Ru
EnE. Andrushchenko
“Pictures of the Quiet Don” in the works by Rostov composers: 1940s–1980s (essay 1)
This publication is dedicated to the 275th anniversary of Rostov-on-Don to be celebrated in September of 2024. The author notes the Rostov Union of Composers was initially formed as a professional organization missed to pay special attention to regional problems of artistic culture – from the purposeful study and creative implementation of the multinational folklore of the South of Russia to the creation of musical works capturing the major events of the past and present in the life of the Don region. Based on this, the totality of these works can be likened to a “sound chronicle” of the region. At the same time, the “panoramic” coverage of the various “pictures of the Quiet Don” is naturally conditioned by the difference in the author’s approaches to solving the corresponding “chronicle” problems. The works of the Soviet period (1940s–1980s) that reveal the “Don theme” and belong to the well-known Rostov composers of the older generation – A. Artamonov, L. Izrailevich and G. Balaev – are further characterized as “illustrations”. Thus, the First (“Cossack”), Fourth and Fifth (“Song of the Volga-Don”) symphonies, as well as the opera “Kondrat Bulavin” by A. Artamonov are presented as examples of a clearly expressed dramatic (“theatrical-action”) approach to the embodiment of the designated theme. Orchestral and vocal-orchestral works by L. Izrailevich (“Don Symphonic Trilogy”, “You are our breadwinner, the glorious quiet Don”, “Azov City”, etc.) are considered as examples of an epic (“story-tale”) solution. G. Balaev’s songs devoted to the “beloved city” of Rostov and the Don region in general capture the lyrical perspective of the embodiment of the “regional” theme. The emerging “classical triad” – the conjugation of drama, epos and lyricism – is positioned by the author of the article taking into account the further elucidation of multiple composers’ approaches to recreating the “pictures of the Quiet Don”.
Key words
Rostov Union of Composers, embodiment of the “Don Themes” in composers’ work, A. Artamonov, L. Izrailevich, G. Balaev, works of the 1940s–1980s.
For citation
Andrushchenko E. “Pictures of the Quiet Don” in the works by Rostov Composers: 1940s–1980s (essay 1). In: South-Russian Musical Anthology. 2024. No. 3. Pр. 16–21.
