Ru
EnL. Varavina
“Autograph” for contemporaries and descendants: Reflections on the Bayan Sonata No. 5 by Vyacheslav Semenov
The published article characterizes the role and significance of the sonata genre as one of the prior spheres of V. Semenov’s bayan creative work. The fundamental principles of the individual composer’s interpretation of sonata genre, according to the author of the article, are its vast concept and concert quality. These features are embodied in the program ideas and the figurative sphere of specific compositions, the musical and dramaturgical organization of sonata cycles, the selection and interaction of performing means of expression. An obvious corroboration of the above is the Fifth Sonata “Autograph” (2020), the completion of which coincided with V. Semenov’s the 75th birthday. “Autobiographical” motifs, traditionally appearing in such opuses, are interpreted by the composer with the help of non-trivially perceived musical cryptograms – pitch “letter ciphers” and rhythmic “micro-series”. In addition, the active usage of the “personal” BACH monogram as well as the allusion of the initial fragment of the organ Toccata and fugue in D minor, which appears twice in the finale, reveal certain parallels with the traditions of “Bachian offerings”. The pronounced features of Baroque toccata in this part are also indicative: the dominance of a through metro-rhythmic “pulse” that unites relatively completed contrasting episodes, a special emotional uplift, gravitating towards “visible theatricality”, flexible correlation of various polyphonic features (intonation variety of the theme, logical interaction of melodic lines and texture layers). The conceptual result of intensive dramatic development is the “moment of truth” – artistic insight as a “breakthrough” to a lifeaffirming worldview. The underlying sources of the latter are the indissoluble spiritual ties of generations, inherent in academic musical culture and predetermining the possibility of creators of the 20th and 21st centuries to “find themselves”.
Key words
V. Semenov, bayan sonata genre, autobiographical character, Sonata No. 5 “Autograph”, musical monograms, “Bachian” motifs.
For citation
Varavina L. “Autograph” for contemporaries and descendants: Reflections on the Bayan Sonata No. 5 by Vyacheslav Semenov // South-Russian Musical Anthology. 2023. No. 3. Pp. 45-57.
