Investigation of the Peculiarities of the Metrorhythmic Organization of Onegin's Vocal Part in P.I. Tchaikovsky's Opera "Eugene Onegin"

Vasheruk Il'ya Il'ich Opera Conductor, Head of the Department of Musical and Theater Art Victor Popov Academy of Choral art Russia 125565, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Festivalnaya str., 2 ivasheruk.@mail.ru

In the modern scientific literature, interesting works have recently appeared, demonstrating a non-trivial attitude and applying new scientific approaches to the study of the works of the great classics of the Russian opera school. In this regard, the most interesting are the modern researches of Grushko G.I. In his work "On the problem of analyzing a musical work: Lensky's Arioso "In your House" with an ensemble from the opera "Eugene Onegin" by P.I. Tchaikovsky as a nonlinear process", he writes: "The application of a nonlinear approach in the study of a musical work is very timely and relevant. The focus is on the problem of analyzing a musical composition from the standpoint of the evolutionary–synergetic paradigm ..." ^{[1, p. 3.]}.

The vector of cognition originating within the subject of the researcher and directed with necessity to the object of research with immutability must embody the results in a real fact of performance according to the nature of the opera performance, requiring the realization of the plan in real time, albeit in the intended circumstances. Perhaps the researcher Silantieva I.I. expresses himself most accurately in this sense in his article about Tchaikovsky's Onegin: "The problem of the internal form of movement and action, which finds an external plastic or sound embodiment on stage, is relevant for performing in any field of musical art, especially in opera. The effective nature of the actor is the main feature that distinguishes the theater from other genres, and the vivid theatricality of the external action in the opera role arises as a result of the internal game" [7. p.2]. 

In such a synthetic genre as opera, all elements and means of artistic expression are in continuous interaction, forming an integral unity, the purpose of which is to create an artistic image that exists in conditions of continuous development from the very beginning to the end of the performance. In the case of an open final, it continues to exist in the imagination and memory of the viewer, the listener of the performance. 

So, in the process of creating the image of the main character, the composer uses

a number of expressive means, and the performer discovers their hidden meaning and determining role only when carefully studying the musical material. The metrorhythmic organization of the vocal line in P.I. Tchaikovsky is a widely branched network of interrelations of rhythmic figures and metric pulsations. At first glance, the simplicity of the presentation may seem obviously clear and unambiguous, however, when carefully examining the interrelationships of these structures with the melodic-harmonic component, internal apparent contradictions are revealed, the study and disclosure of the nature of which becomes a wide field of acquiring new potential opportunities for a variety of interpretations and performance initiatives.

Metrorhythmic structures are an integral part of the entire complex of means of musical expression. In turn, they can be considered as specific elements of this integral complex, having an independent power of this expressiveness, representatives of pulsating time in the narrow and broad sense of the word. That is why this work deliberately does not emphasize the close relationship between the melodic-harmonic and metrorhythmic side in order to reveal the specifics of the latter in full, to discover the potential of temporary organizations hidden behind the intonation component.

Among the works devoted to the research of metrorhythmic features in the works of P.I. Tchaikovsky, the work of A.V. Galyatina is of particular interest in the perspective of this article. It is dedicated to Russian ballet music, in particular Tchaikovsky. In it, she writes: "At the highest level – forms – meter determines the size of large-scale thematic structures that contribute to the unification of small structures into large structures, adjusting the commensurability of proportions, thereby creating a periodic form of dance music. At the lowest level, the meter subordinates the rhythmic pattern, determining the proportionality of accents [2. p.1]."

The most significant statement reflecting the direction of the vector of our research is the following intention: "... the rhythm can change the given structure of accents, forming variable (unstable) metric functions against the background of the main ones [2. p.1]".

In the light of the influence of metrorhythmic structures on the basic component of time, on the tempo in the opera "Eugene Onegin" by P.I. Tchaikovsky, the work of A.A. Bolshakov "The significance of the composer's metrorhythmic instructions for the director's interpretation (using the example of the chorus "My legs are hurting" from the opera "Eugene Onegin" by P.I. Tchaikovsky) is of interest, where the composer's work is considered with conductor E.F. Napravnik in the process of preparing the opera for the first lifetime performance, the influence of tempo notation and fermat on the convenience of performance.

In the work of Kazmina E.O., Zimnukhova T.E., devoted to the analysis of the features of the structure of the chorus of girls "Beautiful Girls" from the opera Eugene Onegin, the structural, metrorhythmic and lexical features of A.S. Pushkin's verse are considered from the point of view of their interpretation by P. I. Tchaikovsky. ^[5]

         The most complete foundations of the problems of the existence and existence of the metrorhythmic structure within the movement of integral musical material are described in the basic work of N.A. Kholopova "Theory of Music" ^[10], S.I. Teplov ^[9]. Gippius ^[1], Silantieva ^[7], the methods of scientific analysis of which form the basis of this study for the most part.

Let's look at some iconic examples of concrete manifestations of the relationship between metrorhythm and shaping. These examples illustrate the features of the composer's writing, which most clearly reveals the characteristic aspects of the composer's attitude to

the character.

The most expressive example is Onegin's aria "When life would be a home croon". It gives a clue to the whole series of similar phenomena. Throughout the opera, the composer, characterizing the main character, tends to a wide 3-dness, to a statement in the size of 3/2. These are "huge bars" in which the phrase and sentence feel free, easy and wide. In the accompaniment there is a remark in parentheses (18/8). It denotes 3 times 6, (i.e. (3+3) x 3 = 18).

Example 1.

The melodic-harmonic figuration of the accompaniment in B-dur obviously writes out textured circles, arpeggating with three-eighth. In addition, there is also clearly and covertly compositional thinking in hemioles: clearly the movement of the solo part is expressed by double-eighths, as if across the soft trioles of the accompaniment, and the hidden hemiole is revealed due to the direction of the soloist's melody, the closing "circle" note of re, which in turn is a kind of strong fraction of the hidden measure on 2/2. It turns out a curious contradiction: two bars of 3/2 are written, but in reality 3 bars of 2/2 sound.  And now the hidden hemiola becomes apparent in the orchestra, where 3 bars of 2 parts (3 +3 eighths) can be clearly traced as a natural consequence and conclusion of the entire previous development of the main character's utterance. Everything repeats again – another verse of diverse and iridescent non-square hidden polymetry. "Polyrhythmy in the broad sense of the word means combining any rhythmic patterns that do not coincide with each other, for example, in one voice - quarters, in another - eighths. Polyrhythmy in the narrow sense is a combination of rhythmic patterns vertically, when there is no smallest time unit that measures all voices in real sound, for example, binary divisions in combination with trioles, quintoles and other types of "special rhythmic division [10. p.142]".

Example 2.

In this passage, as in a drop of water, all the skill of the composer is reflected. He strives to convey in a few bars the full breadth and depth of his beloved character. It is not for nothing that modern researchers, and in particular Grushko, are beginning to apply nonlinear approaches to the analysis of the works of outstanding classics. Upon closer examination of Onegin's aria in the light of recent research, it can be said that the printed medium (scheme) quite conditionally reflects the formation of concentric circles born from the motivic development of a hemiole quasi-system. However, during the high-quality performance of the arpeggiato accompaniment in combination with the exact hemioles of the soloist in real time, the performer can create the desired effect of the formation of circles starting from the first closure of the large hemiole on the word "circle".  And here we can already talk about bifurcation points * (polyfurcation) and fractal** methods of shaping according to research methods, where bifurcation means the division of a ternary structure (3/2 +3/2) by a hidden hemiole in two at the point-syllable "kr u gom" (2/2+2/2+2/2 ), and a fractal is a self-reproducing structure themselves in the form of concentric circles from smaller to larger. 

 *Bifurcation: in the modern theory of structurogenesis, nonequilibrium processes, dynamic chaos, the act of spontaneous, seemingly undetermined, and therefore unpredictable division in two of an initially homogeneous material, process, and course of events. The very act of this process can generate many splits, separate branches. Then it is called a polyfurcation. Source: Dictionary of Science. General scientific terms and definitions. 2008 (Accessed 21.01 2023)

 ** Fractal (Latin fractus — crushed, broken, broken) is a geometric figure that has the property of self–similarity, that is, composed of several parts, each of which is similar to the whole figure.

In a stricter sense, with a more standard classical approach to research, from the point of view of musical-theoretical disciplines, it is possible to consider a more visible and more specific layer of metric systems and rhythmic formulas according to Kholopova: "The rhythm formula is a relatively integral rhythm formation, in which, along with the ratio of durations, accentuation is necessarily taken into account, thanks to which the intonation character is more fully revealed rhythmostructures. In contrast to the rhythmic pattern, which can be considered over a large length of a musical work, the rhythm formula is a relatively brief and delimited formation from the surrounding, approaching the motive in independence."  [10. p.136]

Example 2 and its variants: and .

The rhythmic formula, repeated several times in the form of a hemiole at 2/2 in relation to the already existing size 3/2, becomes a kind of metrorhythmic formula of Onegin, which holds and is fixed for him throughout the opera. In this regard, we can talk about the leitmotif system in relation to the characteristics of the main character, but with the constant change of melodic material, only the metrorhythmic formula of the main character remains leitmotif.  Already in Piu mosso, "There is no return to Dreams and years" when changing the melodic material, the general metric pulsation to 2/2, the rhythmic figure remains almost unchanged, only with the difference that the accent that fell on the weak third of the measure now becomes a strong fraction, without damaging Onegin's strong rhythmic formula a lot. 

Example 3.

   Before the duel scene (No. 18, 29 measure), we again see the size 3/2 and the same rhythmic formula (variant): "I do not foresee objections to my performance."

Example 4.

The same "big", composite size 3/2 begins to reign in the finale of the final scene with Tatiana, who is all her solo before the appearance

Onegina sings on 2/4, and as soon as the word passes to Onegin, a 3-quarter utterance immediately appears in a hidden form: "Have pity on me… I was so wrong... I'm so punished...", and, starting at 230 bars and continuing with the Adagio con moto (235 t.), the size 3/2 clearly begins to reign until the very end almost completely. Here a rhythmoformula appears in the form of a variant, which the composer masterfully enters into 3/2 exactly the same figure in such a way that the key, semantic word of the phrase and its stressed syllable fall on a strong fraction of the beat: "Really, really, in my humble supplication, your cold vz o r will see," which is not at all typical for the initial episodes, where the deliberate avoidance of strong fractions of tact within non–square structures is a kind of "calling card" of the main character. The rearrangement of accents in the beat, the movement of the clock line.

 Example 5

From the point of view of the melodic-harmonic component, "the complex formative function of the meter is carried out in inseparable connection with harmonic development. In classical harmony, an important formative trend is the change of harmonies in strong parts of the beat. The meter "conducts" the movement of harmonies, helping them to identify their specific functions and functions in relation to the form" ^{[10, pp.155 – 156]}.

So, in the case of solo episodes of Onegin's part, we can say that the metric system controls the system of means of musical expression of the character: first of all, we mean a wide three-dold.   It becomes the basis for all kinds of melodic

L.A. Mazel in his work "The structure of musical works" writes: "The metric system in the broad sense of the word means a naturally ordered system of rhythmic ratios, but not necessarily a clock system, and even more so a uniformly accentuated clock system with sharply emphasized strong fractions" [6. p.251].

Here the concept of polymetry is understood as a soft hidden shadow of the rigid concept of polymetry – the penetration of one size into another or an even more rigid principle of simultaneous coexistence. But Tchaikovsky's Onegin is not like that. He is still soft, malleable, noble, diverse, intelligent, deep.  A polymetric stable-rigid system of utterance can cause quite vivid, almost syncopated-dancing elastic sensations in the listener, but in this case the composer puts polyrhythmy in soft, muted tones, making hemiolarity almost imperceptible at first glance, invisible, endowing Onegin's image with features of delicacy and non-straightness.

Separately, it should be noted the episode Allegro moderato (320 t.), written, as it seems, in 2/4. But even here Tchaikovsky remains faithful to his hero, forms musical phrases in such a way that they represent "three-bars", again refers us to the feeling of "huge" initial bars of Onegin's aria: 328 vol.

  Example 6

Tchaikovsky, due to his academic musical upbringing, cannot afford to write the size in the accompaniment according to the type of instructions, as in the first aria 18/8 and here also 24/16 or 6/4 = 3/2. It will turn out to be "too much tact", but it fully characterizes the breadth and depth of the main character's experiences. Therefore, when describing Onegin in the size of 2/4, the composer remains faithful to a wide three-dold! The conductor of a musical performance, summing up the bars "at a time", will be forced to conduct according to a three-part scheme, which again confirms our hypothesis that Tchaikovsky entrusts his main character with a wide and free "three", which Onegin has the right to divide into 2, 3, 4, that is, freely.

"A higher–order measure is a grouping of two, three, four, five or more simple measures, metrically functioning like a single measure with the corresponding number of fractions. A higher-order measure, or "big measure", at the same time is not a complete analogy to a simple, ordinary measure recorded by composers in sheet music. It is distinguished by the following features: 1) the bar of the highest order, as a rule, is variable throughout the musical form (there are extensions or contractions of the bar, inserts and omissions of fractions), 2) the accentuation of the first beat of the bar (the first simple measure) is not a universal norm, therefore the first beat is not as "strong", "heavy" as in simple tact [10. pp.148-149]".

         One of the manifestations of a wide three-lobed pulsation should also be called the appearance of size 3/2 in the scene of the duel No. 18-29 t. "I do not foresee objections" and, in fact, the duel itself: "Enemies!", where an event-action can occur in every "big" beat: from condemnation to regret, from reconciliation to a shot. It is also interesting to note that now, at the end of the duel with Onegin, Lensky's theme "What the coming day is preparing for me" also sounds in three-length, although initially it was on 4/4.

It is also interesting to note that the interpenetration of two-dedness into three-dedness is also motivated by the justification of the nature of the main character as a courageous and resolute person, having at the same time a broad soul in essence, and soft in form.

It is also necessary to closely consider the phenomenon of shifting the accentuation of strong and weak lobes, associated with the direction of movement of the melody up or down, which unambiguously points beyond the top of the semantic and musical phrase, not on the strong lobe. The performer's work on solving this mysterious phenomenon can open up additional space in the field of interpretation in the process of creating a mobile transforming image of the main character. Consider example 5, in which Onegin's part is written with a strict shift of the strong part in the melody to the fourth quarter, and the third to the second:

No. 20-23 vol. "I started wandering without a goal, accessible to feeling alone."

Example 7.

Again, the composer deliberately avoids strong parts of the beat, characterizing his hero with softness, unstressed. According to Kholopova, "Accents of two ranks – metrical and episodic – arise in music mainly for the sake of two expressive purposes: to create a rhythmic aggravation with the help of a conflict contradiction of accents, and, conversely, to "mutually neutralize" accents, as if by dispersing accents, distributing the weight of one accent into several temporary moments [10. p.145]."

It should also be noted that the hero's introduction: "I started ..." falls on a weak time of the beat after the orchestra stops at half a beat, which gives additional freedom to the performer for the introduction, free from metrorhythmic duties, which in turn indicates a sufficient share of freedom in Onegin's confession story, in response to the invisible Question: where was our hero all this time.  Even at the very beginning of Onegin's appearance in the last act, his phrase flexibly fits into 3-lobed ?, without touching the basics – neither the first fraction of a strong fraction, nor any other, just a phrase, according to the apt statement of Kazmina E.O., Zimnukhova IE: "... such a way, the action, as if by inertia, obscures the shift of the speech accent (stressed syllable) to a weak fraction of a beat, subordinates the literary rhythm to the musical one [5. p.4]."

Example 8:

Similar "bursts" of activity not on their parts are intentionally placed in bars 1, 4, 6, 12. With such a number of "strong" parts on a weak time, it says a lot. On this occasion, Kholopova, quoting the researchers of the topic, writes: "A peculiar problem of rhythmic pattern arises in vocal music, when an independent rhythmic series of words of the text appears, peeling off from the musical rhythmic series. This is the rhythmic pattern "syllogonot", which was given the names "melodic-textual rhythm" (Zuckerman) [11.c.1], "syllabic musical rhythmic form" (E. V. Gippius) ^{[1, C.2]} and which could also be called "verbal-musical rhythm" ^{[10, 135]}.

Many researchers pay attention to Tchaikovsky's use of hemiols as a particularly favorite technique, although not new, but very expressive.  In the same chorus of the girls "Beautiful Girls", the author writes: "the hemiola in the soprano part contrasts with the rhythmic pattern of the violas, which preserves the three-dole pulsation." After a detailed analysis of the composite dimensions in the "iconic" arias and scenes, we return to the very beginning, where we can clearly understand what is the reason for the change of 2-lobed metric pulsation to 3-lobed with each significant appearance of Onegin: 6/8, 3/8, 3/4 and eventually 3/2.

Example 9: Scene 5, measure 8: (p. 55).

Example 10: Scene 5, bar 26

Example 11: Scene 6, measure 22-25 (p. 64)

In the same vein, we can talk about the influence of Onegin's "metrorhythm" on ensemble scenes: the duel scene "Enemies" 3/2, the entire final scene 3/2, including all the statements and Tatiana.

Also well–known solo episodes: "My uncle of the most honest rules" (scene 7, bars 17 - 33) are also written in ?; also a three-part Waltz scene with a chorus, which seems natural; in the Mazurka scene No. 15, the natural three-part is generously "diluted" by Onegin's lack of introductions to a strong share: "You don't dance, Lensky..." except for the desperate moments: "What's with you" and "What about? Yes, you're crazy!" come at a strong time. 

Almost to the very end of the "quarrel" Onegin shows super-flexibility, "not

stepping" on a strong share, avoiding harsh accents: "!...Listen, !...this is stupid, !... we are surrounded!", where "!" is a pause on the strong lobe.

It is surprising that the other heroes of the opera, "as if conspiring with Tchaikovsky," in contrast to Onegin, tend to switch at the first opportunity to two-sided and square structures and rhythm formulas, equipped with elastic and unambiguous accents on strong lobes. For example, immediately, based on the above studies, we can say that, unlike Onegin's flexible solos, all folk scenes are written in a completely opposite metric paradigm: "In almost all words, stressed syllables fall on a strong beat," Kazmina - Zikhmunov notes in his article about the chorus of girls ^[5].

 And, of course, this creates a good contrast to the completeness and flexibility of Onegin's image, for which both authors have deep sympathy, to say the least.

And so, driven to the extreme in the Quarrel Scene No. 17, measure 43, Onegin begins to accentuate the 3rd part (note, still not the 1st): "I am at your service, ... enough, ... I have listened to you, ... you are mad, ... and a lesson will serve you to correct e new!"

To complete the picture of the study, it is also worth dwelling on those solo episodes in which Onegin participates in the paradigm of two-dedness in a broad and narrow aspect.

Firstly, this is the musical material of the previous character, repeated by Onegin after the partner, let's call this phenomenon quoting:

Example 12: No. 18, bars 24-25 "Zaretsky: according to all the traditions of antiquity", Onegin, teasing, quotes: "What should we praise you for"

Secondly, it is well known that in Onegin's arioso there is a direct quote of the material from the Scene of Tatiana's letter on 4/4 (C): "Let me die, but first" (Des-dur), which is almost equal to Onegin's: "Alas, there is no doubt, I am in love" (B-dur) in the same meter, with the same theme. This episode cannot be fully attributed to Onegin's thematism due to borrowing, almost copying the musical material of Tatiana's bold utterance. 

And, of course, the moment comes to consider the most popular and, one might say, the most famous and most quoted fragment from the opera, deliberately transferred by the author to the very end of the study with a clearly set task: using the method of contrast and contrast, to emphasize the significance and uniqueness of the method used by the composer to "go from the opposite" in the characterization of the hero: about the recitative before Onegin's aria: "You wrote to me, don't deny it." To the surprise of the researcher, there is not a single (except for the first) strong or relatively strong share that Onegin could have missed in his first recitative-an address to Tatiana, showing one of the highest and deepest forms of love – strictness:

"You have written to me, I have not opened it, I have read the souls of the faithful, the love of new and new outpourings, Many of your sincerity is sweet, it has brought to the waves a long time ago about the mind of those who have fallen, I praise you I do not want to, I will pay you for it, we will accept it without a claim, accept it and I will tell you, I will give myself to you."

And a little further on 4/4: "We will have a superpower m u coy.  The court and the same you as e roses n a m zagot o vit Hymen e y, and m o zhet be on

many days..."

 Throughout the opera, there will not be as many stressed syllables for a strong and relatively strong 3rd part (with the exception of the arioso, in which Onegin sings according to the music of Tatiana's letter) as there are in this small introductory recitative to the aria discussed above, "Whenever I would like to limit my life to the home circle."  It remains to leave this paradoxical phenomenon at the mercy of performers and interpreters of Onegin's image, since the purpose of the study is only to discover hidden patterns in the composer's approach to creating the image of the main character and his attitude to the character, which voluntarily or involuntarily, consciously or intuitively reflects the genius of the composer in one way or another, using certain means of expression, seeking all possible and impossible techniques and ways to convey your inner aspirations and intentions.

Conclusions: This work emphasizes the influence of hidden metrorhythmic structures, which, due to their invisible pulsation secondary to melos, are absorbed by melodic-harmonic and literary-poetic components, to a sufficiently strong extent influence the formation of the image of the main character, his typical character traits in the light of the composer's use of temporary structures as means of artistic expressiveness.

So, after a detailed study of the material, it becomes obvious that the metrorhythmic figures attached to the image of Onegin overwhelmingly pulsate "in a wide three-dimensional". The coverage of the main character's characteristics is not limited to large bars on 3/2, but also manifests itself through other modifications of the three-part expressiveness:

3/8, 3/4, 6/8, 6/4, 12/8 and even 18/8.

Onegin's rhythm formula (see example 2) is devoid of accentuation on the strong lobe. It penetrates into most of Eugene Onegin's solo episodes, becomes practically a leitrythm, which has a dual nature: the nature of a wide 3-length, at the same time having a square structure, as well as performing the polymetric function of the hemiole by 2/2 in relation to the fundamental meter by 3. This, one can say, is a universal metrorythm in combination with the melodic variety of the vocal part allows the composer to deepen and expand the field of freedoms for the characteristics of the main character, endowing the character with the most attractive qualities for perception: gentleness and attentiveness, balance and depth of feelings, tact and upbringing, intelligence and flexibility. 

Tchaikovsky organizes metrorhythmics in solo episodes with Onegin in such a way that the performer has additional opportunities to arrange his world of musical utterances along all parallels and meridians, with the maximum degree of freedom and improvisationality, which, of course, speaks in favor of a bright, deep and ambiguous image, a character whom A.S. Pushkin himself gives all kinds of advantages and talents, which in turn should cause the listener to have at least a voluminous perception of the image and, at most, a huge sense of compassion and love.

In conclusion, we will quote from the scientific research of O.N. Grinbaum, which fully reflects the vector of this research aimed at detecting hidden and invisible to the naked eye means of artistic expression used by the genius of Tchaikovsky when creating the image of Eugene Onegin: Greenbaum writes: "Let us recall the words of Heraclitus: "hidden harmony is stronger than explicit." It is possible to verify the truth of these words in the scene of the duel between Onegin and Lensky only if you pay special attention to the process of forming readers' feelings, then the process where the rhythm acts as a single "rhythmic sense", where it accompanies the content is a factor of special artistic rhythmic excitement" [3. p.7].