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Man and Culture
Reference:

S. Feinberg — composer-thinker of the Silver Age

Chzhen Lisha

ORCID: 0000-0002-3565-638X

Postgraduate student, pianist, senior lecturer of the Piano Department of the Conservatory of Guangdong Technical University

510665, Kitai, Guandun, Guanchzhou, raion Tyan'khe oblast', g. Array-Array, Prospekt Chzhunshan' Zapad,No.293, 293

zlisa714721120.@hotmail.com

DOI:

10.25136/2409-8744.2022.3.38208

Received:

04-06-2022


Published:

18-06-2022


Abstract: The purpose of this article is to identify cultural, musical and pedagogical aspects of the life and work of one of the leading representatives of the Moscow piano school in performance and pedagogy S. Feinberg. The formation of S. Feinberg's compositional and performing style was influenced by many composers of the Silver Age, the leading of whom were A. Scriabin and N. Medtner. The subject of the study is the circle of interests of S. Feinberg. S. Fenberg was one of the best performers of J.S. Bach, L. Beethoven, R. Schumann, P. Tchaikovsky, S. Rachmaninov, N. Medtner, A. Scriabin. S. Feinberg's interpretations of A. Scriabin's works were considered the closest to the author's. S. Feinberg's performance was distinguished by its rigor, precise adherence to the author's text, intellectual interpretation. S. Feinberg summarized his views in musicological works: "Beethoven's 32 Sonatas", "Pianism as Art", "The Fate of Musical Form" and others. The object of the study is the consideration of the individual composer style of S. Feiberg. From the first opuses of S. Feinberg's work, he was interested in the genre of piano sonata. Through the synthesis of research methods, some features of sonatas No. 1, No. 2, No. 6 and No. 12 are presented. The author examines in detail compositional techniques, in particular the attraction to poetry and monothematism inherent in romantic composers, the widespread use of polyphony. A significant event for the musicians was the release of the CD "Feinberg plays Feinberg", released by the Moscow Conservatory in 2021, which included recordings of his twelve sonatas. The main conclusion of the conducted research is that S. Feiberg's style is absolutely individual, which is revealed in the nature of thematism, the ways of its development, and the methods of piano presentation. In addition, a fine connoisseur of the piano, S. Feinberg creates new types of virtuoso technique. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that for the first time the study of S. Feinberg's style is based on the memoirs and theoretical studies of S. Feinberg.


Keywords:

Samuel Feinberg, the era of the Silver Age, Moscow Conservatory, performance, interpretation, composer, the thinker, piano creativity, sonata, piano technique

This article is automatically translated. You can find original text of the article here.

One of the biggest figures in Russian performance is S. Feinberg. A student of A. Goldenweiser, an outstanding virtuoso with a phenomenal memory, composer and writer. S. Feinberg's original performing style combined refined expression and heightened emotionality with thoughtfulness, logical harmony of ideas. The originality of the musician's artistic solutions is explained by the intense interaction of all the creative directions inherent in him. The closely intertwined methods of composing and performing activities significantly expanded the possibilities of interpretation, led to the creation of unique forms in all spheres of creativity. Many features of S. Feinberg's performing manner were due to his characteristic features of compositional thinking - dialectical perception of form, constructive logic of the organization of sound material, spatial hearing of fabric. S. Feinberg's performing principles largely determined the direction of the search and the methodology of pedagogical work. Rational techniques, effective ways of developing piano skills, developed over many years of concert activity, were tested and improved in the course of classes with students.

S. Feinberg taught at the Moscow Conservatory for forty years [2]. Among his students: V. Merzhanov, V. Natanson, S. Iosifovich, V. Bunin, V. Petrovskaya, N. Yemelyanova, L. Zyuzina, L. Roshchina, Z. Ignatieva and others. His cycles of concerts dedicated to I.S. have gone down in history. Bach (48 preludes and fugues, his own arrangements), L. Beethoven (32 sonatas, chamber and solo works), programs with music by F. Chopin, R. Schumann, S. Prokofiev, A. Scriabin (10 sonatas). It should be noted that S. Feinberg's recordings have long been an integral part of the golden fund of piano performing arts. Against the background of this truly boundless breadth of S. Feinberg's talent, one has to realize with bitterness how little of his work was recorded in the audio recording. All the more valuable is every publication of the still unknown pages of his phonographic heritage. In 2021, the Moscow Conservatory released a unique CD with previously unreleased recordings by S. Feinberg "Feinberg Plays Feinberg" Archive recordings of 1929-1950. The disc contains recordings of sonatas No. 1, No. 2, No. 9 and No. 12.

V. Bunin's monograph [2], as well as individual articles in the collection edited by I. Likhacheva [4], are devoted to the general characteristics of S. Feinberg's work. However, S. Feinberg's memoirs and theoretical studies have been out of the close attention of musicologists for a long time. The purpose of this article is to study S. Feinberg's compositional style in the context of the Silver Age era, which explains the novelty of the study. The methodology is based on a comprehensive analysis of the phenomena of musicology and cultural processes of Russian musical and performing arts. Artistic activity, aesthetic views of S. Feinberg are considered from the standpoint of continuity with the traditions of Russian musical culture, the Moscow school of composition and performance.

S. Feinberg was a musician-philosopher [4]. His thoughts on pianism and on the musical culture of the XX century in general, on the meaning and problems of compositional creativity found expression in several books published after his death. The most important of them are: "Pianism as an art" [9], "The skill of the pianist" [8] and "The Fate of the musical form" [10]. The last of these books can be compared with the famous work of Nikolai Karlovich Medtner "Muse and Fashion" in terms of the scale of the problem statement [3].

Just as in pianism, in his views on art and on the world as a whole, S. Feinberg is an artist of the Scriabin era — the era of the Silver Age [5]. One of the important aesthetic motives of this time was the internal organic synthesis of the arts. S. Feinberg understood and felt the poetry of the symbolists A. Blok, V. Bryusov and A. Bely, imbued with music, as well as the art of M. Churlenis and A. Scriabin, synthesizing music and color. Like the directors of the Silver Age, V. Meyerhold and K. Stanislavsky, who embodied the "musical rhythm of drama", S. Feinberg perceived all the arts in interconnection as a single and sublime expression of life. This feeling gave his artistic worldview scale and depth.

In the work "The Fate of the musical form" S. Feinberg constantly returns to the idea of the interconnection and unity of the artistic nature of the arts. According to him, since the time of F. Liszt, "music tends to poetry, to depiction, to drama, since, losing its own measure, the musical form seeks support in another art" [10, 76]. This statement arises at the moment when S. Feinberg discusses the crisis of the musical form in Romanticism and in its time. In many other episodes, he directly connects architecture, music, and other arts. An example is his reflections on orchestra and sculpture. So, in the description of the composition of the location of the Egyptian sphinxes and the structure of the ancient temple with columns, S. Feinberg caught musical harmony and counterpoint similar to the sound of the orchestra: "The face of the sphinx is a spatially embodied melody. In it, an individually arisen creative impulse finds an external reflection. The head of the sphinx is attached to the animal body — the spontaneous expression of the musical masses <...>. Melody is the word of the sphinx, since it represents the reasonable beginning of music, petrified in the plastic of sound. The Alley of Sphinxes performs the orchestral action of the symphony <...>. The repetition of the sculptural row of sphinxes turns into the architectural repetition of columns <...>. The patterned capital is a prototype of the coming Gothic counterpoint: in the outgoing and intersecting lines of the vault, it will reveal to us the meaning of imitation contradictions. <...> The light restrained in the vestibule of the temple freely falls into the cleared space of the courtyard. Here my movement is suspended, as in a general pause or fermato, when the flow of the enchanted musical time is interrupted" [10, 39-40].

The connection with the era of the Silver Age was expressed in Feinberg, the composer, and in the perception of music as a spontaneous, mysterious art arising from spiritual movement. In this he was the heir of A. Scriabin. It is characteristic that with the differences of creative natures, in thinking about the spontaneity of art, S. Feinberg is close to K. Medtner, who also asserted the naturalness, the "ineffability" of creativity: "...there was a song at the beginning. The person who sang this song in his simplicity, of course, did not think about the choice of elements, he did not invent them. The unspeakable itself told" [3, 11]. Both N. Medtner and S. Feinberg denied the value of the analytical, rational creativity of the "modernists" of the 1919-1930s, Schoenberg and his students, Stravinsky and others.

The book "The Fate of the Musical Form" begins with the statement about the spontaneity of music, which emphasizes the importance of the principle of this idea. According to Feinberg: "Modern artistic consciousness thinks of music as the main element of art, an intuitively comprehended aesthetic essence <...>. Thus, music appears to consciousness as an art, comprehended outside of any conventional forms of perception, directly impressive, spontaneously affecting [10, 16-17].

At the same time, S. Feinberg argues that the music created by the composer should be the organization of a chaotic sound element in the concept of musical reproduction. The title of the book — "The Fate of the musical form" — speaks for itself. S. Feinberg realizes his time as a turning point, fateful and crisis in the history of musical art. The composer understood the crisis to be precisely the gap between artistic creativity and a genuine sense of the musical element, between meaning and sound. S. Feinberg stated: "Music now appears <...> as the matter of art, divorced from the original idea that combined meaning and sound in an inseparable integrity" [10, 19]. But calling his time the time of the fall, the crisis of art, S. Feinberg admired the highest flourishing that was in music at the beginning of the XX century. According to him, "at this late time, experienced by us, permeated with a sense of the decline of European culture, at an hour that is for the life of art not even in the evening, but in the dead of midnight, the flowering of the musical stem is not yet finished" [10, 20].

Returning to this thought, S. Feinberg manifests himself as an artist whose youth and formation took place at the beginning of the XX century. The feeling of the epoch expressed by him as a crisis, and the heyday of late Romantic art at the end of the XIX — beginning of the XX century — as a beautiful heyday of art on the eve of its demise, as a flowering before death, was characteristic of the worldview of the Silver Age as a whole. As an example of such a worldview, one can name first of all A. Scriabin with his idea of the need for the rebirth of the coarsened, lost the subtlety of the spiritual organization of the world into another spiritual form. S. Feinberg, like A. Scriabin, felt the desire to express the "spirit of music" in a romantic sense, to embody a lyrical breakthrough, the depth of the "inner image and greatness incarnations" [10, 81]. The end of his book shows how alien many modern musical phenomena seemed to him, violating the naturalness and freedom of manifestation of the musical element. Comparing A. Scriabin and K. Debussy, S. Feinberg writes: "If in Scriabin one can state the ghostliness of a real sound embodiment, then for Debussy the isolation of his sound images from a lyrical breakthrough becomes a characteristic feature. Created by an impassive fantasy, they are born and replaced as self-sufficient, unrelated sounds. Their distinctive feature is indifference to everything and incongruity, combining these phantoms of pure contemplation with visions of the euthanized Faust or arising in the joyless soul of the Lermontov Demon" [10, 81].

S. Feinberg is a composer, pianist and musical thinker. He was a truly multifaceted personality. Different spheres of his activity interacted, which gave depth to his creativity in all its manifestations. Thus, S. Feinberg's compositional talent manifested itself in his childhood years. His first teacher A. Jensen, noticing the student's ability to improvise, helped him to form musical thoughts correctly. The desire for compositional creativity during the years of study at the conservatory intensified after acquaintance with the music of A. Scriabin. The period of formation of S. Feinberg as a musician fell at the beginning of the XX century — the heyday of the performing and composing creativity of A. Scriabin and S. Rachmaninov. The style and performing manner of these composers made a great impression on S. Feinberg and influenced the formation of his performing and composing style.

During his studies at the Conservatory, S. Feinberg wanted to study composition with the famous composer and theorist S. Taneyev. But after learning that S. Taneyev does not like "modernism" and A. Scriabin, S. Feinberg turned to S. Taneyev's student Nikolai Sergeevich Zhilyaev for advice on composition. In the 1910s, N. Zhilyaev, a favorite student of S. Taneev and M. Ippolitov-Ivanov, was still a very young musician who had recently graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in the class of free composition (that is, composition). Later he became a famous theoretical teacher in Moscow, a composer, an outstanding music editor, known for his work on the first editions of A. Scriabin's notes. Just like S. Feinberg, N. Zhilyaev admired the music of A. Scriabin. He was personally acquainted with the composer, visited his house, heard works in author's performances and could be especially interesting to S. Feinberg as a brilliant connoisseur of the great composer's work. Classes with N. Zhilyaev, as usual at that time, began with the study of counterpoint of a strict style (polyphony of the Renaissance). But soon they turned into friendly communication: S. Feinberg discussed with the teacher new music and his compositions, which he was working on at that moment. During the lessons, they performed together the works of contemporary composers whom N. Zhilyaev loved most — E. Grieg, K. Debussy and A. Scriabin. According to a mutual friend of N. Zhilyaev and S. Feinberg, A.N. Alexandrov, from the first days they began to play everything that could be obtained from the works of these composers: "Almost everything, however, was available in the extensive library of Nikolai Sergeyevich himself, which was constantly replenished. In solving academic problems, Nikolai Sergeevich welcomed not only “smoothness”, detailed elaboration, but also imagination (ingenuity, personal taste). The leftism of Feinberg's writings did not frighten Zhilyaev, he immediately became a great supporter of his work" [2, 19].

Note that when looking at the works of C. Feinberg from our time, it is difficult to classify him as a "leftist", that is, as an "avant-garde". If at the beginning of his work, due to the similarity with A. Scriabin and against the background of more traditional and somewhat simpler stylistically created works, for example, S. Taneyev, S. Evseev, A. Grechaninov and others, his music could seem avant-garde, then later it was perceived as late romantic.

S. Feinberg wrote music throughout his life. His works are naturally dominated by compositions for piano or with piano participation. As mentioned above, his early works have not reached us: the composer destroyed them, considering them immature. The first surviving works date back to the mid-1910s. Especially important are three piano concertos (1934,1945 and 1960), 12 piano sonatas (from 1919 to 1962), transcriptions and piano arrangements of Baroque—organ music by J.S. Bach, J. Frescobaldi, A. Corelli, B. Marcello and others, a lot of vocal music based on poems by M. Tsvetaeva (S. Feinberg he was one of the first who wrote music for her poems), V. Bryusov, A. Pushkin, M. Lermontov, A. Blok, A. Bely, A. Rambo. More often than others, both during S. Feinberg's lifetime and in our time, his sonatas and transcriptions are performed.

To understand the compositional nature of S. Feinberg, it is important that he himself did not consider himself a professional composer in the true sense. He admitted that he composes without thinking through the scheme, not according to the plan, but intuitively, trying to feel the natural development of musical material. According to the pianist's brother, Leonid Evgenievich, Feinberg claimed: "I don't consider myself a composer in the usual sense of the word. Each composer — the mater of his work — decides that he will write or will have to write a certain work: a fantasy, a sonata, a concerto. He decides in advance the style of the thing, determines future theoretical attitudes, ponders, comes up with, selects suitable topics on the keyboard. This is not the case with me. I fully understand the lines of the Block: ...I'm waiting to scare away my deadly boredom. A new hitherto unthinkable ringing. I'm waiting for a kind of inspiration..." [7, 173].

Perhaps it is this intuitive method of composition that gives the author's works of S. Feinberg a special freedom and brightness of development, improvisationality. However, the statement about an unconscious, unconscious composition does not need to be taken literally. The fact that the composition was thought out in detail by the master is evidenced by the thoroughness of the work on the texture, the complex polyphonic development of themes and the logic of the structure of the whole, often directing the whole movement to a hymnal, solemn culmination at the end of the work.

Feinberg's compositional style was formed in interaction with his pianism. According to his brother, the pianist has repeatedly pointed out that for him there is a close connection between working on pianism and composing. This is easy to understand if you consider that in every mature piano work by S. Feinberg, you can find moments that require extremely high skill from the performer.

Following the traditions of the Moscow school, S. Feinberg turned in his compositional work mainly to the genres of sonatas, concerts and small piano pieces. Continuity was manifested in the principles of the unfolding of the musical narrative and the features of extended phrasing. In the compositions of the musician, as well as in his performing interpretations, not only the contrast is clearly felt, but also the diversity of content, the deep difference that lies between the external and internal spheres of action. The originality of the style was also reflected in the subtle interpenetration of virtuoso, polyphonic and coloristic elements. Comparing the results of the theoretical and practical activities of the musician with the basic aesthetic principles of the representatives of the Moscow school allows us to more accurately determine the direction of his creative searches, largely explains the choice of repertoire, the peculiarities of the embodiment of ideas, helps to trace the ways of rethinking and developing the traditions of Russian pianism.

The style of S. Feinberg's compositions is individual. In it, the composer-pianist vividly feels the piano texture, its phonetic beauty in all its diversity: from the transparent, "airy" sound (the beginning of the First Sonata (1915)), to the leafy massiveness, pathos (the same sonata (culmination in the coda), the beginning of the 3rd part of the sonata - the Funeral March (1917) With all the originality of the composer's style, one can feel subtle allusions to the works of great contemporary composers S. Feinberg, especially A. Scriabin, but also N. Medtner and S. Rachmaninov. According to E. Sorokina, the preference for other genres of the large form of the piano sonata itself speaks of Feinberg's belonging to the Russian compositional tradition of the Silver Age. A characteristic combination of commitment to this genre among other outstanding composers-pianists of the beginning of the century, especially Scriabin and Prokofiev [5, 123]. In the article "Piano Sonatas of S.E. Feinberg" researcher I. Ukhova writes: "There are no two similar compositions among his twelve sonatas. In their diversity, the multiplicity of Feinberg's creative interests is manifested, as well as the degree of his deepening into this particular imagery, absorption in one idea and the completeness of its exhaustion in one composition. Like parts of a large twelve-part cycle, the sonatas follow each other in accordance with the logic of the spiritual evolution of man and the artist" [6, 87].

Let's consider some features of a number of sonatas by S. Feinberg. The First Sonata, Op.1, dated 1915, speaks about the love and closeness of the Feinberg musician to A. Scriabin. Common with A. Scriabin is manifested in the very sound of the theme of the sonata, in the development of the famous theme of the star from the Fourth Sonata, Op.30, by A. Scriabin: common in the ascending quart intonations of the fragile and sublime theme and in its light airy, pulsating textured environment and in the hymnal transformation of the theme in the coda.

The logic of the development of this theme throughout the work is especially important. Attention is drawn to the contrast of lyrical calm and flight scherzo, characteristic of the Fourth Sonata by A. Scriabin. Equally important for the two composers is the transformation of the lyrical theme into a heroic, solemn one at the end of the sonata.

The theme of the Second Sonata, Op. 2, by S. Feinberg also creates a similar romantic image of fragility, striving for a dream. Then it remains the only and main theme of the work. It is on this basis that monothematic development is built. It is characteristic that in the exposition of this sonata, the main theme completely prevails over everything else. A new bright theme that appears at the beginning of development is its figurative transformation (a manifestation of monothematism). The subsequent development is based mainly on the opposition and collision of these themes. The culmination is the coda of the work. In it, the themes first sound at the same time, and then combine into one.

Here S. Feinberg shows himself as a true professional who knows all the secrets of compositional technique: the theme and its motifs are held in imitations and stretches using various rhythmic variants (decrease and increase). Note that the attraction to polyphony, especially in the developing sections of sonatas, was very characteristic of Feinberg. For example, in the following Third Sonata, the development of the sonata form of the 3rd movement is a three-voice fugue.

Returning to the Second Sonata, it is necessary to note the similarity of Feinberg's texture with Scriabin's: the contrast of the deep bass to the light polyphonic texture of the upper voices: "Its structure approaches Scriabin's: deep bass, melody floating in the upper register, and lace of textured undertones in the middle voices" [6, 90].

We emphasize that the attraction of Feinberg, the composer, to poetry and monothematism, which we have noted, subsequently become common to the entire work of S. Feinberg and, in his main genre, the piano sonata. Most of his sonatas — the First and Second, as well as the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh — are one-part, as are most of A. Scriabin's sonatas.

The milestone was especially fruitful for Feinberg, the composer 1910- -1920- x years. At this time, the First and Second Sonatas (1915), the Third Sonata (1916-1917), the Fourth Sonata dedicated to N. Myaskovsky (1918), the Second Fantasy and the Fifth Sonata, the First Suite, Four Preludes Op.8 dedicated to N. Zhilyaev, Preludes, Op.15 (1922), the Sixth were written sonata (1923), romances based on poems by A. Blok and A. Bely Op.14 (1923) and the Seventh Sonata (1925).

Such a flourishing of creativity speaks of the onset of Feinberg's creative maturity as a composer and pianist. In the early 1920s, he played a lot of modern music, and his concerts were held both in Russia and abroad. Active concerting caused a desire to create new music for concert programs. Evidence of the beginning of the world recognition of Feinberg's work was the publication of his works in the Austrian publishing house "Universal Edition", where from 1925 to 1932 eight of his compositions were published, including the Sixth Sonata for Piano, Op.13, romances to poems by A.S. Pushkin and several transcriptions of works by J.S. Bach and W.A. Mozart 

The flourishing of creativity to some extent could be connected with the special atmosphere created around Feinberg at that time. In the early 1920s, the pianist became friends with musicians who were members of the "Association of Modern Music", A. Alexandrov, N. Myaskovsky, V. Belyaev, P. Lamm and others. They received the work of Feinberg, a pianist and composer, enthusiastically, with great understanding, supporting and promoting it, including with their articles and books. It was at this time that the first monograph about Feinberg was written — the book by V. Belyaev. "Samuel E. Feinberg" [1]. It is characteristic that this monograph contains text in two languages — Russian and German. This was done so that his work could be read abroad, where Feinberg performed a lot at that time. The monograph for the first time presented information about his formation as a musician, gave a complete list of his compositional works at that time and a brief description of the evolution of creativity (based on the study of the first seven sonatas).

Of all the reviews of S. Feinberg's friends on his work, we would like to mention two belonging to the most serious and authoritative musicians of that time — N. Myaskovsky and A. Alexandrov. N. Myaskovsky, who especially appreciated S. Feinberg as a deep and thinking musician, later said, "... that only two pianists made him forget that they were pianists — Feinberg and Richter" [2, 43]. Alexandrov, criticizing his friend's writings for "some confusion of form," considered some of their fragments brilliant. Thus, Anatoly Nikolaevich Alexandrov said that if he were asked to choose the ten best places from all the musical literature: "I would include the coda from the Sixth Sonata in this number" [2, 43].

The sixth Sonata, Op. 13 (1923) by S. Feinberg is one of the most important compositions of this period, really stands out for the philosophical depth of the idea and the scale of its implementation. This is a tragic work, as evidenced by its epigraph from F. Tyutchev's poem "Insomnia":

Hours of monotonous battle,

A weary tale of the night!

The language is still foreign to everyone

And intelligible to everyone, like a conscience.

Who has listened to us without longing

Amidst the worldwide silence

The deaf of the moaning time,

A prophetic farewell voice?

The poem talks about the striking of the clock at night and the feelings of longing and loneliness associated with these sounds. The main image in the sonata is the striking of the clock, the bell symbolizing time and at the same time melancholy and loneliness, appears in the introduction.

A short motif of three sounds forms a pure quart and a tritone in the descending direction (recall that the quart and tritone were the basis of A. Scriabin's harmonies of the late period of creativity), which sound like sounds fading in silence, like the quiet chime of a clock. This motif becomes the leading one in the sonata, not only in melodic, but also in harmonic form: quarto and tritone intervals play a big role in the structure of chords of all themes. These intervals are reflected even in the tonal plan of the sonata. In the exposition, the main part sounds in h-moll (the main key of the sonata), the side part in f-moll, the final part in b-moll, in the reprise — the side part in e-moll, the final part in h-moll (the theme of the main part is absent in the reprise).

The main theme of the sonata becomes the theme of the introduction. It is well recognized as the intonation element of the theme of the side part (Sostenuto e severo, octave steps in the bass and the melody of the upper voice) and as the basis of the final — funeral march (Patetico, grave e sostenuno).

All other topics (including those that include the motif from the introduction) are perceived as a large-scale, very complex, very dense in chord presentation improvisation with a predominance of chords on a dissonant basis. It is characteristic that even the theme of the side part in the reprise sounds so much changed that it is recognized only by the texture of the accompaniment, reminiscent of a waltz. The end of the sonata is tragic: the quiet funeral march of the final part (h-moll, ppp) sounds, in which the main motif of the work is repeated.

A special group of S. Feinberg's compositions is formed by his three last sonatas written in the period from 1940 to 1962 — the Tenth, Op.30, the Eleventh, Op.40 and the Twelfth, Op. 48. These compositions express a new, more thoughtful, contemplative attitude to the world — more lyrical reflection than active action. About the nature of two of them, the Tenth and the Eleventh, we can agree with the words: "There is something special in the tone and mood of these two works: yielding to the previous works in the impetuosity of movement, in the brightness of emotional impulses, they store other figurative values inside themselves. In the unhurried changes of sections, in the general slowness of the tempo, in the sunny lyrics of the themes, a new content is embodied — the consciousness of the eternal beauty of the surrounding world, the reflection of a person and an artist about their native land" [6, 109].

The last Twelfth Sonata, written in 1962, Op.48 is a 3-part cycle: Ich. Sonatina, Iich. Intermezzo, III ch. Improvisation. It could be attributed to piano pedagogical literature, since the technical difficulties are small, but its enormous difficulty is in conveying deep figurative content. Its great spiritual fullness requires an inspired, intelligent, subtle performance, which is inherent in real masters of the piano art, such as Samuel E. Feinberg was — a composer-thinker-pianist.

Thus, S. Feinberg, the composer, continues the traditions of Russian music, he has a lot in common with A. Scriabin, partly with N. Medtner. At the same time, his style is absolutely individual, which is revealed in the nature of thematism, the ways of its development, the techniques of piano presentation. A subtle connoisseur of the piano, S. Feinberg creates new types of virtuoso technique. His best works are sonatas (¹¹ 1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12) and especially concerts No. 2 and 3.

S. Feinberg's composing and performing activities, aesthetic principles were associated with a wide range of phenomena. Assessing the results of his work as a whole, it is necessary to note the extremely high artistic and scientific level of his solution of the main practical and theoretical problems. S. Feinberg continued and developed the best traditions of Russian musical culture, at the same time, by the nature and scale of his activity, he mostly belonged to the twentieth century, foresaw many processes that determine the direction of the evolution of piano contemporary art.

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The relevance of the topic of the presented article, concerning the work of the outstanding pianist, teacher and composer S.E. Feinberg, is due both to the personality of the musician himself (and "the truly boundless breadth of his talent," as the author rightly notes at the beginning of the article) and the importance of conceptualizing the development of Russian musical art in the first half of the twentieth century. At the beginning of the article, the author gives a small but important digression into the history of S. Feinberg's work. Further, the author defines the purpose and novelty of his research in this way: "The purpose of this article is to study the pedagogical experience and performing style of S. Feinberg in the context of the era of the Silver Age, which is why the novelty of the research is due." The definition of methodology follows: "The methodology is based on the interaction of two fields of modern science: musicology and music pedagogy." It should be noted at once that the definition of the methodological perspective given by the author is very doubtful and does not give an understanding of which approach he chose for further research. The beginning of the main part of the article is more like a biographical sketch, although filled with interesting facts and quotations. Sometimes, however, there are statements by the author that reveal his desire to summarize, for example: "Note that when looking at the works of C. It is difficult to classify Feinberg from our time as a "leftist", that is, as an "avant-garde". If at the beginning of his work, due to his similarity to A. Scriabin and against the background of more traditional and somewhat simpler stylistically created works, for example, S. Taneyev, S. Evseev, A. Grechaninov and others, his music could seem avant-garde, then later it was perceived as late romantic." When the author turns to the coverage of Feinberg's compositional work, a certain unstructured nature of his (the author's) thought is revealed: only touching on the connection between the performing and compositional works of Samuel Evgenievich, he already proceeds to search for the commonality of his compositional style with the author's style of Scriabin. However, this and this fragment never develops into a comparative analysis and does not come to a logical conclusion or meaningful conclusions. Again, we note that the author still sums up certain results, but they remain "lost" in the text after another change in the direction of thought: "Note that the attraction to polyphony, especially in the developing sections of sonatas, was very characteristic of Feinberg. For example, in the following Third Sonata, the development of the sonata form of the 3rd movement is a three-voice fugue. Returning to the Second Sonata, it is necessary to note the similarity of Feinberg's texture with Scriabin's...". After trying to identify certain features of Feinberg's sonatas, the author goes back to the biography of the musician, to the reviews of his friends, then to the consideration of the next work, the Sixth Sonata. That is, it is completely unclear what exactly the author is trying to analyze. The author analyzes the sixth sonata in the most detail (in comparison with others), but again "jumps" to the following topic, without making any conclusions: "The end of the sonata is tragic: the quiet funeral march of the final part (h - moll , ppp) sounds, in which the main motif of the work is repeated. A special group of S. Feinberg's compositions is formed by his three last sonatas, written in the period from 1940 to 1962 — the Tenth, Op.30, the Eleventh, Op.40 and the Twelfth, Op. 48." The conclusion does not bring the researcher at all closer to the goal of the work, which he himself stated: "Thus, S. Feinberg, the composer, continues the traditions of Russian music, he finds a lot in common with A. Scriabin, partly with N. Medtner. At the same time, his style is absolutely individual, which is revealed in the nature of thematism, the ways of its development, and the techniques of piano presentation. A subtle connoisseur of the piano, S. Feinberg creates new types of virtuoso technique. His best works are sonatas (¹¹ 1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12) and especially concerts Nos. 2 and 3." The stated purpose of the work ("the study of S. Feinberg's pedagogical experience and performing style in the context of the Silver Age era") suggests rather an interdisciplinary approach. Of course, the author can be focused on another methodological vector of research, the main thing is that it is adequate and effective. The style of presentation seems to be quite scientific and competent, but it reveals certain drawbacks. So, the author needs to follow the style and punctuation, in some places violating the understanding of the meaning of the statement. For example, I would like to suggest reformulating the following phrases. "S. Feinberg, a composer, pianist and musical thinker, has shown himself to be a truly great, multifaceted personality in art"; "This melodically and rhythmically intro theme becomes the main theme of the sonata." You should also edit the text more carefully, avoiding typos: "The culmination is the code of the work." The bibliography, designed correctly, consists of ten titles and includes the main sources on the topic, but does not contain any foreign ones and only one published in the last three years. I would like to recommend that the author expand the list of sources used, especially paying attention to foreign ones, as well as those published over the past three years. Unfortunately, in the presented article, one of the key positions of any research – methodology – is completely not thought out by the author. In our opinion, this main drawback leads to a lack of structure in the disclosure of the topic, and to a certain confusion in front of the subject of study. So, I would like to advise the author to choose a clearer angle of the topic, determine the subject and purpose of the study – perhaps it is more reasonable to focus on one of the areas covered in the work. It is also recommended to edit the text, finalize the appeal to opponents and expand the bibliography. The relevant topic and interesting materials collected by the author will be able to arouse the interest of the widest readership, as well as be useful to professionals (performing musicians, composers, practicing teachers and researchers in the field of musicology) after the author completes them to the form of a scientific and analytical article. Thus, the article can apply for publication only after revision.

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Article "S. Feinberg is a composer—thinker of the Silver Age era" is devoted, as the researcher himself writes, "to the study of S. Feinberg's compositional style in the context of the Silver Age era, which is why the novelty of the study is due. The methodology is based on a comprehensive analysis of the phenomena of musicology and cultural processes of Russian musical and performing arts." Indeed, the author skillfully used a whole range of methods - comparative historical, analytical, etc., analyzing a wide range of sources, musical and literary. We add that the relevance of the article is greater than ever, as far as all modern performers are concerned, and the long-standing interest of researchers in his work will steadily grow. The article has an undoubted scientific novelty, which is especially commendable in the light of the already mentioned wide interest of the scientific community in the composer's work. The author's style, with obvious scientific presentation and deep content, is distinguished by originality, high artistry and other advantages. The structure of the article is clear and logical. The author characterizes the creative activity of S. E. Feinberg, provides an overview of sources, describes his work "The Fate of the musical Form", analyzes in detail the style of S. Feinberg's compositions and draws conclusions. The content demonstrates many advantages: both a deep knowledge of the composer's work, and the ability to brilliantly describe it, as well as draw the right conclusions. Let's note a number of positive points. The author brilliantly characterizes S. Feinberg's music: "Here S. Feinberg manifests himself as a true professional who knows all the secrets of compositional technique: the theme and its motifs take place in imitations and stretches using various rhythmic options (decrease and increase). Note that the attraction to polyphony, especially in the developing sections of the sonatas, was very characteristic of Feinberg. For example, in the next Third Sonata, the development of the sonata form of the 3rd movement is a three-voice fugue." Or: "Returning to the Second Sonata, it is necessary to note the similarity of Feinberg's texture with Scriabin's: the contrast of the deep bass to the light polyphonic texture of the upper voices..." It is great that the author notices those features of the composer's music that make him related to other composers: "Note that when looking at the works of C. It is difficult to classify Feinberg from our time as a "leftist", that is, as an "avant-garde". If at the beginning of his work, due to his similarity to A. Scriabin and against the background of more traditional and somewhat simpler stylistically created works, for example, S. Taneyev, S. Evseev, A. Grechaninov and others, his music could seem avant-garde, then later it was perceived as late romantic." Or: "The style of S. Feinberg's writings is individual. In it, the composer-pianist vividly feels the piano texture, its phonetic beauty in all its diversity: from the transparent, "airy" sound (the beginning of the First Sonata (1915)), to the leafy massiveness, pathos (the same sonata (culmination in the coda), the beginning of the 3rd movement of the sonata — the Funeral March (1917) With all the originality of the composer's style, one can feel subtle allusions to the works of great contemporary composers S. Feinberg, especially A. Scriabin, but also N. Medtner and S. Rachmaninov." The bibliography of this study is very impressive and versatile, includes foreign sources, and is made in accordance with GOST standards. The appeal to the opponents is sufficient and executed at a highly scientific level. As already mentioned, the conclusions are serious and extensive, which gives special value to the study: "Thus, S. Feinberg, the composer continues the traditions of Russian music, he finds a lot in common with A. Scriabin, partly with N. Medtner. At the same time, his style is absolutely individual, which is revealed in the nature of thematism, the ways of its development, and the techniques of piano presentation. A subtle connoisseur of the piano, S. Feinberg creates new types of virtuoso technique. His best works are sonatas (¹¹ 1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12) and especially concerts No. 2 and 3. S. Feinberg's composing and performing activities, aesthetic principles were associated with a wide range of phenomena. Assessing the results of his work as a whole, it is necessary to note the extremely high artistic and scientific level of his solution of basic practical and theoretical problems. S. Feinberg continued and developed the best traditions of Russian musical culture, at the same time, by the nature and scale of his activity, he mostly belonged to the twentieth century, predicted many processes that determine the direction of the evolution of the piano the art of modernity". The interest of the readership in the article will be indisputable among different circles (not only performing musicians, composers and musicologists), and its benefits for beginners and experienced authors are obvious.