The article deals with the thematicism and thematic work in the first movement of Mozart’s Piano Sonata KV 311/284c (1777). The analysis of thematical process in this instrumental composition is ...examined under the angle of correlation between the contemporary and historical approaches: 1. the correspondence of the music theory concepts that were part of the lexicon of Wolfgang Amadeus and Leopold Mozarts (Ideen, il filo), with a complex of musical-analytical terms of our time, formed both in line with the historically informed theory, and in the context of the general theory of musical composition and form; 2. the comparison of research methods of the musical-thematic plan in the English-language and Russian musicology of the last half century. Sonata KV311/284c does not pertain to the number of Mozart’s compositions that have already been studied earlier from the point of view of the theory of topoi, which makes its analysis of additional interest. The article defines the topoi in the first Allegro, demonstrates their distribution in the sonata form, traces the logic of motivic and thematic transformations. The similarity of the “plotline”, which is formed from the relationship of the elements of the musical text (tonal, harmonic, melodic, textural, dynamic, etc.), began to be examined in musicology during the last third of the 20th and the early 21st centuries through the prism of the concept of narrative analysis. Such a plotline in Mozart’s sonata unfolds on two levels. The first is the typical for the sonata form “deducibility” of all themes from the main theme, that is, a certain “obligatory tonefabula” of the sonata composition (a term by Rostislav Berberov). The second level is the presence of an individual “intonation fabula” (a term by Inna Barsova), which is realized through the correlation of motives. In this plot, the archetypal narrative of comedy described by Almén (Byron Almén, 2003, 2008) gets its original embodiment. Thus, when considering the works of Mozart, both narratological analysis and the identification of a “common” classical musical language have significant prospects. At the same time, the relationship between the concepts that have been brought into scholarly use in our time and the concepts that have come from the 18th century is by no means unambiguous. The modern terms “narrative” and “topos” primarily define typological models, while the terms taken from the personal communication of Wolfgang and Leopold Mozarts fix individual of such models specific compositions.
The Matrix of Envy in Amadeus Kupfer, Joseph H.
Quarterly review of film and video,
09/2020, Letnik:
37, Številka:
7
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Kupfer discusses the matrix of envy in the film Amadeus. The film pulses with the tension between Salieri's unqualified love of Mozart's music and the untempered loathing of its creator. To the ...extent it can be, this struggle is resolved through the awful gnawing of his envy. Although Salieri's envy is seemingly straightforward, the film reveals complexities and depths in this most self-wounding of vices. The matrix of envy that emerges from the film-story includes the following dimensions: types of envy; existential seriousness; the axis of humility-arrogance; destructiveness; and proximity.
Michael Kunze, librettist whose works include "Elisabeth" and "Dance of the Vampires", enjoys immense popularity throughout Europe and Asia. His biographical musicals are not only impressive shows ...but also fascinating attempts at introducing the audience both to Austrian history and to mechanisms of presenting the past by means of modern music theatre. "Musical as Memory Machine" discusses the creation process of Kunze’s two famous musicals, "Elisabeth" and "Mozart!", in the context of studies on collective memory and of the Euro-American history of music theatre as a form of entertainment. The book demonstrates that the musical has long been tightly intertwined with the memories of the societies where it is staged, and that the history of the musical as a genre is inextricably linked with Vienna.
Alongside the model embellishments Mozart composed for various keyboard works, he also wrote embellishments for contemporary arias including ‘Ah, se a morir mi chiama’ from Lucio Silla, the concert ...aria ‘Non sò d'onde viene’ K.294 and ‘Cara, la dolce fiamma’ from J.C. Bach's Adriano in Siria. Although these have been overlooked in the critical literature, they shed light on many aspects of Mozart's art of melodic decoration. In this article, I begin by examining these notated operatic embellishments: their textual histories, the styles of elaboration they evince, the pacing with which they unfold, and their motivic construction, as well as their relation to broader trends in Mozart's style. I then explore the embellishments Mozart composed into the texts of his other operas, arguing that these served not only a musical but also an aesthetic purpose, furthering elements of characterisation and drama, particularly in Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte. I end with brief remarks on the challenges facing modern-day interpreters who wish to embellish Mozart's operas.
The three Mozart/Da Ponte operas offer an inexhaustible wellspring for critical reflection, possessing a complexity and equivocation common to all great humane works. They have the potential to ...reflect and refract whatever locus of contemporaneity may be the starting point for enquiry. Thus, even postmodern and postmillennial concerns, far from seeming irrelevant to these operas, are instead given new perspectives by them, whilst the music and the dramatic situations have the multivalency to accept each refreshed pallet of interpretation without loss of their essential character. These operas seem perennially ‘new'. In exploring the evergreen qualities of Don Giovanni and Le Nozze di Figaro, this collection of studies does not shun approaches that have foundations in established theory, but refracts them through such problems as the tension between operatic tradition and psychological realism, the co-existence of multiple yet equal plots, and the antagonism between the tenets of tradition and the need for self-actualization. In exploring such themes, the authors not only illuminate new aspects of Mozart's operatic compositions, but also probe the nature of musical analysis itself.
In Experiencing Mozart: A Listener's Companion, music historian David Schroeder illustrates through the great composer's music how the issues he cared about so deeply in his time remain as pressing ...to modern listeners.