Tomasz Górny

REVIEW: Judy Tarling, The Weapons of Rhetoric: A Guide for Musicians and Audiences

St. Albans, Corda Music, 2005 [2004], pp. 287

The article is another attempt to deal with the problem of so-called “musicality” of the story Martwa pasieka by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz. The main question under discussion is how much the narrative of the story is connected with Sonata for solo piano by Igor Stravinsky. The proposed conclusions are based on the findings of Józef Opalski, who has noticed the general connection between the idea of the sonata and the story by the Polish writer, and Maria Woźniakiewicz-Dziadosz who superimposed the model of a sonata form and the type of twelve-tone music over the story. These research suggestions are a point of departure to the discussion on the literary way of realization of the musical method of “separate sounds” composition, connected by Iwaszkiewicz, in the foreword to the story, with the Russian composer’s sonata. The main subject of the study are literary strategies intended to make the narrative similar to the musical manner of composition.

The paper presents an examination of the interplay of music and lyrics in the Orgelbüchlein by Johann Sebastian Bach that summarises some of the earlier findings in this area and outlines a wider context of the studies concerning the relationship of rhetoric and music. The attention is devoted to the affect theory and the musical rhetorical figures theory. Parallels in creating speech and music are discussed as well; this element of musical rhetoric is the least prominent in Orgelbüchlein, but the interpretation of its chorales in terms of inventio, dispositio and elocutio seems legitimate. Finally, a remark is made of the significant influence of the Lutheran tradition, which elevated music, seeing it as a means for the efficient spreading of faith and teaching the Gospel. The paper concludes with a case study of chorale Das alte Jahr vergangen ist BWV 614.