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Issue 19

(Fall 2011)

contents

abstracts

contributors

abstracts

  

Ioannis Fulias: Sonata forms and their theoretical evolution: The fifth sonata type (“sonata-concerto form”) in the 20th-century theory and nowadays

  

The twelfth and last part of this extensive survey of the theoretical evolution of sonata forms from 18th to 20th centuries examines the prevailing approaches of the fifth sonata type in the music theory since the beginning of the 20th-century. At first, until the mid-20th-century, almost all theorists continue essentially to describe the implementation of the sonata form into the classical concerto genre in terms of the 19th-century theory. Only in the last third of the 20th-century a critical re-evaluation of both the factual (compositional) and theoretical data of the 18th-century is successfully attempted in significant studies by Jutta Ruile-Dronke, Charles Rosen, Konrad Küster and others, before James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy recently present the most profound and comprehensive view on the compound sonata-concerto form, in which they not only restore the structural autonomy of the orchestral ritornelli, but also redefine with remarkable accuracy their relationship to the solistic parts in the wider sonata contexts. Also, two alternative subtypes of sonata-concerto form – based on binary sonata form and on sonata form without development, respectively – are becoming more distinct in the music theory from mid-20th-century onwards, especially when the research interest focuses on slow concerto movements of the classic period.

  

  

Ioannis Papachristopoulos: Aspects of the compositional work of Dimitri Terzakis during the last two decades

  

The main objective of Dimitri Terzakis was until the beginning of the 1990s on the one hand the implementation, on the other hand the seamless development, innovation and progression of his compositional technique, which he already has configurated at the end of the 1960s, so that he gradually shaped a strictly personal and inventive musical language. Yet, in the recent 20 years his search at the material technique level clearly decreased. Meanwhile, we can notice a focus in his interests on other aspects of compositional work, which were not of interest before: intensive trials and experiments in monophonic writing, introduction of the keyboard instruments (organ and piano) as well as the preoccupation with a new kind of musical works, which he himself gave the superordinate designation “rhapsodia”.

The primary objective of this paper is to categorize the essential characteristics of the compositional activity of Dimitri Terzakis since 1990 and to particularize the diverse relations between them. In addition, we attempt to figure out the possible reasons for the composer’s artistic decisions, which are –in the most cases– interrelated directly with his historical, theoretical and aesthetical musical awareness.

  

  

Thanasis Trikoupis: Comments on the use of the harmonic interval of semitone, the ultimate conclusive formations and the term stretto in the whole work for solo piano by Fryderyk Chopin

  

This essay refers to the whole work of Fryderyk Chopin for solo piano and focuses on three specific points: the development of conclusive formations and their evolutionary course in the progress of time in the composer’s work, the specific characteristics in the use of the harmonic interval of semitone (diatonic and chromatic) and the interpretation of the term stretto in its multiple applications, individually as well as in combination with other verbal interpretational suggestions. Regarding the structure of conclusive formations, Chopin experiments, particularly in the genre of mazurka, reaching to pioneering for his era characteristics, as e.g. the use of the augmented chord before its respective application by Liszt. The composer’s restless nature is outlined through the specific uses of the harmonic semitone, which, as a rule, enriches in several ways the dominant seventh, offering additional harmonic “colour” as well as intensity in the function of the aforementioned chord. Finally, the study of the application of stretto shows that its use had been affected by the gradual maturing of the composer, since, in the early stage of his artistic production, the term simultaneously contains the notion of structural and rhythmic denseness, whereas, as the time goes by, its use is chosen exclusively for the registration of the structural development of the composition.
  

  

Mando Pyliarou: A Greek tribute to Beethoven in 1927

  

This study presents a Greek tribute to Beethoven, published in 1927. The initiative was taken by Fragkelio’s publisher, a non-musical periodical of Athens, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the composer’s death.

This tribute to Beethoven was unique and original, because all previous references to him, in the field of Greek periodicals, were partial. It included information about his life, his personality and work, as well as relative texts and poems by Kostas Sfakianakis, Takis Papatsonis, Camille Bellaigue, Arthur Schopenhauer, Anastasios Drivas, Vasilis Rotas, Lefteris Alexiou and G. Stambolis.
  

  

Nikos Tzioumaris: Music Library of ERT SA: The history of Music Ensembles of Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (1938-2010) – Part I (From the foundation until the 1960s)

  

This article is the first systematic study on Greek radio orchestras, namely the current Ensembles of ERT. Our research focused on official documents, magazines such as Radioprogramma and Trito Programma, which were published by Hellenic Broadcasting from time to time, catalogues of recordings, handwritten scores and concert programs kept in the archives of ERT SA. Our subject is developed chronologically in order to compose as adequately as possible the history of Music Ensembles of ERT. Writing this story it was necessary to include data about the general history of Greek radio. This is because the orchestras up to 1993 were an organic part of radio programs, which means that any of their activity obeys the general policy adopted by the central management of Hellenic Broadcasting. From 1993 onwards the Ensembles of ERT constitute a separate division at the Hellenic Broadcasting.

This article contains many details about the repertoire of orchestras, conductors who have run them, the concert and radio appearances made by orchestras, but also about the overall policy and aesthetics adopted by each administration of the corporation. As a result of our investigation, the desire of the audience and the aesthetics of the executives were the main factors shaping hitherto the style of these ensembles in Greece.

 

 
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