DOI: 10.36871/hon.202102008
Authors
N. V. Koshkareva
Ippolitov-Ivanov State Musical Pedagogical Institute, Moscow, Russian Federation
Abstract
Rodion Shchedrin's choral work represents the most interesting area of modern musical culture.
The object of the analysis is the composition "Epigraph by Count Tolstoy to His Novel
"Anna Karenina" for mixed choir a cappella as a demonstration of the key feature of Rodion
Shchedrin's compositional style — polyphonic thinking. This aspect becomes an argument
for the relevance of the topic. Through the synthesis of research methods, the parameters of
musical composition are studied: literary source, musical form, texture, and melody. In addition,
the author reveals the "Russian theme" in the choral work of R. Shchedrin, identifies the
specifics of the composer's individual choral style, and defines the aspects of polyphonization
of the means of musical language.
The "Epigraph" explains the main idea of L. Tolstoy's novel and concentrates on the most
important contextual continuum development of all the events that take place. A wide semantic
field of textual basis becomes an impulse for polyphonization of all musical expressive
means. Polyphony as an idiom of R. Shchedrin's composer's handwriting is born, among
other things, in the fusion of artistic trends and styles. In conclusion, it is emphasized that the
literary basis of the "Epigraph", woven from historical, theological, philosophical, artistic and
poetic layers, required a synthesis of traditional and innovative musical expressive means —
"a new polyphonic word" in the author's expression of the main paradigms of the Russian
theme by R. Shchedrin.
Keywords
R. Shchedrin, L. Tolstoy, choral works, polyphonization, composer's style, music of the XXIst century
