Abstract: The six-voice ricercar from "The Musical Offering" by J.S. Bach in the orchestration of Anton Webern is one of the unique examples of the interpretation of the music of the great masters that far surpasses the boundaries of ordinary arrangement: its result represents a new authorized version of a classic work. By simply restructuring the existing material, Webern was able to create a new work of composition and style without actually "producing" anything new. This article is devoted to the analysis of this newly textured-intonational construction of the well-known Bach fugue.The artistic effect of this radical rethinking is based on the idea of structural counterpoint arising from the imposition on Bach's urtext of the new textural and compositional logic of Webern’s orchestration. Hence the main research method here: a comparative theoretical analysis of Bach's text and the orchestral score of Webern. Over Bach's "fugue of melodic lines" Webern extends his own "fugue of voices." Its "theme" – unchanged, but constantly undergoing appropriate development – is a defined structure of timbre transmissions: ABC B ABC, subordinated to the unified algorithm termed the "abstract variational scheme" (in the definition of C. Dahlhaus).To reflect the particularities of Webern’s work the article introduces a new theoretical concept, the transinstrumental line. With the resulting diagonal profile, this line is essentially a superimposed textured form mounted "on top" of the primary horizontal elements of the material, forming in the texture of the composition an additional structural-hierarchical level by acting as an intonational-guiding voice. From this grows, via simulative polyphony, a more complex texture of the fugue as a whole, distinct from the original in its contours. The wealth of the internal structure of Bach-Webern ricercar and the correspondingly diverse musical semantics toward which Webern so strove are based on an original combination of principles: linear polyphony, counterpoint technique and the monotimbre horizontal (present in Bach) with the motive orchestral pointillism, timbre structuralism and transinstrumental line (created by Webern).

Keywords: transinstrumental line, structural counterpoint, arrangement, orchestration, ricercar, «The Musical Offering», A. Webern, J.S. Bach, translinear structure, timbre pointillism

Abstract: This article is devoted to the means of performer interpretation and the tasks of the pianist in the instrumental chamber music of French composer Olivier Messiaen. The author discusses the particularities of tempo, dynamics, articulation, pedaling and the special instructions by the composer in the compositions under review. The main performance problems of ensemble play related to the achievement of tempo-rhythmic, dynamic and bar unity are indentified, and the author offers a number of practical tips for overcoming tempo and rhythmic complexities. In addition, attention is drawn to the strictly pianistic tasks in the chamber instrumental works of Messiaen.The article applies musicological methods which allow analysis in detail of the means of performer interpretation; when contrasting compositions with one other, the comparative method is widely used.The author concludes that the tempo-rhythmic component of compositions is the most difficult for performers, which becomes particularly apparent in ensemble play. A variety of dynamic nuances requires from the pianist subtle gradations of touch correlated with the overall sound balance of the ensemble. Articulation tasks are resolved from both the instrumental ensemble’s composition and the functions of the piano part, which is characterized by a gradual transition from the tonal unity with the instruments to a timbre opposition to them.

Keywords: dynamics, tempo, performance, chamber ensemble, chamber-instrumental compositions, piano, O. Messiaen, articulation, pedal, special composer instructions

Abstract: The paper is about the attitude of a prominent XXth century composer Toru Takemitsu to painting in general and particularly to his favourite artists Odilon Redon, Paul Klee and Juan Miro. Diverse Japanese gardens are also among visual stimulus where he found inspiration that is also reflected in different aspects of his musical writing.

Keywords: Toru Takemitsu, painting, Odilon Redon, Paul Klee, Juan Miro.

Abstract: The article is centered around an emblematic work of Luciano Berio — Sequenza V for trombone dedicated to the great clown of the first half of the 20th century Grock (real name — Ch.A. Wettach). By the choice of genre, instrument, elements of musical language and specific perfoming gestures Berio fulfils his aesthetic goal — the multivalence and “multilayerness” of the text that create the impression of unlimited shades of meaning in the music.

Keywords: L. Berio; Grock; Sequenza No 5; trombone; theatricality of musical performance.