UDC 78.071.1
DOI: 10.36871/hon.202401126
Authors
Natalia K. Uchitel,
Saint Petersburg Conservatory named after N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, Saint Petersburg, 190068, Russian Federation
Abstract
The article is devoted to the comparison of two significant works of world music classics of the second half of the XXth century: Benjamin Britten’s “War Requiem” and Boris Klyuzner’s Second Symphony. Both these works are considered in the context of national and world tendencies of comprehension of the results of the Second World War in art. It is noted that Klyuzner’s Symphony was created on the wave of interest in Britten’s music that arose among Leningrad musicians after Shostakovich’s return from Aldeburgh and Britten’s visits to the USSR. Following a detailed analysis of the musical dramaturgy of Klyuzner’s Symphony and an examination of its background, it is concluded that the Leningrad composer, having become acquainted with Britten’s music, perhaps unknowingly, reproduced some features of its musical dramaturgy, in particular its timbre and intonation, and thus engaged in a dispute with the general idea of the work. A comparison of two works reveals the opposing conclusions which both composers reach in the finale: Britten’s conception is imbued with the spirit of religious and ethical catharsis of reconciliation, while Klyuzner’s conception is full of tragic pessimism, based on the personal experience of a direct witness and participant of the events, and contains no hope of future conflict resolution.
Keywords
Boris Klyuzner, Benjamin Britten, war symphonies and cantata-oratorio works of the 1940s – 1960s, “War Requiem”, Klyuzner’s Second Symphony
