DOI: 10.36871/hon.202201022
Authors
Zhao Huaichao
Russian State Specialized Academy of Arts, Moscow, Russian Federation
Abstract
The article is devoted to the work of the outstanding Russian composer Nikolay Nikolayevich Sidelnikov (1930–1992), who made a great contribution to modern Russian music. The composer worked in various genres, each time choosing an extraordinary interpretation for them. The musician's erudition, which was especially noted by his friends, colleagues and students, allowed him to address the topics from various literary sources, whether from the ancient Russian chronicles of the XIIth – XVIth centuries (the oratorio "The Sword Raised"), F. Engels' philosophical work "Dialectics of Nature" (the symphony "Hymn to Nature") or poetic texts (a vocal cycle of lyrical poems to the verses by Spanish poet F. G. Lorca, the "Sichuan Elegies" dilogy to the poems by Chinese Medieval poet Du Fu, the vocal symphony "The Rebellious World of the Poet" to verses by M. Yu. Lermontov). A special place in Sidelnikov's oeuvre belongs to vocal and choral works, including spiritual compositions, among which "The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom", dedicated to the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus, and the Spiritual Concerto for a cappella choir stand out. The genres of church music concentrated all the main constants of his style, nurtured on the fusion of Znamenny chant and folklore origins, expressed in the trichordism of the thematicism. Such a synthesis, carried out within the framework of polystylistics and harmony, appeals to secular musical culture up to the elements of jazz, which demonstrates the composer's freedom in mastering the styles of different eras. At the same time, all of Sidelnikov's works, including spiritual pieces, are permeated with personal emotional overtones.
Keywords
symphony, vocal and choral cycle, spiritual compositions, poetry, M. Yu. Lermontov, F. G. Lorca, Du Fu, polystylistics, trichordism of the thematicism
