Roman Ledenev and Sergey Prokofiev: Points of Contact

Main Article Content

Evgeniya R. Skurko

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of S. Prokofievʼs influence on the process of the artistic world formation of the composer R. Ledenev, who like many of his contemporaries, grew up “under the Prokofiev sun” (A. Schnittke). The works of the early period (late 1940–the turn of the 1950s–1960s) are considered. Ledenevʼs first instrumental compositions come into view (Sonata for Clarinet and Piano Op. 1, Sonata in Memory of Sergei Prokofiev Op. 3, Sonatina for Piano Op. 4, String Quartet Op. 7, Violin Concerto Op. 12), cantata and oratorio (“The Word about Igorʼs Regiment” Op. 2, “Ode to the Party” Op. 10) in their comparison with Prokofievʼs music. Parallels with Prokofiev can be traced in Ledenevʼs works at the level of poetics, dramaturgy, thematism, form. At the same time, the individual properties of the composerʼs style that have already manifested at this stage are emphasized, which will become decisive in his work over the next decades. This refers to the dominant sphere of lyricism in Ledenevʼs figurative-poetic system, both of a pictorial and monological nature, an extensive type of dramaturgy, the role of the genre of microminiatures combined into microcycles. We are also talking about the reflection of the principles of writing typical for the work of composers of the “sixties” in the musical language. The result of Ledenevʼs artistic search is a synthesis of intonation that determines the individuality of his style, coming from Russian songwriting, Prokofiev, “New Vienna School”, Shostakovich, as well as from the “Sviridov direction”, to which Ledenev came in the late 1970s.


Keywords: Prokofievʼs influence, Ledenevʼs style, poetics, genres, lyrics, epic, dramaturgy, monologue tendency.

Article Details

How to Cite
Skurko Е. Р. (2022). Roman Ledenev and Sergey Prokofiev: Points of Contact. Music Scholarship / Problemy Muzykal’noj Nauki, 46(1), 38–53. Retrieved from https://musicscholar.ru/index.php/PMN/article/view/1336
Section
To S. Prokofiev Anniversary
Author Biography

Evgeniya R. Skurko, Ufa State Institute of Arts named after Zagir Ismagilov, Ufa, Russia

Evgeniya R. Skurko, DrSci (Arts), Professor, Music Theory Department