The study of works for voice and piano dedicated to Special military operation by future conductors of a military orchestra

Platonova Alina Aleksandrovna ORCID: 0000-0001-8088-0797 PhD in Art History Senior Lecturer, Military Institute (Military Conductors), Department 46 (piano), Prince Alexander Nevsky Military University of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation 107150, Russia, Moscow, Boitsovaya str., 18 building 14, sq. 31 alina_platonova@mail.ru

"War is all transitory, but music is eternal"

(k/f "Only old men go into battle")

The formation of interest in the history of the emergence and development of the genre of military song is an urgent task of modern musical art. The promotion of the values of Russian culture, ideals and goals of the Russian army is important for the civilian population and participants in a Special military operation. The problem of patriotic education of the generation never loses its relevance, especially becoming more acute in recent years. It is important to focus the interest of the younger generation on such concepts as love of the Motherland, ancestral traditions, and the revival of spirituality. The works of many scientists and teachers emphasized the importance of civic and patriotic education through music ^{[3, 11, 12, 14]}. For example, T.A. Kashtanova suggests focusing on the creative heritage of Russian and Soviet composers, which can form a sense of pride in the great culture and art of our country ^{[10, p. 70]}, E.P. Gorchakov believes that "the formation of patriotic consciousness among modern youth is generally associated with the peculiarities of youth culture. Music is considered as a cultural code and therefore it directly affects the formation of national identity, patriotism, and national consciousness" ^{[4, p. 185]}. M.A. Khalilov notes: "Music has the ability to influence the value orientations of each person in a unique way" ^{[15, p. 65]}. K.S. Gritsenko and N.O. Podporinov emphasizes: "Music is of paramount importance in fostering a sense of patriotism – in particular, song as an effective means of influencing the sensual and value sphere of a person. Vocal works about military exploits, heroes and, of course, victory have a strong positive effect on patriotic feeling" ^{[7, p. 216]}.

There are many songs on military-patriotic themes that have become truly popular, have earned great popularity and love: "Holy War" (music by A.V. Alexandrov, words by V. Lebedev-Kumach), "My Beloved" (music by M. Blanter, words by E. Dolmatovsky), "Random Waltz" (music by M. Fradkin, words by E. Dolmatovsky), "In the frontline forest" (music by M. Blanter, words by M. Isakovsky), "The Last Battle" (music and words by M. Nozhkin) and many others. These songs have a huge emotional impact, preserve the memory of the exploits of the people, promote national unification and support the strength of the spirit of the population.

The new age dictates new conditions and ways to foster patriotic feelings. One of these ways may be to address the topic of military-patriotic songs written in recent years in connection with a Special military operation. Following the results of the All-Russian creative competition of composers and poets for composing a patriotic song, with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, a collection "Voices of the Motherland" was created, which included the 50 best works of authorship presented by the contestants. These include songs accompanied by piano, guitar, instrumental ensemble and orchestra, as well as choral compositions. The works from this collection can become an aid for the development and preservation of spiritual and moral values and the promotion of musical and aesthetic education of Russian citizens. Of course, the methodological potential of the collection is of interest to teachers of different levels of education: from music schools to secondary and higher educational institutions. The author shares his personal experience gained in the course of conducting Piano lessons with future conductors of a military orchestra, but assumes the universality of the application of the results obtained.

The program of the Piano discipline of the Military Institute (military conductors) The Military University provides for the study of topic No. 6 "Accompaniments". The teaching material for cadets is piano parts of pieces for military brass band instruments and chamber vocal works. In classes on this topic, students gain the skill of accompanying vocal and instrumental compositions. The musical material is an educational and methodological manual of a military-patriotic orientation. In addition to the famous songs of the Great Patriotic War, which became classics, works from the collection "Voices of the Motherland" are used during classes, and can also serve later for concert performance, including those organized in conditions of their own.

S.L. Dzhioev, relying on the works of prominent researchers in the field of conducting, comes to the following conclusion: "Science recognizes the fact that there are specifics in the training of leaders of military orchestras. This specificity is determined by the functions of a military orchestra, such as: musical accompaniment of military drill, the performance of military rituals and ceremonies, educational and recreational functions" ^{[8, p. 4-5]}. One of the components of this specificity is the education of the orchestra members with whom the military conductor works, a sense of patriotism, military duty, honor, and conscientious performance of official duties.

For the harmonious development and formation of a military orchestra conductor, it is important to master a lot of necessary competencies, the most important of which is ensemble interaction in the process of performing a musical composition. The best help in the course of mastering this skill is the ability to competently and carefully accompany the soloist, fostering a sense of balance, overcoming pianistic difficulties associated with a quick understanding of dynamic, articulatory, dramatic tasks, the ability to read accurately and fluently from a sheet, simplifying the texture if necessary. E.M. Shenderovich directly points to the relationship and kinship of the functions of the concertmaster and conductor: "The accompanist needs a musical scope, a vision of the whole work, the form, the score consisting of three lines" ^{[16, p. 12]}. These problems can be solved by referring to the collection "Voices of the Motherland", which simultaneously allows the cadet to familiarize himself with the relevant, modern, patriotic repertoire.

The skill of fluent and accurate reading from a sheet plays a huge role in the activities of a musician of any specialization. It is equally important for the formation of the future conductor of the military brass band. E.M. Shenderovich emphasized: "This is an organic component of the overall musical and performing potential, and without this skill, no pianist (and not only a pianist) will be able to become a major musician-artist" ^{[16, p. 61]}.

It is no coincidence that in individual lessons in the discipline of "Piano" at the Military Institute (military conductors), the problem is highlighted in a separate topic No. 2 "Reading from a sheet" and a sufficient number of academic hours are devoted to working on it. Often, this skill is poorly developed among students due to insufficient practice. Therefore, when developing the ability to read musical text from a sheet, it is important to teach how to perceive the material holistically, grasping it visually in large fragments, without breaking it into component parts in the form of individual notes or chords. The same way we perceive a literary text without dividing it into letters or syllables. Works for voice accompanied by piano are an invaluable help for the development of this skill, because the concertmaster often has at least three musical stands in front of his eyes and the most important task of the accompanist is to cover not only the material of his part, but also the soloist's part, otherwise the ensemble will not work. Therefore, at the initial stage of work, it is useful to choose texturally not very saturated essays, so as not to overload the student with an abundance of tasks. For example, these can be the songs "We are going to make peace" (words and music by A. Boyko), "About Russia" (words by V. Shchepetkov, music by A. Saversky), "I Believe in Russia" (words by V. Paevskaya, music by V. Saltanova), "Prayer (Song Waiting)" (words and music by N. Kapitanova), "I love you, country!" (words and music by S. Goryainov).

When playing from a sheet of paper, it is important to teach the student so that all his attention is focused on the three lines of music, and not only on the piano part. At the same time, the task should be performed not mechanically, but analyzing and thinking carefully, trying not to stop and reproduce the figurative and artistic idea of the composer. E.M. Shenderovich recommends at the initial stage of work to play the soloist's line with the right hand, and the bass line with the left, in order to gradually learn how to harmoniously fill the fabric with the figures of the right hand part. Why do you need to learn to cover the soloist's part at the same time? In order to be able to anticipate and anticipate his performing intentions related to agogy, dynamics and phrasing, the instructions of which are often written out in the soloist's part. As an example, the song "We are going to make peace" (words and music by A. Boyko) is suitable for working on this task, in which the piano part is presented in the form of long, stretching chords that allow you to cover the soloist's part without compromising the accompaniment.

Another useful exercise that E.M. Shenderovich advises for use in practice is reducing the texture to a chord vertical, that is, their reduction. It is useful to carry out such work in the songs "Prayer (Song of the Waiting One)" (words and music by N. Kapitanova), "I love you, country!" (words and music by S. Goryainov).

The main conditions for the development of the skill of reading from a sheet should be systematic and consistent. It is no coincidence that the outstanding musician I. Hoffman explained: "You need to play a lot from the sheet, and as quickly as possible, at least at first some inaccuracies crept in. With fast reading, you will develop the ability of the eye, as they say, to "grasp", and this, in turn, will make it easier for you to read the details" ^{[6, p. 177]}.

In the process of working on the musical texture in accompaniments, it is necessary, first of all, to understand the axiom: the soloist is the leader, because he sets out the melody, which is the basis of the thematic material. V.N. Biktashev tirelessly emphasizes: "The main task of the concertmaster ... is not to interfere with the soloist! What does it mean not to interfere with the melody?… And what is a melody? The soul, the meaning of music, the main thing for which music in the vast majority of cases exists at all. Melody is the queen, melody is the face! Melody, if it is in the texture of a musical work, is its main element" ^{[1, p. 11]}. For example, in the song "About Russia" (words by V. Sakladova, music by A. Tadinov), after a fairly transparent and understandable accompaniment in the verse, the chorus follows, with a more saturated texture at the piano: arpeggiated right-hand figuration passes into the left-hand part, and accentuated chords are added instead. It is important to explain to the student that the musical text is often conditional, and the accents prescribed by the author, which require strict observance, nevertheless should not interrupt the main presentation of the material from the soloist. That is, these chords should be played with an emotional, semantic accent rather than a dynamic one, directly corresponding to the poetic text set forth by the vocalist. We encounter a similar situation in the song "Dmitry Donskoy" (words and music by M. Panisheva, arranged by I. Nokhrin): In the chorus, in order to convey the strong-willed, persistent image of Prince Donskoy and his most important goal of rallying and reuniting the Russian people against the Tatar-Mongol yoke, the vocalist's part is duplicated in octave doubling in the right hand, emphasizing the importance of the content. The accompanist, embodying the required decisive and strong image, should not forget about his subordinate and auxiliary function in relation to the soloist, without interfering with excessive forced sound production.

In many works there are polyphonic fragments saturated with undertones or independent melodic lines. In such cases, the student should be explained about the importance of independent lines, the ability to trace them, to tone them, but, again, not to the detriment of the vocalist's part, strictly observing the rule of priority of his musical material. For example, in the song "Our City" (words by V. Tolmachev, music by V. Cherny), in parallel with the presentation of the main melody, the vocalist has an independent theme in the right-hand part. Since it begins in the third octave, which does not differ in strong sonority, it will not be difficult to correctly build a balance in an ensemble with a soloist. However, the concertmaster faces another, no less important musical task – to photograph and tone this sub-voice in such a way that it does not fall apart into separate sounds, but lines up into a beautiful, soulful melody. Another example of a polyphonic presentation of the material can be the song "Oh, Motherland!" (words by R. Gamzatov, music by G. Kambarova). In this composition, in the chorus of the piano part, the moving figures represent independent melodic lines that help the soloist convey an enthusiastic, excited patriotic mood, as if finishing the unsaid.

In the course of further work on texture differentiation, teachers in classes with cadets should pay special attention to working on the bass line, its independence, understanding of the basic principles, intonation. There are often cases when the importance of this line is not given due attention, as a result of which the performance is deprived of a well-built balance, volume of sound, logic. V.N. Biktashev laments: "Oh, long-suffering, unrecognized, undisclosed, unvoiced bass! After all, he is essentially the foundation that carries the whole mass of musical texture on his shoulders, he is a support and a reliable haven in all the endless transformations, transformations, modulations and other cataclysms that can only occur in music!" ^{[1, p. 22]}. Explaining the fundamental nature of the bass voice, it is necessary in every possible way to protect the novice accompanist from forced, rude or formal, straightforward sound production, calling for instrumental analogies in the work, comparing the sound with double basses, bassoons, tubas – to work tirelessly on the required carcass. As examples of the pedagogical repertoire, one can cite the songs "About Russia!" (words by V. Shchepetkov, music by A. Saversky), "Only a cross is on him out of armor" (words by A. Shagin, music by O. Trunnikov). In the work "Prayer of a Soldier" (words by N. Balynskaya, music by P. Sergienko) and in the chorus of the song "Mother of Russia" (words by E. Kovalyuk, music by A. Yakush), the bass melody acquires special significance, introducing an element of polyphony, independence of the lower voice, which must be emphasized and worked out. Special attention should be paid to the problem of proper pedalization. Often, having learned how to use the lagging function of the right pedal, novice concertgoers leave it unchanged throughout the work. For example, in the chorus of the song "Mother of Russia" (words by E. Kovalyuk, music by A. Yakush), the rhythm and texture of the material change – the chord presentation turns into a gradual movement of the bass voice according to the sounds of arpeggios, abundantly supplied with non-chord sounds. At the same time, in the right-hand part, the vocal two-voice is duplicated by double notes. Many inexperienced performers continue to use a lagging pedal, similar to a couplet accompaniment, replacing a well-toned finger legato with an imaginary coloring and shading of the melody, outlined in double notes, with a pedal. The result is mud and cacophony. It is important to teach the figures in the right and left hands separately, carefully observing the vocalization and phrasing without the slightest attempt to press the pedal. And only then use it very carefully, strictly controlling the substitution and removal.

The next layer of texture that needs to be aligned with the overall vertical is harmonic filling. It can be diverse and multivariate in terms of rhythm and method of presentation: from "chord columns" (V.N. Biktashev's term), to arpeggiated or gamma-like sequences richly saturated with non-chord sounds. And here it is important to remind the student of the rule of priority of the soloist. The song "I believe in Russia!" (words by V. Paevskaya, music by V. Saltanova) can serve as an illustration of the presentation of the material using the so-called "chord pillars". In this work, it is important to ensure that the novice accompanist does not play these chords exactly like pillars, but tries to combine them into one musical phrase, thought, intoning each sound. It is useful to draw a parallel with the instruments of a symphonic or brass orchestra, the sound of which does not fade away, unlike the piano, but dynamically or phraseologically develops.

Often poorly learned harmonic filling is played heavily, clumsily and interferes with the presentation of the vocal part. Therefore, it is important to teach a novice concertmaster to properly treat his duties, to take a responsible approach to learning his part. For example, in the song "Prayer (Song of the Waiting One)" (words and music by N. Kapitanova) in the chorus, the chord accompaniment alternates with arpeggiated figurations, which are not very convenient at first glance. Here everything is solved by a well-chosen fingering and a responsible attitude to learning these fragments. In the song "Nikolai Masalov" (words and music by Elena Yatsenko), the piano part is replete with various technical elements: scale-like passages, rehearsals, constant changes of trioles to dotted lines. These figures also require competent and painstaking teaching.

Often in the works there is a peculiar, sometimes complex rhythm that carries a certain image, or shows a characteristic genre illustrating this image. For example, the song "Dedication" (words by F. Farisova, music by M. Khairullina) tells about the struggle for the eternal values of life and love. The author does not have the Hamlet question "To be or not to be?", her credo is "Of course to be!". Reflecting a persistent and strong-willed character, the accompaniment is set out in the spirit of perpetuum mobile, transmitting the energy and pulse of life, alternating with repetitive ostinate chords. V.N. Biktashev rightly emphasizes: "Rhythmic function is unthinkable without rhythmic discipline and metrical constancy" ^{[1, p. 22]}. In this work, it is important to convey motor skills and toccatarity due to the iron observance of the rhythmic structure, as well as the tenacity and clarity of the fingers. To do this, the chord presentation of the material should be played with a stroke as close as possible to a sharp, dry staccato, despite the absence of this indication, because we use the stroke depending on the figurative and artistic task of the work. Another example of the ostinate model of accompaniment can be the song "Only the cross is on it from the armor" (words by A. Shagin, music by O. Trunnikov). In this composition, the terse tremolo, which later turns into a chordal one, conveys the excitement and tension of the situation in which the unprotected lone fighter found himself. A complex combination of syncopated and dotted rhythms of the piano part in the song "Captain Russia" (words and music by Yu. Ryzhova) helps the soloist embody the image of an intrepid and brave hero, the savior of Russia, confidently averting misfortune.

Of course, solo fragments of the piano part play a huge role in creating and embodying the image, helping the soloist to express the emotional subtext, finishing what sometimes cannot be expressed in words. In the Musical Encyclopedia, the role of piano accompaniment is characterized as follows: "In instrumental and vocal music of the XIX-XX centuries, accompaniment often performs new expressive functions: it "completes" the unspoken soloist, emphasizes and deepens the psychological and dramatic content of music, creates an illustrative and pictorial background. It often turns from a simple accompaniment into an equivalent part of the ensemble..." ^{[13, p. 80]}. An introduction is important, introducing the composition into the artistic world, setting up the soloist and the listener in a certain way. For example, the song "About Russia" (words by V. Shchepetkov, music by A. Saversky) is preceded by an expressive introduction symbolizing the breadth and scale of the country. The texture is rich, but not dense – the chord presentation in the right hand and the iridescence of arpeggios in the left hands embody this image. At the end of the song, again, the piano continues the climax started by the soloist: The texture is compacted with richer chords, and arpeggiated figures soar upwards. Often, the expressive functions of the accompaniment are not limited to the first bars of the introduction: "Piano "performances" often alternate with the vocal line of the romance, somewhere shading, somewhere complementing, somewhere contrasting with it, in other words, revealing the subtext of the vocal work" ^{[16, p. 30]}. For example, in the song "Dmitry Donskoy" (words and music by M. Panisheva, arranged by I. Nokhrin), there is a small fragment in the piano part before the chorus, which has a calling character. To understand the image, it is useful for students to draw an analogy with the intonation and sound of a trumpet, which was a signaling instrument. In the song "Mothers of Russia" (words by E. Kovalyuk, music by A. Yakush), the piano playing precedes the chorus, rearranging the performers and listeners from the seriousness of the minor verse, telling about the duty of sons to defend the Motherland, to a major, bright, life-affirming way.

In the introduction to the work "Golden-Domed Russia" (words by E. Nikiforova, music by V. Kippor), the piano part is presented in a variety and richly: wide arpeggios in the left, covering a wide range, together with powerful, majestic chords in the right hand create a solemn image filled with love for the Motherland. In the chorus, as if painting a picture of Russia, illustrating the soloist's words about bells, the accompaniment changes, becoming saturated with octaves and chords located at opposite ends of the keyboard. Later in the course of development, piano playing leads to modulation from D minor to the distant key of E flat minor, introducing new color, increasing the emotional degree. Throughout the composition, the piano plays an important role, in fact, the concertmaster here turns from an accompanist into an ensemble player. However, despite this, students should be constantly reminded of the most important rule, which is the constant priority of the solo part.

When working on the works, it is important for future military brass band conductors to explain the relationship between concepts such as tessitura and dynamics: any dynamic indication should first of all be correlated with the technical capabilities of the vocalist. At the same time, it is important to remember that these indications of the power of sound are, first of all, an indication of character and carry a semantic function. For example, in the song "I will not betray you, Donbass!" (words and music by E. Karavanskaya) in the chorus, the indication f is set in both parts. However, it is obvious that the concertmaster must match the scale of his sound with the capabilities of the vocalist in order not to drown it out. In the song "Oh, Motherland!" (words by R. Gamzatov, music by G. Kambarova) in the vocal and piano parts, we again find a similar indication of mp and again try to correlate the balance in such a way that the soloists (this work was written for a vocal duo) find it convenient to present their material in the middle register, which, as is known, less sonorous than the extreme ones. In some works of the collection "Voices of the Motherland" (for example, "Mother of Russia" (words by E. Kovalyuk, music by A. Yakush) or "Prayer (Song of the Waiting One)" (words and music by N. Kapitanova), the dynamics are not exposed by the authors, which implies a certain performing freedom. It is important to try to avoid dynamic monotony, especially when repeating verses and choruses, and to start from the poetic text and artistic tasks.

An important aspect in working with future conductors is the development of orchestral thinking. On the one hand, there are no difficulties in solving this issue, since the cadets own one or more wind instruments. On the other hand, sometimes there are some problems associated with the lack of technical ability to embody the desired timbre in view of not very good command of the piano, or a poorly developed representation of the timbre or the peculiarities of sound production on the instruments of the string-bowed group of a symphony orchestra. In the above examples, the author has made small attempts to draw parallels with some orchestral instruments. Such work can be carried out further, limited only by the imagination of the performer.

These judgments are advisory in nature, because, as you know, interpretation can be multivariate. V.N. Biktashev exclaims: "I am convinced that in beautiful, perfect music, Music with a capital letter, written by brilliant and outstanding masters, there is never one single correct way to perform, understand, interpret and express it. There are always many such ways, and this makes music more beautiful, more diverse, and more unpredictable" ^{[1, p. 6]}. However, there are immutable rules and axioms applicable to works written in any genre or style that require familiarization and painstaking study. These are the immutable truths of some of the issues raised in this work that arise for novice concertgoers: the primacy of the soloist's part, the developed skill of holistic coverage of musical material together with a vocal line when reading from a sheet, competent differentiation of texture and a correctly built vertical balance, with a verified and toned horizontal (sub-voices and independent voices in polyphonic presentation), harmonic and rhythmic figurations performed without prejudice to the melody, solo fragments of the piano part that complement the artistic image created by the soloist, the relationship between the concepts of vocal tessitura and the dynamics of the work, the development of orchestral thinking.

During the years of the Special Military Operation, many songs and poems have been composed, which, as well as during the Great Patriotic War, serve as a means of maintaining morale and morale. At the Piano Department of the Military Institute (military Conductors) The updated repertoire of the Military University, including military songs by modern composers dedicated to a Special military operation, enriched the existing methodological material, allowed expanding the thematic and imaginative range of works, contributing to the introduction of acutely modern and topical topics into the program. The social function of music in the life of society consists in the possibility of mastering national and general cultural values by the people through the use of the entire pedagogical arsenal inherent in the musical art for the education of a harmoniously developed personality: it is important to carefully study the military-patriotic works of the past, which have become classics of this genre, it is no less important to turn to a new repertoire, close in subject and time to a modern person.