Dramaturgy, Expression and Colour in Tudor Jarda's Songs to Lyrics by Lucian Blaga
Dramaturgy, Expression and Colour in Tudor Jarda's Songs to Lyrics by Lucian Blaga

Summary/Abstract: Tudor Jarda, an emblematic composer of the second half of the twentieth century, whose interests focused particularly on vocal music, wrote a significant number of songs (almost 50), most of which are set to poems by Lucian Blaga. The characteristic features of Blaga's poetry (based on free verse) justify its choice as an element associated with the modern musical language. The balance between text and music (especially the relationship between the poetic idea and the musical structure) and between vocal line and accompaniment, along with the specific intonational, rhythmic, dynamic and timbral aspects, turn dramaturgy, expression and colour into the most important features of these works. In this study we identify the language elements that outline these three vectors of the musical meaning. In paradigmatic terms, the study dwells on some of Jarda’s most performed songs, such as Colindă [Christmas Carol], Izvorul nopții [The Spring of Night], Lacrimile [Tears], Din părul tău [From Your Hair], Eu nu strivesc [I Do Not Crush] or Frumoase mâini [Beautiful Hands]. The characteristic features of the musical language prove the accessibility of these works, as well as the richness of the imagined symbolism, both through the construction of the vocal line (which involves specific intervallic relationships), and through the adaptation of the piano accompaniment to the poetic meaning and to the modal intonational ethos of the vocal line.

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