Neo-Baroque Concertizing in the Works by Russian Composers of the Final Quarter of the 20th Century

Abstract

Abstract. The relevance of the stated topic is determined by the significance of neo-Baroque trends in the 20th century as a means of support for the high humanistic traditions that shaped classical musical art. In the research methodology, the authors rely on the general theoretical principles concerning the baroque concertos developed in the Russian musicological tradition (Yuri Kholopov, Natalia Zeifas, Svetlana Bakuto, Svetlana Goncharenko, etc.), as well as on the typology of compositional models in the contemporary concerto genre proposed by Irina Grebneva. A comparative method, applied to such historically distant phenomena as the baroque and neo-baroque styles, as well as to individual composers’ interpretations of the baroque form-generation is used. The article examines for the first time the group of concerti grossi composed during this period, and carries out a comparative analysis of them on the level of an integral organization, interpretation of the orchestra and the concerto form. The archetypal and kenotypic compositional models of Sofia Gubaidulina, Alfred Schnittke, Rodion Shchedrin and other composers who have provided innovations to similar 18th century stylistic models are systematized. By disclosing the general and the particular aspects in the interpretation of the principles of concerto performance, their interaction with the features of theatricality and meditative-vs.-conflicting symphonic dramaturgy, the author demonstrates that the concerti grossi composed during the time period between the 1970s and the 1990s reflect the multipolarity of the neo-baroque perspective of the modern world.

Keywords: baroque, neo-baroque, neo-baroque concerto, typology of the concerto grosso genre, archetypal and kenotypic compositional models