious language, the play approaches to the style of M. Ravel, and is interpreted in an impressionistic character. Conclusions. Referring to the musical heritage of past eras, M.-A. Hamelin covers various historical periods of time. The composer does not limit himself to the use of musical themes, but also refers to early musical forms. Considering the ways of processing themes in the work of M.-A. Hamelin, it is worth highlighting the desire to exhibit the material in a modified form, while the degree of change can be quite different: from a slight modification of the melody and harmony, to a fairly significant change in the harmony and texture of the theme. However, in both cases, the themes are recognizable, and their form is preserved. It is also noteworthy that the Renaissance themes chosen by the author are moved to an atypical virtuoso context, since they are included in the works written to order for music competitions, however, this interpretation gives more freedom for its disclosure in various aspects. When using old forms, M.-A. Hamelin fills them with a new harmonious meaning and combines the various genre elements (such as the features of Landler and Rondó). Through the interaction of forms, genres and harmonic means belonging to different epochs, M.-A. Hamelin’s works possess the effect of a cultural polylogue, which makes it possible to consider retrospection an important feature of his compositional thinking.

Theoretical basis This study aims to use a variant from the family of discrete choice models, i.e. the logit model, to analyse the relationship between the Y dependent and X explanatory variables. This model addresses the linear probability model's main drawback by constraining the probabilities of the Y outcome between 0 and 1. The logit model also offers an extra advantage, in that it can provide odd ratio estimations. Research methodology This is a compact case written specifically to teach statistics, econometrics and research method. It has an accompanying data set for the case-users to do hands-on statistical analyses. The data set has been collected from a questionnaire survey from the students enrolled in Attitune, i.e. the music school that the case protagonist founded. Case overview/synopsis The case revolves around a relatively new music school, Attitune Music, established in July 2017 in the heart of the capital city of a northern state in Malaysia. Michael Lee Wei-Pin was the founder of Attitune Music Sdn. Bhd. He was also one of the four music instructors of Attitune Music. His speciality instruments were the guitar and the piano. The case opens with the case protagonist, Michael, pondering over Attitune’s performance in terms of its music students’ enrolment. Attitune faced a major challenge – its student enrolment had remained more or less constant since its establishment. Low and/or constant number of students could ultimately translate into stagnant or even worse, shrinking revenues for Attitune. To attract more students, Michael had been toying with the idea of injecting new elements into Attitune’s music lessons, something different from what other music schools were offering and that could be unique selling points for Attitune. With this in mind, Michael surveyed Attitune’s students to gather information that could help him gauge the potential and feasibility of his idea. Complexity academic level This case is well positioned to be perhaps the pioneer Malaysian teaching case to be written to teach courses in statistics, econometrics and research methods. The case can be easily adapted to teach at either the introductory or at an advanced level.

The purpose of the article is to reveal the “consonance” of urban-artistic reflections of musical and literary works in intermedial-eminent context. The research methodology are based on the complementary principle. The intermedial approach to the study of various artistic codes in one work was applied, as well as to the search of the consonant symbols and signs of a city in different types of synchronic and artistic practice. System-analytical, typological and comparative methods have been used in drawing the parallels and finding the coincidences and differences of realization of the “urban music” in the piano cycle “A Notebook of Miniatures” by the composer Mykola Zaderatskyi and a in the novel “City” written by V. Pidmohylnyi. A receptive methodology, as well as the empirical methods of description, observation and reflection, has been applied. Scientific novelty lies in an attempt of an intermedial comparison of the images of urban sounding in modernistic works of different arts by means of semantic-semiotic interferences. A concept of eminence has been used for the first time for a comparative characteristic of the urban music in the artifacts of the Ukrainian culture of the Industrialization era. Conclusions. Various scenes, pictures, emotional reactions, “technocratic” symbols became common audial-semiotic images of the city in the program-cyclic and novelistic discourses. The contrasts of sounding of the natural beauty of the clouds and artificial aesthetics of the machines, the silence as a contemporary island of self-concentration and “muscular strength” of the crowd (according to V. Zaderatskyi, Jr.), song folklore and a jazz band, a flashy poster and a spinning carousel in a symbolic and intermedial way reflect the interaction of sociological and psychological aspects of urbanism, i.e. personal and collective (private and public), contemplative and effective, emotional and rational, spiritual and material. “Notebook of Miniatures” and “musical-audial” fragments of “City” – are “eminent texts” (H. G. Gadamer) which interpret the encoded in them additional foreign medial contents (verbal – in a musical piece, and musical – in a literary work). Key words: urbanism, urban music, composer, writer, novel, piano cycle, intermediality, eminent text.

«For a place to leave an impression on us, it must be made of time as well as space – of its past, its history, its culture» (Sciascia, 1987). Architecture is one the many disciplines which, due to their heteronomous nature, aspire to represent the past, present and future of a community. Just as the construction of buildings is not merely a response to a need, but rather an act that incorporates the concrete translation of desires and aspirations, so too do music, philosophy, and the figurative arts reflect contemporary themes in their evolution. The fragmentation of skills, the specialisation of knowledge, the rapid modification of the tools we work with, the digitalisation and hyperdevelopment of communication are all phenomena that have a substantial impact on the evolution of disciplines in a reciprocal interaction with the intangible values of a community – economic, social and cultural – as well as the material assets of the places where it expresses itself. Interpreting heteronomy as a condition in which an action is not guided by an autonomous principle that is intrinsic to the discipline, but rather determined by its interaction with external factors, a theoretical reflection on the evolution of the tools of knowledge and creation has the task of defining possible scenarios capable of tackling the risk of losing an ability to synthesise the relationships between the conditions that define the identity of architecture itself. The challenge of complexity is rooted in social, technological and environmental shifts: a challenge that involves space, a material resource, in its global scale and its human measure; and time, an immaterial resource, nowadays evaluated in terms of speed and flexibility, but also duration and permanence. These elements impact upon the project as a whole, as a combination of multiple forms of knowledge which, given their constant evolution, is subject to continuous comparison. The cultural debate has investigated at length the topic of art being forced to devote itself to heteronomy whilst also retaining a need for aesthetic autonomy. The risk of forgetting its own ontological status, of losing its own identity in the fragmentation and entropy of the contemporary world, finds an answer in the idea of design as a synthesis between an artistic idea and the social and environmental conditions in which it is places, configuring itself as an element capable of reconciling the antithetical drives towards an autonomous vision of the work, on the one hand, and a heteronomous one linked to its geographical, cultural, sociological and psychological characteristics, on the other. In the systemic and concerted working process so intrinsic to disciplines such as filmmaking and music – but also the visual arts or even philosophy – the act of designing is the expression of the relationship with a community of individuals whose actions are based on a role that is as social as it is technical, given that they act based on material and immaterial values of a public nature. If indeed the sciences – as Thomas Kuhn demonstrated in his writings on the scientific revolutions – cannot be understood without their historical dimension, then disciplines such as those addressed in this Dossier represent cultural phenomena that can only truly be understood in their entirety when considered in the context of their era and the many factors that fed into their creation. However, precisely as demonstrated by Kuhn’s theories (Kuhn, 1987), their evolution also consists of “scientific revolutions”: moments of disruption capable of changing the community’s attitude towards the discipline itself and, perhaps more importantly, its paradigms. Music, cinema, art, architecture and philosophy are all expressions of that which makes us human, in all its complexity: divided and confined to their own disciplinary fields, they are not capable of expressing the poetic quality of life and thus «making people feel and become aware of the aesthetic feeling» (Morin, 2019). Emanuele Coccia, an internationally renowned philosopher and associate professor at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, imagines a world in which everything you see is the product of an intentionality articulated by human, non-human and non-living actors. Design – not only anthropocentric design – is the most universal power in the world. Every living being can, in effect, design the world, but at the same time, every agent of matter can also design, and it is the interplay between these elements that creates a continuous metamorphosis of our environment. In other words, being alive is not a necessary condition for being a designer. The two anthropologists Alfred Gell and Philippe Descola, in their writings on Western society and nature, present contrasting views on the presence of the soul/animism in nature. The result is a sort of architecture of the landscape, in which nature itself is imbued with a sense of design intentionality that exists in a continuum with mankind. Edoardo Tresoldi, a young Italian sculptor, is one of the latest exponents of the heteronomy of architecture, which rejects the limiting confines of individual disciplines so as to imagine a transversal vision of the environment and its construction. Through the interplay of transparencies created with ephemeral metal structures, Tresoldi exalts the geometrical qualities of this raw material, going beyond the simple spatiotemporal dimension to establish a dialogue between place and the artistic representation thereof. Tresoldi recounts this journey of his through five themes: Place, because architecture in itself is markedly conditioned by its context, as is – in his case – art; Design, that is the act of envisaging the work, which is ultimately influenced by everything around us and our imagination; Time, as art is characterised by a potential interweaving, a continuity in the creative processes influenced by the history of the place; Material, or rather, materiality and the duality between the technical and artistic parts; and, finally, “What’s Next”, exploring the idea of what the future holds for us. On this last point, Tresoldi imagines his works further opening up to a diversified range of skills in a way that would also carve out new professional profiles for young people. Cristina Frosini, Director of the Milan Conservatory, with a contribution on music – «the supreme mystery of the sciences of man» (Lévi-Strauss, 2004) – offers reflections on a field with deep affinities with the discipline of architecture, with both sharing a strong relationship between composition and execution. The sheer vastness of musical expression, from the precision of the classical score to the freedom of interpretation exemplified by the conductor or the improvising jazz musician, sees the concepts of overall rhythm and melody, the homogeneity and identity of different instruments, and the circularity of the process as the key themes of music as a public art whose creative process has always been founded upon the relationship between technical factors and cultural factors. The contribution provided by Michele Guerra, an academic and professor of History of Cinema, confirms the words of Edgar Morin. «Nowadays, cinema is widely recognised as an art, and in my opinion, it is a tremendous polyphonic and polymorphous art that is capable of stimulating and integrating into itself the virtues of all the other arts: novel-writing, theatre, music, painting, scenography, photography. [...] it can be said that those who participate in the creation of a film are artisans, artists, who play an important role in the aesthetics of the film» (Morin, 2019). The work of the “cinematographic construction site” is driven by forces which, incorporating the status quo of the technical and material factors, lead to “an idea of imaginary metamorphosis” which reflects the aspirations of a society in its efforts to become contemporary. A concept of a heteronomous approach to “making” is also founded upon recognising the didactic value of the work, as emerges from Luigi Alini’s contribution on the figure of Vittorio Garatti – an intellectual first and architect second – whose pieces are the result of work that is as much immaterial as it is material, with an «experiential rather than mediatic» approach (Frampton, in Borsa and Carboni Maestri, 2018), as true architecture is expected to be. The heteronomy of architecture, much like that of other similar disciplines, is based on engagement on two fronts: an understanding of the relevant international scenarios and the definition of the project charter, with a view to conforming it so that it takes into account any changes, operates in continuity with and with an appreciation for history, and develops in harmony with the universality of the discipline and the teachings of its masters. Stimulating a dialogue between different cultural positions is a means to create the conditions for a degree of adherence to contemporaneity without compromising on a principle of historical continuity. In light of this, the contribution by Ferruccio Resta – the current Rector of the Politecnico di Milano – focuses on the varying cultural and intellectual positions that have animated the culture of the Politecnico over the years, representing a highly valuable heritage for the university. Nowadays, with the presence of certain indispensable premises such as sustainability and connectivity, technology seems to overwhelm the design process, outsourcing it to a sort of management of the engineering and component production aspects. Hence the need to reaffirm a “humanistic and human” dimension of the act of making, starting at the root by orienting the training processes in line with the words of historian and philosopher Yuval Noah Harari, who says: «Many pedagogical experts argue that schools should switch to teaching “the four Cs” – critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. More broadly, they believe, schools should downplay technical skills and emphasize general-purpose life skills. Most important of all will be the ability to deal with change, learn new things, and preserve your mental balance in unfamiliar situations». This need reopens the theme of the dualism between “art” and “discipline”, surpassing it in favour of a coexistence of terminology in that it is the quality of the design and the piece that define where it belongs. Reflecting on the foundations of the paths and tools employed in different disciplines – in light of the innovations that involve the project charter in terms not only of concepts, but also of instruments – means reflecting on the concept of “project culture”, understood as the ability to work through actions which combine different contributions, tackling complex problems by way of a conscious creative process. The ability to envisage the new – as is implicit in the etymology of the word “project” itself – and, at the same time, to interpret continuity in the sense of a coherent system of methods and values, is shared by the disciplines and skills brought together in the Dossier: dealing with culture, society, the city, the landscape and the environment all at once requires a multifaceted vision, an ability to read problems, but also a certain openmindedness towards opportunities, the management of complexities, control of the risks of drops in quality in service of concepts of efficiency based on numerical parameters and the standardisation of languages. A comparison of the various contributions and perspectives throws up a picture in which the importance of relationships, the search for what Eiffell defined «the secret laws of harmony», the disciplinary specificity of design as the ability to relate in order to «understand, criticise, transform» (Gregotti, 1981), the ability to distinguish that which is different by involving it in the transformation of design, all represent the foundations for the evolution of heteronomous disciplines in how they move beyond the notions of technique and context as passive referents which generate possibilities in line with the Rogersian reflection on pre-existing environmental elements as historical conditions for reference, critically taken on as determinants. Hence the validity of a “polytechnic” cultural approach that is not only capable of deploying tools and skills which can deal with the operating conditions to be found in a heteronomous context, but also of stimulating critical approaches oriented towards innovation and managing change with the perspective of a project as an opportunity – in the words of Franco Albini – for «experimentation and verification in relation to the progression of construction techniques, tools for investigation, knowledge in the various fields and in relation to the shifts in contemporary culture» (Albini, 1968). The need for a sense of humanism is strongly linked to the reintroduction of the concept of “beauty”, in its modern meaning, under which it shifts from a subjective value to a universal one. Hence the importance of the dialogue with disciplines that identify with the polytechnic mould – that is, one which has always been deeply attentive to the relationship between theory and practice, to the design of architecture as an action that is at once intellectual and technical. As such, starting from the assumption that «no theory can be pursued without hitting a wall that only practice can penetrate» (Deleuze and Foucault 1972; Deleuze, 2002; Foucault, 1977; Deleuze, 2007), it is now essential to promote the professional profiles of artists, musicians, philosophers, humanistic architects and so on who are capable of managing design as a synthesis of external factors, but also as an internal dialectic, as well as skills capable of creating culture understood as technical knowledge. Sometimes, faced with the difficulty of discerning an identity for disciplines, we attempt to draw a boundary that allows us to better understand their meaning and content. However, going on the points of view that have emerged in the Dossier, it seems more important than ever to «work on the boundaries of each field of knowledge», drawing upon a concept expressed by Salvatore Veca (Veca, 1979), making communication between fields a central value, interpreting relationships and connections, identifying the relational perspective as a fundamental aspect of the creative act. The position of architecture as an “art at the edge of the arts”1, as so often posited by Renzo Piano, allows for a reflection on its identity by placing it in a position that centralises rather than marginalises it. A concept of “edge” that touches upon the sociological viewpoint that distinguishes the “finite limit” (boundary) from the “area of interaction” (border) (Sennet, 2011; Sennet, 2018), in which the transformational yet constructive contact with the entities necessary for its realisation takes place. The heteronomy of architecture coincides with its “universality”, a concept that Alberto Campo Baeza (Campo Baeza, 2018) believes to represent the identity of architecture itself. Indeed, its dependence upon human life, the development of society, of its cultural growth, derives from a single and inalienable factor: its heteronomy, the necessary condition for a process as artistic as it is technical, tasked with expressing the values of a community over time and representing the “beautiful” rather than the “new”. A design practice based on – to borrow some concepts already expressed years ago by Edgar Morin – “contaminations that are necessary as well as possible”, on the contribution of “knowledge as an open system”, but above all, one aimed at working “against the continuities incapable of grasping the dynamics of change” (Morin, 1974), thus becomes an opportunity to develop a theory on the identity of the discipline itself, striking a balance between the technical and poetic spheres, but necessarily materialising in the finished work, lending substance to the «webs of intricate relationships that seek form» (Italo Calvino).