Stepanova A.S. —
Principles of personification of William Blake’s images in Dmitry Smirnov’s instrumental music (the example of the opus “Four essays about Job”)
// PHILHARMONICA. International Music Journal. – 2019. – ¹ 1.
– P. 24 - 34.
DOI: 10.7256/2453-613X.2019.1.29105
URL: https://en.e-notabene.ru/phil/article_29105.html
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Abstract: Blake’s images in the 20th century attracted attention of not only poets and writers, philosophers and artists, but also composers belonging to different schools. Dmitry N. Smirnov is the brightest representative of the Russian school whose works are full of admiration for Blake. Blake’s works inspired Smirnov to create many opuses. The key object of this article is Smirnov’s instrumental cycle “Four essays about Job”, expressing the principles of personification of Blake’s lyrics in music. The author conducts holistic and context analysis of this work from the viewpoint of revealing the synthesis of the two dramaturgies: graphic and musical. Using the instrumental theater the composer tries to deepen and broaden the significance of his works and bond all the participants of the process: a composer, a performer, and a spectator. Thus, Smirnov becomes not only a composer, but also a director, who can create event lines and visual imagery and finish telling the sources underlying musical works, particularly - Blake’s graphic works.