Musical Form as a Theoretical and Creative Model in Hristo Pitev’s Method “Composition with Free Elements and Form” Cover Image
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Музикалната форма като теоретичен и творчески модел в метода на Христо Питев „Композиция със свободни елементи и форма“
Musical Form as a Theoretical and Creative Model in Hristo Pitev’s Method “Composition with Free Elements and Form”

Author(s): Petar Dimov
Subject(s): Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Music
Published by: Институт за изследване на изкуствата, Българска академия на науките
Keywords: Hristo Pitev; compositional method; mathematics; set theory; combinatorics; repetition

Summary/Abstract: The article examines the method “Composition with Free Elements and Form” developed by Hristo Pitev in his book “To Pythagoras and Beyond. New Musical Knowledge. Motivation – Ideas – Creativity”, situating it within the broader horizon of individual models of form-building under post-tonal conditions. The focus is placed on the method’s terminological apparatus, in which the concept of the element-image occupies a central position as the fundamental structural unit. The study highlights the method’s fundamental connection with mathematical set theory, insofar as the process of form-building within it is set-based and uses combinatorial procedures. Particular attention is devoted to the reinterpretation of the principle of repetition as a field in which relationships of varying intensity among element-images can be achieved. The present study traces the practical realisation of Pitev’s theoretical framework in his piano work “Sonata-Rhapsody in 7/8” and emphasises its distinctive significance in Bulgarian musicology as an attempt to establish new foundations for musical order.

  • Issue Year: 2026
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 94-114
  • Page Count: 21
  • Language: Bulgarian
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