Abstract: The article focuses on visualization of the sound image in New Music. The visual image is aligned with the concept of gestalt, and the sound perception - with Gestalt psychology. Gestalt belongs to Art even more than to Science.  Each recipient can practice it in his own way which reflects his personality, experience and life philosophy. In the process of research the author considers various examples of sound visualization in New Music (Ya. Xenakis, K. Stockhausen, S. Sciarrino) as well as specific concepts of sound perception, described in works by the composers of New Music. A holistic approach applied to the phenomenon under study involved the use of various analytical methods. The conclusion from the conducted study is importance of the principle of isomorphism as an expression of structural integrity of the physical, physiological and psychological worlds. The article is intended for professional musicians occupied with aesthetics and technique of modern musical composition, as well as for a wide range of readers interested in music art in general.

Keywords: gestalt-psychology , isomorphism, Sciarrino , Xenakis , Stockhausen, sound field, sonor, sound perception, cognitive musicology, gestalt

Abstract: The article considers the piano works by the famous Chinese composer Du Mingxin (Du Mingxin, born in1928).  Due to the fact that few Russian readers know this name, the first part of the article presents a brief summary of the biography of the composer. The main attention is paid to the events that influenced the composer's creative personality. The second part of the article deals with the analysis of one of the last compositions for piano - 'The Album for the Youth of the New Century' suite. In the process of analysis the author identifies a number of features that allow us tocall the compositions a cycle. Each of the four pieces of music that make up the suite has been examined in detail: figurative structure, features of the genre, form, musical language. In the musical language of the suite 'The Album for the Young of the New Century' the composer combines features of national music (intonation, modal features) and traditional Europeantechniques in music composition.

Keywords: Chinese composer , modern music , piano music , piano suite , Du Mingxin, cycle, cyclic form, pentatonic, theory of musical composition, Chinese music

Abstract: The article is devoted to one of the most striking embodiments of the work iconic for the whole world literature - The Divine Comedy by  Dante Alighieri - in the musical opus by Robert Smith, a contemporary American composer. The author draws figurative parallels between the literary source and the composition of the composer, and defines the ways of interaction between musical form and content revealing their involvement in the synthesis of arts. The article focuseson the factors that Robert Smith refers to helping the audience/listener understand the image-and-content components of the Dante poem, in particular, on use of principles of instrumental theater (singing and reciting by members of the orchestra). The author when considering one musical opus has undertaken its integral analysis that implies a contextual approach to the phenomenon under study. The symphony by Robert Smith appears as a literary and musical manifesto of the composer, the main meaning of which is to instruct the young generation on moral and aesthetic rightness. The work is considered in stages (one part after another) to reach a deeper understanding of the general concept. 

Keywords: modern music, Robert Smith , postmodernism , Dante , programming, symphonic music, form and content, musical image, synthesis of arts, contemporary music

Abstract: The article considers stylistic features of the works by modern Welsh composer Karl Jenkins on the example of the monumental cycle "Stabat Mater". The author analyses the elements of musical language, timbre dramaturgy as means of creation of multiple associative connections. Particular attention is paid to the issues of unity of the author's style in the context of polystylistics. The article highlights the qualitative characteristics of the musical content and traces the patterns of development of thematicism and the principles of form creation. It also demonstrates the peculiarities of polystylistic techniques, the combination of intonational and structural elements of Baroque with the modern genre basis, the inclusion of the ethnic component. To obtain an objective result, the author uses methods of theoretical analysis of thematicism and musical forms, analogy and a method of comparative analysis, systematization of observations and generalization. The main conclusions of the study are the formulated principles of Jenkins' polystylistics at the level of interpretation of the genre, musical language and technique of composition. The article could be of interest to both music scientists and a wide audience interested in contemporary music.

Keywords: Karl Jenkins , polystylistic , sacred music , world music , non-European style, Baroque style, song form, ethnical instruments, modern music , Stabat Mater

Abstract: The article considers the main components of musical folklore culture currently existing in the territory of the Chelyabinsk region. The author offers fairly convincing evidence of actual existence of this complex, contradictory, multielement phenomenon, the presence and functional significance of which often has been belittled by modern researchers. The author briefly describes various approaches to the concept of "regional culture" and gives his own interpretation. In addition, the author offers the definitions of folklore culture and musical culture. The article justifies the concept of "modern regional folklore musical culture" on the basis of a generalized understanding of these phenomena. Proceeding from this, the author characterizes the actual existence of traditional musical folklore in the territory of the Chelyabinsk region, as well as its ethnic varieties such as, for example, event-related and unrelated genres; the existence of late folklore forms, represented primarily by mining and metallurgical folklore (folklore of workers), and features of musical folklorism in the work of amateur and professional composers. Thus, a diverse palette of modern folklore musical culture of the region is shown in the present article. 

Keywords: Chelyabinsk region , regional culture, regional studies , cultural identity, genre, style, folklorism, music , traditional culture , folklore