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abstracts
Ioannis Fulias: The four piano concertos of
Xaver Scharwenka. A contribution to the examination of the concerto
genre during the late romantic period
(Part I)
The
present publication is the first, internationally, comprehensive
study devoted to the four concertos for piano and orchestra of Xaver
Scharwenka (1850-1924), works that are not only some of the most
representative of their genre during the late romantic period, but
also unjustifiably neglected for almost a century. As an
introduction, a brief biographical sketch is provided for the
composer, brilliant virtuoso and notorious piano pedagogue (among
his many other attributes), and a reference is made to his principal
works; also, a critical reconstruction of the periodisation of his
whole compositional output in two distinct phases (instead of three
periods, as has been groundlessly proposed by M. Schneider-Dominco)
is offered,
and a similar review is attempted concerning the references
to
Scharwenka’s concertos that are detected both in general and more
specific literature. Subsequently, each of the
composer’s
four piano concertos is examined from a historical and an analytical
perspective: the –
as
complete as possible – history of their creation and performances
is
based on a thorough cross-check of data from the available primary
sources and secondary literature references, leading to numerous
revisions of hitherto erroneous or deficient information, while the
detailed analyses of the works illuminate their structure and their
main stylistic features in connection
with
a solid theoretical background, which
contributes
to the
elimination
of
any kind of
misinterpretation formulated for these concertos in all their
previous, superficial, approaches. Finally, in the conclusion of
this study, a) the evolution of Scharwenka’s compositional style is
evaluated
through his formal choices, the implementation of the cyclic form as
a compositional principle, and the relation between the solo
instrument and the orchestra that is developed in his four
concertos, b) the possible influence that
the works of
prominent fellow-craftsmen of his occasionally
had on Scharwenka is
put under investigation, c) the exact position of these piano
concertos in the wider history of their genre during the late
romantic period is redefined, and, inevitably, d) an inquiry is made
into the causes of their displacement from the concert repertoire
after the death of their composer.
Nafsika Chatzichristou: Examination of
the Greek classical music and opera audience’s motives for
participation in live concerts and performances
People’s perceptions and opinions about the value of cultural
activities, the level of satisfaction of their needs by
participating in them, the rising emotions and benefits (conscious
or unconscious) that derive on a personal and social level, are all
factors that can determine the form and the degree of their
participation. Although the mentioned factors can be reasonably
understood as motives for cultural participation, in this article
motives are defined by the selected process to attend live concerts
and performances of classical music and opera as opposed to the
private listening of recordings. While live concerts competitors are
varied, modern researchers have pointed out that a dominant one is
the art music itself through the listening of recordings in the
comfort of domestic place. In order to settle down the
scaremongering that records tend to supplant the need to participate
in live concerts, the article reveals part of the findings of the
empirical research conducted as part of a doctoral thesis on the
Greek classical music and opera audience with the support of The
Athens Concert Hall – Megaron and the Greek National Opera.
The examination of the audience’s motives for cultural participation
provides a better understanding of its behaviors and may therefore
contribute to defining level and more accurate audience development
proposals, as described through the programming, education and
marketing sectors.
Maria Sourtzi:
Structural characteristics of Perotin’s organum quadruplum
Sederunt principes (1st part)
The four-part organum Sederunt principes of Perotin is a work
of colossal dimensions. For this reason, this article will be
limited to an analysis of the structure of its first part, which,
nevertheless, is demonstrative of the highly dexterous compositional
skills of Perotin. Through the use of very limited motivic material,
Perotin still manages to create a large-scale work without even
resorting to a single exact repetition. His compositional practice
–
based on the presentation of the same melodic material, but always
in a different manner
–
harbingers, inter alia, the musical style of J. S. Bach, 500 years
later. Some of the means for this accomplishment include the
employment of motivic repetition and variation,
sequences,
imitation technique,
the rectus-inversus technique,
and the use of double and triple counterpoint, probably for the
first time in the history of western music. These innovations
classify Perotin’s
organum
Sederunt principes
not only as one of his most inspirational compositions, but also as
a work ahead of its time.
Alain Gedovius – George Leotsakos: Dimitris
Levidis: Gleanings from Le Journal de ma Vie [The diary of
my life] (Part II)
This
document presents extensive excerpts from
the three-volume manuscript diary
of Dimitris Levidis, under the title
Le Journal de ma Vie [The diary of my life]. The
manuscript is expertly summarized in depth, with the aid of Alain
Gedovius, who is the owner of the composer’s copyrights, due to his
father’s marriage to the composer’s daughter Marie-France. Alain
Gedovius kept the archives, music material (both manuscript and
printed scores), photos and Memoirs of Levidis for almost 30
years, before donating the whole archive to the Département
de la Musique of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. The extensive
prologue and the commentary of the text have been written by the
author and music critic George Leotsakos. Leotsakos, with his vivid
style of writing, gives a first account of this new significant
find, offering a wealth of information about the
fortune of composer’s works after his death.
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