The Structural-Semantic Phenomenon of the Main Protagonist as an Attribute of Theatricality in the Thematicism of Mozart’s Piano Sonatas
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Abstract
The main protagonist as the bearer of the theatrical element in the structure of the musical text of Mozart’s piano
sonatas is represented by musical themes which possess certain lexical indications. The later include the standard
formulas of the Classicist musical language, which penetrated into instrumental sonatas from opera compositions
and acquired stable meanings as the result of migrating from one musical text to another. Each of the intonational
complexes comprising these structures is common for the group of protagonists of various operas by Mozart
corresponding to a particular line of character of 18th century musical theater and presents the universal features of
this image.
The method of structural-semantic analysis in the musical texts of operas and sonatas examined in the article
helps reveal the migrating intonational formulas (to use the term of Liudmila Shaymukhametova) with their stable
meanings fixated by the initial musical text of the opera. They unite the protagonists of Mozart’s operas who
represent aristocratic images. In the thematicism of the piano sonatas these semantic structures identify them
in a more generalized manner: as characters representing images in a standard situation of a theatrical action (a
conflicting dialogue, a comical duel, the scene of courtship, etc.). At that, the semantic gradations of the intonational
lexis are actualized by means of conditions of tempi, dynamics, articulation and keys for their use in the semantic
context of a musical theme. The applied method of analysis is of practical significance for the creation of the concept
of the secondary musical text – the performer’s scenario based on the deciphering the semantic structures of the
composer’s primary musical text.
Keywords: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart’s piano sonatas, the hero in the musical text, the migrating
intonational formula, the intonational lexis, the inter-text migration.
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