Academic literature on the topic 'Music Australia 20th century History and criticism'

Adorno’s work, in particular the texts dealing with the relationship between music and social behaviors or structures, has been the target of criticism, especially in the second half of the 20th century, being considered by many to be generalist, dogmatic or even elitist. This work proposes the analysis of musical technologies not only as a set of compositional techniques, as Adorno does, but, in fact, as material conditions for the realization of a certain type of sound/music. The colonialist character of these technologies is also analyzed. Based on a review of some key concepts in Adornian theory, a dialogue is sought with more contemporary authors from the sociology of music.

Abstract In late 19th-century periodicals, music criticism captured only a few details on the composition techniques, the structural organization, the rhythmic-melodic or vocal and stage interpretation of various performances. The press shed light on these pieces only at an informative level, mentioning titles, composers, and interpreters and even omitting some details due to, on the one hand, the authorities’ indifference to the musical phenomenon and, on the other hand, the editors’ sheer ignorance of particular stylistic or musical language features. However, the attempts made by the personalities active in the cultural and artistic life were real and unrelenting, their results being guided by the desire to promote music with specific national traits. This study provides an analytical perspective on the current reception of that social-artistic context. Taking into account that new sources have favored a more detailed and profound investigation of the 19th-century critical phenomenon, our analysis supplements the information presented in the music history studies already published in Romania. Consequently, the first section of this paper approaches the extremely dynamic phenomenon represented by the creation of new journals / newspapers in the 19th century. It is our belief that starting from general journalism we can acquire a better understanding of the development of musical criticism. This research aimed to discover new dimensions of Iași-based music, placing special emphasis on the critical reception of the composer Alexandru Flechtenmacher. We have followed its reflection in the Romanian press, starting from the first accounts in this respect, and ending with the subsequent assessments formulated in 20th-century musicology. Although the texts that tackle musical issues are quite few and social aspects prevail in the commentators’ list of interests, by combining the information provided by general literary/historical/social sources with the details included in specialized articles we can create a new perspective on late 19th-century Iași-based compositions.

The transition of the 19th into the 20th century in Serbian music history was a period of music criticism, journalism and essay writing. At that time, Serbian musicology had not yet been developed as an academic discipline. After WWI there were many more academic writings on this subject; therefore, the interwar period represents the beginning of Serbian music historiography. This paper analyses Serbian interwar music magazines as source material for the history of Serbian musicology. The following music magazines were published in Belgrade at the time: Muzicki glasnik (Music Herald, 1922), Muzika (Music, 1928-1929), Glasnik Muzickog drustva ?Stankovic? (Stankovic Music Society Herald, 1928-1934, 1938-1941; from January 1931. known as Muzicki glasnik /Music Herald/), Zvuk ( Sound, 1932-1936), Vesnik Juznoslovesnkog pevackog saveza (The South Slav Singing Union Courier, 1935-1936, 1938), Slavenska muzika ( Slavonic Music, 1939-1941), and Revija muzike (The Music Review, 1940). A great number of historical studies and writings on Serbian music were published in the interwar periodicals. A significant contribution was made above all to the study of Serbian musicians? biographies and bibliographies of the 19th century. Vladimir R. Djordjevic published several short biographies in Muzicki glasnik (1922) in an article called Ogled biografskog recnika srpskih muzicara (An Introduction to Serbian Musicians? Biographies). Writers on music obviously understood that the starting point in the study of Serbian music history had to be the composers? biographical data. Other magazines (such as Muzicki glasnik in 1928 and 1931, Zvuk, Vesnik Juznoslovenskog pevackog saveza, and Slavenska muzika) published a number of essays on distinguished Serbian and Yugoslav musicians of the 19th and 20th centuries, most of which deal with both composers? biographical data and analysis of their compositions. Their narrative style reflects the habits of 19th-century romanticism and positivism: in some of these writings the language also has an aesthetic function. Serbian interwar music magazines also published some archival documents contributing to the future research of Serbian music history. Interwar period in the then Yugoslavia was a time of rapid development and modernization in various fields of culture. There was a great demand for music writings of general interest. Therefore, Revija muzike (January - June 1940) was totally oriented towards the popularization of music and the arts (such as drama and film). This magazine also published some popular articles on music history. Serbian interwar music periodicals were least active in the field of musicological analysis. However, in 1934, Branko M. Dragutinovic published a detailed analytic study of Josip Slavenski?s composition Religiofonija (Religiophonics) in Zvuk. There were also some interdisciplinary history articles in Serbian interwar music magazines. Being well aware of the fact that music history comprises not only music itself, but also music writing, schools, institutions and music life, our music writers used ?indirect? sources, such as literature and art, as well as music. Serbian interwar music periodicals opened many fields of research, thus blazing a trail in postwar Serbian musicology.

The article is devoted to one of the forms of creative synthesis of types of art, which is being actualized in the modern space-time of musical and stage compositions, including through its own historical and genetic code. Singing in ballet appears in the context of art of the early 20th century as a common aesthetic phenomenon. However, music criticism and academic science have not yet provided the explanation of its mechanisms (image-aesthetic, psychological, form-creating, communicative), its overriding tasks in the concepts of modern musical theatre. The experience of problem statement in the field of interpretology provides the relevance of the topic of the article and determines the novelty of the obtained results. The purpose of the article is to reveal the preconditions and content of the functional unity of the art of singing and dance against the background of artistic trends of the early 20th century (starting with “Pulcinella” by I. Stravinsky). The creative tandem of dance and singing has its roots in ancient Greek culture, on which the creators of the French tradition of ballets du court (J.-B. Llully focused. In the realm of «mixed genres» of baroque music, the «golden age» of homo musicus began. The latest history of singing in ballet begins with I. Stravinsky, his «Pulchinelli». The obtained results of the research of the problem “What is singing in ballet — a tribute to history or an invention of modern culture”? First, the presence of the “genetic code” of this phenomenon in the art of Western Europe of the Modern times; secondly, the regularity of the tendency to synthesize singing in the art of ballet as a manifestation of neoclassicism, closely related to the historicism of compositional thinking of I. Stravinsky. The conclusions outline the preconditions and content of the functional unity of singing and dance in the format of artistic trends of the early 20th century: 1) the historical and cultural code of French art (singing — dramatic play — dance); 2) personal self-reflection of I. Stravinsky (his relations on the basis of creative cooperation in the early 20th century later formed a wide range of communication for artists: O. Rodin, A. Modigliani, K. Monet, P. Picasso, V. Kandinsky); 3) imitation of pre-classical, pre-baroque, and ancient folk traditions. In general, the revival of the function of singing in ballet of the 20th century took place on the basis of musical historicism and serves as a mental sign of the birth of neoclassicism.

A large part of German musicology sees itself as a science of art in the emphatic sense and is committed to quite different principles than historical-critical approaches in the discipline. The latter seek to gain a realistic picture of the history of music, including contemporary ways of thinking, and allow for historical actors to make meaningful, free will decisions within anthropologically determined circumstances. The emphatic science of art, on the other hand, claims to be able to prove and scientifically determine the objects of great art music and their nature. It originated during the Enlightenment, when philosophy took the place of religion and created ever new theoretical constructs of thought presented as scientifically proven and binding. In music, Beethoven rose to the ideal of the ingenious creator, who embodied the progress and achievements of mankind on the path toward perfection. Thus, in the course of the 19th century, a Beethoven cult developed using philosophy as its guide in selecting and evaluating historical sources, gladly accepting literary testimonies as historical fact. Historical criticism, which revealed this construction of a romantic image of Beethoven, was suppressed for a long time. Society’s broad acceptance of the notion of the evolutionary progress of mankind, one to which modernity adhered, proved too powerful, and belief in it took the form of an art religion. Beethoven as Zeus of the Third Reich, as the god of modernity, was the program and message of the 14th Secession Exhibition in Vienna in 1902. This image was destructed in the late 20th century.

The article analyses how the folk singing tradition of the Lithuania Minor developed in the late 20th and in the early 21st centuries. It examines the activities of the folklore groups in the Klaipėda Region during the period of 1971–2020, focusing on those that assert fostering of the lietuvininkai singing tradition as their mission or one of their goals. The study employs the previously unused materials, which allow revising the former research results regarding the revival of the Lithuanian ethnic music and show the folklore ensembles working in the Klaipėda Region as a significant part of the Lithuanian folklore movement and the revival of the ethnic music, emerging from the 1960s. Special emphasis is placed on the early phase in adoption of the lietuvininkai singing tradition related to the activities of the folklore ensemble “Vorusnėˮ established in 1971 at the Klaipėda faculties of the State Conservatory of the former LSSR, and the role it had in prompting the creation of other folklore groups in Klaipėda, as well as its impact on the broader cultural and educational processes taking place in the Klaipėda Region.In the 20th century, the prevailing narrative regarding the Lithuanian inhabitants of the Lithuania Minor maintained that books, hymns, schools, church, social and cultural organizations, and choral or theatre activities were the most significant factors influencing the cultural expression of lietuvininkai, while the Lithuanian folklore was hardly practiced anymore or even considered an inappropriate thing. Judging from the folklore recordings, the folk singing tradition supported by the lietuvininkai themselves disappeared along with the singers born in the late 19th century. However, after the WWII, it was adopted and continued by the folklore groups appearing the Klaipėda Region. These groups included people from the other regions of Lithuania who had settled there. This is essentially the process of reviving the ethnic music, which began in Europe during the Enlightenment period and continues in many parts of the world.“Vorusnėˮ was founded in 1971 as the first institutional student folklore ensemble in Klaipėda Region. For 27 years, its leader was a young and talented professor of the Baltic languages Audronė Jakulienė (later Kaukienė). She became the founder of the linguistic school at the Klaipėda University (KU). In the intense and multifaceted activities of the “Vorusnėˮ ensemble, two different stages may be discerned, embracing the periods of 1971–1988 and 1989–2000.In 1971–1988, the ensemble mobilized and educated students in the consciously chosen direction of fostering the Lithuanian ethnic culture, sought contacts with the native lietuvininkai, collected and studied ethnographic and dialectal data, prepared concert programs based on the scholarly, written, and ethnographic sources, gave concerts in Lithuania and abroad, and cooperated with folklore groups from other institutions of higher education.In 1989–2000, the “Vorusnėˮ ensemble engaged in numerous other areas of activity. The children‘s folklore ensemble “Vorusnėlėˮ was established in 1989; both “Vorusnėˮ and “Vorusnėlėˮ became involved in the activities of the community of the Lithuania Minor founded in 1989. The leader of the ensemble and its members contributed to the establishment of the Klaipėda University, which became an important research center of the Prussian history and culture. The leader of the ensemble and her supporters created a new study program of the Lithuanian philology and ethnology at the KU, which during its heyday (2011–2014) had developed three levels of higher education, including bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral studies. The Folklore Laboratory and Archive was established at the Department of the Baltic Linguistics and Ethnology, headed by Kaukienė, and young researchers in philology, ethnology, and ethnomusicology were encouraged to carry out their research there. In the course of over two decades, Kaukienė initiated organizing numerous research conferences dealing with lietuvininkai language and culture.Until 1980, “Vorusnėˮ was the only folklore ensemble in the Klaipėda Region, but in 1985, there were already ten folklore ensembles. These ensembles developed different creative styles that perhaps most notably depended on the personal structure of these ensembles and their leaders’ ideas and professional musical skills. Generally, at the beginning of their activity, all these ensembles sang, played and danced the folklore repertoire comprising all the regions of Lithuania. The activities of “Vorusnėˮ and other folklore ensembles in Klaipėda until 1990 showed that revival of folklore there essentially followed the lines established in other cities and regions of Lithuania.During the first decade after the restoration of independence of Lithuania in 1990, folklore was in high demand. In Klaipėda, the existing ensembles were actively working, and the new ones kept appearing based on the previous ones. The folklore ensembles of the Klaipėda Region clearly declared their priorities, embracing all the contemporary contexts. Some of them associated their repertoire with the folklore of lietuvininkai, others with Samogitian folklore.The lietuvininkai singing tradition was adopted and developed in two main directions.The first one focused on authentic reconstruction, attempting recreation with maximumaccuracy of the song‘s dialect, melody, and manner of singing, as well as its relationship tocustoms, historical events or living environment. The second direction engaged in creativedevelopment, including free interpretations of the songs, combining them with other stylesand genres of music and literature, and using them for individual compositions. These twoways could be combined as well. Lietuvininkai are not directly involved in these activities, butthey tolerate them and participate in these processes in their own historically and culturallydetermined ways.The contemporary artistic expression of the promoters of the lietuvininkai singing tradition is no longer constrained by the religious and ideological dogmas that were previously maintained in the Lithuania Minor and in a way regulated performance of these songs. It is determined nowadays by consciousness, creativity, resourcefulness, and knowledge of its promoters. The dogmas of the Soviet era and modernity have created a certain publicly displayed (show type) folklore. The ensembles took part of the institutionalized amateur art, subsequently becoming subject to justified and unjustified criticism, which is usually levelled on them by the outsiders studying documents and analyzing processes. However, favorable appreciation and external evaluation by the participants of the activities and the local communities highlight the meaning of this activity.

Hryhoriy Skovoroda’s idea of the immanent existence (1722–1794) about related work in Ukrainian modernists poetry, in particular representatives of the artistic group “Muzaget” (1919) is considered as the main methodological prism that conceptualize related work of Panna, outlined with the support of V. Gorsky, L. Ushkalov, and D. Chyzhevsky. The article describes the history of creation and specifics of Kyiv post-revolutionary group of symbolists “Muzaget” activities. The literary and artistic almanac with a similar name was analyzed, where each member of the collective presented his “related” art form: poetry, prose, criticism, painting and, at the same time, recorded the affinity of individual and social (national) principles. Based on the analysis of Mykhailo Zhuk, Dmytro Zahul, Volodymyr Kobylyansky, Klym Polishchuk, Oleksa Slisarenko, Mykola Tereshchenko, Pavlo Tychyna, Pavlo Fylypovych, and Volodymyr Yaroshenko poetry, conceptual dominants have been singled out, which in general realize the creative and collective affinity of “Muzaget poetry”. The symbolism of poetic images-archetypes is outlined: God, Christ, joy, star, flower, wind, path, poet’s soul, singing, music, and dream. The functioning of antitheses and parallelisms is emphasized: the flow of human life / the impermanence of nature, life / death, earth / hell / heaven, good / evil, day / night, asceticism / holiness / sinfulness, Christ / Satan, loneliness / crowd. The polyphonic musical imagery and musicality of the poem are analyzed by using tropes, phonetic and syntactic means. It is concluded that poetic innovation, truthful exhibition of creativity and individuality, accentuation of affinity between talent and character, productive interaction of friends in popular creative collectives in the conditions and under the influence of complex historical events and ideological dilemmas of the 20-30s of the 20th century, led some Musagetists to glorious recognition, and others to the tragic consequences of the Red Renaissance.

The Dance Collection at Arts Centre Melbourne traces the history of dance in Australia from the late nineteenth century to today. The collection encompasses the work of many of Australia's major dance companies and individual performers whilst spanning a range of genres, from contemporary dance and ballet, to theatrical, modern, folk and social dance styles. The Dance Collection is part of the broader Australian Performing Arts Collection, which covers the five key areas of circus, dance, opera, music and theatre. In my overview of Arts Centre Melbourne's (ACM) Dance Collection, I will outline how the collection has grown and highlight the strengths and weaknesses associated with different methods of collecting. I will also identify major gaps in the archive and how we aim to fill these gaps and create a well-balanced and dynamic view of Australian dance history. Material relating to international touring artists and companies including Lola Montez, Adeline Genée, Anna Pavlova and the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo provide an understanding of how early trends in dance performance have influenced our own traditions. Scrapbooks, photographs and items of costume provide glimpses into performances of some of the world's most famous dance performers and productions. As many of these scrapbooks were compiled by enthusiastic and appreciative audience members, they also record the emerging audience for dance, which placed Australia firmly on the touring schedule of many international performers in the early decades of the 20th century. The personal stories and early ambitions that led to the formation of our national companies are captured in collections relating to the history of the Borovansky Ballet, Ballet Guild, Bodenwieser Ballet, and the National Theatre Ballet. Costume and design are a predominant strength of these collections. Through them, we discover and appreciate the colour, texture and creative industry behind pivotal works that were among the first to explore Australian narratives through dance. These collections also tell stories of migration and reveal the diverse cultural roots that have helped shape the training of Australian dancers, choreographers and designers in both classical and contemporary dance styles. The development of an Australian repertoire and the role this has played in the growth of our dance culture is particularly well documented in collections assembled collaboratively with companies such as The Australian Ballet, Sydney Dance Company, and Chunky Move. These companies are at the forefront of dance in Australia and as they evolve and mature under respective artistic directors, we work closely with them to capture each era and the body of work that best illustrates their output through costumes, designs, photographs, programmes, posters and flyers. The stories that link these large, professional companies to a thriving local, contemporary dance community of small to medium professional artists here in Melbourne will also be told. In order to develop a well-balanced and dynamic view of Australian dance history, we are building the archive through meaningful collecting relationships with contemporary choreographers, dancers, designers, costume makers and audiences. I will conclude my overview with a discussion of the challenges of active collecting with limited physical storage and digital space and the difficulties we face when making this archive accessible through exhibitions and online in a dynamic, immersive and theatrical way.

Introduction. The Italian opera in Kharkiv has a long history tradition. Its beginnings date back to the 1850s, when the city became a part of the tour routes of Odesa Italian opera troupes under F. Berger’s, V. Sermattei’s direction (1850s – early 1860s), those of Taganrog – under V. Sermattei’s, Corsi’s and Co (second half of 1860s – 1876). These little provincial troupes with unequal by quality the stuff of singers, with a little choir, usually without their own orchestra, within their possibilities, introduced the popular Italian opera repertoire to the Kharkiv audience. Technical and technological achievements – the development of the rail network, the shipping industry, the telegraph and telephone as the newest means of communication, etc., facilitated communication and, among other things, caused cultural achievements rapid exchange. Those times were marked by increasing of diffusive phenomena (in opera repertoire, in the troupe composition, etc.) in musical and theatrical arts, which, in particular, contributed to the scenic creativity activation of Italian artistes and the extension of the geography of their performances. Outstanding and average singers from the Apennines have travelled to different countries of the world with solo concert programs as part of wandering or stationary opera groups. Artistic tours to Eastern direction – to the European territories of the Russian Empire, along with touring trips to the North and South America countries, – became one of the most prevalent. Kharkiv, being one of the largest industrial and cultural centres in the Russian Empire, as a rule, was included by Italian theatre management in vocal-artistic tour programs. Theoretical background. The problem of the famous Italian opera singers’ activity on the Kharkiv stage in the 80s of the 19th – the beginning of the 20th is poorly investigated. Separate pages of M. Battistini’s, J. Bellinchoni’s, A. Mazini’s, T. Ruffo’s, and E. Tamberlik’s biographies related to Kharkiv were studied by M. Varvartsev (2000) in his historical and biographical work “Italians in the cultural space of Ukraine (the end of 18 – 20s years of the 20th century”, written in the form of a dictionary. The main source for the study of this subject were the local musicologists’ (V. Sokalsky, K. Bych-Lubensky, Yu. Babetsky, etc.) theatrical reviews, published in the Kharkiv regional and city press. Objectives. As the Italian opera art had undeniable influence on the Kharkiv musical culture development, the purpose of the article is to study the scenic activity of the famous Italian opera artistes, which acquainted the local theatrical audience with the assets of the world opera arts in the last decades of the 19th – early 20th century. For this purpose, the following tasks have been outlined: to find out the information potential of music-critical publications, dedicated to the Italian singers’ performances, which were printed in the local press; identify and systematize the facts describing the Italian opera performers’ participation in Kharkiv musical life during that period; to reveal the concert and opera repertoire, to study the evaluations of the Italian singers’ performances by professional criticism, the ways of artistes’ interaction with the audience; to determine the Kharkiv performances position in the famous vocalists’ creative biography, to reconstruct the geography of their tour routes, included performances in Kharkiv. The methodology involves the application of the semiotic-hermeneutic method in order to analyze the phenomena of musical-theatrical life (peculiarities of vocal-stylistic style, specificity of musical-critical thought, reactions and preferences of the audience) as a culture text and their hermeneutical understanding; bio-bibliographic method (to find out and combine facts of life and creative activity of Italian singers in Italy and abroad, in particular, in Kharkiv as well-known culture centre); cultural and historical method (allows to study the Italian singers’ scenic activities as a social phenomenon, to identify social factors contributed to the spread of the Italian opera achievements in the local music and theatre environment). Results and discussion. The study of famous Italian singers’ performances on the Kharkiv stage in the definite period allowed highlighting new facts of their biographies, to analyze the concert and opera repertoire, the features of vocal and performing style, acting specifics. The research revealed the place of Kharkiv concert and opera performances in Italian artistes’ touring programs, analyzed the directions and peculiarities of communicative interactions between performers and spectators, determined the Kharkiv performances place in creative biographies of vocalists who have gained European fame. Conclusions. Italian artistes’ performances had a great influence on local opera singers’ professional growth, the formation of musical tastes and preferences of the educated part of the city residents. The investigation of the repertoire of the Italian singers testifies to their desire to acquaint the listener with the best achievements of European opera art, as well as to present contemporary Russian composers’ operas, which, at the time, were getting popularity in the Western European countries, due, primarily, to Italian performers. Kharkiv performances were usually the part of Italian artistes’ tours, being organized in the largest cities of Ukraine and surrounding regions of former Russian Empire – in Odesa, Kyiv, Mykolayiv, Rostov on Don, which testified, in particular, that the city was transformed into one of the European music culture distribution centres then. The high valuation given by the musical critique of the famous singers artistic talents, the active support of their performances by the audience, attest to the utmost importance of the Italians’ touring activity in the Kharkiv musical culture development.

Dr. Miloje Milojevic (1884-1946) was a central figure in Serbian music criticism and academic essays between the World Wars. A large part of his writings on music were dedicated to the issue of the Serbian ?national music style?, its means of expression, and the question of modernity, i. e. to what extent modernity is desirable in the ?national style?. This paper analyzes some twenty articles - reviews, essays, and writings for special occasions - published by Milojevic between 1912 and 1942 in various Serbian newspapers magazines and collections: Srpski knjizevni glasnik (The Serbian Literary Magazine, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1923, 1924, 1935), Prosvetni glasnik (The Educational Herald, 1914, 1921, 1942), Politika (The Politics, 1921, 1922 1923, 1937, 1938, 1940, 1941), Muzika (The Music, twice in 1928) Spomenica-album Udruzenja muzikanata Kraljevine Jugoslavije 1928-1930 (The Commemorative Volume - The Album of the Society of Musicians of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia 1928-1930, 1930), Smena (The Change, 1938), and Slavenska muzika (The Slavonic Music, 1940). In the course of those thirty years Milojevic passionately believed that the future of Serbian music lies in the ?national style?, i.e. in the artistic transformation of anonymous Serbian folk songs and melodies. In spite of the changes of styles that occurred over the years, he never gave up anticipating the appearance of an ingenious composer who would develop the ?national style? to its climax and enrich Serbian music with ?national? symphonies, operas and chamber music. Milojevic was in favour of a ?national style? mainly on principle. He rarely got into a discussion about the stylistic and technical means he considered most suitable for the ?national style?. In his text Nas muzicko umetnicki program (Our music and artistic programme), published in the Serbian Literary Magazine in 1913, and another article, Za folklornu muziku (In favour of Folk Music), published in the Belgrade daily newspaper Politics in 1921, he recommended that Serbian ?national style? composers followed the model of some representatives of the European national schools of romanticism impressionism and moderately modern music. In a special kind of manifesto Za ideju umetnosti i umetnickog nacionalizma kod nas (In favour of the idea of art and artistic nationalism in Serbia), published in 1935 in the Serbian Literary Magazine, he gave an indirect answer to the question of which means of musical expression he preferred in the ?national style?. For example, he singled out the composition Sever duva (North Wind) by Kosta P. Manojlovic (1890-1949), from his collection of choral songs Pesme zemlje Skenderbegove (The Songs from the Land of Skenderbeg, 1933), as an outstanding example of what he meant by ?national style?. This Albanian folk music was transformed into a relatively modern, but yet not avant-garde composition. Therein lies the answer as to what kind of ?national style? Milojevic preferred. An advocate of a moderately modern music language, he wished Serbian art music to use its very rich folk heritage as best as it could. He was well aware that times had changed, and that there was not much inclination towards this style and ideology in the interwar period. However, he never abandoned this idea. Basically, he never accepted more radical, expressionist treatments of folk elements as a solution to the problems of ?national style?. It is also very significant that he never mentioned the name B?la Bart?k in his writings, which is something we analyze in this paper. He was never able to give up romanticism, a style that never had time to fully develop in Serbian music. Serbian folk music was a perfect basis for composing in a romantic style. Nevertheless, due to many unfavourable circumstances in Serbian history, the Serbs became part of European music world only at the beginning of the 20th century, when it was too late to develop a modern romantic national style.

Black Snow, an orchestral work composed by Michael Smetanin in 1987, was named after the book Black Snow by Mikhael Bulgakov. Newspaper articles, reviews and the literature researched, all comment on Smetanin’s style and on the influences that shaped that style. The aggressive and confrontational style of much of Smetanin’s music can be attributed partly to his love of rock music and jazz and partly to his mentor in the Netherlands, Louis Andriessen. The same sources quote other composers who also influenced Smetanin’s style. Three works in particular are named, that is, Trans by Stockhausen, Keqrops by Xenakis and De Tijd by Andriessen. It was decided, in the light of previous investigations into Smetanin’s music, to take one of these composers, namely Stockhausen and his work Trans, and discover how much Smetanin was influenced by this composer and this particular work. Trans was chosen because the similarities with Black Snow are less obvious. All aspects of Black Snow were examined - namely the harmony, rhythms, the important textures, serial/mathematical techniques, orchestration, the dramatic program, how the instruments are played - and then compared with Trans for similarities and differences. The results of the analytical investigation show that, while the internal organisation of the two works is very different, there are significant similarities between the two works in most of these areas. Serial/mathematical techniques could only be demonstrated in one area, and this is only conjecture.

Note: Pages have been removed from this digital copy due to copyright restrictions. A print copy is available in the McGill Library.
This dissertation presents the history of space in the musical thought of the 2Othcentury (from Kurth to Clifton, from Varèse to Xenakis) and outlines the development of spatialization in the theory and practice of contenlporary music (after 1950). The text emphasizes perceptual and temporal aspects of musical spatiality, thus reflecting the close connection of space and time in human experience. A new definition of spatialization draws from Ingarden’s notion of the musical work; a new typology of spatial designs embraces music for different acoustic environments, movements of performers and audiences, various positions of musicians in space, etc. The study of spatialization includes a survey of the writings of many composers (e.g. Ives, Boulez, Stockhausen, Cage) and an examination of their compositions. The final part of the dissertation presents three approaches to spatialization: Brant’ s simultaneity of sound layers, Xenakis’s movement of sound, and Schafer’s music of ritual and soundscape.
Cette thèse présente l’histoire de l’espace dans la pensée musicale du vingtième siècle (de Kurth à Clifton, de Varèse à Xenakis) et retrace le développement de la spatialisation dans la théorie et la pratique de la musique contemporaine (après 1950). Le texte souligne les aspects perceptuels et temporels de la spatialisation musicale, reflétant ainsi le lien étroit entre temps et espace t!ans l’expérience humaine. Une nouvelle définition de la spatialisation tire son origine de la notion de l’oeuvre musicale d’Ingarden; une nouvelle typologie des plans spatiaux prend en considération des musiques pour différents environnements acoustiques, diverses positions des musiciens dans l’espace de même que le mouvement de ceux-ci et des auditeurs, etc. L’étude de la spatialisation inclut un survol des écrits de plusieurs compositeurs (Ives, Stockhausen, Boulez et Cage, par exemple) de même qu’un examen de leurs oeuvres. La dernière partie de la thèse présente trois approches compositionnelles de la spatialisation: la simultanéité de strates sonores ,:hez Brant, le mouvement du son chez Xenakis et la musique du rituel et l’écologie sonore chez Schafer.

This thesis examines the music criticism of Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (1892- ), a well known composer and music critic active in England from the early 1920s to the late 1940s. Although many authors have referred to Sorabji's music and criticism, neither has been treated in a substantive manner. The present study focuses on Sorabji's contributions to The New Age, a weekly journal, and particularly on his articles therein dealing with contemporary British composers. It is of interest that Sorabji's criticism deals with a vibrant period of music history, known as the English Renaissance. An examination of Sorabji's writings, published articles and private correspondence reveals him to be a highly complex personality. His marginal position in English society, based partly on his racial background and his negative views of the British, led him to view the musical scene from a perspective differing from that of other critics. Not fully admitted into the inner circles of the musical establishment, Sorabji surrounded himself with a small, elite group of friends and admirers, which included well known composers and literary figures such as Bernard van Dieren, Peter Warlock, William Walton, John Ireland, Sacheverall Sitwell, Hugh McDiarmid and Cecil Gray. It is within this context that Sorabji redefined the role of the music critic and criticism to suit his personal values and style which were much influenced by his involvement in the mystical tradition of Tantric Hinduism. A detailed discussion of Sorabji's writings on the British composers Delius, Elgar, Bax, Vaughan Williams, Hoist, Ireland, van Dieren, Walton, Lambert, Smyth, Berners, Bush, Warlock, Howells, Bliss, Boughton, Scott, Goossens and Britten reveals that the critic's musical affinities were conservative throughout his career as music critic for The New Age. An analysis of these writings shows a clear-cut pattern of likes and dislikes. Sorabji praised highly the musical styles that appealed to him and wrote in a harsh and negative manner about music that he found distasteful. While this emotionalism tainted many of his reviews, it also encouraged the support of those who shared his opinions. Nonetheless, Sorabji's use of harsh and blunt language often turned the tide of public opinion against him. Yet, it is this particular style, which can sometimes be humourous and racy and other times harsh to the point of cruelty, that distinguishes Sorabji writings from the mainstream of music criticism. An appendix lists Sorabji's writings in The New Age during the period 1915 to 1934.
Arts, Faculty of
Music, School of
Graduate

Musical study of The Butterfly Lovers violin concerto by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang. Tracing its cultural background in China, analyzing in terms of the concerto's form, melody, scale, mode, harmony, and orchestration and discussing the more unusual technical demands of violin playing made by this concerto.

This document presents the most salient features of Jolivet's mature musical style as exemplified in two of his major solo works for trumpet. The two works which serve as the musical focus of the document are one of his latest works, Arioso Barocco (1968) for trumpet and organ, and a work situated near the center of his compositional output, the Second Concerto (1954) for trumpet and a thirteen-member chamber ensemble. Following an exposition of Jolivet's life and musical development, we begin by examining five technical principles of harmony, texture, melody, and rhythm, which Jolivet set forth in a 1946 article. His aesthetic principles as stated in this and other articles by the composer are also examined. The most important of these aesthetic principles holds that music is by nature incantatory or has an incantatory mission--that is, it has the power to connect man with the cosmos, eternity, or that which is greater than man himself. At the heart of this incantatory aesthetic ideal is Jolivet's belief in the primacy of expressive melody, free of the harmonic restraints of traditional tonality. The musical analysis proceeds by identifying in Arioso Barocco the specific application of Jolivet's technical and aesthetic principles to the music, as well as considering formal structure and thematic process. The Second Concerto is then examined in the same way, and a stylistic and technical comparison is drawn between the two works. The study concludes that while both works serve the same underlying atonal and incantatory musical aesthetic, they are markedly different in many significant technical characteristics and stylistic traits. In view of the fact that both works come from what is considered Jolivet's third and final creative period, these findings give cause for further research into Jolivet's compositions from this period to determine whether they do in fact constitute one creative period or two separate and distinct periods.

This thesis focuses on a group of keyboard pieces composed in the first half of the twentieth century entitled ‘prelude’, and explores the issue of genre, investigating the significance in the application of this generic title, and the development of the piano prelude in this period. The application of a generic title often invokes the expectation of its generic features its conventional and formal characteristics. Though the prelude is one of the oldest genres in the history of keyboard music, it has relatively few conventions, and hence, with the abandonment of its primary function the prefatory role in the nineteenth century, it has been considered an indeterminate genre. Rachmaninoff, however, asserted that a generic title should carry with it appropriate generic manifestations, which parallelled similar generic concepts in literature. This expectation of generic traits is like setting up a ‘generic contract’, offering an invitation to either conform or reform, and thus affecting its course of development. A survey of the prelude’s historical development points to six rather consistent generic conventional and formal characteristics: (i) tonality, (ii) pianistic/technical figuration, (iii) thematic treatment and formal structure, (iv) improvisatory style, (v) mood content, and (vi) brevity. Though these general characteristics may overlap with other genres, it is their collective characteristics that have contributed to the genre’s unique identity. These features form the basis for an exploration of the conformity to, or further evolution of, these characteristics in the preludes of the early twentieth century. From the substantial number of piano preludes composed in this period, selected sets, representative of the various stylistic manifestations of the period, are analysed in relation to the identified generic characteristics. The examination reveals that these preludes, though apparently diversified in style and outlook, exhibit affinity in one form or another to the generic characteristics. Each example exhibits different treatments of the generic characteristics reflective of twentieth-century developments, whilst retaining its generic identity. The prelude is thus an amalgamation of a tonal, technical and affective piece, which may be considered a combination of a tonal essay, a study/toccata, and a character piece; and collectively, a sequence of tonalities, a collection of pianistic technical studies, and a compendium of musical styles/genres in miniature.