Ru
EnO. Gudozhnikova
Sonata for Cello and Piano in context of the Expressionism aesthetics and artistic practice in the first half of the 20th century: Towards the problem of interpreting the genre
The author of the article focuses on the genre of the sonata for cello and piano, in particular, its stylistic and structural features in the context of the innovative trends in the culture of the first half of the 20th century. The achievements of expressionism in the field of vocabulary had a significant impact on the fundamental principles of musical art, shaping its development for many years to come. This phenomenon was most evident in theatrical genres. In chamber music, the distinctive elements of the style, such as the unique imagery and emotional expression, as well as the use of the dodecaphonic technique, were merely part of the overall artistic concept of the compositions. The sonata for cello and piano did not remain on the sidelines of this process, becoming for many composers a field for creative experiments in the field of means of expression. In the cello sonatas by A. Webern, A. Honegger, P. Hindemith, N. Roslavets, Yu. Kochurov, the radical renewal of the musical language dictates significant changes in the structural and stylistic parameters of the genre.
The enrichment of compositions with new figurative and meaningful concepts has led to a reinterpretation of the traditional ensemble roles of the cello and piano in terms of texture norms and semantic characteristics. As a result, we can observe a departure from the fusion of timbres and the personalization of instrumental parts in the sonatas. However, some of the sonatas still adhere to the genre’s requirements in terms of form, while others exhibit a tendency towards a compressed cycle. Brave innovationsin the field of musical language, however, have left unchanged the main invariant feature of the genre: the artistic equivalence of instrumental parts.
Key words
chamber instrumental music in the first half of the 20th century, sonata for Cello and Piano, expressionism, dodecaphony, structural and style transformations of the genre.
For citation
Gudozhnikova O. Sonata for Cello and Piano in context of the Expressionism aesthetics and artistic practice in the first half of the 20th century: Towards the problem of interpreting the genre. In: South-Russian Musical Anthology. 2025. No. 4. Pp. 48–56.
