Ru
EnE. Beriglazova
S. Prokofiev’s Cantata “For the 20th Anniversary of October”: the image of revolutionaries in the stylistic field of constructivism
This article offers a new perspective on the image of revolutionaries recreated in Sergei Prokofiev’s “Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of October”. Musicologists in the 2nd half of the 20th century see this image as a positive, majestic force, while contemporary scholars see it as a satirical figure – and accordingly, label the work an “ideological diversion”. To clarify the semantic content of the image of revolutionaries and attempt to resolve this contradiction, we propose a comprehensive analysis of the complex musical devices and techniques that dominate the characterization of this collective figure.
The article postulates that constructivism became one of the leading artistic trends in Russian musical art in the early 20th century. Machine-like phonics came to the forefront in the works of constructivist composers, with rhythm predominating, a cumbersome texture, a rigid intonation framework, heightened dissonance, vivid timbral, tonal, and dynamic contrasts, and striking sound effects. It is noted for the first time that these expressive means are reflected in Sergei Prokofiev’s cantata, specifically in those sections featuring the collective character of “revolutionaries”.
The study has resulted in a reconstruction of the named image. It is argued that this image fully aligns with the aesthetics of constructivism, and that its characteristics emphasize the key markers of this artistic movement, which are evident in the musical texture of the cantata – the extensive and the mechanical, existing “beyond” the realm of sensual, human nature. It has been established that the composer presents this collective character as a powerful military machine with a terrifying, “mechanical” appearance. This logically explains the categorical refusal of the official instances to perform the cantata, as well as the outrage of its representatives over the obvious discrepancy between this music and the socialist realist canon of the 1930s.
Key words
cantata “For the 20th Anniversary of October”, image of revolutionaries, constructivism, depersonalized image, extensive type of musical characteristic.
For citation
Beriglazova E. S. Prokofiev’s Cantata “For the 20th Anniversary of October”: the image of revolutionaries in the stylistic field of constructivism. In: South-Russian Musical Anthology. 2026. No. 3. Pp. 70–80.
