The “Magic of Repetition” in Iraida Yusupova’s Music

Abstract

The article is devoted to the examination of the compositional method of Russian composer Iraida Yusupova. Our attention is focused on three of her compositions — Portrait of the Artist’s Wife (2012), Polychordia (2001), and Beautiful Willows in a Beautiful Ambient (2010). The definition “magic of repetition,” brought out into the title of the article, belongs to composer Nikolai Sidelnikov, Yusupova’s composition teacher at the Moscow Conservatory. Despite its metaphoric quality, this concept successfully conveys the originality of Yusupova’s compositions. Her compositional technique incorporates methods close to repetitive technique, but also substantially different from it. The first method is represented by the composition Portrait of the Artist’s Wife, whereas the second is characteristic for the works Polychordia and Beautiful Willows in a Beautiful Ambient. In the analysis of the composition Portrait of the Artist’s Wife, the hypothesis is brought out about the cryptographic character of the given portrait-composition. The researcher’s assumption, which has been validated, is based on the features of the sound material presenting a musical manifestation of the composer’s name. The idea of replication is realized here by means of repetitive technique. The method of “elemental polyphony” (to use Yusupova’s term) is disclosed with the example of the two other compositions examined in the article.

Keywords: Iraida Yusupova, method of repetition, repetitive technique, contemporary Russian music, “elemental polyphony”