Realization of Folklore in the Perspective of Postmodernism (on the Material of Russian Music of the Second Half of the 20th Century)
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Abstract
The article is devoted to analysis of the relationship between “the composer and folklore” in the perspective of
Postmodernism as a new tendency of Russian music of the second half of the 20th century, hitherto not sufficiently
studied in musicology. The author examines musical compositions by Valentin Silvestrov (“Quiet Songs” and
“Requiem for Larisa”), Rodion Shchedrin (“Dead Souls”), Sergei Slonimsky (“The Visions of Ivan the Terrible”)
and Alfred Schnittke (“Life with the Idiot”) from the positions of implementation into them of Postmodernist
tendencies. Their action is revealed on various levels: the genre-related, the dramaturgical and the lingual. The
role of the binary opposition conditioning the genre-related, dramaturgical and stylistic solution for the operas
is determined. In Shchedrin’s “Dead Souls” the emphasis is placed on the composition’s poly-dramaturgy: the
conflicting juxtaposition of “two different operas” – the folk, lyrical-epic, and the classical with features of opera
buffa. Special attention is given to the poly-stylistic aspect of the work, the main components of which are Russian
folk music and Italian opera buffa. In Slonimsky’s opera “The Visions of Ivan the Terrible” accentuation is made
on the multifold strata of the genre structure, which synthesizes together features of tragedy, farce, psychological
drama, mystery and the Passions. The specificity of Schnittke’s opera “Life with the Idiot” is disclosed through
a reinterpretation of social drama in a grotesque absurdist aspect, presenting a parody-type interpretation of the
Romantic opera tradition. Definition is provided for the semantic functions of the function of folk music in the
composer’s music: the lyrical function is present in the composer’s voice (Silvestrov), the epic function – in
the symbolic manifestation of the folk element (Shchedrin and Slonimsky) and the grotesque element – in the
personification of totalitarian government (Schnittke).
Keywords: Postmodernism, social art, polystylistics, folklore. Valentin Silvestrov, Rodion Shchedrin, Sergei
Slonimsky, Alfred Schnittke, opera, genre, musical dramaturgy.
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