Ðerformer’s reflection as à dialogue between à singer and à composer (based on the vocal poem “Rus’ that sailed away” by G. Sviridov)
Background. Revealing of facets of collaboration between a singer and a composer based on compositional and dramaturgic analysis of a vocal cycle is important for creation of an interpretation representing by a performer. Choice of material for researching of the problem of creative dialogue between a singer and a composer is caused by originality of the G. Sviridov’s work “Rus’ sailed away” as a “poem-mystery” (determined by M. Arkadiyev). Its semantic field is multivalued, that allows performers to deepen the author’s text with interpretative intentions and expands existing scientific ideas about the sound world of the work. In G. Sviridov’s works the spiritual communication with a future performer acts as a driving force. Hence, attention to co-authorship as a component of a performing interpretation arises from the analysts of vocal art. For many years G. Sviridov collaborated with the outstanding singers of his era – A. Vedernikov, I. Arkhipova, E. Nesterenko, E. Obraztsova, D. Hvorostovsky. Performing of G. Sviridov’s vocal compositions is out of the traditional academic manner: the composer noted that the novelty and complexity of his music derived from the speech intonation, which should be felt and reproduced in its content layer. The composer also felt the need for a co-author, active and sensitive to meaning of musical text, which is vividly individual in his work. Methodology. G. Sviridov’s style has been researching by musicologists for many years. In the monograph by O. Aleksandrova the interpretation of A. Blok’s poetic symbolism in the vocal cycle “St.-Petersburg songs” was proposed. However, the issues of specifics of performing interpretation in G. Sviridov’s works have not been studied enough. Indeed, the article by V. Kusakina presents the experience of comprehension of the poem from the point of view of author’s and performing remarks, however there are no aspects of timbre and tonal semantics as the most important component of G. Sviridov’s vocal style. E. Ruchiyevskaya emphasized on the deeply lyrical theme in the poem, its epical style, where the images of the Yesenin’s “Bible” in their musical incarnation are like a Requiem. Musicologists associations demand for additional explanations in the discourse of contemporary interpretology. Objectives. Based on comparison of the various performing versions of the vocal poem by G. Sviridov “Rus’ that sailed away”, the presented article identifies facets of the creative dialogue “a singer – a composer”, thus expanding scientific understanding of the author’s conception of the composition. Results. The poem “Rus’ that sailed away” (the lyrics by S. Yesenin) was composed during the very short period of time in 1976–1977 under influence of the personal experience about the untimely death of his close friend, musicologist A. Soñhor, the author of the first monograph on G. Sviridov’s works. (The title page reads as follows “In memory of Arnold Naumovich Soñhor”). Another incentive for creating the vocal poem was the composer’s friendship with Vladislav Piavko (singer), the owner of the voice of tremendous power and beauty. The composer ranked the “Rus’ that sailed away” as one of the best works he created; its genre he defined as “the poem in twelve songs”. The multiple valued semantics of the poem is united by the hyperbole of the main idea of renewal and transformation of Russia, embodied in Christian symbols as well as plenty of characteristic images (lyrical, tragic, genre and domestic, sacred) and their synthesis. We should emphasize the main culmination points of dramaturgy of the cycle (¹¹ 6, 9, 12), that built on the principle of climbing. The tonalities’ moving is occurred from E minor to C# minor (“sharp” direction). The second section of the poem is written in C# minor. After the sudden tonality shift (on the diminished fifth, G minor in ¹ 7 “Where are you, where are you, my father’s house…”) C# minor becomes firmly established again in ¹ 8, where it says about finding ways: “Behind the milky hills” there is the father’s house, but “the fatal horn has already been blowing”. Therefore, just the faith may help to overcome yourself and to renew your spirit. That is the composer’s idea and its tonal decision in the first composer’s version of the opus, written for tenor and piano. Conclusion. A comparative approach to understanding the concept of the work allowed us to reveal both similarities and differences in its interpretation. V. Piavko created opera and dramatic version of the music poem; E. Obraztsova intensified lyrical and psychological reflection of the Poet character (thanks to gender factor); D. Hvorostovsky and M. Arkadiev (piano) proposed director’s version of the musical masterpiece. We made a pointed reference to the role of the semantics of tonalities in making the creative dialogue between the singer and the composer aimed at understanding of art as communication, and vocal work as artistic whole. Thanks to synthesis of subjective and objective plans noted by us in Sviridov’s musical poem, instead of the “romantic dual world” principle, the principle of spiritual synergy (co-work) emerges – the Poet unites with the new transformed world. The Christian theme is closely intertwined with the author’s reflection on the fate of a poet and sense of life.