Language of Metaphors as an Element of the Genre Idea of Bagatelles in the Musical Universe of V. Silvestrov

Abstract

Introduction. Radical reinterpretation of the genre of bagatelles takes place in modern musical culture. Famous Ukrainian composer V. Silvestrov demonstrates such re-examination most consistently. The task of holistic analysis of the genre concept of bagatelles, the unity of philosophical and aesthetic, metaphorical, symbolic, performative dimensions of this phenomenon in its synthetic unity and complementarity is extremely urgent. Literature Review (Theoretical Background). The genre of bagatelles was studied by foreign and Ukrainian scholars (G. Karelova, A. Lunina, N. Ruban, S. Suldina, Y. Furduy, M. Chernyavskaya, E. Antokoletz, M. Eremiášová, F. Sallis et al. As a rule, bagatelles are considered among other small forms (preludes, musical moments, nocturnes and so on), in the context of the creativity of composers (bagatelles of Bartok, Beethoven, Cherepnin, Silvestrov), in connection with certain structural and semantic elements of music. In the framework of this paper special attention is paid to numerous interviews of V. Silvestrov (the book “To Wait for Music” and “ΣΥΜΠΟΣΙΟΝ”) and theoretical investigations of the Ukrainian researcher Y. Furduy, devoted to the rhythmological aspects of the evolution of the piano bagatelles. Objectives. The focus of this publication is the language of metaphors as an element of genre ideas in the creativity of a prominent Ukrainian composer. The aim of the studies is to explicate the synthetic unity of the philosophical and aesthetic, metaphorical, musical and structural dimensions of V. Silvestrov’s bagatelles in the context of his musical Universe, to substantiate the fundamentals and principles of synthesis (using the “Cycle of Cycle” as example of the macrocycle of twenty seven bagatelles). Methods. The triad “philosophical concept – author’s metaphor – elements of a musical language” was first used as a tool for describing and analyzing genre ideas bagatelles in the “Cycle of Cycles”in their inextricable synthetic unity. Theoretical and methodological background of the article are philosophical approaches to the analysis of the universal dimension of culture (problems of the “universals of culture”, the symbolic and metaphorical language of culture, the semantic synthetic unity of culture, music, philosophy). Results and Discussions. The first step of the investigation is the analysis of the diversity of definitions and metaphors for bagatelles. It gives opportunity to evaluate the modern transformations of this genre. Particular attention is paid to the own metaphors of V. Silvestrov (“bagatelle is a musical moment…”). It was reviewed the typological features of the genre in his work: structure, textures, musical vocabulary, style techniques, philosophical foundation, the sphere of existence of the genre. These typological features of the genre are supplemented with philosophical and aesthetic concepts and a corpus of author’s metaphors that are essential for understanding and performance of the Cycle of Cycles. The basic metaphor for Silvestrov became the image of the symposium (symposion) with friends, which describes the principle of creating of microcycles of the “epic of bagatelles”. The general intuition in this thematic field is the principle of “great in small.” This principle in the composer’s works is revealed as an integral element of the author’s style and worldview. Bagatelle, according to the composer, is a minimum of music and musical means that represent “music in its entirety”. The author allows for the interpreter to balance between two opposite concepts: “Universe that is expanding” and “Music in own home”. The key positions that are considered in the light of the triad “philosophical concept – author’s metaphor – elements of the musical language”, are Feast (Symposion), Time, Memory, Silence. Conclusions. The result of our investigation is the representation of metaphor as an integral semantic component of the genre idea of bagatelle in the creativity of the V. Silvestrov, which is authentically revealed only in the context of the whole musical and philosophical Universe. The metaphor of the symposion is presented as the most fundamental. It refers to the philosophical concept of the symposium, which can become comprehensive in interpretation of the shape of the macrocycle of bagatelles. Epistemological premises created for introduction of the “ Cycle of Cecles” into the sphere of meta-genre, for explanation of the elements of openness in the structure of V. Silvestrov`s “epic of bagatelles”, for invitation of new “guests”, new music personalities into Universe. Prospects for future research. The results of the analysis of the language of metaphors as an element of the genre idea of bagatelles gives opportunity to explicate the place and role of the “bagatelle epic” in V. Silvestrov’s musical Universe, to understand the significance of this genre in modern Ukrainian music.