MINISTRY OF EDUCATION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

VOLOGDA STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

M. R. GOGOLIN

CHORAL WORK

VOLOGDA

"Rus"

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

VOLOGDA STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

M. R. GOGOLIN

STUDENT'S WORK ON AN ABSTRACT
CHORAL WORK

Approved by the educational and methodological association
in teacher education specialties
as a teaching aid for students
higher educational institutions studying
specialty 030700 – music education

BBK 85.31 r 3 Printed by decision of RIS VGPU

Reviewer –

U-Gen-Ir, professor of Petrozavodsk
State Conservatory, Ph.D. art history

Gogolin student on the annotation of a choral work: Study guide. – Vologda: VSPU, publishing house “Rus”,
2003 – 88 p.

The proposed textbook consists of an introduction, five sections, a conclusion, an appendix and a list of references. Its main purpose is to help the student write annotations of choral works studied in conducting and choral studies classes. The manual describes in detail the entire plan for working on the annotation, discusses methods for analyzing a choral score and features of the written presentation of the results obtained.

© VSPU, publishing house "Rus", 2003

ISBN -4 © 2003

FROM THE AUTHOR

Conductor and choirmaster training occupies a significant place in the professional training of future music teachers. The development of this specialization is helped by classes in conducting, choral singing, and studying a course in choral studies. Ultimately, over the years of his studies, the student must acquire the necessary skills both for successful performance at the state exam in choir conducting, and for his subsequent teaching work.

In the process of preparatory work, the student needs to carefully study the work submitted for the exam, master the technique of conducting it, find out genre and style features, and draw up a rehearsal plan for working with the choir. Similar work is also performed by the student in preparation for passing transitional course exams in conducting. In both cases, he needs to carry out such an analysis in writing in the form of an annotation. To help in this work, to guide and teach the student to analyze a choral work - this is precisely the task set to the authors of this manual when writing it.

There are different ways to write an annotation, and the proposed plans for formatting the analyzed material into thematic sections are also different. What is common in all cases is that in both cases there are sections of musical theory.
tical, vocal-choral and performing analysis of means of artistic expression.

In our opinion, it is advisable from the very beginning to distinguish all means of musical expression, the analysis of which is assumed in the annotation, into stable and mobile. Stable ones (this includes all means of expression that are independent of the performer or dependent to a small extent) should be included in the sections “music theoretical analysis” and “vocal and choral analysis.” These include: the form of the work, harmonic language, textural features, type and type of choir, range, etc.

On the contrary, the “performing analysis” section includes all mobile (performing) means of expression, such as tempo, dynamics and others. That is why, in our opinion, it is reasonable to include in the section “vocal and choral analysis” a chapter on the relationship between natural and artificial ensembles, while the analysis of other types of ensemble (tuning, rhythmic, dynamic, etc.) should be included in the section "executive analysis". This is explained by the fact that the moments of occurrence of ensemble and non-ensemble chords are closely related to various tessitura combinations of voices. Tessitura, like range, is a stable indicator that does not depend on performance intentions.

In most well-known choral studies textbooks, the “performing analysis” section is mainly devoted to identifying various choral difficulties. However, working to establish rhythmic, line and other types of ensemble is a process of identifying specific choral problems and finding ways to overcome them. Based on this, our plan for “performing analysis” includes the analysis of all types of choral ensemble.

Without pretending to write a full-fledged textbook, the author of the manual, nevertheless, sought to include the necessary amount of theoretical information in each of the chapters of the above sections. Realizing that this information will not be enough in many cases, we have compiled a list of specialized literature, which we hope will be useful in resolving issues that arise related to the analysis of forms, harmony, conducting technique, etc.

Without doubting that working on writing an abstract can be the first step for many on the path to independent research work, the author included in the manual a section devoted to the correct formatting of scientific work. It provides modern requirements for the formatting of quotations, references, some methods of editing the text and compiling a list of literature used in writing the work.

INTRODUCTION

An annotation of a choral work is a written statement of the analysis of this work. When starting work on a new work, the student must, based on the entire complex of means of artistic expression, ultimately build a clearly substantiated performance plan (interpretation), show a clearly expressed personal attitude and understanding of the figurative content of the work. The analysis of a choral work is carried out by sequentially studying the following sections:

Historical and aesthetic analysis

1. Creative portrait of the composer and his main works .

2. Brief description of the poet’s work, analysis of the poetic text.

3. The history of the creation of the work, its main idea and content.

Music-theoretical analysis

1. The form of the work and its structural features.

2. Genre basis.

3. Modal and tonal base.

4. Features of harmonic language.

5. Melodic and intonation basis.

6. Metrorhythmic features.

7. Tempo and agogic deviations.

8. Dynamic shades.

9. Textural features of the work and its musical composition.

10. The relationship between the choral score and accompaniment.

11. The connection between music and poetic text.

Vocal and choral analysis

1. Type and type of choir.

2. Range and tessitura features of the work.

3. The relationship between natural and artificial tessitura ensemble.

4. Features of the use of timbre colors and choral “orchestration”.

5. Techniques of choral writing.

6. Types of choral breathing.

Performance analysis

1. Tuning ensemble and intonation ensemble.

2. Rhythmic ensemble.

3. Tempo ensemble.

4. Dynamic ensemble.

5. Line ensemble.

6. Diction and orthoepic ensemble.

7. Performing phrasing.

8. Creation of an execution plan.

9. Rehearsal plan.

Features of the conductor's gesture

1. Characteristics of conductor's gestures.

2. Types of applied auftacts.

3. Conducting fermatas and pauses.

4. Features of conducting metric and rhythmic structures.

Work on the annotation should begin long before the start of its written presentation. The information obtained during the analysis of the work must immediately be systematized, writing it strictly in sections corresponding to the annotation plan. Within sections it is necessary to clearly group homogeneous material. In the abstract, it is also important how and in what language the content is presented. Each phrase must contain meaning, any thought must be expressed clearly and as briefly as possible. It’s bad if sentences contain a lot of information, multiple repetitions of the same words. Therefore, it is useful to read what you have written out loud - this will help identify and correct the indicated shortcomings.

It is necessary to pay attention to the correct spelling of special terms and foreign words. In their work, it is important for the student to adhere to the rule: all terms and special designations must be written either in translation into their native language or in the original language.

During the drafting process, as well as during final editing, it is necessary to ensure that the text is divided into paragraphs correctly. The beginning of each paragraph should correspond to a change in the semantic content of sections or individual phrases.

HISTORICAL AND AESTHETIC ANALYSIS

This section of the annotation concentrates information about the poet on whose poems the work is written, about the composer, about the history of the creation of the literary source and its embodiment in musical images. When getting acquainted with the work of a composer and poet, it is very important, first of all, to collect data about the era in which they lived, the aesthetic and artistic views of the authors.

It is interesting to note the commonality or difference in the views of the co-authors on certain phenomena of art. It is also necessary to get acquainted with a number of other works of the composer and poet, which makes it possible to draw conclusions about the characteristic features of the creative style of each of them.

The final result of a historical-aesthetic analysis should be clarity in the general concept, idea, scale of the work, and the emotional tone of the work as a whole. Moreover, preliminary conclusions regarding stylistics, musical language and form will be refined in the process of music theoretical analysis.

1. Creative portrait of the composer and his main works

Characteristics of creativity should include biographical information about the author of the music and his brief biography - years of life, teacher, place of residence.

The characteristics of a composer’s work are the ideas, themes, images of his works, and their genre basis. It is also necessary to identify the most important and general features of the composer’s choral style. This should be facilitated by an analysis of the choir compositions he most often uses, the originality in the use of choir parts, and typical textural and harmonic solutions. It is very important to find out what attracted the composer to the work of the poet whose poems the work being studied was written on. It is also interesting which poets’ poems form the basis of his other works, how and in what way the author works with poetic primary sources, whether they are revised or remain unchanged.

If the musical work is an arrangement of a folk song or an arrangement of a vocal work, then in addition to information about the composer, it is necessary to provide information about the author of the arrangement, the genre of the work, and identify the features of the existence of the work in its traditional form.

2. Brief description of the poet’s work,
analysis of poetic text

Just like the previous chapter, the description of the author’s work should begin with the biographical information of the poet. This also includes analysis of the literary source and its comparative analysis with the text used in the choral work. When analyzing the original source, it is important not only to give a brief figurative description of it, but also to provide a detailed analysis of the structure of the text, size, and phrasing.

Versification is characterized by the presence of a metrical principle in it, that is, the alternation of strong and weak syllables. Depending on the number of syllables, the feet are divided into two-, three-, four-syllable, etc. Depending on the position of the stressed syllable in the foot, they differ:

Two-syllable sizes– iambic and trochee .

Chorey– two-syllable meter with foot stress on the first syllable ().

/ Bu-rya / haze / sky / cro-et /

Yamb– two-syllable meter with foot stress on the second syllable
().

/ My uncle’s / my honest / righteous rights /

Trisyllabic sizes– dactyl, amphibrachium, anapest.

Dactyl– three-syllable size. The first syllable is stressed and the next two are unstressed ().

/ Clouds are not / demons / eternal / countries /

Amphibrachius– three-syllable size. The first syllable is unstressed, the second is stressed, the third is unstressed ().

/ Why the / ve-se-li- / voice has fallen silent /

Anapaest– three-syllable meter with foot stress on the third syllable ().

/ I won’t tell you / anything /

/ I won’t / meet you at all /

A special place is occupied odd sizes found in folk versification. The most important among them is the five-syllable size, most often appearing as ()+(), that is, in another way, trochee + dactyl. The reverse order is much less common.

Analyzing the poem, the student needs to place the symbols (see above) of stressed and unstressed syllables above the text written out on paper and divide them with foot features. We should not forget that a foot can begin and end in the middle of a word.

Some choral works may not have a specific lyricist. This applies to adaptations of folk songs or compositions based on canonical spiritual texts. In these cases, it is necessary to provide historical information about the origin and traditions of using this kind of texts. If the work is written in a foreign language or (which applies to Orthodox chants) Old Church Slavonic, it is necessary to make a literal translation of this text and find out the meaning of incomprehensible sacred1 words.

3. The history of the creation of the work,
its main idea and content

Moving directly to the analysis of the work, it is interesting to find out what was the reason for its creation, the history of its creation, what works were composed simultaneously with this choir, its place and role in the composer’s work.

It is important to find out the place of this work in a number of other works by the composer, to analyze its content as a whole, if only a part is studied (for example, part of a cantata, mass, oratorio). If this is a cyclic product, then it is necessary to estimate
the entire cycle, the main artistic images, determine the place and role of the choir in a work of large form.

The most important point is to clarify the main idea of ​​the work. Very often the content of a poetic text does not coincide with the image that appears when this text is set to music. Any full-fledged poem is multifaceted, and therefore the composer cannot always reflect it completely in his work. More often these are just some aspects of one or one of several of his artistic images. We must not forget that the literary source itself can have not only a realistic, but also a symbolic interpretation. Clarification of this should be given significant space in this chapter.

Understanding the content of musical images and, as a consequence, the idea embedded in the work will help to analyze the expressive means with the help of which poetic images are accentuated or, conversely, muffled. It follows from this that it makes sense to work on this chapter after the musical-theoretical and vocal-choral analysis has been done. To see the formation of the main idea of ​​a work in the process of these studies means to realize many important points: from the degree of correspondence between musical and poetic images to the correctness of the composer’s choice of this or that type of choir or other performing staff.

MUSIC THEORETICAL ANALYSIS

Musical theoretical analysis involves covering a wide range of issues related to determining the form of a work, its relationship with the form of the text, genre basis, mode-tonal plan, features of harmonic language, melodic, phrasing, tempo-rhythmic features, texture, dynamics, correlation of the choral score with accompaniment and connection of music with poetic text.

When carrying out musical theoretical analysis, it is more expedient to go from the general to the specific. It is of great importance to decipher all the notations and instructions of the composer, understand them and understand the means of their expression. It is also necessary to remember that the structure of a choral work is largely determined by the peculiarities of the construction of the verse; it organically combines music and words. Therefore, it is advisable to first pay attention to the construction of the literary text, find the semantic culmination, and compare works based on the same text written by different composers.

The analysis of musical expressive means should be especially careful and detailed in terms of harmonic analysis. The solution to a number of issues of subordination of parts of the whole, the determination of particular and general culminations largely depends on the correct assessment of the data of harmonic analysis: the increase and decrease of tension, modulations and deviations, diatonic and altered dissonance, the role of non-chord sounds.

Musical theoretical analysis should help to identify the main and secondary in the musical material, logically, taking everything into account, to build the dramaturgy of the work. The emerging idea of ​​a work as a complete artistic integrity, already at this stage of study, will bring you closer to comprehending the author’s intention.

1. The form of the work and its structural features

As a rule, musical theoretical analysis begins with determining the form of the work. At the same time, it is important to find out all the structural components of the form, starting with intonations, motives, phrases and ending with sentences, periods and parts. Characterizing the relationships between the parts includes comparing their musical and thematic material and determining the depth of contrast or, conversely, the thematic unity inherent between them.

Various musical forms are used in choral music: period, simple and complex two- and three-part, couplet, strophic, sonata and many others. Small choirs and choral miniatures are usually written in simple forms. But along with them, there are also so-called “symphonic” choirs, where the usual sonata, strophic or rondo form is used.

The process of formation in a choral work is influenced not only by the laws of musical development, but also by the laws of versification. The literary and musical basis of choral music is manifested in the variety of forms of the period, in the verse-variation form and, finally, in the free interpenetration of forms, in the appearance of a strophic form, which is not found in instrumental music.

Sometimes the artistic design allows the composer to preserve the structure of the text, in which case the form of the musical work will follow the verse. But very often the poetic source undergoes significant processing, some words and phrases are repeated, some lines of text are left out altogether. In this case, the text is completely subject to the logic of musical development.

Along with ordinary forms, polyphonic forms are also used in choral music - fugues, motets, etc. The fugue of all polyphonic forms is the most complex. Depending on the number of topics, it can be simple, double or triple.

2. Genre basis

The key to understanding a work is to correctly determine its genre origins. As a rule, a whole complex of expressive means is associated with a certain genre: the nature of the melody, the style of presentation, metrhythmics, etc. Some choirs are entirely within the framework of one genre. If the composer wants to emphasize or shade different aspects of one image, he can use a combination of several genres. Signs of a new genre can be found not only at the junctions of large parts and episodes, as is often the case, but also in the simultaneous presentation of musical material.

Musical genres can be folk and professional, instrumental, chamber, symphonic, etc., but we are primarily interested in the folk song and dance origins that underlie choral scores. As a rule, these are vocal genres: song, romance, ballad, drinking, serenade, barcarolle, pastoral, march song. The dance genre basis can be represented by a waltz, polonaise or other classical dance. The choral works of modern composers often rely on newer dance rhythms - foxtrot, tango, rock and roll and others.

Example 1. Yu. Falik. "Stranger"

In addition to the dance-song basis, the genre is also determined, associated with the peculiarities of the performance of the work. This may be an a cappella choral miniature, an accompanied choir or a vocal ensemble.

Types and types of musical works, historically developed in connection with various types of content, in connection with certain of its life purposes, are also divided into genres: opera, cantata-oratorio, mass, requiem, liturgy, all-night vigil, memorial service, etc. Very often genres of this kind are mixed and form hybrids such as opera-ballet or symphony-requiem.

3. Fret and tonal base

The choice of mode and key is determined by a certain mood, character and image that the composer intended to embody. Therefore, when determining the main tonality of a work, it is necessary to analyze in detail the entire tonal plan of the work and the tonality of its individual parts, determine the sequence of tonalities, methods of modulation and deviations.

The fret is a very important means of expression. The coloring of the major scale is used in music that expresses fun and cheerfulness. At the same time, by means of harmonic major, the work is given shades of sorrow and increased emotional tension. The minor scale is typically used in dramatic music.

Various tonalities, as well as modes, have certain coloristic associations that play an important role in choosing the tonality of a work. For example, composers widely use the light coloring of C major for enlightened, “sunny” fragments of choral works.

Example 2. S. Taneyev. "Sunrise"

The keys E-flat minor and B-flat minor are firmly associated with gloomy, tragic images.

Example 3. S. Rachmaninov. “Now you let go».

In modern scores, composers very often do not set key signs. This is primarily due to very intense modulation or functional uncertainty of the harmonic language. In both cases, it is important to identify tonally stable fragments and, starting from them, draw up a tonal plan. It should, however, be remembered that not every modern work is written in a tonal system. Often composers use atonal ways of organizing material; their modal basis requires a different type of analysis than the traditional one. For example, the composers of the so-called New Viennese school, Schoenberg, Webern and Berg, instead of mode and tonality, used in their compositions a twelve-tone series2, which is the source material for both the harmonic vertical and melodic lines.

Example 4. A. Webern. "Cantata No. 1"

4. Features of harmonic language

The methodology for harmonic analysis of a choral score is presented to us in the following sequence.

One should begin the theoretical study of a work only after it has been worked out in historical and aesthetic terms. Consequently, the score sits, as they say, in the ears and heart, and this is the most reliable way to protect yourself from the danger of breaking away from the content in the process of harmonic analysis. It is advisable to look through and listen to the entire composition chord by chord. It is impossible to guarantee in each individual case interesting results from the analysis of harmony - not every work is sufficiently original in terms of harmonic language, but “grains” will certainly be discovered. Sometimes it is some complex harmonic revolution or modulation. Imprecisely recorded by the ear, upon closer examination they can turn out to be very important elements of form, and, therefore, clarify the artistic content of the work. Sometimes this is a particularly expressive, formative cadence, harmonic accent or multifunctional consonance.

Such a targeted analysis will help to identify the most “harmonic” episodes of the score, where the first word belongs to harmony, and, conversely, more harmonic-neutral sections, where it only accompanies the melody or supports contrapuntal development.

As already mentioned, the importance of harmony in formation is great, therefore the structural analysis of a work is always closely linked with the study of the harmonic plan. Analysis of harmony helps to identify the functional meaning of certain of its elements. For example, a long build-up of dominant harmony greatly dynamizes the presentation and increases the intensity of development in the final sections, while the tonic organ point, on the contrary, gives a feeling of calm and stability.

It is also necessary to pay attention to the coloristic possibilities of harmony. This is especially true of harmony in the choral works of modern composers. In many cases, the methods of analysis that are applicable to the works of earlier eras are not suitable here. In modern harmony, an important role is played by consonances of the non-tertian structure, bifunctional and polyfunctional chords, and clusters3. Very often, the harmonic vertical in such works arises as a result of the combination of several independent melodic lines. This, or as it is also called, linear harmony, is characteristic of the scores of Paul Hindemith, Igor Stravinsky, and composers of the already mentioned Novo-Viennese school.

Example 5. P. Hindemith. "Swan"

In all of the above cases, it is important to find out the features of the composer’s creative method in order to find the correct method for analyzing the harmonic language of the work.

5. Melodic and intonation basis

When analyzing a melody, not only external signs are taken into account - the ratio of jumps and smooth movement, forward movement and a long stay at the same height, melodiousness or intermittency of the melodic line, but also internal signs of the expression of a musical image. The main thing is awareness of its figurative-emotional
significant meaning, taking into account the abundance of arrests, the presence of half-tone intonations, increased or decreased intervals, the singing of sounds and the rhythmic design of the melody.

Very often, melody is mistakenly understood as only the upper voice of a choral score. This is not always true, since primacy is not assigned once and for all to any one voice, it can be transferred from one to another. If the work is written in a polyphonic style, then the concept of a melodically main voice becomes completely unnecessary.

Melody is inextricably linked with intonation. Musical intonation refers to small particles of melody, melodic turns that have a certain expressiveness. As a rule, one can talk about one or another character of intonation only in certain contexts: tempo, metro-rhythmic, dynamic, etc. For example, when speaking about the active nature of fourth intonation, as a rule, they mean that the interval of the ascending fourth is clearly highlighted, directed from the dominant to the tonic and from the offbeat to the downbeat.

Like individual intonation, melody is a unity of different aspects. Depending on their combination, we can talk about lyrical, dramatic, masculine, elegiac and other types of melody.

When analyzing a melody, consideration of its modal side is important in many respects. The features of the national originality of the melody are very often associated with the modal side. No less important is the analysis of the modal side of the melody to clarify the immediate expressive nature of the melody and its emotional structure.

In addition to the modal basis of the melody, it is necessary to analyze the melodic line or melodic pattern, that is, the set of movements of the melody up, down, at the same height. The most important types of melodic pattern are the following: repetition of sound, singing of sound, ascending or descending movement, progressive or spasmodic movement, wide or narrow range, varied repetition of a segment of melody.

6. Metrorhythmic features

The importance of metrhythm as an expressive musical means is extremely great. It reveals the temporal properties of music.

Just as musical pitch relationships have a modal basis, musical rhythmic relationships develop on the basis of meter. Meter is the sequential alternation of strong and weak beats in rhythmic movement. The downbeat forms a metrical accent by which a piece of music is divided into measures. Meters are simple; two- and three-beat, with one strong beat per bar, and complex, consisting of several heterogeneous simple ones.

Meter should not be confused with size, since size is the expression of meter by the number of specific rhythmic units - counting beats. Very often a situation arises when, for example, a two-beat meter is expressed in size 5/8, 6/8 at a moderate tempo or 5/4, 6/4 at a fast tempo. Similarly, the three-beat meter can appear in sizes 7/8, 8/8, 9/8, etc. .

Example 6. I. Stravinsky. "Our Father"

In order to determine what meter is in a given work, and, therefore, to correctly choose the appropriate conducting scheme, it is necessary, through a metrical analysis of the poetic text and the rhythmic organization of the work, to determine the presence of strong and weak beats in a measure. If the score does not have divisions into bars, as, for example, in everyday chants of the Orthodox Church, it is necessary to independently determine their metric structure based on the textual organization of the musical material.

Rhythm, as an expressive means associated with the metrical organization of music, is the organization of sounds according to their duration. The simplest and most common pattern of the joint action of meter and rhythm is their parallelism. This means that stressed sounds are predominantly long, and unstressed sounds are short.

7. Tempo and agogic deviations

The expressive properties of metrhythm are closely related to tempo. The importance of tempo is very high, since the nature of each musical image corresponds to a more or less certain speed of movement. Very often, to determine the tempo of a work, the composer sets the metronome designation, for example: M ♪ = 120. As a rule, the counting beat indicated by the author corresponds to the metrical one and helps to correctly find the conductor’s scheme necessary in a given work.

But what to do in the case when instead of a metronome, only the nature of the tempo is indicated: Allegro, Adagio, etc.?

First, the tempo instructions need to be translated. Secondly, remember that in every musical era the sense of tempo has been different. Third: there are certain traditions for the performance of this or that work, they also relate to its tempo. Consequently, when starting to learn the score, the conductor (and in our case, the student) needs to carefully examine all possible sources of the necessary information.

In addition to the main tempo and its changes in each work, there are so-called agogic changes in tempo. These are short-term, usually on the scale of a bar or phrase, acceleration or deceleration within the framework of the main tempo.

Example 7. G. Sviridov. "Night Clouds"

Sometimes agogic changes in tempo are regulated by special instructions: a piacere - freely, stretto - compressing, ritenuto - slowing down, etc. Fermata is also of great importance for expressive performance. In most cases, the fermata is found at the end of the work or completes part of it, but it is also possible to use it in the middle of a musical work, thereby emphasizing the special significance of these places.

The current opinion that fermata doubles the duration of a note or pause is true only in relation to pre-classical music. In later works, a fermata is a sign of prolongation of sound or a pause for an indefinite period of time, suggested by the performer’s musical flair.

8. Dynamic shades

Dynamic shades are a concept related to the strength of sound. The designations of dynamic shades put down by the author in the score are the main material on the basis of which it is necessary to analyze the dynamic structure of the work.

Dynamic designations are based on two main terms and concepts: piano and forte. Based on these two concepts, varieties arise that denote one or another sound strength, for example,
pianissimo. To achieve the quietest and, conversely, the loudest sound, designations are often indicated with three, four or even more letters.

There are two main terms to denote a gradual increase or decrease in sound strength: crescendo and diminuendo. On shorter sections of music, individual phrases or measures, graphic indications of increasing or decreasing sonority are usually used - expanding and narrowing “forks”. Such designations show not only the nature of the change in dynamics, but also its boundaries.

In addition to the indicated types of dynamic shades, which extend over a more or less long period of music, choral scores also use others, the effect of which relates only to the note over which they are placed. These are various kinds of accents and designations of a sudden change in sound strength, for example, sf, fp.

Usually the composer indicates only the general nuance. Finding out everything that is written “between the lines”, developing a dynamic line in all its details - all this is material for the conductor’s creativity. Based on a thoughtful analysis of the choral score, taking into account the stylistic features of the work, he must find the right nuance arising from the content of the music. A detailed discussion about this is in the “Performance Analysis” section.

Vocal musical forms require their own method of analysis, different from the approach to instrumental forms. Capturing the meaning of the word, it becomes a method of analyzing the entire vocal composition as a whole.

Vocal works analysis plan

1. a) Genre of literary and poetic work. b) Genre of the musical work.

2. a) Generalized content of the literary and poetic text. b) Generalized nature of music.

3. Expressive and figurative details of the vocal part (choir part) and instrumental accompaniment in connection with the word.

4. a) Form of the verbal text in the original: stanzas, lines in verse; periods, sentences, syntagms in prose. b) Changes in the structure of verbal text; repetition of lines, words in musical form. c) Musical form, its parts, sections

5. a) Meter, the rhythm of the poetic word: rhymes, alternations, feet, verbal rhythm in verse; division by syntax, introducing elements of rhythmic symmetry into prose. b) Musical meter and rhythm: time meter, observance of the rule of alternation, squareness - non-squareness, rule of prosody, rhythmic pattern.

6. Interaction between vocal (choral) and instrumental parts

7. Conclusions.

Let us dwell on each point of the proposed analytical plan. 1a). As a literary and poetic genre in the 19th century. They used mainly poems classified as lyric poetry, subdivided into “song”, elegy, ode, etc., as well as large poems and novels in verse, from which small excerpts were taken. For example, Pushkin’s “Merry Feast” or Lermontov’s “In the Wild North” belong to poems of the lyrical genre, and Don Juan’s Serenade (“The Distant Alpujara is Going Out”), taken by Tchaikovsky for the famous romance, is an “insert number” in A. Tolstoy’s dramatic verse poem “Don Juan”, the text “I bless you, forests” was selected by Tchaikovsky for another of his romances, also from A. Tolstoy’s major dramatic poem “John of Damascus”.
In the XX century. the genre range of verbal texts for music has expanded unusually. In addition to poetic works, prose also began to be used, not only fiction, but also everyday prose - memoir stories, newspaper chronicles, administrative documents, advertisements. For example, Shchedrin, in addition to referring to the poetry of Pushkin, Tvardovsky, Voznesensky, used Pushkin’s historical narrative “The History of Pugachev”, an announcement by the administration of a rest home (in “Bureaucratiada”).
1b). In terms of genre, literary, poetic and musical works generally do not coincide, therefore, when a word is introduced into music, it is transferred to a genre of a different name: Tolstoy’s Serenade of Don Juan becomes a romance by Tchaikovsky, Pushkin’s historical narrative becomes a Poem for Shchedrin’s choir, etc. With such genre migration, one or another rethinking of the source occurs. For example, in Tchaikovsky’s romance “I bless you, forests,” pantheistic admiration of nature and its enthusiastic acceptance come to the fore, while the philosophical and preaching motives of the poem about John of Damascus remain outside the scope. In Shchedrin's Poem from The History of Pugachev, beyond the musical work there are descriptions of many of the terrible details of the execution, and the text forms the basis for a more generalized presentation of the legendary folk rebel.

2a). The generalized content of a literary and poetic text is not the same as its genre characteristics. It is fuller and more individual. For example, Polonsky’s lyrical poems, on which Taneyev’s most famous choruses were written - “Evening”, “The Ruin of a Tower” and “Look at the Darkness”, each have their own generalized content. In the poem “Evening” there is contemplation of the beauty of the evening dawn, the colors of sunset, in the poem “The Ruin of a Tower” - introducing the features of a tale, a narration about long-past events, in the poetic lines “Look at the darkness” - a picture of nature immersing itself in the night, with its matte dark colors. Just as a musical work has its own thematic theme, tonality, leading harmonic complex, timbre coloring, so a poetic and literary work has its own theme, possible plot, mood, special verbal coloring, maintained from beginning to end.
2b). When a composer interprets a poetic text, one or another rethinking of the generalized content of the verbal source usually occurs: poetry and music are different arts. Even if the composer strives to embody the word as adequately as possible, he unwittingly introduces meaningful features of his author’s style, the style of the era, and relies on his own principles of attitude to the word. Not complete harmony, but only an agreement on mutual assistance between words and music, which Asafiev wrote about, already manifests itself quite clearly here. The generalized content of the text in music can be emotionally affected or, conversely, muted, expressed with a bright dynamic increase or relatively one-dimensional, can be contrasting or one-character, shown integrally or in detail, etc. Often, for the musical content of the entire musical work, the initial lines of a poem are used as a figurative key. For example, in Debussy's chorus on lyrics. C. Orléanskogo “I heard a tambourine ringing”
the given initial words give rise to the entire choral part throughout the work to be constructed with a sound-and-imagery imitation of the ringing of a tambourine, while further words also tell about “being immersed in slumber”, about the fact that “my dear one is not with me.”
An example of a seemingly involuntary transformation of the nature of a verbal text in music is Tchaikovsky’s chorus “The Golden Cloud Spent the Night.” Based on Lermontov's absolutely unchanged poem, the composer reproduced its meditative, thoughtful character, the movement of mood from the bright image of a golden cloud to the image of a weeping giant (major colors at the beginning, minor colors at the end). And although there are no “Russianisms” in the poetic text, Tchaikovsky filled it with characteristically Russian musical elements: the non-square nature of Z+2+Z+Zi, etc., folklore beginnings (such as “height, height”, “and we sowed millet”), palm-tonal variability. As a result, Tchaikovsky's choir acquired a distinctly Russian musical flavor.

A case, on the contrary, of a deliberate change in the general character of a poetic text can be seen in Taneyev’s chorus “Look at the darkness.” Polonsky’s words depict darkness, shading, leading to viscous and slow intonations: “what darkness lay in the depths of the valleys”, “in the sleepy twilight”, “dull lake”, “the pale moon invisible in a close host of gray clouds”, “without shelter”. Taneyev’s music is designed in the exact opposite manner, in a light, weightless staccato and at a very fast tempo, Allegro J = 96. However, the reason for such a unique musical interpretation was also the words of Polonsky, but different: “Under her transparent haze” (3rd line ), as well as the light rhythm of the verse. As a result, the composer maintained the entire musical side in the character of a light “transparent haze” (though in a minor key), and this is how the musical image was created. The semantic intonation of “transparent haze” also colored all the gloomy words of the poem: “haze,” “in the depths,” etc.
The musical imagery created by Taneyev turned out to be so fresh and original that neither performers nor listeners notice the transformation of the main image of the poem in one of the most remarkable choirs of Russian music: in a musical work, music generally takes precedence over the word.
3 . In addition to the generalized nature of a vocal-choral work, the expressive and figurative details presented in the vocal-choral and instrumental parts associated with the word are essential. Figurativeness is revealed less often - if the composer gravitates toward picturesqueness in music and aesthetically accepts the techniques of musical illustrativeness. Expressive translation of the meaning of individual words is much more common. In addition, expressiveness accompanies figurativeness, and both ways of involving words are interconnected and not separated by a barrier. But still, the different aesthetics of composers leaves its mark on the nature of musical detail. If we compare the choirs of Tchaikovsky and Taneyev, the contrast in aesthetics will be obvious: Tchaikovsky, as in romances, avoids figurativeness, being content with the expressiveness of a close-up, Taneyev willingly uses it, combining it with detailed and generalized expressiveness. Let us turn once again to the named choirs.
In Tchaikovsky’s chorus “A Cloud Spent the Night,” first of all, the natural singing breath of phrases dominates, with rises to peaks and declines after them. Within this purely musical phrasal rhythm of the choir, without disturbing it, moments of musical correspondence to the word are found: “cloud” - major, high sound, “cliff” - a jump to the highest sound “f”, “thought” - followed by a pause, “deep” - the lowest sound and a pause with a fermata, “cries in the desert” - intonation emphasis on the first word and transition to minor. The music intones the word and its meaning in detail, but not to the detriment of the close-up of its development and without obvious illustrative figurativeness.
In Taneyev's choirs one can see how the word gives an important impetus to the musical inventiveness of the author. The introduction of visual techniques makes them musically vibrant and fresh.

If the words “the ruin of the tower” have a viscous, slow, epic intonation, the words “raised” have a high sound, the words “and the whole thing bent” have sequential declines, such detailing of the word is close to Tchaikovsky; but when the words “cheerful neighing and trampling of horses” are accompanied by staccato, major, fast tempo, we have before us an interweaving of purely Taneev’s visual finds (in the reprise of the same theme, the words are quite appropriate: “the trophies of the waves rustle and flash”). In the chorus “Look at the darkness,” as we said, the figurative staccato spread throughout the entire work. And in contrast, in the words “without shelter” the expressive intonation of a sigh is highlighted, and the phrase “phosphoric ray” has one of the activating syncopic accents. It is important to note that in Taneev’s choirs, the illustration of individual words does not fragment the musical whole, since the visual texture extends to large spaces - the entire form or its large sections. In the music of the 20th century. expressive and visual techniques achieve new strength thanks to the introduction of micro-intervals, vocal-choral glissando, and the timbre use of words. For example, in the Poem “The Execution of Pugachev” by Shchedrin there is an imitation of distant bell ringing in the sound of the choir, in addition, the sound background is created by the singing of some solfeggio parts, and at the climax expressive moaning glissando and grace notes are introduced. According to the musical versatility of Shchedrin's poem on fir. Pushkin approaches the opera stage.

4a, b, 5a, b. The form and metrhythmics of a verbal text must certainly be taken into account when analyzing the form of a vocal-choral work. The analyzer here seems to be repeating the path of the composer, who, as a rule, first holds a ready-made literary and poetic text in front of him, and then composes music. Analysis of the poetic source (it is advisable to take it in a special edition, and not in sheet music) should become the starting point in the analysis of the musical form.
See section 4. “Poetic forms and their reflection in music.” About clause 4. in see in sections 5. “Transformation of classical instrumental forms in vocal music” and 6. “Vocal forms themselves. Classification".

6 . The interaction of vocal (choral) and instrumental parts assumes, first of all, the leading role of the vocal and the subordinate role of the instrument. As a rule, the musical form is determined by the vocal line, and the instrumental one is only taken into account. For example, romances often have a piano introduction and conclusion, which are not considered major parts of the form. Within the subordinate role, instrumental accompaniment can perform a wide variety of functions. The simplest function is orchestral dubbing, unison support for the choir. For example, Sviridov resorts to it in parts of “Spring Cantata” to the words of Nekrasov. The instrumental part is traditionally assigned the role of harmonic support - in songs and romances. The whole acquires a rich versatility, sometimes the main voice is entrusted to the p.-p., and the subordinate counterpoint to the vocal voice (“The violin enchants with its tune” from the cycle “The Love of a Poet” by Schumann). Duet-dialogue between voice and p.p. sometimes appears in chamber lyrics (“I meet the gaze of your eyes” from the same Schumann cycle). For composers inclined to figurativeness in music, to convey external pictures, the instrumental part provides fertile ground for this (romances by Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, Cui, Prokofiev, etc.). The interaction between the vocal voice and the piano is organic. in Rachmaninov's romances. Here the accompaniment so melodically complements the voice part that together a complex polymelodic whole is formed and the vocal line draws its melodiousness from the interaction with the smooth lines of the bass and middle voices. Taking into account the role of instrumental accompaniment in a vocal work, it is advisable to talk not about two components - music and words, but about three - the vocal line, the word and the instrumental part.
7 . The conclusions that need to be drawn as a result of studying a vocal-choral work (according to the proposed analysis scheme) each time take on a specific form.

For example, as a summary when analyzing Tchaikovsky’s chorus “A Golden Cloud Spent the Night,” one should talk about the combination of fidelity to the lyrical image of the poetic word - the development of its meaning, emotion - with the Russian character of musical intonation, expressed in mode and harmony, rhythm and metrical structures. With all the laconicism of the musical form (a period of two sentences-couplets), thanks to the originality of the musical language, this is the best of Tchaikovsky’s a cappella choirs and a prominent work of Russian choral classics.
And about Rachmaninov’s romance “Spring Waters” on ate. Tyutchev, as a result of the analysis, one can come up with the idea that the image of a joyfully exciting, unstoppable movement in nature and the human soul passes through all the elements of the work: poetic text, exclamatory intonations of the voice (“Spring is coming!”, “Merrily behind it”), full-voiced texture, sometimes “murmuring,” sometimes heaving impetuously, as well as the through form itself, unstoppably rushing forward.
This method of analyzing a vocal-choral work is essentially an analysis of a holistic type.

Poetic forms and their reflection in music
Poetic structures - division into stanzas, stanza structure, metric and rhythm of verse - in vocal music influence the musical form and expressiveness of the work.
In the versification of recent centuries, several of the most stable metrical types (feet) dominate:

Dicotyledonous Tripartite Quadripartite
Trochee (trocheus) ≤ U Dactyl - U U Paeon 1st - U U U
Iambic U ≤ Amphibrachium U - U Paeon 2nd U - U U
Pyrrhichium U U Anapest U U - Paeon 3rd U U - U
Spondee - - Peon 4th U U U -

“Ring pentasyllables” U U - U U
In Russian poetry, pyrrhic, spondee, and peon were not used as meters for the whole poem.
The feet are grouped in a line (verse) by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, forming meters: iambic bimeter - I 2, trochee bimeter - X 2, iambic trimeter or trochee - I 3, X 3, dactyl trimeter, amphibrachium, anapest - D 3, Am 3 An 3, iambic tetrameter, trochee, dactyl, amphibrachium, anapest - I 4, X 4, D 4, Am 4, An 4, trochee pentameter - X 5, dactyl hexameter - D 6, etc. .
In this case, the following rhymes are distinguished: masculine - with a stressed syllable at the end U ≤, feminine - with one unstressed syllable ≤ U, dactylic - with two unstressed syllables ≤ U U, hyperdactylic - with three unstressed syllables ≤ U U U.
The names of the rhymes - “masculine”, “feminine” - come from the rules of Old French grammar, according to which feminine words have an unpronounceable unstressed vowel at the end, but masculine words do not:
une Parisienne un Parisien
(Parisian) (Parisian)
The most common technique that organizes rhyming in a lot of poetry is the alternation of male and female rhymes, called the alternance rule:
The distant Alpujara goes out ≤ U
Golden edges, ≤
To the inviting ringing of a guitar ≤ U
Come out, my dear! ≤
(A.K. Tolstoy)
Types of meters and rhymes have their own shades of sound. Thus, two-foot verses are light, fast, multi-footed, such as hexameter (hexameter dactyl - D 6), - on the contrary, solemn, slow, dactylic rhymes are drawn-out, in Russian poetry originally with a folk flavor.
Types of poetic stanzas differ in the number of lines and rhyme order.
Four-line stanzas with cross rhyme - abab:

Over the mountains there are two gloomy clouds, O Lord of all things,
On a sultry evening we wandered, giving us priceless gifts.
And on the chest of the burning mountain, the Lord, who creates everything from nothing,
The unknown, the all-knowing, the terrifying slowly crawled towards the night.
(Ya. Polonsky) (G. Narekatsi, trans. N. Grebneva)

With adjacent (paired) rhyme - a a b b:

Oh, long will I be, in the silence of the night a mystery,
Your insidious babble, your smile, your casual gaze,
Thick strand of hair obedient to the fingers
Banish from thoughts and call again.
(A. Fet)
With encircling (encompassing, ring) rhyme - a b b a:

The moon floats
And quiet and calm,
And the young man is a warrior
He goes to battle.
(M. Lermontov)

Multiline forms

10 line stanza of two interconnected tercets and one quatrain - aab\ccb\deed

Look how dark it is
She lay down in the depths of the valleys!
Under her transparent haze
In the sleepy twilight the broom
The lake shines dimly.
The pale moon is invisible,
In a close host of gray clouds,
Walks in the sky without shelter,
And it points through everything
Phosphoric ray.
(Ya. Polonsky)

A 14-line “Onegin” stanza of three quatrains with a cross, adjacent and encircling rhyme, closed by a couplet with an adjacent rhyme - abab\ccdd\effe\gg:

Blessed is he who was young from his youth,
Blessed is he who has ripened in time,
Who gradually life is cold
With years he knew how to endure;
Who did not indulge in strange dreams,
Who did not shy away from the mob of the secular,
Who at twenty was a dandy or a grip,
And at thirty profitably married;
Who got free at fifty
From private and other debts,
Who is fame, money or ranks.
Calmly got in line
Who has been talked about for a century:
N.N. wonderful person.
(A. Pushkin)

A 14-line sonnet of two interconnected quatrains and two interconnected tercets - abba\abba\cdc\dcd:
Vestiva i colli e le campagne intorno Spring was decorating the surrounding hills and fields
La primavcra di novelli onori, New beauty
E spirava soavi Arabi odori And, crowning her hair with herbs and flowers,
Cinta d'erbe, e di fior il crine adorno, Breathe Arabian aromas,
Quando Licori all" apparir del giorno When Licorida, plucking at the dawn
Cogliendo di sua man purpurei fiori Purple flowers,
Mi disse: in guiderdon di tanti onori Told me: as a reward for so much praise
A te li colgo, ed ecco io te m"adorno. I pluck them and decorate you with them.
Cosi le chiome mie, soavemente So, lovingly speaking, I covered my head with a wreath
Parlando mi cinse e in si dolce legami And with such tender bonds he squeezed his heart,
Mi strinze il cor, ch"altro piacer non sente, That it does not desire any other joy.
Onde non fia giammai che pir non l"ami And therefore let it never happen that my eyes
Degl" occhi miei, ne fia che la mia mente Stop loving her, or so that my soul
Altri sospiri, o desiando io chiami. I started sighing for others or calling out to them
in your desire.
(anonymous author, translation by I. Likhachev)

The rhymes are not always completely accurate, as in all the examples above. Various inexact rhymes are also used in poetry, called "rhymes", for example,

“other - saints - Batu”, “straw - strangers”:

A quintet with imprecise rhyme -a b a1 a2 b1:

A song - a ladder in the heart is different.
Behind the hair of shepherd's straw
The eyes are shepherd-holy.
Aren't you on the Batu road?
Looking for people you didn't know?
(V. Khlebnikov)

Finally, poetry can be completely devoid of rhyme (“blank verse”) and be built only on the basis of poetic meter:

The flames of dawn burned down and the noisy seagull disappeared.
Sparks scattered across the sky. White foam sways
The radiant sea shines through. Near a gray stone, like in a cradle
The child fell asleep along the coastal road. Like pearls
Bubenchikov's speech is discordant. Dew of a dazzling drop
The drivers' ringing song hung on the chestnut leaves:
Lost in the dense forest. And in every dewdrop it trembles
In the transparent fog, Dawn flashed a dying flame.
(Ya. Polonsky)

In vocal and choral works of the 20th century. Along with poetry, prose is also widely used.

The elements of symmetry that exist in any prose text are, first of all, the division into sentences and phrases, as well as syntagmas (verbal constructions pronounced in one breath). In addition, individual words can have rhythmic and sound similarities - rhymes. Let's take a small excerpt from the "History of Pugachev": "A sleigh with a high pulpit rode behind the detachment of cuirassiers. Pugachev sat on it with his head open, he bowed to both sides.” A certain major periodicity here is formed by two complete sentences. In addition, the last words of each sentence correlate with each other according to the principle of some sound similarity, rhyme: “pulpit” - “sides”. Finally, for the verbal design of the work, the author may introduce any words that do not add up to the proper literary and poetic text. Thus, one of Shchedrin's early choirs "Willow, Willow", built in the form of a fugue, is provided with only one verbal phrase, subtexting the theme of the fugue: "Willow, willow, you are weeping." It is no coincidence that the composer subtitles this choir “Vocalise”. When using a verbal text in a piece of music, the composer can preserve the verbal form literally (as in Tchaikovsky's choir "A cloud spent the night"), but can make a change of one kind or another: shorten the text, repeat a stanza, line, word, give a dissection not according to strophic or metric structure, and in meaning and syntax, replace some words with others.
The abbreviations of a literary and poetic source are natural, since the genre of a romance or a separate choir requires a small text in terms of volume so as not to go beyond the scope of the genre. Examples of abbreviations: Tchaikovsky, romance “Night” on lyrics. Polonsky (“Why do I love you”) - 8 lines were released before the last stanza; Shchedrin, Six choirs to Pushkin's poems "Strophes of "Eugene Onegin"" - in none of the 6 choirs "Onegin's" 14-line stanza is not given in full, in particular, in the choir "Blessed, who was young from youth" only the initial quatrain was used ( compare with the full stanza on our p.20).
Repetitions of stanzas (or initial lines) are connected with the most important problem of musical form - the problem of repetition. Since in vocal and choral forms the leading principle is the musical principle, composers allow themselves to transform the structure of the verbal source in order to comply with the musical pattern in the composition. It is clear that if there is a reprise in the poem itself, this attracts the attention of composers. A reprise of the full initial stanza is contained in the original, for example, the texts “I am here, Inesilya” by Pushkin (in the romances of Glinka, Dargomyzhsky), Song of the Gypsy (“My Fire”) by Polonsky (in the romance by Tchaikovsky), reprise of the lines - “That was in early spring” A. Tolstoy (in Tchaikovsky’s romance), Lermontov’s “I’m Sad” (in Dargomyzhsky’s romance), Polonsky’s “Evening” (in Taneyev’s choir). We see the introduction of repetitions by the composers themselves in Tchaikovsky’s romances to the poems of A. Tolstoy “Don’t believe me, friend”, “To the yellow fields”, “If only I knew”, in Taneyev’s chorus to Polonsky’s poems “Look, what a darkness” (two are repeated in reprise first lines). Repetition of individual words or verbal phrases is a very common phenomenon. It is especially natural and even inevitable in polyphony - be it the music of Lasso, Gesualdo, Rimsky-Korsakov, Taneyev, Shchedrin, Bartok or Kshenek. The presence of Rimsky-Korsakov in this series is especially surprising: the composer, who so zealously guarded the inviolability of the word in romances, in the choirs, as if as a form of compensation, allowed himself complete freedom of verbal repetitions, structural loosening of the verse. And in Taneyev’s chorus alone, “Look at the darkness,” the word “look” is heard 35 times!

The same choir gives an example of how the composer divides the poetic form not according to strophic structure, but according to meaning and syntax: in the original, a 10-line stanza consists of two tercets and one quatrain (we cited it - 3 + 3 + 4), in Taneyev it is divided as 5 + 5, in accordance with the end of the sentence on the words “the lake shines dimly.” An example of a composer replacing a word in a poetic original: instead of “trophies of war” in Polonsky, “trophies of the wave” in Taneyev’s chorus “The ruin of a tower, the dwelling of an eagle.” A literary and poetic text, transformed in one way or another, is purposefully close to the demands of the musical form.
The rhythm of the poetic word includes its own accentuation of words, moments of not only adherence to metrical accentuation, but also omissions of schematic accents, as well as insertions of super-schema accents. In contrast to the strictness of the metric, the rhythm of the word has much greater freedom and variety.
Prose text also has its own ordering patterns. First of all, there are syntactic divisions into sentences and phrases covered by speech syntagmas. Division of this kind creates a certain dimensionality, artistic symmetry, even in the simplest colloquial text, for example, in the “advertising” chorus of the Trade Women from Prokofiev’s “Betrothal in a Monastery” (libretto by the composer):
U ≤ U ≤ U ≤ U ≤
Buy fish from Senor Mendoza's barge!

From Guadalquivir, from Guadalimara, from Guadalbullion.
In the 1st line, the iambic foot appears several times; in the 2nd line, assonance words are used, with a single beginning (anaphora).
Rhymes in prose are sometimes formed due to the common norms of word formation in any language; for example, in Latin there are many endings for the letter “s”: Sanctus. Dominus.Deus, ... in excelsis. Music can reveal, emphasize and put into its service the symmetrically ordered elements of a prose text.
In works based on poetic texts, musical meter and rhythm in one way or another reflect the meter-rhythmic organization of the word. But the rule is not the slavish subordination of music to the word, but an indispensable deviation from the metro-rhythmic grid of verse, the appearance in music of a “counter rhythm” (E. Ruchyevskaya’s term, denoting an independent rhythmic pattern in music in comparison with verbal rhythm).
In Taneev’s “Evening” there is a trimeter amphibrachium (Am 3)
U ≤ U U ≤ U U ≤ U
Dawn's burning flame

reflected in the initial 3-bar pattern and choice of 6/8 time signature. There is no alternation in the verse. The prosody is impeccable.

In the chorus “The Ruin of the Tower” the tetrameter amphibrachium (Am 4)

U ≤ U U ≤ U U ≤ U U ≤
The ruin of a tower, the dwelling of an eagle
affected the squareness of the groupings of bars and the introduction of small triplets. In general, in the choir’s music, in relation to the word, there is a clearly expressed “counter rhythm”. There is no alternation of rhymes again. The prosody is accurate. In Tchaikovsky’s chorus “A Cloud Spent the Night,” the 5-foot trochee (X 5 - see the signs above the line) contains a double replacement of the trochee foot with a pyrrhic foot (signs below the line):

≤ U ≤ U ≤ U ≤ U ≤ U

A golden cloud spent the night

UU UU
The 5-foot pattern is reflected in the 5-bar pattern of the initial phrases. Otherwise, in the music, a “counter meter” was found - 3/4 (only at the end - 2/4). There is no alternation in rhymes.

The rule of prosody is observed perfectly.

The chorus “Look at the darkness” is based on the poetic tetrameter trochee (X 4), with the addition of pyrrhic at the beginning (signs at the bottom of the line):
≤ U ≤ U ≤ U ≤
Look how dark it is

U U
The tetrameter of the verse is associated with musical squareness, the disyllabicity is associated with the choice of an even meter 4/4. In accordance with pyrrhicism, the word “look” in musical reading begins mainly from the beat. But thanks to the 35-time repetition of this word in the development of the work, it varies in emphasis and is carried out with syncopation: look. Such an accented play with words is integrated into a characteristically Russian tradition, which corresponds to the national specifics of the Russian language and passed into the music of Russian composers from folk round dance songs (“sewed-sowed”). Having deliberately violated linguistic prosody, Taneyev sensitively grasped the artistic possibilities of this violation.

In a prose text, repetitions of words of a structural order provide an immediate reason for structural repetition in musical form. This is the case with canonical religious texts in spiritual and musical works. A typical example is No. 1 “Come, let us worship” from Rachmaninov’s “All Night Vigil”. Text - 4 lines with the same beginning: “Come, let us worship our King God. Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ our King God. Come, let us worship and bow down to Christ Himself, the King and our God. Come, let us worship and fall before Him.” Rachmaninov creates on its basis a variant form of 4 musical variations (A1 A2 A3 A4), in which the first 11 sounds are the same, but the continuations are different. We present the initial 11-sound phrase (see S. Rachmaninov. All-night vigil. No. 1. Come, let us worship).
In other cases, composers find a reason for musical repetition even in the absence of repetition in words. For example, in the “Creed” (86) from the 1st Liturgy of Grechaninov, a three-part form is created with a reprise of new words of the text: 1ch. - “I believe in one God the Father”, 2 hours - “For our sake man”, 3 hours, reprise - “And in the Holy Spirit.”

V.N. Kholopova. Forms of musical works.

Analysis of musical works, music analysis.

Thanks to the fame that Pushkin’s cycle of romances brought to him, a 19-year-old technical school student, by the end of the 1930s Sviridov entered the circle of the artistic intelligentsia of Leningrad. He began writing music for theater and cinema early on. In the late 1930s and 1940s, he found a galaxy of wonderful directors and actors in Leningrad theaters. He had been to Moscow and knew Moscow theaters well. Shostakovich recommended him to the patriarch of the Russian theater

If this work does not suit you, there is a list of similar works at the bottom of the page. You can also use the search button

Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus

educational institution

"Belarusian State Pedagogical University named after. Maxim Tank"

Faculty of Aesthetic Education

Department of Choral and Vocal Arts

Analysis

Choral work

“The son met his father”

Words by A. Prokofiev, music by G. Sviridov

Prepared

3rd year student

FEO

Alekseevich K.Yu.

Minsk, 2015
Content.

1. General information about the work and its authors……………………….…….3

2. Analysis of literary text.................................................... ..............................8

3. Musical theoretical analysis………........……………….…………...9

4. Vocal and choral analysis…………………………………………………...15

5.Performance analysis……………………………………………………17

6. Conclusion……..……………………………………………………….….18

7. References……………………………………………………….19

I. General information about the work and its authors

Choral miniature“The son met his father”written for mixed choir a capella to the words of a poem by Alexander Andreevich Prokofiev in 1958. The choir “The son met his father” is the third choir from the cycle “5 choirs on poems by Russian poets”, written in 1958. In addition to this, the cycle includes choirs “On Lost Youth” (lyrics by N. Gogol), “In the Blue Evening” (lyrics by S. Yesenin), “How the Song was Born” (lyrics by S. Orlov), “Hedge "(to lyrics by S. Yesenin).This choir is the second edition. Sviridov first addressed this text back in 1919, but then it became the basis of a solo song.

Georgy Vasilievich Sviridovborn on December 3, 1915 in the small town of Fatezh, located in the steppe Kursk province, in the family of a postal worker and a teacher. Both Sviridov’s father and mother were local natives, coming from the peasantry of villages close to Fatezh. Direct communication with the rural environment, like the boy’s singing in the church choir, was natural and organic. It is these two cornerstones of Russian musical culture -folk song and spiritual art, - living from childhood in the child’s musical memory,became the master’s support in his mature period of creativity.

Early childhood memories are associated with images of southern Russian nature - water meadows, fields and copses. And then there was the tragedy of the civil war, 1919, when Denikin’s men burst into the city and killed the young communist Vasily Sviridov. It is no coincidence that the composer repeatedly returns to the poetry of the Russian village (the vocal cycle “My Father is a Peasant” - 1957; cantatas “Kursk Songs”, “Wooden Russia” - 1964, “Bastard Man” - 1985; choral works), and to terrible shocks revolutionary years (“1919” - part 7 of “Poem in Memory of Sergei Yesenin”, solo songs “The Son Met His Father”, “Death of a Commissar”).

In 1929, he entered the piano class of a local music school. Three years later, Sviridov graduated from school and came to Leningrad to continue his music studies. He began studying at the piano department of the Central Music College.

In May 1933, he was admitted to the composition class of Professor M. A. Yudin. With extraordinary zeal, the new student began to make up for lost time. After just a month of hard work, they were presented with their first essay.

At the end of 1935, Sviridov fell ill and left for Kursk for a while. There he wrote six romances based on the words of Pushkin: “The forest drops its wind cover”, “Winter Road”, “To the Nanny”, “Winter Evening”, “Premonition”, “Approaching Izhora”. This cycle brought the young composer his first success and fame.

Surprisingly simple, close to the traditions of Russian music, and at the same time original, original Pushkin romances of Sviridov immediately fell in love with both performers and listeners.

In 1936, Sviridov entered the Leningrad Conservatory, where he became a student of D. D. Shostakovich. Years of persistent, intense work began, mastering the skill of composition. He began to master different styles, try his hand at various types of music. During his conservatory years, Sviridov composed violin and piano sonatas, the First Symphony, and the Symphony for string orchestra.

Thanks to the fame that Pushkin’s cycle of romances brought to him, a 19-year-old technical school student, by the end of the 1930s Sviridov entered the circle of the artistic intelligentsia of Leningrad. He began writing music for theater and cinema early on. In the late 1930s and 1940s, he found a galaxy of wonderful directors and actors in Leningrad theaters. He had been to Moscow and knew Moscow theaters well. Shostakovich recommended him to the patriarch of the Russian theater V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko. Sviridov collaborated with directors N. Rashevskaya, V. Kozhich, N. Akimov and A. Tairov. In the early 1950s, at the Arkady Raikin Theater, he met young Boris Ravenskikh. Later, in the early 1970s, with the light hand of the Ravenskys, Sviridov’s long collaboration with the Maly Theater began - the composer’s latest theatrical hobby. With many actors of the Pushkin Theater, BDT, Theater named after. Sviridov was well acquainted with Komissarzhevskaya and the Comedy Theater. Cherkasov, Tolubeev, Polizeimako, Chestnokov Sviridov knew these names firsthand.The Russian theater of the 1930s and 1940s undoubtedly influenced the composer, the declamation and prosody of his musical speech, and his interest in psychologically reliable characteristics and portraits in music.

In June 1941, Sviridov graduated from the conservatory.

At the very beginning of the war, Sviridov wrote his first songs for the front. The musical comedy “The Sea Spreads Wide,” written at the same time, dedicated to the Baltic sailors, is also closely related to military themes. Even before the end of the war, in 1944, Sviridov returned to Leningrad. Over the course of three years, he wrote several large chamber instrumental works that reflected the events and experiences of the war years.

In the early years of his studies and creative development, Sviridov wrote a lot of instrumental music. By the end of the 30s - early 40s. include Symphony; piano concert; chamber ensembles (Quintet, Trio); 2 sonatas, 2 partitas, Children's album for piano. Some of these works, in new author's editions, gained fame and took their place on the concert stage.

But the main thing in Sviridov’s work is vocal music.Among them are such works as the poem “In Memory of Sergei Yesenin” based on the words of the poet (1955)); "Pathetic Oratorio" on lyrics. V. Mayakovsky (Lenin Prize, 1960); cantatas "Kursk Songs", "Wooden Rus'" on lyrics. S. Yesenina, “It’s snowing” on lyrics. B. Pasternak, "Spring Cantata" on lyrics. N. Nekrasova, “Night Clouds” on lyrics. A. Blok; choir. poems "Ladoga" (lyrics by A. Prokofiev); “Bastard man” (lyrics by P. Oreshin); 5 choirs a cap. (1958) “About Lost Youth” (lyrics by N. Gogol); “In the blue evening” (lyrics by S. Yesenin), “The son met his father” (lyrics by A. Prokofiev); “How the song was born” (lyrics by S. Orlov); “Herd” (lyrics by S. Yesenin); “Blizzard”, “You are my fallen maple”, “You sing that song to me” (female), “The soul is sad about heaven” (male) all on the word. S. Yesenina; Three choirs from the music to A. K. Tolstoy’s drama “Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich”, Choral concert in memory of A. Yurlov (without text); "Pushkin's Wreath" (10 choruses to lyrics by A. Pushkin); cycle "Songs of Timelessness" (lyrics by A. Blok); “Hymns to the Motherland” (lyrics by F. Sologub); Four songs (lyrics by A. Prokofiev); "Round dance" (lyrics by A. Blok); "Swan's Groove" (lyrics by N. Brown); “Chants and Prayers” (State Prize of Russia, 1995), etc.

Sviridov’s notes also reflected his work in cinema. The composer loved film music. Images and acting always attracted him and gave impetus to his own imagination. He valued his work and his interactions with filmmakers. With some of them, such as S.A. Gerasimov (Sviridov was supposed to participate in the creation of the film “Peter’s Youth”) and S.F. Bondarchuk, he had a good personal relationship. Not to mention the composer’s friendship with M. A. Schweitzer and his constant assistant S. A. Milkina.

Sviridov’s choral art is based on such sources as spiritual Orthodox chants and Russian folklore; it includes in the orbit of its generalization the intonation language of revolutionary songs, marches, oratory speeches- that is, the sound material of the Russian 20th century, and on this foundation grows a new phenomenon of such strength and beauty, spiritual power and penetration, which raises the choral art of our time to a new level. There was a heyday of Russian classical opera, and there was the rise of Soviet symphony. Today, the new Soviet choral art, harmonious and sublime, which has no analogues either in the past or in modern foreign music, is an essential expression of the spiritual wealth and vitality of our people. And this is Sviridov’s creative feat. What he discovered was developed with great success by other Soviet composers: V. Gavrilin, V. Tormis, V. Rubin, Yu. Butsko, K. Volkov. A. Nikolaev, A. Kholminov, etc.

Alexander Andreevich Prokofiev(1900 1971) - Russian poet.

Born in the village of Kobon, on the shores of Lake Ladoga, in the family of a peasant fisherman and tiller. He graduated from a rural school (1913-1917), then studied at the St. Petersburg Teachers' Seminary. After studying he returned to Kobona.

In 1919 he joined the Red Army and took part in the battles with Yudenich near Petrograd. He began publishing in 1927.

Until 1930 he served in the Red Army.

In 1931 he published his first book of poems, “Noon”. It was followed by the collections “Street of Red Dawns” (1931), “Victory” (1932).

Colors, images, rhythms - the entire structure of A. Prokofiev's poetry - was formed under the impression of his rural youth. “Ladoga! - the poet said in his autobiography. I have forever fallen in love with my native sea with its low fogs, with its winds - shelonnik, low-water, rough-weed, with its boundless, sometimes harsh, sometimes gentle, space. I have forever fallen in love with the forests and copses of the Ladoga region, the simple life of my relatives and fellow villagers, the poor northern Russian nature, fishing villages and villages where “you can reach the water from the stove with your hand.”

The poetry of A. Prokofiev is an overflowing love for life, for earthly joy, won in difficulties. His talent is extremely original. Having listened to the harmonica and round dance songs since childhood, the poet does not recognize speech in a low voice; his bright, like a rainbow, and temperamental line often sounds like an open challenge: “Well, fight, blood of the eagle and the wolf, fly like lightning into the centuries!”

In A. Prokofiev's poems there is a romantic, bright elation and excitement. They are thoroughly imbued with folklore intonations. The poet perceives the sounds of folk speech as if by taste, touch and protects them like gems.

He devotes many of his poems to his homeland. “They gave me all of Russia as an inheritance, my whole destiny,” says A. Prokofiev in one of them.

During the Great Patriotic War, working in the political department of the Leningrad Front, A. Prokofiev wrote the lyric-epic poem “Russia” - a kind of tale about a country that stood up against a cruel enemy.

The poet's collections: “Noon” (1931), “Zarechye” (1955), “Invitation to Travel” (1960; Lenin Prize, 1961); poem “Russia” (1944; USSR State Prize, 1946).

Alexander Andreevich Prokofiev died on September 18, 1971 in Leningrad. He was buried at the Bogoslovskoe cemetery.

2. Analysis of literary text.

The choir “The son met his father” is the third choir from the cycle “5 choirs on poems by Russian poets”, written in 1958. In addition to this, the cycle includes choirs “On Lost Youth” (lyrics by N. Gogol), “In the Blue Evening” (lyrics by S. Yesenin), “How the Song was Born” (lyrics by S. Orlov), “Hedge "(to lyrics by S. Yesenin).

And still in the memory

For Don and Donets:

At Zveni Mountain in the valley

Son met father

At the waste path

At the footstool bush,

Where on the heather branches

The raindrops were freezing.

The wind walked with a shaky gait

On both sides…

The parent twirled the saber...

The son stood up in his stirrups...

Spread the peacock's tail

Dvet-valley is flat,

Rolled down the valley

Filial head.

By flowers, by lungworts,

Straight to the clear sun

Past the ear of wheat,

Past the frequented forest.

This poem is written in strophic form with trochaic trimeter.

And now/ ON VSPO/ Mina/

PO-behind / Don / And Don / TsOM.

Stressed syllables of a literary text coincide with strong and relatively strong beats of the bar. The musical texture very closely follows the poetic text, colorfully highlighting and contrasting images of nature and warring people with each other.

3. Music-theoretical analysis.

The chorus “A son met his father” tells about one of the episodes of the civil war. The dramatic clash on the battlefield between father and son, the death of the son, is shown against the backdrop of paintings of nature.

The chorus is written in a free strophic form, consisting of 5 episodes, each of which contains an independent musical image.

The first episode is an energetic chorus of male choir ( F-dur ), reminiscent of the songs of the Don Cossacks. It includes 9 measures. An active melody, running in octave unison with slight differences, creates a solemn epic image. This accurately conveys the text of this fragment, which in its style also resembles ancient legends or epics. Key F-dur creates a mood of joy. The melody, wide, solemn with leaps of fourth and fifth, is entrusted to the T and B parts. In the harmonic plan, there is a constant alternation of simple harmonies (T, S 6 , T , D , T , S , D ).

The first phrase is a period of re-construction consisting of 2 sentences. The sentences are identical to each other in harmony, but in the second sentence (bars 5-9) there is a change in size, compression and stretching of durations. This expands and pauses the melody somewhat, allowing it to change character.

The second episode, performed by a women's choir (“At the waste path…”), sounds soft and lyrical, like a folk girl’s song (10-17 volumes). It also represents a period consisting of 2 sentences of 4 measures. The first sentence ends with S (plagal cadence), second on D (authentic). It is very different in character from the first one. The lyrical mood is set by a new key ( d-moll ), a smoother melodic line.

Here, as in the first phrase, there are leaps, but in the overall texture they sound softer. This is required by literary material describing nature. Here there is a stepwise narrowing of the images, if the first phrase speaks of a large space “beyond the Don and the Donets”, near the mountain then in the second part the images are much smaller a path, branches, raindrops. Lyricism is also achieved by the fact that this fragment is entrusted to female voices (parts C and A). Rhythmically, the second phrase is softer. If in the first phrase there was a dotted rhythm and both voices performed the same rhythmic pattern, then in the second part the dotted rhythm runs for longer durations and does not create tension. Each voice has its own melodic and rhythmic line. The harmony of the second phrase is based on alternation T and S functions. Wherein S often represented by a triad VI steps. In the second sentence a triad appears II steps and natural D.

A dramatic contrast is the third episode (“The wind walked with a shaky gait...”), consisting of 8 bars (18-25 volumes). This is where all the choral parts enter for the first time. The melody again takes on a decisive character.

This is facilitated by returning to F-dur , and the same rhythmic pattern for all parts (discrepancies occur only 2 times). The first climax occurs in this phrase. The structure of the phrase emphasizes this: the part is built according to the principle of fragmentation (4, 2+2). Harmonically, the third phrase is very rich. The first measure is on the tonic function, and already in the second there is a deviation into tonality S (B - dur), then in g - minor . The four-beat ends on D to d - moll . The subsequent push-pull can be considered relatively d-moll. (T, VI, natural D ). Last 2 measures of the third phrase D function. In these measures, the melodic and harmonic lines reach their greatest tension (the first climax).

The fourth episode (“The peacock spread her tail…”) is the culmination of the entire choir. The musical texture reaches maximum intensity, the choir sounds compact and powerful. The part consists of 12 bars (26-37 bars). This is a period of re-building (the second sentence has minor differences at the beginning). The strength and power of the first sounds is achieved by the octave unison of the entire choir.

The melodic line tends upward to the highest point of the entire choir. This episode begins in d-moll , which, unlike the second episode, here takes on a tragic overtones. There is a constant alternation T, S (IV and VI stages), D (III step), but at the end of the second sentence the tonality III stage is fixed as the main one, giving the musical material maximum intensity. At the moment of climax, the brightest and most developed chords sound ( VI 2, S, T 6 with doubled prima and fifth and tripled third). To make the climax even more vivid, Sviridov stretches the last chords, thus increasing the second sentence to 6 bars.

The last 2 measures are a kind of groan, sob, assigned to the soprano part.

In the fifth episode (“By flowers, by lungworts...”), the violas sound very softly and warmly against the background of a mixed choir. Their melody, with its intonations, is reminiscent of the theme of the first episode, which creates the feeling of a reprise. This is a kind of requiem for the murdered man. A soft, slow, sing-song melodic line against the backdrop of quivering, lively chords emphasizes the greatness of nature, its width and immensity. After the rich and vibrant picture of the revolutionary struggle, the wide, lyrical, chanting pictures of nature look especially colorful and majestic.

The fifth episode is divided into 4 phrases.

The first phrase consists of 7 measures.

The leisurely melodious melody of the viola part runs against the background of the choral pedal of the male voices. In the second part of the phrase, the text is spoken by the entire choir, while the musical texture has a velvety wide chord texture. The light mood of the piece is also determined by the tonality. After the ceremony F - dur and B - dur , lyrical and tragic d-moll and g-moll, key D-dur sounds warm and calm. The absence of tension also creates a harmonic structure of the part: there are no sharp D harmony, mainly there is an alternation T and S functions represented by the triad VI stages and II 2 . The function appears only as a triad III steps, without thus introducing unnecessary tension into the broad image of the tranquility of nature.

The second phrase is an exact repetition of the first.

The last 2 fragments are a repetition of the second part of the previous phrases. The harmony in them becomes even less intense, instead of triad VI the usual steps appear S . The third phrase ends with a soft triad VI degree, in which a raised third appears on the second beat of bar 53, making the chord even lighter.

The last phrase runs in octave unison with the bass line, gradually fading and fading. Constantly repeating text also creates the effect of fading and deletion.

Only in the last 57th bar does a reminder of the tragic events of the first movement appear. This is the last gasp or groan, reminiscent of the horrors of the civil war.

The first four phrases of this choir are written in two-beat meter (4/4), but sometimes the author uses a change in meter to enhance the impact. So, for example, in the second part of the first episode, instead of 4/4, a measure appears in 3/4, then 2/4. The author uses changes in meter to point listeners and performers to the main words in that section. Sviridov needs to show that we are talking about son and father . (see Example 2) Next, the author returns to the active and decisive 4/4 time signature that most suits the character of the music.

The second size change occurs in episode five. Here the character of the musical fabric changes dramatically, hence the need to change the size. The three-beat size (3/4) allows you to further enhance the melodiousness and lyricism.

Rich in emotion, the choir has several changes of tempo.

At the beginning of the chorus, Sviridov writes:"Energetic, without delay"and stands for metronome= 72 . Already at the end of the first phrase appears accelerando (speeding up) and the second episode begins with a remark“A little livelier” = 80 . Third episode with remark"More and more inspired", but in the last two bars there is another change of tempo. This time the author's remark indicates: “A little more reserved”, and on the last chord of the musical phrase there is tenuto (consistently, precisely in duration and strength). It is here that the first intonation and semantic climax appears, and this causes a short stop.

Episode 4 picks up the pace even further.= 88 . Thus, throughout all 4 episodes there is a continuous development of tempo. In the fourth episode it reaches its maximum value, since this is where the climax is located.

The fifth episode is introduced in stark contrast("Very slow" = 46). With this episode, Sviridov seems to sum up the whole chorus. There is no tragedy in this part, no action, just a majestic picture of nature.

The development of the texture of the musical fabric also gradually follows the literary text, expanding more and more with each new episode. So, for example, the first episode is almost entirely carried out in the form of monody, in the second one can speak heterophony, and, starting from the third episode, a full-fledged chord presentation appears, which intensifies in the fourth episode and reaches its maximum width in the fifth.

3 . Vocal and choral analysis.

This work was written for a mixed four-voice choir. In the first episode they meet divisi for the tenor and bass parts, in the second for the soprano and alto parts, in the third and fourth for the soprano, alto and tenor parts, in the fifth for all parts. Thus, Sviridov develops the choral texture throughout the entire choir.

Sviridov uses frequent duplication of parts to create the power of sound. So, for example, at the beginning of the fourth section, all parts carry out the melody in octave unison, which creates great emotional tension (see Example 6). At the moment of climax, almost all sounds are duplicated in the chords, and in the most intense chord of the climax, all sounds are duplicated, and the third tone T 6 is tripled (see Example 7).

The last part is the calmest, here a wide choral pedal appears during the sound of the lyrical melody of the violas. The bass line holds the pedal in octave tonic unison.

Batch range:

Soprano

Violas

Tenor

Bass

General range of the choir

The tessitura of the parts varies throughout the choir. All parts throughout the choir cover their full working range.

For the soprano part, almost throughout the entire choir, the tessitura of the part corresponds to its working range, and therefore should not cause any special difficulties. The climax of the soprano part is close to the upper end of the range, but does not go beyond it, so it sounds shrill and bright at maximum dynamics.

The viola part is also written in a tessitura that is quite convenient for the performers. The second episode, where the lowest sounds occur, takes place in quiet dynamics, the highest sounds of the viola part sound in loud dynamics, so taking the extreme sounds of the range should not pose any special problems for the performers.

The tenors' part is also tessitura and dynamically structured quite conveniently for performance. Difficulties may arise in the fifth section, where transition notes (F of the first octave) appear in quiet dynamics.

The bass part is the most difficult to perform. There are moves across the entire range here. The last section will be especially difficult if there are no octavists in the choir. Choristers perform choir pedal on one sound, which is at the very edge of the range.

Intonation difficulties can arise in all parts; this is due to a large number of jumps. So, for example, already the first intonation has jumps a fourth down, a fifth up. Great difficulties can be caused by jumps up an octave at the beginning of the third section, jumps up a sixth in the middle of the fourth section for soprano and tenor parts. Difficulty can also be caused by the ascending movement along the triad in the viola and bass parts.

Vocal difficulties may arise during the transition from the fourth section to the fifth, where there is a sharp change in tempo, character and pitch. After a tense high sound, the lower sounds of the range may be timbrally under-sounded. Difficulties will arise in the fifth section for the tenors' part at the end of the third bar - a complex leap of a sixth and an octave up to the transitional sounds of the range in quiet dynamics.

This choir contains many difficulties associated with performing the melody in octave unison.

Inaccurate sounding of the organ section in the last section can also negatively affect the overall sound of the choir. In order to avoid these inaccuracies, it is necessary to think about the work not only horizontally (listen to the melody, lead it forward, regardless of the change or invariance of the pitch), but also vertically (hear the overall harmony). This is especially important in the fifth, third, fourth and fifth sections, where the chord structure of the texture predominates.

It is also necessary to monitor the precise and clear pronunciation of words. It is especially important to pay attention to this in the last section, since quiet dynamics and low tessitura will help to “swallow” the words.

Rhythmic difficulties may arise due to repeated tempo changes. In such moments, performers are required to have maximum concentration and attention to the conductor’s gestures.

4. Performance analysis.

Through the first four parts of the choir there is a continuous dynamic, logical and tempo development. Starting with tempo“Energeticly, without delaying” = 72, gradually accelerating the tempo from part to part, by the fourth part Sviridov comes to the tempo= 88. The dynamic plan also goes through development: the first section solemn and gallant f , second section lyrical mf , third section f and crescendo to the first climax, which is marked by the author with a slightly restrained pace and dynamics ff and tenuto on the last chord of the episode. Dynamics and tempo very accurately emphasize the content of the literary text and accurately convey its character. The conductor's gesture must also precisely correspond to the tempo, dynamics and character of the parts. In the first section, a very precise, collected gesture is needed, emphasizing a certain march-like quality of the music. The second section, on the contrary, requires a slightly smaller, softer, smoother gesture, emphasizing the lyricism of the episode. The third section again requires an active, broad gesture, since here the entire choir actively enters. An important task of the conductor is to accurately think through the dynamic and tempo plan, since if there is no clear plan and awareness of holistic end-to-end development, the choir will break up into separate episodes.

The fourth section contains the broadest, but at the same time the most precise conductor's gesture. Despite the dynamics indicated by the author ff , you shouldn’t invest all your strength from the very beginning of the episode, since at the end of this episode there is a climax to which the performers must be brought. The climax is again marked by Sviridov at a slightly more restrained pace(= 80) and a remark by poco marcato (emphasizing a little). On the last chord of the climax it is necessary to show crescendo (amplifying the sound), followed by precise and active pickup sff . The next sound of the soprano part should be completely different in character and fullness. It's not even a sound, but an echo, a groan or a sigh about what happened.

The last section contains special conducting difficulties. The entire last section is conducted at a slow pace (at the beginning of the section the author’s remark"very slowly" = 46). It is necessary to show a change in tempo and character; the gesture must be very smooth, wide and soft, but at the same time very precise. It is necessary to lead the sound forward and help the choristers to pronounce the literary text very accurately and on time. The dynamics in the last section are wavy: gradual transitions from mp via cr e scendo to f and via diminuendo (gradually weakening) back to mp . The last carrying out of the melody by the bass line, everything happens in dynamics mp . In doing so, it is extremely important to continue to lead the sound and not let the choristers slow down. The last chord from sf via dimi n uendo with gradual switching off of voices lead to ppp , create the impression of sound dissolution. The main attention should be paid to the nature of each section, the exact change in tempo and meter, since it is by changing the tempo and meter that the author emphasizes the most important, from his point of view, moments of the text.

5. Conclusion.

Sviridov's music became a classic of Soviet art of the 20th century. thanks to its depth, harmony, close connection with the rich traditions of Russian musical culture.

L. Polyakova.

Having become acquainted with the creative biography of Georgy Vasilyevich Sviridov, having analyzed his choir “The Son Met His Father,” we can conclude that the composer’s choral work was greatly influenced by the historical situation of those years, the roots of Georgy Vasilyevich. His work raises the topic of the civil war, which was relevant during his childhood, lyrical and broad images of his native nature, the song structure of melodic lines show his warm and caring attitude, love for the Motherland, for his native Russian nature, closeness to the people. Sviridov. Using musical means, the author very accurately and vividly conveys the character of the literary text, drawing vivid and understandable images for the listener.

6. List of used literature.

1. Belonenko A.S. Article “What Harmony Is Born From” from the book “Georgy Sviridov. Music is like destiny." Library of Memoirs. M.: Young Guard, 2002.
2. Romanovsky N.V. Choral Dictionary. M.: Muzyka, 2005. 230 s.
3. Internet resources. Polyakova L. Article about Sviridov from the site www.belcanto.ru
4. Materials for the colloquium. Comp. Sachkov I.I. - M., 2006.
5. T. S. Kruntyaeva, N., V. Molokova, A. M. Stupel. Dictionary of foreign musical terms. - 3rd ed. - L.: Music, 1982. - 151 p.
6. Vinogradova G.E. On the issue of writing an abstract and recommending thesis topics for students of the conducting and choral faculty; approved for publication by the Department of Choral Conducting of the Moscow Musical-Pedagogical Institute named after. Gnesins. M., 1974.
7. Yerman R.N. Methodological instructions for working on the annotation of a choral work; approved for publication by the Department of Choral Conducting of the Moscow State Correspondence Pedagogical Institute. M., 1976.
8. Anisimov A., “Conductor-choirmaster”, L., “Music”, 1976

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

Students, graduate students, young scientists who use the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.

Hosted at http://www.allbest.ru/

Choral score analysis plan

General information about the work: its exact and detailed title. Year of creation. Information about the authors of music and text. Type of choral work (chorus a "sarella or with accompaniment). Choral genre (miniature, large-form choir, arrangement, arrangement, part of an oratorio, cantatas, suites, opera chorus, choral stage, etc.). If the analyzed work is part of a larger composition , you should briefly describe its remaining parts in order to have an idea of ​​the general content of the work (the composition of performers, the number and names of parts).

Brief information about the composer's work. Years of life. General characteristics of creativity. Major works. A more detailed description of choral creativity.

Literary text

Presentation of a literary text (write out all the text used in this work).

The content of a literary text, its theme, idea. Images, form of presentation, size (number of stanzas, couplets, etc.). Comparison of the text used to create the choral work with the literary original, the changes that occurred and their reasons. If the text used by the composer is a fragment of a literary work (poem, poem, etc.), it is necessary to give a general description of the entire work. The relationship between literary text and music. The degree of correspondence between the content of a literary text and the content of music and the form of a choral work. The relationship between the structure of a literary text and the form of a choral work.

2. Music-theoretical analysis

Determination of the form of the work: one-part (period), verse, verse-variation, two-part (simple, complex), three-part (simple, complex), strophic, variations, rondo, sonata, cycle. Features of the composer’s use of traditional form when translating his idea into a given work (size and ratio of parts, etc.).

Characteristics of the theme melody: character, intonation, rhythmic and modal structural features. Distribution of musical and thematic material between choral parts.

Tempo, its deviations, determination of the semantic content of tempo, meter rhythm and size of the work. Analysis of tempo deviations.

Analysis of the modal tonal features of the work, characteristics of the tonal plan (main tonality, deviations, modulations), modal features (the composer’s use of folk diatonic modes or characteristic modal turns).

Bar Chart of Harmonic Analysis: Detailed analysis of harmony with common function notation and the name of each chord.

Characteristics of choral texture (harmonic, homophonic-harmonic, polyphonic, mixed); its relationship with the content of the work and the expressive means of the choir.

The role and significance of accompaniment (for accompanied works).

choral literary modal tonal vocal

3. Vocal and choral analysis

Determination of the type, type and composition of the choir, the ranges of choral parts and the choir as a whole (music examples), tessitura, the degree of vocal workload of the choir and individual choral parts, the role of various parts in the work (performing the main melodic material, undertones, accompaniment).

Methods of choral presentation (tutti, the use of an incomplete composition of choral groups, divisi, juxtaposition, gradual inclusion, duplication, crossing, coloristic techniques).

Identification of the specifics of singing breathing (by phrases, chain), the nature of the sound (“light”, “dark”, etc.), sound science techniques (legato, non legato, marcato, staccato).

Analysis of the features of the choral structure. (Identification of the most difficult moments in terms of intonation, taking into account the patterns of melodic (horizontal) and harmonic (vertical) systems. A brief description of methodological techniques for overcoming intonational difficulties.

Analysis of the types and types of the ensemble (general and particular, natural - artificial, melodic, dynamic, rhythmic, diction, timbre, tempo).

Analysis of the dictionary features of the work. Based on the analysis of the literary text, a brief description of the methods of working on diction (taking into account subtext, textless singing, etc.).

Determining the number of members of the choir required to perform a given work (large, small, medium) and its qualifications (professional, experienced, amateur, beginner).

4. Performance analysis

comparison of literary and musical text based on the relationship between musical and literary phrases;

identifying the role and significance of the musical expressive means used by the composer (tempo, agogics, dynamics, phrasing); determination of the general dynamic and semantic culminations (the relationship between the general and particular climaxes in the work).

Identification of specific performance difficulties, due to the peculiarities of the genre and form of the work (choral miniature, large vocal-instrumental form, couplet, reprise, etc.). Determination of the characteristic (for a given work) main performing principle (integrity, continuity of development, episodic, detailing, periodicity, etc.).

Selection and description of conducting techniques necessary for a choirmaster during practical work with a choir, during a concert performance, determination of the nature of the conducting gesture (outtakes to entry, withdrawal; techniques for performing crushed beats, fermatas, breathing, etc.).

Statement of your own performance plan (interpretation of the work).

Determination of the most important and time-consuming moments in the work that require special attention during the rehearsal process, methods of effective work on them (solfege, transposition, etc.).

Conclusion

Identification of some stylistic features of the composer’s work in a given work (using the example of comparing one work with his other works).

The presence of different editions of the score, the reasons for their occurrence and their comparative analysis.

Comparison of the analyzed work with the works of other authors written on the same text.

Impressions from a possible (live) listening to him.

Comparison of different performance interpretations.

Determining your own attitude to the work being studied.

5. General requirements for the preparation of a written analysis of a choral work

The work is printed on one side of a sheet of white A4 paper, according to the relevant standard, with one and a half to two line spacing. The left margin is 30 mm, the right margin is 10 mm, the top margin is 15 mm, and the bottom margin is 20 mm. Text 14 font Times New Roman.

The total volume of the course analysis should be at least 15-20 pages of printed text, the thesis - 25 pages. Most of the work is occupied by vocal and choral analysis, but all parts should be approximately proportional to each other. It is necessary to use musical examples in the text on music paper with ink (black paste only), which is then inserted (pasted) as the text of the work is presented.

All musical examples are numbered with Arabic numerals throughout the text. Above the upper right corner of the examples, place the inscription “Example...” indicating the serial number without the “No” sign before the number and without a dot after it.

The entire text of the work is divided into chapters. The headings of the structural parts of the work are capitalized, 16 font Times New Roman and highlighted in bold italics: “General information about the work and its authors”, “Music theoretical analysis”, “Vocal and choral analysis”, “Performing analysis”, “Conclusion” ", "List of sources used", "Appendices". Each new chapter starts on a new page.

Page numbering begins on page 3 and is placed at the bottom center of each page. The title page and contents are not numbered.

The analysis of a choral work should begin with the title page.

Following the title page, the subsequent text must be titled. The table of contents (table of contents) should be placed on the second page.

The list of sources used should be built according to the alphabetical principle and consist of 15 - 25 independently studied works (informational, reference, theoretical and methodological in nature).

Note appendixes are placed after the list of sources used. Each application should start on a new page. Applications are not included in the scope of work.

Hosted on Allbest.ru

Similar Documents

General information about G. Svetlov’s choral miniature “The Blizzard Sweeps the White Path.” Musical-theoretical and vocal-choral analysis of the work - characteristics of the melody, tempo, tonal plan. The degree of vocal workload of the choir, techniques of choral presentation.

abstract, added 12/09/2014


General information about the work, its composition and main elements. Genre and form of choral work. Characteristics of texture, dynamics and phrasing. Harmonic analysis and modal tonal features, vocal-choral analysis, main ranges of parts.

test, added 06/21/2015


Creative biography of composer R.K. Shchedrin. Main features of the music writing style. Musical theoretical analysis of the work “I was killed near Rzhev”. Vocal and choral analysis and characteristics of the composition from the point of view of artistic embodiment.

test, added 03/01/2016


Musical-theoretical, vocal-choral, performance analysis of the work for choral performance "Legend". Familiarization with the history of the life and work of the author of Tchaikovsky's music, Pyotr Ilyich, and the author of the text, Alexey Nikolaevich Pleshcheev.

summary, added 01/13/2015


Opera and choral creativity of M.I. Glinka. Creative portrait of the composer. The literary basis of the opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila", the role of instrumental accompaniment in it. Analysis of the score in vocal-choral terms. Performance plan for this work.

course work, added 12/28/2015


Swedish symphonists of the first half of the twentieth century. Features of choral performance and compositional creativity of H. Lundvik. The invasion of new music into the musical atmosphere of Sweden in the 80s of the last century. Vocal and choral analysis of the work.

abstract, added 12/16/2013


Studying the features of S. Arensky's choral work on the poems of A. Pushkin "Anchar". Analysis of literary text and musical language. Analysis of conducting performance means and techniques. Ranges of choral parts. Development of a rehearsal work plan.

course work, added 04/14/2015


Stages of development of choral music. General characteristics of the choral group: typology and quantitative composition. Fundamentals of vocal and choral technique, means of musical expression. Functions of a choirmaster. Requirements for the selection of repertoire in primary grades.

course work, added 02/08/2012


Theoretical analysis of the peculiarities of the formation of the choral concert genre in Russian sacred music. Analysis of the work - choral concert by A.I. Krasnostovsky's "Lord, Our Lord", which contains typical genre features of a partes concert.

course work, added 05/29/2010


Studying the biography of the greatest Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Musical theoretical analysis of works. Vocal and choral analysis. The texture of the work "The Queen of Spades", the homophonic-harmonic structure and the expanded mode-tonal plan.

Vocal and choral analysis

The work was written for a mixed four-voice choir a capella using divisi.

The general range of the choir: A (major octave) - Gis (second octave). But these extreme sounds are rare in the choir; the main working range in the soprano part is F, E - the second octave.

Let's look at the range of each batch separately:

Soprano 1: Dis1 - Gis2

Soprano 2: Dis1 - C2

Alto: GM - A1

Tenor: Eb - F1

Bass 1: Hb - D1

Bass 2: Am - Ab.

Thus we see that the composer does not use a wide range in the parts. Tessitura conditions are very acceptable. The composer practically does not use the extreme sounds of the range in his parts. We must not forget that this is part of a large composition written for a professional choir, where each singer has good vocal training.

In terms of texture, the music is not overloaded; the constant switching off of one or the other part creates a certain lightness in the sound. In terms of timbre, the main role still belongs to the upper voice, which is the bearer of the main theme.

You should also pay attention to the rather muted dynamics. The composer practically does not use bright nuances, basically it is all sounding on p, thereby conveying a person’s state of mind, the subtlety of his inner world, which is impossible to shout about loudly.

The degree of vocal load of the parts is uneven; basically, the part of the first sopranos is present all the time, the remaining voices appear or “disappear” depending on the composer’s intention.

Clean tuning is the first and most important quality of choral singing. Many factors contribute to the development and maintenance of pure choral structure. You should be extremely careful and precise when intonating the appearing signs, when merging parts into octave unison. This piece requires a more European, instrumental sound, subtlety of intonation, which can be difficult (especially sometimes due to the large distance between parts).

In general, you should be careful in the execution of vowels and the clarity of consonants.

In this work you should take your breath phrase by phrase. In general, the work uses chain breathing, and inhalation can also be done in pauses. Throughout the composition a soft attack of sound is used. The breath is taken calmly. The breath hold is minimal so that the ligaments gently close. At the same moment, the breath, without pushing or pressing, gently touching the ligaments, produces the desired sound.

Soprano part

The soprano is the leading part of the choir, the significance of which is determined by the performance of the main thematic material - the melody. Her expressive capabilities are used very intensively: the soprano, as a rule, is not only the leading, but also the busiest part of the choir. The part has divisions into voices, but the main part is the 1st soprano; she is, as it were, a “soloist” in the overall sound of the choir. The composer does not always use a convenient tessitura - for example, the note E 1 is a transition note for the voice, and the piece begins with it, so you need to be extremely careful when singing so that the sound is noble, despite the p.

Violas part

Altos are one of the most expressive choral parts. The bright upper register, dense and rich sound of the mids with the presence of especially expressive timbre-rich lows allows you to use its capabilities widely and variably. In a full mixed choir, altos rarely perform a melody. But at the end of his work Poulenc gives the main theme to the violas, which gives it a more songlike, warm sound. The composer uses a very convenient tessitura for performance.

Tenors part

The divisions in the tenor part are persistent. The composer uses a fairly convenient tessitura. Just like the alto part, the part is presented as a “back-up”. The composer also uses a fairly convenient tessitura; the main difficulty for performers will be a soft introduction, that is, a natural fusion with the main thematic material.

Bass part

It should be noted the importance of basses in general choral presentation as the “foundation” of the choir. The timbre qualities of this part have the largest sound volume (about 2 octaves) and a rich sound palette. But at first, the bass is practically absent from the sound of the choir, thereby representing a certain loss of support.

Executive plan

Poulenc cantata musical part

Performing a choir requires great skill both on the part of the choir group and on the part of the choirmaster. The performing interpretation of the work requires the highest professionalism from the choir and unconditional “purity” of intonation.

Variable meter, the use of divisi, solo voices require the choirmaster to clearly coordinate movements and master the art of conducting. In general, the conductor’s work with the choral group should be aimed at adequately realizing the author’s intention.

Integrity and continuity of development, as the basis of performance, allows us to most accurately reveal the figurative content of the work. The conductor needs to overcome some fragmentation of the presentation. If you do not strive for this, the work may fall apart into a number of episodes, the boundaries of which are emphasized by pauses and expressive endings of phrases. The conductor's inspired reading of the score is the basis for a successful interpretation. But this is not enough. It is necessary to understand the specific tasks of the conductor and performer.

The convincingness of the interpretation and the logic of development of the material depend on many factors. It is important for the conductor to find and maintain a speed of movement that corresponds to the author’s instructions, not too slow, but also unhurried. This tempo is very expressive. The leisurely nature of the movement should be maintained throughout the entire piece. The textual and musical content of the choir determines the main trend in the development of the performance plan.

The phrasing of a musical work is subordinated to textual development. The middle is the climax. To perform this composition, the conductor is given a number of difficult tasks related to showing the after-acts and releases to the choir: a smooth gesture, a short breath on the support; with dynamics control; with displays of leaps in various choral parts, a touch of legato. The conductor is required to have special expressiveness and precision in gesture.

Speaking about the most important and difficult moments that require special attention during the rehearsal process, it should be noted:

Showing the various entrances of the parties, and exactly their withdrawals.

Different dynamics during performance between the soprano part and the other voices.

Singing with internal pulsation as a necessary factor for performance.

Don't slow down the chords at the end of the piece.

The brightness and variety of colors of the composer's musical palette is striking - he pays attention not only to harmonic and melodic subtleties, but also treats the performer, singer or conductor with care. Almost every phrase in the score has a note indicating how it should be performed: mezza voce, cantando, pp, cantando, etc.

“A brilliant cantata of a thousand nuances that are never immodestly displayed,” Henri Ell, the author of a book about Poulenc, characterizes “The Human Face.”

The rich range of feelings and moods that overwhelm the composer’s heart is reflected in this composition - tenderness and anger, indignation and hope, pain and jubilation. Faith in victory does not leave the musician, despite any severe trials. It is important to note that of the eight parts of the cantata, only two end with minor consonances (“The night is terrible for me,” depicting the appearance of death, and the fifth part, “Laughing at the sky and the planet,” in which both the poet and composer mock their enemies).

Bibliography

1. O. P. Keurig “Choral studies.” - St. Petersburg, 2004.

2. P. P. Levando “Problems of choral studies.” - St. Petersburg, 1974.

3. N.V. Romanovsky “Choral Dictionary”. - M., 2000.

4. “History of foreign music” vol.6, ed. V.V. Smirnova. - St. Petersburg, 2001.

5. http://www.classic-music.ru/book_poulenc.html

6. http://www.lib.ru/POEZIQ/ELUAR_P/eluard0_1.txt_with-big-pictures.html

7. http://ru.wikipedia.org

Analysis of the choral scene from Act V of the opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila" by M.I. Glinka

The choral score for the scene was written for a mixed four-voice choir consisting of four parts - sopranos, altos, tenors and basses. Divisi occurs in the viola part in vol. 164-165 and in the tenor part (vol. 103-104, 107, 168-170)...

Analysis of the choral work "Oh with meadows and shores"

At the center of the vocal-choral analysis of the work is the consideration of such basic elements as the composition of the choir, its range, thesis, choral ensemble, choral line, diction, vocal and technical features of the work...

Annotation on Norina's cavatina from G. Donizetti's opera "Don Pasquale"

Norina's part is written for a lyric soprano with a full range and good vocal technique. The general range is from F to C octave. When performing a cavatina between an accompanist and a singer, or a singer and a conductor...

Vitaly Semenovich Khodosh "Seasons" (I part of the series "Spring")

The choral cycle "The Seasons" was written by Vitaly Khodosh for an unaccompanied mixed choir. The cycle consists of four parts: I - "Spring", II - "Summer", III - "Autumn", IV - "Winter". Each part within the cycle can be defined as a choral miniature...

The genre of choral concert in Russian sacred music at the turn of the 19th century.

Alexey Ivanovich Krasnostovsky was born on March 15, 1880 in St. Petersburg in the family of a retired soldier. He studied at the Regency classes of the Court Singing Chapel. Graduated from St. Petersburg. Conservatory in composition and orchestration class with N.A...

The use of choral works by M.V. Antseva for female members in the practice of working with a school choir

Work by M.V. Antsev's "Bells" was written for a three-voice female choir. The composer worked a lot with choirs, knew the specifics of their sound and took it into account in his compositions, so the choral parts are presented in convenient tessitura...

Study of the peculiarities of the vocal and technical performance of Judas's Aria "Heaven on Their Minds" (Living only on the heavenly)

The part of Judas is written for a tenor with a full range and good vocal technique. The general range is from D small octave to B flat octave. When performing an aria between an accompanist and a singer, or a singer and a conductor...

Vocal-intonation rights are a necessary part of the skin solfeggio lesson. The smells help develop a musical ear (modal, harmonious, internal), practical skills from the sheets, and give a good start to recording a melody...

Lithuanian folk song "Oh, you, my little oak tree" arranged by V. Venckus

The work was written for a capella women's choir. Part ranges: Soprano 1: Soprano 2: Alto: Tessitura conditions are comfortable. The method of sound study is legato. Chain breathing. All parts of this work can be considered equally loaded...

Methodology for learning the song-choral repertoire by students of the young school age

Vocal training in the choir is the most important part of all choral work with children. The main reason for the correct setting of vocal training is the preparation of the cervix for singing with young students. The ideal option is that...

The initial stage of training in a vocal ensemble

vocal ensemble hearing schoolchild Listening to children's voices is carried out individually - when singing scales, chants (up to 1 - up to 2). It is possible to determine the range by repeatedly - with transposition - performing the song...

Creative path and some features of the performance of vocal works by P.O. Chonkushova

Working in various genres brought great satisfaction to the musician. But it was no less important for the author to be able to convey each of his creations to the listener. How can a composer working in the symphonic genre do this...

Choral play by R. Shchedrin "I was killed near Rzhev"

Build a choir. Purity of intonation in singing is one of the main elements of choral technique and requires the unrelenting attention of performers...

Choral music is music performed by a choir or intended for choral performance. Choral music belongs to the most democratic forms of art...

Choral singing as a type of musical activity

Vocal and choral technique is the skills that provide the choir with a good ensemble, structure, diction, and nuances. Meaning: mastery of vocal and choral technique helps the choir to correctly convey the ideological and artistic content of the work being performed...