Abstract: The two considered dramatic preludes were written by the young Sergei Rachmaninov and Alexander Scriabin almost simultaneously, with a difference of two years. The article examines the interrelationships and features of these two plays. The basis for the joint study of these miniatures is the same tonality (C-sharp minor), one genre definition, as well as several similar features in imagery (drama) and the dramatic idea (the juxtaposition of the "fatal" beginning and the pleading voice). The interrelations are manifested in form, texture, harmony, and specific compositional techniques. On the other hand, distinctive features are also studied in the form, texture, harmony, concert scale, and features of the melodic relief of these compositions. An attempt is made to substantiate the specificity of the plays' figurative and semantic content by the musical language's peculiarities. Rachmaninov's prelude, Op. 3 No. 2 and Scriabin's prelude Op. 11 No. 10 are studied by comparison. The method of sequential comparison makes it possible to study the interrelationships in detail and clearly identify the features and individuality of each miniature's symbolic and semantic content and musical language. For the first time, these two famous preludes are compared in detail, sequentially, in the context of each part. It can be argued that preludes have several similar features (dramatic, compositional, textural) that have not been discussed before. As a result of the comparison, both the peculiarities of imagery and the peculiarities of musical language are highlighted in a new way. A number of these features will later, in the course of the evolution of creativity, become distinctive features of the compositional styles of each of the authors. Due to these individual characteristics, one dramatic idea is embodied in each of these preludes in its own way: the idea of contrasting and further interaction of two contrasting images—"rock" and "supplication"—is embodied in each prelude in its own way. These features emphasize the difference, like the drama of each play. This difference is related to the individuality of creativity's emotional, symbolic, and semantic content and the specifics of the aesthetic positions of the two Russian contemporary composers.

Keywords: drama, organ point, comparison, symbolism, basses, harmony, peculiarities of musical language, bell-ringing, texture, prelude

Abstract: The subject of this study is the intersection points of music and visual art, demonstrated by the example of the creative interaction of conceptual artist Marcel Duchamp and composer John Cage. The possibility of reformatting creativity from the visual to the sound field is considered as a role rotation, within which Duchamp appears as a composer, and Cage as an artist. An attempt has been made to explain the motivation for such a choice. What is the meaning of this, and what do people mean when they choose this or that image for themselves, and create this or that image for themselves. How important it is to change the artistic image and creative image for the master. The research methodology consists in a comparative analysis of these concepts using already known works on this topic and the author's personal observations. In conceptualism, an idea is valued above the process of its materialization in a work of art, and therefore, the technique of execution is not a decisive factor. In such a creative paradigm, the artist's tools themselves become not so essential, which can be paints, a brush or other means of visual representation of the concept, as well as sheet music or a graphic score. The means of artistic expression – sounds or visual elements – also turn out to be equivalent. They all focus around the concept – the dominant point of any kind of creativity. This conclusion becomes the key to the research conducted in this article.

Keywords: artistic image, Marcel Duchamp, John Cage, artist, composer, music, drawing, creative thinking, divergent character, notation

Abstract: The object of research in this article is the piano cycles of the Italian composer and pianist Alessandro Longo (1864-1945). The subject of the study is the continuation and development within the framework of this genre of romantic traditions laid down by romantic composers F. Chopin and R. Schumann. Alessandro Longo turned to writing piano cycles throughout his life. These works are distinguished by significant artistic merits. The author of the article examines in detail such aspects of the topic as the creation of the integrity of the cycle on the basis of tonal, figurative-emotional, genre connections between the plays. Within the framework of the suite-type cycle, he reveals the features of programmaticity found in the names of the plays and their arrangement in cycles. Special attention is paid to the analysis of piano cycles of etudes, which are interpreted by Longo not so much as a genre aimed at practicing techniques to improve professional skills, but as a sketch, romantic piano miniature. The author uses an integrated approach, including system-historical and comparative methods of analysis. The basis for the study of the research was the method of musical theoretical analysis, including thematic, stylistic, structural and compositional aspects. The author's significant contribution to the study of the topic lies in the introduction to musicological usage and understanding of a significant layer of Italian musical culture of the late XIX – early XX century. Alessandro Longo's piano cycles, which are in demand in the performing practice of Western European musicians and are of interest for pedagogical practice, are little known to domestic performers and have not been considered in musicology. This publication is the first study of A. Longo's piano cycles in the light of the implementation of romantic trends. As a result of the analysis, the author comes to the conclusion that the piano cycles of the non-sonate type by A. Longo continue the established traditions in the implementation of this genre, which is manifested in the appeal to certain principles of cyclization: tonal logic, genre, tempo, tonal, emotional-figurative connections between the pieces. At the same time, they reveal an identity peculiar to both the Italian national culture as a whole and to this author, which is manifested in melodiousness, melodiousness (including in cycles of sketches), as well as emotional saturation and theatricalization.

Keywords: Italian national traditions, piano composer, etude, piano miniature, romantic traditions, piano cycle, cycle of suite type, Italian piano music, Alessandro Longo, Melodic etude

Abstract: In the 1980s and early 2000s, Chinese composers wrote the largest number of piano concertos in the entire century-long history of this genre in the musical history of this state. Among them, the most recognized in different countries were the works of Huang Anlun and Du Mingxin. Along with the fame of the pianists who performed them and the importance of the composers themselves in the music of China, a considerable merit in this is seen in the enrichment of their concerts with symphonic principles that influenced the depth of dramatic tension in these works. The article examines the techniques of musical development in two concerts by Huang Anlun and the First and Third Concerts by Du Minxin in line with the ideas of symphonism laid down by B. Asafyev and developed in the works of Soviet and Russian musicologists. The role of Russian music in the appeal of Chinese composers to symphonic drama in piano concerts is also noted. The main means of symphonization in the concerts under consideration mostly coincide. They are characterized by the orchestrality of the piano part and the developed dialogicity of the soloist and orchestra, moreover, there is a high degree of their cohesion in the works of Huang Anlun. The figurative transformation of themes is of key importance. Meanwhile, there are differences. Du Mingxin tends to a more concise form of the concert. With regard to thematic work, he confines himself to creating arched connections and tends to bring contrasts closer together. Huang Anlun builds monumental musical canvases. He permeates his compositions with leittems and pays great attention to development. So, if Du Mingxin acts within the framework of a symphonized concert, then Huang Anlun has made an exit to the concert-symphony genre.

Keywords: symphonized concert, symphonic principles, symphonism, Huang Allun, piano concerto, contemporary music, influence of Russian music, chinese music, concert-symphony, Du Mingxin

Abstract: In the twentieth century, playing two pianos has become one of the leading forms of joint ensemble performance – many duet compositions have appeared all over the world, and the creation of works for such a composition is a separate branch of compositional creativity. The authors, representatives of different artistic trends, preaching various techniques and manners of writing, paid close attention to the piano duet. A special branch of the development of the genre at this time is represented by compositions in which quaternary is used as a unique, original method of creating compositions, suggesting special searches in the field of musical acoustics and aesthetics. They – the opuses of I. Vyshnegradsky, C. Ives, M. Cooper, S. Reich, V. Ekimovsky – for the first time in musicology became the main object of contextual analysis. The importance of such music for the heyday of the piano duet in the twentieth century can hardly be overestimated: it was she who brought into the genre a completely unknown acoustic imbalance of instruments, a dialogue of two personalized parts. The piano duet of the twentieth century is determined not only by its own artistic values expressed by specific duet works, but also by the significant contribution of the genre in question to the overall development of musical art – both composing and performing practice.

Keywords: modern composition, 20th century music, microtonal music, piano duet, the content of art, musical art, theory of music, philosophy of music, musicology, art history

Abstract: The subject of the research is the study of the specific stylistic features of the songwriting of the outstanding composer Suleiman Aleskerov, who played an exceptional role in the prosperity and development of the musical art of Azerbaijan, the study of the role of vocal music in the composer's work, the identification of the main features of his songs by analysis. The object of the study is the songwriting of Suleiman Aleskerov. In this context, the object of the study is to study the composer's attitude to the sources of song creativity, to the sources of folk music, to identify the national characteristics of the musical language of his songs, its originality. His songwriting is analyzed from the point of view of thematic and genre diversity, special attention is paid to the study of musical form, rhythm, mugham, melodic language of his songs. The main results of the study are that, despite the fact that Aleskerov's songs differ in musical structure, textural features, the definiteness of the national mugham is clearly expressed in them, the content of the melody, the intonation core is revealed. The author's special merits in studying the topic are that the main feature manifested in the melodies of songs is associated with the appearance of such mughams as shchur, segah, shushtar, bayat shiraz, which occur above the harmonic structure of a major or minor. Although his lyrical songs show the qualities inherent in folk songs, they differ in musical language. So, here the peculiarities of the romance genre come to the fore, and not folk songs. This is especially evident in the widely developed, smooth melody, which in its style is associated with mugham. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that the songwriting of Suleiman Aleskerov was studied, the musical language of his songs and the stylistic features of the composer were revealed. The composer's songs in various genres were analyzed, the themes of his work, genre features, creative attitude to folk music and mugham were revealed.

Keywords: rhythm, lad, chorus, verse, music analysis, song, composer, Suleiman Aleskerov, mugam, style

Abstract: The article considers the methodological principles of analyzing the parameters of interaction of speech and music language in the context of object-oriented methods of Astafiev’s intonation theory, Yavorsky’s concept of music speech, the views on and ideas about the intonation basis of speech of Bonfeld, Medushevsky, Aranovsky and Nazaikinsky, and the new system of interaction of speech and music in the works of Helmut Lachenmann and  Luciano Berio. Music language and speech are the phenomena allowing for various intersections, complementarities and mutual interferences. These factors manifest themselves in various aspects spotlighting particular sides of these parameters characterizing speech and music language. Since there’s no unified methodology for analyzing these parameters at the moment, it is reasonable to study a music composition as a text (in a broad sense) using various methods of analysis. The author suggests considering the parameters of interaction of speech and music language in terms of object-oriented methods. In the works of composers, music and speech have different forms of interaction and, consequently, need to be studied via different analytical approaches. Comprehensive consideration of a piece of music as a text (by means of various approaches) allows considering it as an intercultural universum representing the code of the epoch. Based on the peculiarities of interpretation of voice as an instrument, and speech as music, and the opportunities it gives, the author formulates the classification of creative methods and principles and the system of analysis which can be used in musicology.   

Keywords: metodology, Luciano Berio, Helmut Lachenmann, intonation basis, speech, musical language, analysis, text, word, sound

Abstract: Boris Tchaikovsky is the author of bright and original symphonic compositions. A timbre-orchestra palette is, undoubtedly, one of the key components of the music language of his works. The authors of this research analyze Tchaikovsky’s  Violin concerto and Piano concerto, the symphonic poems “The Juvenile” and “The Winds of Siberia”, the Symphony No 3 “Sevastopol”, and the Symphony with Harp, in order to consider particular aspects connected with the timbre-orchestra language of his symphonic compositions, such as: the timbre-texture embodiment of thematic invention (the peculiarities of orchestra compositions); the ensemble combinations of instruments and their meaning. The authors also analyze the composer’s favorite timbre-texture techniques. The authors define and consider the phenomenon of “timbre pointillism” typical for the timbre writing of the composer. The original symphonic works by Tchaikovsky have been studied many times. In 2019 a research by Yu. Abdokov was published in which the author considers the peculiarities of an orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s theatrical music. The orchestra in his symphonic compositions also has theatrical features, however with some peculiarities. The features of Tchaikovsky’s timbre-orchestra writing haven’t been analyzed yet, and this fact determines the scientific novelty of the research. The authors attempt to generalize the peculiarities of the timbre writing of the composer. Tchaikovsky himself always emphasized the necessity of a single and final variant of orchestration.   

Keywords: timbre, orchestra, symphonic work, symphonic music, symphony, Boris Tchaikovsky, modern music, Russian music, orchestral aspect, orchestral techniques

Abstract: This article focuses on transforming a musical language and the correlation between the esthetic guideline, invention, compositional technique, and language. The author describes Pierre Boulez’s two strategies in life and work, which allowed him to gain significant cultural authority, and sets out the people who influenced Boulez’s esthetics. In a broad esthetic and philosophical context, the author shows the turn from the technique to the language in Boulez's esthetical and theoretical texts, describes the three concepts of the language, the period of synthesis following the period of rejection, and Boulez’s concerns about the problems of music perception. In the context of Boulez’s thesis about the unity of an invention, a technique, and a language, the author considers Boulez’s supporter Heinz Holliger's piece for viola, Trema(1981). The author uses a comprehensive approach as a combination of elements of comparative analysis, musical phenomenology (focusing the mind on music structures), and hermeneutics (the process of understanding and interpreting). The research material is of methodical importance for modern educational courses in the theory and history of music. The author arrives at the conclusion that Boulez, as well as Kant, directs the concept of art towards Aristotle's category of “poiesis” as “craft and creation” and focuses on overcoming the esthetics of rejection (preceding the classic-romantic tradition) in Boulez’s turn to the period of “synthesis,” which includes not only the turn from a technique to a language but also electroacoustic “sound manufacturing.” The following aspects of Hollinger’s Trema are considered for the first time: the idea, the principles of new solo music, and the new technique. The author arrives at the conclusion that Trema belongs to the “multilayered music epoch” and that radical rethinking of a musical language sharpens communication.  

Keywords: specific techniques of the game, piece for viola, Hans Holliger, three concepts of language, turn to universality, texts by Pierre Boulez, music as a language, idea of the piece, new solo music, different time levels

Abstract: This study researches the editing form in a piece of music. The research subject is the music of late 20th-century Russian composers. The purpose of the article is to denote the appearance of a particular form that hasn’t been noticed in music before—an editing form—in the works of late 20th-century Russian composers and to describe its specificity. To achieve this goal, the author refers to the key provisions of V. Bobrovsky’s concept about the “compositional ellipsis,” which in its turn is based on B. Asafiev’s understanding of the process of music form-making as the switching of the functions of the associates of the “i-m-t” formula. The author uses theoretical and analytical research methods and general scientific methods within the comparative and logical analysis, including observation, generalization, and comparison, and arrives at the following conclusions: The editing method is a universal means of constructing an artistic composition space in late twentieth-century Russian musical art. In many respects, it was promoted by the spiritual and intellectual environment of the time with its striving for eclecticism, multilayered complexity, and polarity. The analysis helps identify the peculiarities of a piece of music’s editing form—a high degree of disintegration of thematic material, sudden switching of genre and thematic lines, patchiness, and the polythematic character of structures. The research’s scientific novelty lies in the author being the first to use the principle of “compositional ellipsis” (authored by V. Bobrovsky) as a fundamental principle of editing form-making, which extends the spectrum of objective scientific interpretation of music compositions.  

Keywords: interrupted development, fragmentation, text, musical form, editing, musical composition, twentieth century, musical art, polytemic structures, compositional ellipsis

Abstract: The research subject is the creative work of a French composer, pianist, linguist, writer and philosopher Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813 - 1888). As the composer was interested in the legacy of the past  - antique culture and Jewish folklore, he often used modal tonalities. Alkan was the first representative of academic music of the 19th century who used pentatonic scale in two etudes op.35 - in the F-major Allegro barbaro (op.35 no. 5), notably, in Lydian mode, and the B-major op.35 no. 6 based on pentatonic scale with an interesting comparison of natural and harmonical B-major. The author concludes that Alkan was the largest novator of harmonic language and mode peculiarities. He was one of the first musicians of the 19th century to use modal tonalities and colourful harmonies; he rearranged modes in the cycles of short scores, preludes, etudes and songs without lyrics, and he also was a novator in sonata cycles. To analyze Alkan’s works, the author uses comparative-analytical and comparative methods - Alkan’s music is compared with the music of his contemporaries, followers and the old masters whose influence on Alkan’s creative work is easy to see. The author also uses the music-analytical method, as it is very important to carry out the analysis - both merely melodic and harmonic - of each work of the composer. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the fact that the creative work of Charles-Valentin Alkan hasn’t been studied sufficiently enough in Russia so far. The only comprehensive thesis analyzing most Alkan’s works is the art history PhD thesis by Veniamin Smotrov “Charles-Valentin Alkan: personality, esthetics, creative work” having 415 pages. The problem of harmonic language  hasn’t been studied in such a detail even in Smotrov’s dissertation as it is in this article. The author notes numerous peculiarities of harmonic language and modes and tonalities innovating in the creative work of Alkan and even some connections with synagogal Jewish symbolism.   

Keywords: form, innovation, tonality, fret, harony, Valentin, Charles, Alkan, symbolism, romantism

Abstract: The article studies the logic of the process of style formation at the early stage of national composers’ work. The author uses the methodologies of ethnopsychology and sociology of the depths to make an assumption about the need for interpreting this process of the birth of a new, individual author’s form of artistic synthesis of the European professionality and the fundamentals of the traditional culture of the author’s ethnos via the structural logic of a rite of passage. This problem is solved based on the analysis of one of the early works of Dagestan composer M. Kasumov - “First concerto for violin with orchestra” (1971). The usage of a four-stage model of passage (V. Turner, Yu.M. Lotman, A.-J. Greimas), instead of a three-stage one (J.G. Frazer, V.I. Tiupa), which includes the stage of partnership, helps specify the process of assimilation of the Russian music culture and clarify the specificity of the moment of turning a “foe” into a “friend”. The analysis of Kasumov’s concerto shows that the principle of self regulation of heterogeneous style systems is connected with a special form of dialogue relations between the two canons which are among the supreme sacral values of the European and the traditional cultures. Therefore, the very process of sensemaking at the early stage of creative work of a national composer includes two stages of dramaturgic development. The first one is defined by the necessity to achieve cultural identity, the second one, inspired by the instinct of self-preservation, is aimed at ethnic self-identification. Every national composer solves this problem of a two-staged artistic challenge in their own manner forming the individual image of their style system.   

Keywords: modality, monodia, identification, sacred Canon, heterogeneous style, bilingualism, initiation, Dagestan, Kasumov, globalization

Abstract: The article studies the symphonic art of the modern Tatarian composer Rashid Kalimullin. The author analyzes 7 symphonies created by the composer in 2000 - 2015. Special attention is given to the orchestra and timbre-texture techniques used by the composer. The author considers only a small part of issues connected with Kalimullin’s orchestra scripts, namely the orchestra parts of symphonic music; solo timbres; typical ensemble combinations integrating timbre-texture techniques (“cliches”). Orchestration is by all means in the focus of the study, but the author also analyzes it in combination with other means of music language. The author uses the ideas and concepts contained in the works of foreign and Russian researchers of orchestration and the composers themselves, including I. Barsov, G. Berlioz, A. Blagodatov, A. Kars, N. Rimsky-Korsakov and others. The author comes to the following conclusions. Vivid and picturesque orchestra scripts of Kalimullin is one of the most important components of his creative style. The diversity and individuality, typical for the symphonies, are created in many respects by means of his timbre-texture characteristics. The author finds out the set of the most favourite composer’s timbres used by him as “soloists”, and the typical timbre combinations. The detailed analysis of Kalimullin’s symphonies for full orchestra helps reveal the set of timbre techniques (“cliches”) used in various works of the composer.   

Keywords: Rashid Kalimullin, modern Tatar composer, Tatar music, timbre techniques, orchestration, orchestra, timbre, symphony, orchestral aspect, timbre and form

Abstract: The specific German term “Zwölftonreihe” appeared in the first third of the 20th century because of dodecaphony. It significantly developed and experienced meaning extension during the following years. To represent this notion in evolution dynamics, it was necessary to consider it from different perspectives.  The article describes the existence and the adaptation of the term “series” in different linguistic traditions; raises the issues of differentiating the meanings “row”, “series” and “set” in the English-language environment, and the terms “series” and “row” in the Russian musicology. The author gives special attention to the problems of defining; points at the difficulties of the first definitions caused by the rootedness of the composer’s thinking in traditions of the classic-romantic system; describes the factors under which the definitions were transformed and corrected. Yet another important aspect of consideration is the difference in understanding a series by the two avant-gardes. The “ultra-thematic” concept of the twelve-tone series (Boulez) with its fundamentally horizontal character was substituted by the “generating” series (without preferrable number of elements), which generated all the derived objects, served as a basis for other parameters and created a structural hierarchy and embraced the composition as a whole.  

Keywords: total serialism, serial music, twelve-tone technique, set, row, series, music of 20th century, pitch class, interval class, generating series

Abstract: One of the sources of reflection of Shostakovich’s world view of the early period was futurism, which not only embraced all forms of art, but also defined the manner of thinking and the behavioral pattern. Probably, that was futurism where Shostakovich found the proof for his ideas and the possibility to express the atmosphere of the developments of that time, full of manifestations, rallies and demonstrations. Like an artist working with a model, the composer doesn’t copy the object, but somewhat creates a new reality, reproducing it off the top of his head, via imagination. An endless word association game resembles a laboratory of “sound metaphors”, in which, looking for a new substance, parts of an accord first decompose, and then compose themselves again, creating the image of the transformed space - discrete and fragmented, like in the pictures built according to the laws of Cubism. Unlike the variations of the accords of the early compositions, where everything gleams and multiplies, in the latest compositions, “shots” slow down and halt. Close-up views prevail over general views, and, though assemblability doesn’t disappear, it becomes smoother, in contrast with abrupt consolidation of various elements. The dodecaphonic theme itself gains the meaning of a macro-theme consisting of micro-themes. The specificity of Shostakovich’s manner to assemble sounds is directly dependent on the domination of particular types of cultural codes the composer orients towards. The shift of the cultural and artistic model of cinematography towards coding serial music indicates the transition from synthetic creativity, externally oriented, to the internally oriented culture focusing on the music realia as such. The transition from one artistic model to another is connected with the strengthening of semiotic traits of a music text.

Keywords: editing combinatorics, the semantics of harmony, the semantic field of melody, Shostakovich, modern music, semantica, music art, transcoding, the original object,, the replacement object

Abstract: The research subject is the problem of interpretation of a poetic primary source in choral compositions a capella created by composers in different historic periods. The analysis of interaction between poetic and music texts allows a composer to take into account the peculiarities of the composer’s rendition of a poem when interpreting choral compositions. In this context, the problem of choosing the very methodology of analysis of a choral composition as a stylistic harmony (in the unity of melos and logos) becomes topical. Besides giving the analytical review of the current approaches to this issue, the author considers step-by-step two general lines which serve as the fundamentals for the analysis of the interacting semantic systems in a choral composition. The first methodological approach is the so-called rational-logical analysis of the stylistic harmony giving more attention to the “physics” of the text. The second one can be conditionally designated as a “metaphysical” approach focusing on the highest spiritual beginnings in the content of the piece of art. The author raises a question about search for the most effective methodology able not only not to blot out music and poetry, but also by uniting the methods of positivists and representatives of spiritual analysis, to elaborate on celestial logos fundamentals of the beauty of a choral composition promoting spiritual awakening and transformation of an inspired researcher, reader and performer.    

Keywords: composer's reading, semantic interaction, synthesis, the interaction, analysis methodology, interpretation, analysis of the artistic whole, choral composition, rational-logical methods, spiritual analysis

Abstract: The article considers the problems of the poly-code nature in the generation of style of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893). The author studies one of the largest compositions of the late period of the composer’s work - the opera “The Queen of Spades” (1890). Special attention is given to the integral style substantiation of the stylistic borrowings (citations, quasi-citations, allusions, stylizations) pointing at the music by the composer’s predecessors (Bortniansky, Gretry, Weber, Mozart), and the Orthodox church rules and folklore. The author considers this problem in intertext dimension and uses the methodology of intertext of the French structuralist school (Julia Kristeva and Roland Bart) and analytical instruments of Marina Raku (central text - visible intertext, hidden intertext) to record the necessity to move to a new interpreting level using the “monomyth” concept of Joseph Campbell. Using the integrative mythopoetic intertextual strategy, the author gives a comprehensive substantiation to the “stylistic deviations” in the opera (citations from Bortniansky, Gretry, Weber; stylizations inspired by Mozart, etc). The author reveals an integral mythological model and uses it to detect the two-level correlation between the out-of-style material and mythopoetics of the theme of the opera “The Queen of Spades”, and the author’s style myth of Tchaikovsky. The used methodology can be applied in separate opera, or in the composer’s super-style.   

Keywords: musical quote, intertextuality, stylistic heterogeneity, styleformation, The Queen of Spades, Marina Raku, Joseph Campbell, composer, mythopoeia, monomyth

Abstract: The article considers one of significant phenomena of the modern musical art - graphic notation typical for musical scores of some avant-garde composers. The article presents the analysis of scientific works, devoted to graphic notation, written by Russian and foreign authors. The author formulates the definition of graphic notation. On the one hand, modern graphic notation does not have a clear definition, classification or typology; on the other hand, the system of musical signs and symbols in modern graphic notation has not formed yet, and doesn’t have a unique and unified appearance. The scholars’ opinions about modern graphic notation do not match, and it also hampers the phenomenon understanding. The author offers her own classification of graphic notation and studies its history of evolution. The author studies the musical scores by D. Cram, V. Globokar, G. Kurtag and others. The history of graphic notation is, of course, ongoing, and it is too soon to evaluate its significance as a whole. But now we can already claim that it has become one of the brightest novations in arranging musical texts.  

Keywords: notation, visualization of music, graphics, score, innovations, art synthesis, music theory, art his, art history, music theory, art synthesis, innovations, score, visualization of music, graphics, notation, music and painting

Abstract: The research subject is the live electronics genre -  the sphere of electroacoustic music in which electronic sounds are performed on stage by an operator or a computer. Sometimes they are planned by a composer, sometimes they are improvised according to the established rules, sometimes the operator prepares them beforehand. In the live electronics genre, coordination between the instrumentalist(s) and the operator is very important. Agreements or disagreements between their parts often determine structure, duration and functionality of musical pieces. In the majority of cases, it is clearly defined by composers even if its is an ultimate disagreement of elements: in such a case, the sequence or simultaneity of structures is planned. The author demonstrates the genre evolution patterns based on the analysis of particular pieces in terms of amplification of the electronic part and extension of its role in process. The scientific novelty of the study consists in the fact that for the first time, live electronics is not considered as a specific type of electroacoustic music using conventional instruments. The author studies the functionality of live electronics to demonstrate that it is a specific genre with its features, which is transitional towards multimedia.  

Keywords: improvisation, form-building, monody, machine man, part of electronics, functionality, electro-acoustic music, live electronics, structure, time value

Abstract: The article unfolds the phenomenon of a musical form in terms of its definition in social communication. In spite of the fact that particular studies within musicology discuss this issue (A.Sokhor, V. Zukerman, V. Kholopova, E. Nazaikinsky, M. Aranovsky), a precise definition of musical form does not exist. Its social and communicative significance is interpreted especially unclearly. The author uses the analytical research method based on the principle of selection of significant definitions of a musical form. The scientific novelty of the study consists in the approach to a musical form as a subject of social communication. Through the prism of the analytical approach, the author detects the degree of dependence of a form on focusing on a particular listener, on their perception in terms of concert platform or another performance principle.  

Keywords: social communication, the content of art, musical art, theory of music, genre in music, genre and society, theoretical musicology, genre, art history, musicology

Abstract: The subject of the research is the place of traditional academic or folklore instruments as well as their assemblies, vocalists and choirs in electro-accoustic music. Electro-accoustic music is traditionally divided into two large groups, music played out from an electronic media, and music where the sound is accompanied with instrumental music. The author demonstrates that the latter group is an inevitable  consequence of the former. The first electro-accoustic composers emphasized that the music was perceived in a special way due to the briefness of its structure. The participation of traditional instruments united these brief structures, and the product became more familiar to the human ear, although the functional patterns between sounds remained in principle the same. The article is based on the analysis of the structures of musical works from simpler to more complex use of instruments in them. Fundamentally new in the article is the statement itself of the fact that "pure" electro-acoustic works reproduced from electronic media, and those in which instruments and voices are used, constitute a single group with identical functionality. The forms that the instrumental part can take are considered; and it is shown that not all works where the phonogram is used are electro-acoustic.

Keywords: vocal timbre, instrumental timbre, Josef Tal, Edison Denisov, Stockhausen, Boulez, stereophony, electro-acoustic music, electronic timbre, structure

Abstract: The subject of the study is difference in the timbre characteristics of sonoristics and electro-acoustic music – musical texture often combined on the basis of colourfulness inherent in both of them. The article shows that it differs not only in nature (in the first case, the music is performed with traditional musical instruments and/or voices, in the second case it is synthesized or consists of transformed natural notes recorded on an electronic medium), but  it also suggests a different type of listening. In sonoristics the music consists of quite large structures, and the listener when mastering the musical language of the work can build the drama of the form, as it is done in relation to classical music. In electro-acoustic music musical events follow each other very quickly and usually differ from each other in timbre, and the listener perceives the work as a "stream of consciousness" without dividing it into structures, as he does not divide the sounds of nature or the environment. The article shows the difference between timbres and the ensuing types of music perception primarily through the analysis of the formal structure of works of various textures. The novelty of the approach lies in interpretation of the timbre of sonoblock as a developing phenomenon. The author shows that timbre is not a single static integral unit, it acquires its specific form depending on the type of music work. The author also indirectly demonstrates the common perception of music and the sounds of wildlife.

Keywords: overtone, sonoblock, musical event, electro-acoustic music, structure, sonoristics, timbre, Boulez, register, sonogram

Abstract: The subject of the article is the conception of timbre used in musicology and the clarification of the concept denoting it. The current definition according to which timbre is a quality of sound due towhich the tones of the same pitch level and loudness sound differently does not withstand the slightest criticism. Firstly, not all sounds have a certain pitch level. Secondly, even if they have a certain pitch level, in reality this pitch is a collectionof frequencies. Thirdly, this formulation does not take into account the instances when instruments do not have a common sound. And, finally, it does not refer to the noises that are distinguished by timbre but do not have a certain pitch level. Moreover, it tacitly implies that only several instruments can be distinguished by timbre. However, in this respect, there are groups of instruments that rarely have one and the same sound and are not usually comparable in volume. The author analyses the spectra of various instruments, describes their evolution, compares the sounds of traditional instruments and voices with the sounds electronically synthesized. On basis of this research, the author suggests to consider timbre as a collection of simultaneous sounds expressed through the constancy of their overtone series maintaining their loudness in relation to each other. The author suggests to consider the timbre of one instrumenta particular instance of this set of sounds when it consists of only one member. The author also describes the types of mutual transition of timbres.

Keywords: electro-acoustic music, orchestra, ensemble, instrument, overtone, noise, sound, timbre, violin, trumpet

Abstract: The subject of the research is the functional similarity between tone and tembre that is demonstrated based on the example of monody and electro-acoustic music. Monody is a style of composition where sound, usually of a certain tone, is the main element while music composed for an electronic media does not have sounds of particular tone at all and tones and noise play the same role. Nevertheless, the main feature of both styles is a long duration of a stable sound. Another similar feature is overtones confined to voice or instrument used in a composition. The author of the article also underlines different stability and non-stability of sound in both styles. The research methods included mathematical, structural and spectral analysis of Medieval one-voice music as well as compositions by L. Berio, K. Stockhausen and P. Boulez. The novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the author defines numerous similarities in functional relations and perception of monody and electro-acoustic music. The author refuses from the thematic analysis of the monody structure as in analysis of homophonic harmonic compositions and differentiates electro-acoustic music from sonorism that electro-acoustic music is often associated with due to its colorfulness. 

Keywords: overtone, sound, functionality, electro-acoustic music, monody, form-building, timbre, musical occasion, Guido d’Arezzo, Stockhausen

Abstract: Functionality in music is understood as “expectation of emergence of certain elements of a piece of music with a certain degree of probability” (A.P. Milka). It is usually expressed as a system of inclination of unstable elements of a tonality to stable ones. The author of this article carries out mathematical analysis of this aspect within the multimedia genre, which combines sounds and silence, present in every piece of music, with visual imagery (motions, pictures, films, etc.). Its elements can be repeated, like sounds do, and, if they are central elements of the composition, they can be more stable than sounds. The author defines the common principles of functionality in multimedia and demonstrates the forms of their expression in a performance and in a happening. The analysis is based on the law of probability. It helps find regularities of stability-instability relationship in compositions containing a gesture. The author proves that in multimedia, where the length of a composition is often not defined by the composer, those elements are more stable, which are repeated with higher probability. The author is the first to give exact definitions to the regularities of functionality in multimedia, in which musicological analysis has usually been substituted with descriptions. 

Keywords: Cohen-Elias, happening, performance, multimedia, texture, gesture, sound, functionality, Cage, Stockhausen

Abstract: At the beginning of the XX century the piano music was very popular in Brazil, thus it held a significant part in the works by Heitor Villa-Lobos and Camargo Guarnieri, and later, gained attention of the composers of the following generation. In the works by Almeida Prado (1943-2010), ten piano sonatas and large cycles attract attention; they are not only written by a renowned composer, but also a professional pianist, who was able to transmit the ideas that were typical for the music of the 60’s and 70’s, as well as the virtuosity in contemporary treatment of the instrument. The goal of this article is to form the perception of the evolution of the piano style of this composer. The piano works by Almeida Prado is being examined in the Russian musicology for the first time. The author highlights its significant place in the contemporary piano repertoire, limited transformation of modern trends, and dominance of the post-modernistic aesthetics. Many stylistic tactics, as well as the interest towards national themes allow us to characterize Almeida Prado as the follower of Villa-Lobos. At the same time, in the composing techniques of the first decades of his life we can see interest not only towards the works of Messiaen, but also Guarnieri, Ligeti, and Boulez.

Keywords: Olivier Messiaen , contemporary piano art, postmodernism , sonorism, serialism , piano sonata, Brasilian music , Ferenz Liszt, Camargo Guarnieri, Almeida Prado

Abstract: This article is dedicated to the Third Sonata for Violin and Piano by José Antônio de Almeida Prado – one of the brightest chamber works of his later years. As of today, the specificity, characteristic traits and logical origins of Prado’s works have only partially been interpreted and explained in separate articles of Brazilian musicologists. The author’s goal was to study the specificity of the stylistics of this sonata, particularly to analysis it's musical language and structure, including the specific complex of the tonal and modal harmonic means, mixed chords of a complicated structure, as well as the forms and methods of thematic development. The author utilized traditional musicological procedures, used in the field of modern harmony and analysis. Based on this analysis, the author makes the conclusions that the principles of the thematic development in this sonata are used as classical – various types of imitations, rearrangement of voices, variations of separate elements of the sound material, as well as specific – dictated by the individual peculiarities of the material. In the pitch organization of the sonata the special role is played by the modal expressive means; overall however, the sound texture of the sonata leans on the twelve-tone system, forming as the result of the overlaying of the diatonic scales, tonal alteration, and usage of polychords. Such analysis is conducted for the first time.

Keywords: sonata for violin and piano, polystructures, contemporary harmony, stylistics, chamber music, Brasilian Music, postmodernism, Almeida Prado, transtonality, serial technique