DOI: 10.36871 / hon.202201011

Authors

Zhang Kailin
Russian State Specialized Academy of Arts, Moscow, Russian Federation

Abstract

The article is devoted to the work of the outstanding Russian composer S. M. Slonimsky, which is considered in the context of his era. The composer's life, as in a mirror, is reflected in his works, which were published from 1954 to 2020, starting with the "Song about the Alarm Clock" for voice and piano and ending with Symphony No. 34, published during the master's lifetime. S. M. Slonimsky composed in different genres, paying great attention to instrumental timbres and engaging the instruments of different peoples and national schools. He broadened the composition and intensified the dramatic function of percussion instruments. Particular attention in the article is paid to the compositions by Slonimsky for bowed string instruments — violin and viola. It is established that the compositions for these instruments accompanied the composer throughout his creative path. Each time they reflected in a new way such leading aspects of the master's individual style as avant-garde experiences and musical dialogues with preceding cultural epochs, use of certain components of the dictionary of Russian musical folklore and audacious variability of timbre mixes.

Keywords

violin, viola, style, dialogues with the past, avant-garde, folklore, dictionary, timbre mixes