Nº 2 (2025)
Articles
The initial stage of the formation of the French accompanist school: from Italian-German influence to self-identity.
Resumo
The formation of European concertmaster schools began sequentially – in Germany (from the 15th century) and Italy (from the 16th century). In these two schools, the basic principles of the future profession of the pianist-concertmaster were crystallized. They significantly influenced the development of other national schools, primarily the French one. The object of research is concertmaster artistry. The subject of the article is the French concertmaster school. The aim of the article is to reveal the process of forming the performance characteristics of the French concertmaster school. The presented work details the influence of the artistry of Italian maestro al cembalo and German Korrepetitor on the French concertmaster culture. It traces the complex path of the French concertmaster school in acquiring national identity – from reverence for the German and Italian traditions to achieving an independent status and, furthermore, the formation of a reverse process – influencing the specifics of German Korrepetitor in the field of ballet. The author chose the following methods: textual analysis, comparative-analytical, and a complex of approaches for performing analysis of musical works. The article attempts for the first time to reconstruct the initial period of the formation and development of the French concertmaster school. The author proposes clarifications on the types of accompaniment used (primarily, ad libitum and obligato) in the compositions for joint music-making by French composers of the Baroque era, pointing to objectively existing disagreements on this issue. Based on the analysis of archival documents, new data about the activities of French maestro al cembalo and Korrepetitors are introduced into musicological discourse. Archival data also allow us to conclude that J.-B. Lully was proficient in keyboard instruments. The analysis of methodological literature leads us to conclude that there existed an elaborate system of approaches among practicing musicians in French musical culture of the 17th-18th centuries regarding the collaborative performance process involving the clavier, and there were intensive searches in the field of teaching children the art of accompaniment. The conducted research allows us to conclude about the eclecticism of the process of formation and development of the French concertmaster school, which absorbed the best traditions of the Italian and German schools in the 17th-18th centuries and achieved its own style by the beginning of the 19th century.
PHILHARMONICA. International Music Journal. 2025;(2):1-14
1-14
The poetics of chamber instrumental works by composer Margarita Ivanovna Kuss.
Resumo
The article explores for the first time the characteristics of the style of chamber instrumental works by Margarita Ivanovna Kuss (1921–2009), whose compositions were performed in various concert venues both in Russia and abroad. Leading domestic composers and musicians - G. Sviridov, D. Shostakovich, B. Tchaikovsky, N. Peiko, A. Eshpai, R. Ledenev, E. Svetlanov, V. Fedoseev, M. Miroshnikova - highly valued the creative legacy of M. Kuss. However, to date, there is only one work dedicated to her oeuvre, authored by Yu.B. Abdokov. This article presents an overview of the composer's chamber instrumental opuses - the First and Second Sonatas for violin and piano, as well as a detailed analysis of the Third Sonata for violin and piano. The research is based on a theoretical-analytical approach that allows for a systematic study of musical works, focusing on characteristic features of the composer's techniques, including the analysis of melodic, harmonic, and instrumental means of expression. The article represents the first large-scale study of the characteristics of M.I. Kuss's chamber instrumental compositions. For the first time, the memories and reflections of well-known contemporaries of Margarita Ivanovna are introduced into scientific circulation, offering a new perspective on the specifics of her creative work. The conducted analysis of chamber instrumental compositions reveals the unique features of the author's compositional style. The study makes a significant contribution to the understanding of domestic musical art in the second half of the 20th - early 21st centuries, expanding the knowledge of the development of chamber music during this period. The results obtained can be used in further research on the work of M.I. Kuss and on domestic musical heritage as a whole, as well as in the possibility of utilizing the article's materials within university courses such as "History of Russian Music" and "Analysis of Musical Works."
PHILHARMONICA. International Music Journal. 2025;(2):15-35
15-35
The role of the Moscow Conservatory in the fate of "the mother of the Chinese choir" Yu Linfen
Resumo
The subject of this study is an important stage in the professional development of the outstanding Chinese conductor Wu Linfeng, associated with his internship at the Moscow State Conservatory named after P.I. Tchaikovsky in 1986-1987. The object of the research is to examine the influence of Russian and Soviet choral culture on the formation of the Chinese school of choral conducting. The goal of this article is to explore the pathways of the choral conductor profession development in China and to determine the role of the Moscow Conservatory in this process. The author discusses various aspects of the topic, such as the cultural interaction between the USSR and the PRC in the 20th and 21st centuries, tracing the history of the influence of Russia's largest music institution on the establishment of the choral conducting school in China. A number of key figures among Soviet and Russian musicians who contributed significantly to this process are identified. The author notes that choral conducting education in Russia is characterized by philosophical and aesthetic depth, semantic concentration, and technical proficiency. The choral conducting school of the Moscow Conservatory has a profound influence on the formation of the national conducting art in contemporary China, thereby highlighting the vital intercultural connections between the two countries that are important in our time. The methodology consists of a synthesis of historical-theoretical and verbal-communicative methods. Based on archival materials, the history of Wu Linfeng's education at the Moscow Conservatory is revealed. The research experience is aimed at establishing connections between the Russian school of choral conducting and the development of modern Chinese choral art. The main conclusion of the conducted research is the paradigm of deep mutual influence and enrichment in the musical arts of Russia and China. In particular, this position has become a determining factor in the musical education of Chinese students at the Moscow Conservatory. A special contribution of the author to the topic is the study of the professional development of Wu Linfeng, which has not previously been the subject of special research. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that archival materials about the education of the now prominent choral figure in China, Wu Linfeng, at the Moscow Conservatory are presented for the first time. Attention is drawn to the need to study the historical aspects of the establishment of the national school of choral conducting in China, related to the traditional Chinese musical thinking and the shift towards mastering the Russian conducting and choral tradition.
PHILHARMONICA. International Music Journal. 2025;(2):36-43
36-43
The combination of heterogeneous philosophical principles in the work of A.N. Vertinsky
Resumo
The genius of A.N. Vertinsky, who illuminated the Russian stage at the beginning of the last century, continues to arouse wide interest among representatives of the expert community up to the present moment. The specifics of the creativity of such a diverse personality remains still not fully understood, and the interpretations of scientists often suffer from inconsistency. Meanwhile, a number of features of his work need further consideration and analysis, in particular, the philosophical principles of his poetry. The methodological basis of the study was an integrated approach containing descriptive, comparative and content analysis. The synchronistic method and the method of generalization were also productively used when writing the work. The empirical basis was the artistic works of A.N. Vertinsky. The article talks about the unsurpassed performing skills, the pronounced intonation-plastic score of the performer of his own songs, which became the key to his success on the stage. The author characterized the main philosophical principles of A.N. Vertinsky's poetry, traced the syncretism of his poetry, music and performing skills on extensive creative material. In addition, the role of connections between heterogeneous philosophical principles that determine the features of the art world constructed by the maestro is revealed. The enduring value of the intellectual heritage of the pop idol of the first half of the twentieth century for the national culture is noted.
PHILHARMONICA. International Music Journal. 2025;(2):44-55
44-55
Accompaniment in chamber vocal music as an independent branch in the history of piano art
Resumo
The article is dedicated to the issues of the development of piano accompaniment in chamber-vocal repertoire in the context of the five-hundred-year history of keyboard music. The clavier emerged as an alternative to the lute as an instrument more suitable and convenient for accompanying singing and dancing. The "introduction" of the clavier into choral and solo vocal music transformed the style and character of musical performance, created additional artistic and technological opportunities, and changed the vector of development of the chamber-vocal repertoire. The growing role of the clavier in musical practice was facilitated by significant improvements in the qualitative characteristics of keyboard instruments. The author of the article notes the most significant milestones in the development of piano accompaniment for songs and romances and considers accompaniment as an independent and self-sufficient line in the history of piano performance. The works of Schubert and Schumann, Duparc and Wolf, Schnittke and Shostakovich become the subject of study and at the same time vivid examples that confirm the main conclusions of the article. The article employs comparative-analytical, structural-functional, and cultural methods of research. The author utilizes literary-textual and musical-textual methods and relies on fundamental principles of general historical methodology in scientific research, in particular, sociocultural, historical-chronological, and biographical approaches. Working with words, with great poetry and literature, required composers working in the genre of chamber-vocal music to find synthetic technological solutions and fresh pianistic and artistic techniques. The search, which lasted several centuries, yielded abundant creative results. The novelty of the research lies in the historical approach to the art of piano accompaniment, with artistic phenomena examined throughout the entire five-hundred-year path of keyboard music development. In this work, the author draws on years of experience as a collaborative pianist, their lecture experience in the subject of "History of Piano Art," and the works of our outstanding scholars engaged in research in the field of chamber-vocal music. This article is only the beginning of a larger conversation about the history of piano accompaniment, which we hope will continue in further discussion. It is evident that more and more young pianists are choosing the profession of accompanist as their primary focus, writing graduation theses on this topic.
PHILHARMONICA. International Music Journal. 2025;(2):56-68
56-68