History and Theory of Musical Performance
Reference:
Kalitzky, V.V. (2025). The initial stage of the formation of the French accompanist school: from Italian-German influence to self-identity. PHILHARMONICA. International Music Journal, 2, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.7256/2453-613X.2025.2.73785
Abstract:
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.
Keywords:
treatise, obligato, ad libitum, corrépétiteur, maestro al cembalo, France, concertmaster school, keyboard, performance, music pedagogy
Hermeneutics, Semantics and Musical Meaning
Reference:
Vishnevsky, B.A. (2025). The poetics of chamber instrumental works by composer Margarita Ivanovna Kuss. PHILHARMONICA. International Music Journal, 2, 15–35. https://doi.org/10.7256/2453-613X.2025.2.74084
Abstract:
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."
Keywords:
musical form, composing techniques, artistic search, style, neo-romanticism, violin and piano, poetics, chamber instrumental music, Margarita Kuss, texture