Western and Oriental vocal performing tradition: the aesthetic aspect

undamental differences between Kyiv-Pechersk choral style and Western model of performance of religious chants can be considered in various contexts and at several levels. One should take into account diversity of church rules (canon), mentality, even geographical location and physiological capabilities of voices of the singers coming from a particular area. The performance practice is also connected with such factors as cultural traditions, language, way of life and social issues related to faith. It is therefore understandable that, after a short period of a fragile cultural unity of the Church, different traditions emerged. The author argues that the way of singing is directly dependent on the fundamental philosophical and theological ideas, originating from the Church canon. Then, the differences between chant performance in two main branches of the Christian Church seem to be a consequence of the distinct ways in which the theological doctrine, dogma of the Church, the temporal and spatial principles of worship and art developed in Roman Catholic and Byzantine Orthodox traditions. The two different perceptions of communication with God and its influence on church singing are considered by the author as an exemplary case.

Personification of virtues in liturgical drama Ordo Virtutum by Hildegard of Bingen and on the Romanesque columns of the St. Trinity Church in Strzelno

Composed by Hildegard of Bingen in the Rhine-Hessen region in the middle of the 12th century, the liturgical drama Ordo Virtutum depicts a symbolic internal struggle for the fate of the soul between the virtues and the devil and is originally transposed into the language of low-relief found in the church owned by the Canonesses Nuns convent in Strzelno, a little town situated on the border of Kujawy and Wielkopolska regions in Poland. The aim of this article is to present how two visions of the same concept complement each other in an intriguing way, although they are expressed by two separate, yet merging languages of music linked with the text and low relief.

Most of the musical and literary personifications of both Ordo Virtutum and low reliefs featuring figures in Strzelno are still comprehensible,despite being created eight centuries ago. They introduce the audienceto the world of medieval sermons, theological treatises, lectureson ethics and moral theology. Both works show a holistic vision of theworld, held by people of the medieval era. In that vision what is spiritual,mystical and elusive for the outward physical senses intertwines andis closely linked with what is tangible, material and directly perceptible.Hildegard’s music praised not only the works of God but also the virtuesas deeply human attributes, linked with effort and choices of a freehuman being, capable of establishing a relationship with God. The columnof virtues in Strzelno introduces to the sacred sphere a multitudeof figures that become an icon of widely accessible perfection. It seemsthat both artists aimed at educating their audience as beauty was supposedto ennoble by giving the strength to the truth so that it could leadto good, also the ultimate good — God.

Two Fountains of Arethusa. Semantics, literary qualities, and functioning of aspects of Karol Szymanowski’s composition in Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz’s sonet

The purpose of this article is to define the possible meanings and connotations of musical compositions and their conversion into the lingual substance of poetry. Since the issue is varying internally and always needs particular examples, the undertaken analysis concerns two pieces of art: Fountain of Arethusa by a Polish composer Karol Szymanowski and a sonnet of the same title written by his friend and relative, writer Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz. Firstly, the matter of literary title and its associations is compared in both pieces, which leads to conclusion that while the name of composition generates loose and imprecise connotations, literature requires more specification, nonetheless both the composer and the poet understand mythical subject alike and reception of the work of the latter is based on emotional and semantic qualities similar to those included in the composition. Then, the subject of musical genre is depicted, with emphasis placed on literary connotations and their implications in the process of transcription of music into words. As the poet uses sonnet, which apparently has got poor connections to music, the motives of such choice are enumerated, including significance in European culture and interior dichotomy, both of which one can find in Szymanowski’s work. Further, the article describes relations between music character indications in musical score and particular lexemes in the poem. Musical work can exist in literature in many ways, first of which is being a theme of objective or subjective description. Such illustration of music in the poem is analysed. Then the euphonious and rhythmic features of the text are described in order to prove that music exists in the sonnet in its sound as well as being a scheme which is reinterpreted and imitated by the writer. The analysis shows that although one cannot translate musical matter into words, it is impossible to ignore many intersemiotic correlations between music and literature. Every example of such coexistence – either on the ground of semantics or form – must be studied individually.

Avant-garde compositional techniques in Three diagrams for solo flute by Henryk Mikołaj Górecki

The aim of the article is to analyse Three diagrams for solo flute Op. 15 by Henryk Mikołaj Górecki in the light of compositional techniques used in the piece as well as placing the work in the context of the early output of the composer. In order to achieve the defined aims the score has been analysed as well as the statements of the composer and of people related to him. This research enabled the author to precise in what ways Górecki uses techniques such as serialism, punctualism and aleatorism. In the paper composer’s individual and innovative approach to the avant-garde techniques is revealed. However, the idiomatic elements of the whole Górecki’s style are also present in the analysed work.

The article consists of two parts. The first part includes the problem of history and the style of Henryk Mikołaj Górecki’s early works. The second part is devoted to the analysis and conclusions.

From electronic music to electronic image. Nam June Paik’s Exposition of Music – Electronic Television

Nam June Paik (1932–2006) is now considered to be the most influential creator in visual arts. He is said to be the first artist who presented television as a source of artistic experience. However, nowadays many people forget about his musical beginnings. Starting as a musician, he was inspired by, for example, John Cage, whose philosophical way of thinking had a positive impact on Paik’s future experiments with music and objects. Exposition of Music – Electronic Television (1963, Wuppertal) was artist’s symbolic transfer from music to visual arts, presenting prepared pianos together with prepared TV’s. The article presents the exhibition as well as the environment created by Paik, showing the equality, importance and impact of two not so different kinds of art.

Transformations of models in rock music – the case of No Fun by The Stooges

The article tracks a connection between songs No Fun by The Stooges and Johnny Cash’s I Walk The Line that Iggy Pop briefly hinted in a Dutch documentary Lust For Life. The rocker declared that the Cash’s piece was used by The Stooges as a pattern for No Fun. Indeed, the analysis of a structure of both songs shows many similarities but also exposes elements in which two songs significantly differ in their tonality and construction of phrases.

After a recognition of Iggy Pop’s short career as a blues musician involved in the American blues revival and some structural features of blues, it seems to be possible that the aforementioned differences could derive from the structure of the latter that was blended with the country music pattern.

What shall we do with The Beatles? Methodology of musicology and rock music

The article presents the possible input of musicologists in terms of popular music studies. It describes basic differences between rock and classical music, being still in the centre of attention of traditional musicology, and underlines the necessity of analysing musical recordings instead of relying on score music. New terminology is proposed – both original and based on Western scholars’ experiences – especially relating to formal structure. The author also analyses different approaches to rhythmics (advocating that scholar himself needs to divide a song into bars), harmonics and melodics (presenting popular models), and instrumentation (underlining the importance of sound processing methods).