Contrast in the Titles of Musical Works

Main Article Content

Ljudmila M. Kudinova

Abstract

The article presents the idea of contrast in the titles of musical
works as an aspect of musical nomenology, (the study of
titles, introduced into Russian musicology by the author). Until
the 20th century, contrast functioned predominantly as general cultural
idea; it revealed itself in different aspects of musical language,
but in the titles, contrast occurred only in secondary program
definitions, overshadowed by the titles related to the main
genre definition. In the titles of musical works of the 20th century
one can witness a great number of contrast-based meanings.
The author brings in the examples of such titles in music
of composers from different countries. She provides thematic
categorization of these titles. The author emphasizes the difference
between verbal and musical contrast. On the examples from
music of Bela Bartok, Alfredo Casella, Sofia Gubaidulina, Michel
Denhoff, William Rigger, and Sergei Agadzhanyan, the author
demonstrates the ways contrast is reflected in the musical notation.
In resume, the author suggests that the title can be not
only an idea of a work, but the metaphor that extends its
expressive range. Thus the word is realized in music a new
way, its rich meanings puts musical thinking on a new, nonlinear
path, expanding the musical field of meanings and ideas.

Keywords: Music of the 20th century, musical nomenology, semantics, contrast

Article Details

How to Cite
Kudinova, L. M. (2008). Contrast in the Titles of Musical Works. Music Scholarship / Problemy Muzykal’noj Nauki, 3(2), 118–122. Retrieved from https://musicscholar.ru/index.php/PMN/article/view/730
Section
Poetics and Semantics of the Musical Text
Author Biography

Ljudmila M. Kudinova, Moscow State P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory

Ljudmila M. Kudinova is a musicologist. She has graduated from the Department of Theory and History of Music of the
Moscow State P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory