Ru
EnL. Vоrotyntseva
Formation of the “new simplicity” concept in composers' work of the second half of the 20th century
The article is devoted to the prerequisites for the formation of the ”new simplicity” concept in the music of the second half of the 20th century. Due to the metaphorical nature and ambiguity of the phenomenon, there are practically no works devoted to the definition of “new simplicity” in the musical academic discourse. Therefore, theoretical comprehension of this phenomenon is relevant and timely. The author aims to trace the process of development and crystallization of this phenomenon, as well as to consider stylistics and features of the musical language of such music on the examples of particular pieces.
There are many examples of composers turning to the “new simplicity”. Fatigue of deconstruction, technical oversaturation, and the complexity of music push composers towards simplification and return to tradition. Thus, each wave of the avant-garde brought to life the emergence of “new sincerity”, “new subjectivity”, “weak style” and various “neo-“. It suggests that the “new simplicity” is historically relative and transitory.
Revaluation of aesthetic vision and musical-technical approach naturally leads to a stylistic reorientation, which is reflected in the authors’ concepts. The music of each composer should be considered exclusively in the perspective of his philosophical views, aesthetics and stylistics. Each author chose his own path: someone called for radical measures, someone rejected avant-garde gradually. At the same time, everyone tried to get away from technical prohibitions and restrictions.
All this led to an individual approach to the search for the beauty of musical expression as a way to return the communicative function of music, which led to the simplification of musical language, the revival of melody and harmony as the primary foundations of musical expression.
On the examples from the creative heritage of a number of composers – H.-U. von Bose, M. Troyan, W. Strantz, T. Riley and others, – the conceptual underpinnings, one way or another connected with the phenomenon of “new simplicity”, are considered.
Key words
“new simplicity”, artistic concept, creative aim, musical language, composer’s work, avantgarde, musical art.
For citation
Vоrotyntseva L. Formation of the “new simplicity” concept in composers' work of the second half of the 20th century // South-Russian Musical Anthology. 2023. No. 3. Pp. 123-129.
