POETIC SYMBOLISM IN THE MUSICAL HERITAGE OF N. MYASKOVSKY

Abstract

The purpose of the work is to study the chamber-vocal works by N. Myaskovsky created on poems of
symbolist poets in the line with cultural and aesthetic trends of the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. The methodology of the
research is dictated by the nature of the problem being studied – the analysis of chamber-vocal works in the context of
the culture of the Silver Age. Since the genre of romance traditionally includes two components – musical and poetic, the
methodology of the research is based on an integrated approach. In the analysis of romances methods of analysis of
vocal compositions, studied in the works of E. Durandin, L. Karklins and A. Saduova, are used. The methods of
contextual analysis are also used, in which the subject of study is considered outside of the separation from the
environment that generated it. The specificity of the research topic required the transition to the field of interdisciplinary
knowledge (philosophy, aesthetics, culturology, art history, musicology criticism) beyond the boundaries of art history and
the involvement of theoretical works of poets and ideologists of symbolism. In the process of studying poetic texts,
Yu. Lotman's research was of great importance. The scientific novelty of this study is determined by its material and
foreshortening. The research has made an attempt to comprehensively study the romances by N. Myaskovsky created
on poems of Symbolist poets as a holistic system reflecting the general styles of musical art of the early 20th century.
The conclusion is made about the specifics of Nikolai Myaskovsky's stylistics in romances to poems by different poets:
the composer's deep understanding of symbolist poetry was embodied in music that reflected the contradictory spirit of
the Silver Age era. From the analysis of romances, it becomes clear: the theme of religion and faith occupies a significant
place in the chamber-vocal creativity of the composer and the system of his moral and ethical views. Conclusions. The
early romances by N. Myaskovsky show the general trends in the development of chamber vocal music of the beginning
of the 20th century – the complication of all elements of musical tissue, the gradual movement towards atonality, the
music of "total chromaticism," the predominance of the melodic recitative type, often approximate to the spoken
pronunciation of the verse, strengthening the role of the piano part. The stylistics of the works under study attests to their
direct affiliation with the culture of the Silver Age: subtlety, sometimes fanciful fragility, "refined" harmonies, the
complexity of textural techniques and ways of combining piano and vocal parts.