Social History of Music

Среди многочисленных раритетов, хранящихся в Кабинете рукописей Российского института истории искусств (КР РИИИ) и связанных с историей отечественной музыки, находится фотография с живописного полотна, на котором изображены хористы Придворной певческой капеллы во главе с ее директором Алексеем Фёдоровичем Львовым (1798-1870) в присутствии многочисленных слушателей, среди которых особенное внимание привлекает П. Виардо-Гарсия. Детальное изучение этого любопытного снимка позволило не только установить имена некоторых изображенных на нем персонажей, но и выявить живописный оригинал в собрании Государственного музея истории Санкт-Петербурга, а также прояснить некоторые моменты, связанные с историей бытования картины в двадцатом веке. | Among the numerous rarities stored in the manuscripts room of the Russian Institute for the History of the Arts, and related to the history of Russian music, there is a rare photograph from the little known oil painting, which depicts the choristers of the court chapel, led by its director Alexei (Alexis) Fyodorovich Lvov (1798-1870) in the presence of a numerous audience, among whom Pauline Viardot-Garcia is particularly notable. A detailed investigation of this photograph enabled the identification of various figures depicted in the concert hall; and also the identification of the original painting in the collection of the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg, making it possible to clarify some points relating to the history of the painting during the twentieth century.

В настоящей статье представлен подробный обзор иконографических материалов, связанных с именем выдающегося композитора. В контексте деятельности Бортнянского в качестве коллекционера, знатока и художественного консультанта малого двора, особое внимание уделяется картинной галерее композитора, состав которой был частично реконструирован нами при изучении вновь выявленных архивных и литературных источников. Статья представляет собой исправленную и дополненную версию текста, опубликованного в книге "Мольберт Эвтерпы" (М., 2018. С. 10-73).

Обзорная статья «Арфа, арфистки и арфисты в русской живописи и живописной миниатюре XVIII – XIX веков» обобщает сведения, касающиеся иконографии арфы и музыкантов-арфистов в русском изобразительном искусстве на протяжении двух столетий. Статья представляет собой исправленную и дополненную версию текста, опубликованного в книге "Мольберт Эвтерпы" (М., 2018. С. 122-147).

O presente trabalho investiga o processo de construção social do maxixe, uma dança de movimentos intensos e sensuais que fez parte do cotidiano dos cariocas
entre os séculos XIX e XX. Com o auxílio das fontes da imprensa periódica, bem
como músicas e peças teatrais, os casos analisados demonstram que a dança era forjada de maneira dinâmica, em diálogo com o mundo atlântico e com os conflitos sociais de um Rio de Janeiro em plena transformação. Baseado na experiência dançante de trabalhadores pobres, negros e pardos, o maxixe tinha seus significados
estrategicamente construídos por diferentes sujeitos que encontravam na dança um objeto polissêmico de disputa e negociação sobre as tensões entre raça e
nacionalidade colocadas pelo fim da escravidão.
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The present work investigates the social construct process of the maxixe, a dance of intense and sensual movements that took part of cariocas’ everyday life between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Supported by periodicals, songs, as
well as theatrical plays, the case studies analyzed illustrate how the dance was fashioned in a dynamic way in dialogue with both the Atlantic World and the social conflicts of a transforming Rio de Janeiro. Based on the dance experience of poor,
black, and mixed workers, the maxixe had its meaning strategically constructed by
different characters that found in the dance a polysemic object of dispute and negotiation on the tensions between race and nationality imposed by the end of slavery.

Исследование нотной записи на портрете неизвестного музыканта из собрания Московского дворца-усадьбы “Останкино”», осуществленное нами совместно с П. Г. Сербиным, позволило выявить в зарубежных музыкальных архивах уникальные рукописные источники, содержащие обработки записанной на картине мелодии для различных инструментов. И хотя личность изображенного на портрете пока не может быть установлена окончательно, новые сведения позволяют высказать предположения о происхождении загадочного портрета и до некоторой степени уточнить круг лиц, которые могли выступать в качестве портретируемых. Дополненный вариант текста, первоначально опубликованного в сборнике "Мольберт Эвтерпы" (М., 2018).

Preserved in the collections of "Ostankino" museum-estate (Moscow), an anonymous portrait of an unknown musician at the harpsichord (also known as a portrait of Yevstignei Fomin) has always attracted a special interest for 18th century russian music and painting researchers. Our recent study of the music inscription written down on the canvas has made it possible to reveal some unique handwritten sources that contain the tune «from the portrait» in music libraries of Europe and USA arranged for different instruments. Despite the fact that the identity of the musician depicted on the portrait cannot yet be established decisively, new data allows us to make some assumptions about the origin of this mysterious portrait and also to clarify the circle of possible sitters.

The prelude of the paper concentrates on situating lyrics of the song as an extended part of literature and, consequently, places it as a valid source in reconstructing the past. At the next, the study would make an attempt to extract ideas and facts out of the lyrics of purely entertainment-oriented songs that neither has been authenticated by the composer himself in connection to specific historical coordinates nor can be placed in terms of their direct portrayal of contemporary socio-political milieu. A synthetic approach of analyzing tool can be exercised here by situating the dates of creations of them with known chronology of contemporary events. Kind of literary analysis also becomes imperative here. Application of such method would be done here by scrutinizing two musical pieces of same sort composed by Western rock master John Lennon and Indian musical genius Salil Chowdhury. Conclusion endeavours at seizing the psychological state of mind of both composers who got perplexed under vicious circle of ideological beliefs at one end and decent livelihood at the other. The dealt songs tend to represent exactly such crisis of identity. Preamble to the theme: In respect of more recent objective approach of analysis, literature, particularly the kind that has been blended with the creative intellect of the author, is a form of consciousness that reflects realities in artistic images embodying human mind " s aesthetic attitude to it. Such kind of literature often deals with different dimensions of human emotion and behaviour. Apparently, the work of a historian demands more materialistic approach, whereas the art of creative literature involves more passionate narratives on inner and subjective perspectives of human mind. Yet, at certain stage, a true instance of literature ought to be situated into its own time and space. German philosopher Karl Marx, as a believer of socioeconomic reality, put forth the argument that human beings are born in a few definite social realities that ultimately contribute in shaping their mental faculty. Thus, in view of Marx, all the ideas and discourses are the outcome of both social and economic realities. Marxist theoretician Georgi Plekhanov, in his article Art and Social Life, strongly recommended that, like wealth or science, the variable spheres of art also must possess noble intention or attribute towards serving mankind for useful purposes and not

Durante el régimen de Jesús González Gallo (1947-1953), ocurrieron una serie de cambios en todos los niveles sociales; la élite política estrechó alianzas con la jerarquía eclesiástica y con la burguesía compuesta por comerciantes e industriales, para evitar conflictos al momento de implementar el nuevo modelo económico-político conocido como “desarrollismo”. Dentro de este contexto de redistribución de poderes y de reformas que trastocaron todos los ámbitos sociales —fomento industrial, modificación urbana, crecimiento demográfico, etc. —, la música clásica adquirió nuevos significados para los grupos de poder, ocupando un lugar predominante dentro de las políticas culturales. La reactivación de la Orquesta Sinfónica de Guadalajara, que venía enfrentándose a condiciones económicas adversas por lo menos desde el sexenio anterior, constituyó un punto de encuentro para la nueva élite.

In 1815 the chapter of the cathedral of Valencia wrought problems of budget and decorum of the liturgy to eliminate villancicos from the ceremonial of Christmas Eve. However, a closer look at the problems that the institution went through in the Napoleonic period reveals a much more complex reality than the one suggested by the binomial economy and decorum.

En 1815 el cabildo de la catedral de Valencia esgrimió problemas de presupuesto y de decoro de la liturgia para eliminar los villancicos del ceremonial de la Nochebuena. Sin embargo, una visión de conjunto a los problemas que atravesó la institución en el período napoleónico revela una realidad bastante más compleja de la que compendia el binomio economía y decoro.

In 1815 the chapter of the cathedral of Valencia wrought problems of budget and decorum of the liturgy to eliminate villancicos from the ceremonial of Christmas Eve. However, a closer look at the problems that the institution went through in the Napoleonic period reveals a much more complex reality than the one suggested by the binomial economy and decorum. En 1815 el cabildo de la catedral de Valencia esgrimió problemas de presupuesto y de decoro de la liturgia para eliminar los villancicos del ceremonial de la Nochebuena. Sin embargo, una visión de conjunto a los problemas que atravesó la institución en el período napoleónico revela una realidad bastante más compleja de la que compendia el binomio economía y decoro.

Research on the musical production by Giovanni Andrea Fioroni (1716-1778) has revealed a hitherto unknown relationship between a work by the Milanese composer and Mozart’s Requiem KV 626. In the light of the possible significance of reminiscence phenomena, this paper reconsiders some aspects of soundscape in the late Mozart’s creative process.

ISBN: 978-88-85780-05-7

Review:
– Quaderni del Conservatorio Domenico Cimarosa di Avellino 5 (2019), pp. 209–212: 211  (Marina Marino)

Related to:
https://www.academia.edu/26852475/Risonanze_milanesi_nel_Requiem_in_re_minore_KV_626_di_W.A._Mozart_._La_nostra_musica_da_chiesa_è_assai_differente..._Mozart_e_la_musica_sacra_italiana._International_Conference._Pavia_Italy_Collegio_Ghisleri_9_10_October_2015

Pink Floyd The Wall é um filme britânico lançado em 1982. Dirigido por Alan Parker, com roteiro do baixista Roger Waters e animações de Gerald Scarfe. O longametragem é baseado no disco conceitual The Wall (1979), Trata-se de uma distopia narrativa que flerta com o surrealismo. Cujo roteiro apresenta a jornada de Pink, um astro de rock que tem que lidar com diversos muros metafóricos e reais que a vida lhe impôs: um presente repleto de solidão, drogas e um casamento turbulento. O passado marcado por uma mãe superprotetora, um pai morto na guerra e uma escola opressora. O artigo faz uma aproximação teórica entre a historiografia, tais como Marc Ferro e Michele Lagny e o cinema, sobretudo linguagem cinematográfica e animação, como

This paper examines the rewards of being an amateur player or singer of early music and the strategies for teaching such amateurs within the tradition of Western music. I have chosen to focus on Western early music (defined here as music of the European medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque eras) because since the early music revival in the 20th century, there has been a strong amateur tradition in this area, in which I personally have participated in both the United Kingdom and the United States. I have defined myself as an amateur, but at this writing was attending music college where my peers were pre-professionals, so have found the resulting comparisons and contrasts most practical to consider.

I began this research with the hypothesis that amateurs and professionals have overlapping but different reasons 1) to aim (or not aim) for self-improvement in their music-making and 2) to make music in the first place. I imagine that their sense of competency differs but so does their sense of what standard is necessary for them and how much work they should do on it. Modern professionals generally hold a higher social status than do amateurs, but I suspect that not every aspect of being a professional is more motivating or rewarding. Since a large part of early music is chamber music (particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States), these statements are intriguing for the current study:

". . . chamber music is musicians’ music. It is performed with one player only for each part, thereby raising, significantly, the visibility of his playing. He may play, too, with greater personal expression than is possible in an orchestra. The player thus avoids the tension of overvisibility inherent in solo performance and the dissatisfaction of undervisibility present in orchestral sectional work. It is for their opportunities to play chamber music that professionals envy amateurs most." (Stebbins 2004, p. 236)

"Chamber music is essentially music for players first and listeners second. . . ." (Shera 1939, p. 65).

Migrazione e  sincretismi musicali

Il fenomeno dell’emigrazione italiana lascia una traccia profonda nella musica. In questo contesto vengono registrate le trasformazioni che riguardano la nascente fisionomia della comunità di emigrati.
La prima fase di assimilazione dei nuovi canoni musicali da parte dei performer emigrati segna l’emergere di un repertorio che contempla gli aspetti strutturali tipici della canzone/romanza italiana assieme a quelli più caratteristici dei repertori americani, come, ad esempio, un più pronunciato utilizzo del parametro ritmico. Gli anni che conducono alla seconda guerra mondiale rappresentano una cesura evidente all’interno della comunità che comincia a perdere i legami affettivi con i repertori popolari della terra d’origine in maniera irreversibile.
Qui presento alcuni esempi musicali derivati dal repertorio italiano dialettale poi divenuto italo-americano, concentrando l’attenzione sulla relazione simbolica che la comunità stessa ha costruito con il paese d’origine attraverso la musica. La cornice che si delinea permette di interpretare questi repertori nel contesto sociale e storico nel quale si muovono gli emigrati italiani anche in relazione alle altre minoranze etniche che condividono con quella italiana le modalità di ridefinizione e ricollocazione della loro storia culturale.

Text as an Impulse and Narrator of Musical Praxis: The Song and Music Culture of the Sports Association, Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Helsingfors in a Historical Perspective (1897–1939).

This article aims to explore how printed texts such as song texts and texts in periodicals, illustrate and influence musical praxis in the case of the multi-sport organization Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Helsingfors (HIFK) in Helsinki. The club is rooted within the cultural context of the Swedish-speaking minority of Finland (the so-called “Finland-Swedes”) but with connections to the IFK-movement in Sweden. The late nineteenth and twentieth-century mass movements, including the singing and sports movements, were crucial in fostering healthy habits and the construction of national cohesion in Finland. As a result of the democratization of printed texts many of the newly founded organisations and sports clubs had their own periodical. I argue that the texts have been influential in shaping musical praxis that upholds and constructs community belonging and reflect good comradeship, and during the 1920s the HIFK’s musical activities, especially the melodies chosen for the songs, also manifest the club’s Finnish-Swedish heritage. The study is theoretically informed by studies of the socio-historical role of music and sports. Empirically the research draws on texts published in the periodicals Kamraten and Helsingforskamraten.

Armas Launis’s interest in the North African Orient was manifest in three of his professional domains: travel writer, musicologist and opera composer. During his stays in Algiers over two winters between 1924 and 1927 in particular, Launis became personally acquainted with the countries of the Maghreb (Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco). My article examines how in each of these professional forms of expression, the immediate, local encounters merge with the discursive practices of European learning in Launis’s representations of Northern Africa.
    In a travel book from 1927, containing references to Menemech, Yafil and Bachetarzi, eminent figures of the Arabo-Moorish musical tradition, Launis demonstrates his knowledge and expertise on the Algerian music scene. Written for a wide audience, his observations about popular traditions lack any detailed scholarly apparatus, intentionally so. He expresses respect for the ‘civilisatory mission’ pursued by the French in Northern Africa, and notes the remnants of Roman antiquity, but he also shows an interest in both historical and contemporary tensions between local tribes, nationalities, cultures, and religions. These were later interwoven in his operas Jehudith and Theodora, the latter unfinished.
    In 1928, during a period of intensive operatic composition, Launis applied for a position as music teacher at the University of Helsinki, albeit in vain. The topic of his presentation lecture, “Features of Arabo-Moorish music”, met with both approval (Ilmari Krohn) and disapproval (Robert Kajanus). The many points of convergence with an existing article “La musique arabe dans le Maghreb” by Jules Rouanet (1922) were not noticed.
    Having settled permanently in Nice in 1930, Launis planned the two operas, Theodora and Jehudith. They exhibit the religious universalism already developed in his earlier operas, but now in a new form, where the composer has become intrigued by the conflicts of the region and the political developments of the time. I examine in particular some of the ethnocentric accents found in Jehudith, relating them to a wider tradition of orientalism in the western operatic tradition.

Nos exatos 20 anos nos quais ministrei as disciplinas do grupo “História da Música” no Instituto de Artes (somados aos 5 anos nos quais fiz o mesmo em outras instituições, antes do ingresso na Unesp), percebi uma progressiva e acentuada diminuição do interesse e da aplicação do conteúdo de tais matérias junto aos estudantes, particularmente aqueles interessados na atuação musical prática, para quem os assuntos em questão vêm se mostrando cada vez mais desconectados de suas atividades pessoais e profissionais na área de Música. “História da Música” e “História da Música Brasileira” são hoje disciplinas que atendem necessidades institucionais, mas nem sempre as necessidades específicas dos estudantes, geralmente múltiplas e diversificadas.

"Manipulative music products are discussed less frequently today, but the general idea that music “makes things happen” and lubricates nearly every type of business is even more pervasive than it was in 1950s and 1960s. Dividing music into functional/non-functional categories no longer constitutes a meaningful perspective since there are few genres left that cannot be put to use. Studying and discussing previous styles of background music and other functional music can still be worthwhile in understanding how everyday (and everyplace) music has developed. To this end, I have gathered and analyzed marketing material and media texts on Muzak in Finland and conducted interviews with local background music salesmen.
The starting point of this discussion is what happened when the commercial background music solutions were imported into a small northern country with a rapidly growing market economy."