We kindly inform you that, as long as the subject affiliation of our 300.000+ articles is in progress, you might get unsufficient or no results on your third level or second level search. In this case, please broaden your search criteria.
The first and most important feature of ritual time is its historical dissimilarity, i.e. different historical strata are discovered in it. In Bulgaria remnants of an older Christian reckoning of the calendar year (which began in September) are to be observed, as well as a change in the guiding principle in forming the popular names of the months. In the Old Bulgarian period of the Bulgarian language, the names of the months follow the natural features of the seasons, while today, in dialects, they are mainly named according to the principal feasts. Some of the yearly feasts are fixed, while others are celebrated on different days. The latter, which depend on the date of Easter, form a complete movable nucleus or feasts, which vary within the framework of the chronological year. This is almost the whole of the spring cycle. Identifying the beginning of each period in the calendar with the period itself leads to having the ritual cycles appear in advance of Nature’s cycles, the seasons. Here is an example: Sirni Zagovezni (the last Sunday before Lent, when the complete Fast begins, no meat or dairy products being eaten until Easter), which are at the beginning of the spring rituals, according to the date of Easter, can often be celebrated even before the first of March, before spring has set in. Time in the Bulgarian ritual system has important characteristics of emotion and values. Together with the space linked with it, it determines the totality of bans and instructions which regulate human conduct. The determining nature of ritual time as regards the complete conception of time of the patriarchal Bulgarians should be emphasized. In the ritual, time shares a feature common to rituality – its regional variants.
More...
The activity of Vassil Cholakov within the framework of Bulgarian folklore in the National Revival period is the subject of this article. The periods, in which the views on folklore of this remarkable figure of the National Revival period were formed, are specified. His interest in folklore was aroused in him while he was stilt a pupil of Neophyte Rilski and it grew strong and developed during his studies in Russia. The publication of Bulgarian Folk Miscellany in 1872 was the result of many years of work in the country, collecting folklore material; but before publishing his Miscellany, Cholakov greatly assisted K. Miladinov, providing him with songs from Panagyurishte, Sofia and Samokov, and taking a direct part in transcribing the songs taken down by the Miladinov brothers, in preparing and publishing their Bulgarian Folk-Songs. The history of Bulgarian Folk Miscellany is briefly reviewed. In preparing for it Cholakov published articles in the press, wrote letters and established contacts with other folklorists of the National Revival period. The theoretical formulations and principles which guided him in interpreting the folklore texts, and also in his practical work on the terrain and in publishing the folklore material which he had collected, are apparent from the material which has come down to us. Cholakov also helped O. Down in collecting songs from Turnovo and Pirdop. He also prepared a second part of his miscellany which remained unpublished. The appearance of Bulgarian Folk Miscellany is much appreciated in present-day Bulgaria. In Czechoslovakia, J. Holeček has translated songs from Cholakov’s Miscellany; in Germany, G. Rosen also translated songs, while Fr. Kraus translated stories from the same Miscellany.
More...
Alan Walker contends that criticism has always have been faced with controversies on which, due to the esoteric nature of music and to the diversity of answers, no consensus has been reached yet. Questions like: “Are there standards in criticism?”, “Can they be defined?”, “Are they objective or subjective?”, “How can their authenticity be verified?” – reveal a philosophical side of criticism. If the pragmatism of music criticism resided only in expressing judgments of value, then a theory of criticism would imply their explanation. The assertion that a work is a masterpiece and another one is mediocre has no validity without an answer to the question: why...? Hence it results that behind the judgments of value there is a process based on which conclusions are drawn. This article presents, in chronological order of publication, the perspectives of five personalities who have expressed their doubts or convictions, principles or opinions, subjectivity or objectivity, in the field of musical criticism.
More...
The notion of musical archetype seems to be discredited due to overuse and often confused interpretation. Based on an extension of C. G. Jung's theory, I have tried to show, in a series of studies, the advantages it offers to musical analysis on the level of music psychology. Other Romanian contributions belong to Octavian Nemescu and Dan Dediu. The archetypes of the essential points of a musical form, like those of the Beginning and of the End (of ”Birth” and ”Death”), can serve as a basis of relationship between internal levels of music as well as in syncretic contexts. If there is a common element between such different levels in a film or in an opera (music, image, text), it should be first sought on a psychological level, as their common level. But not only is the congruence of these levels significant: their incongruity may play an equally important role and bring new tensions to the overall image. Some analytical levels allow pairs of opposite archetypes (e.g. Incipit/Finis), just as certain musical structures are "scalar" (e.g. pitch, duration, dynamics can be measured and classified according to a simple criterion: frequency, time units, and decibels). Not the same can be said about musical timbre, an area in which the mixture of different parameters is too complex to allow a simple classification. But the problem of systematization of musical colours is not restricted to timbre itself: heterogeneous elements like density and the character of sounds also play an important role in the definition of musical objects. A possible model is suggested by the four primary elements: Earth, Water, Air, Fire, considered symbolic and named, according to Jung, Terra-Aeter-Aqua-Ignis. There is a parallel with the four categories of musical syntax as defined by Ştefan Niculescu: homophony, polyphony, monody, heterophony. Symbolic associations like homophony-Terra, monody-Aeter and, perhaps less, polyphony/heterophony-Aqua/Ignis, may help define conceptually solid, ethereal, formless and elusive musical substances. Just like the four syntactic categories, the four types of substance can be recognized not only in music. The manner of application of this idea requires a good understanding and acceptance of symbolic thinking.
More...
In total opposition with the image of a linear and progressive evolution of European music, which has long acquired referential status in the context of (primary, secondary and higher) musical education, the central idea of our study reveals at least two of its beginnings – the classical Greek antiquity and the early Middle Ages (barbarian and Christian). The first argument in favour of the latter is the process of dialectical interaction of the signs of the two cultures, as well as their mutual strengthening – (a) the numerical-cosmical, mystical “genome” of Pythagoras and (b) the discursive-conceptual, rational-philosophical “genome” of Plato. These two “genomes”, as distinct, “uniform” and “stationary” signs of the ancient culture (Guizot), are potentiated by another pair of “genomes”, this time belonging to the Middle Ages, namely (a) a sum of characteristics of the nomadic mentality and imaginary (barbarian – Crocker, Guizot) – dynamism, individualism, freedom and independence, and (b) the centripetal and all-encompassing energy of the Christian religion, with its central idea of tolerance. The second argument aims at redefining the image of progress, because each stylistic period after the Middle Ages – from the Renaissance up to Modernism, is nothing but an increasingly weaker and “cooled” form (Guénon and Martynov) of the primal (barbarian) evolutionary energy. This progress was in reality a progress of dissipation, stemming from the clash between the two ancient “genomes” – the Pythagorean ontologism and the Platonic hermeneutics, both re-signified in terms of a continental-Christian, imperial culture, until the Renaissance, when preference was shifted to the weaker, Platonic option, with predictable consequences for the entire subsequent evolution not only of musical culture, but of European thinking in general. Progress in musical thinking and practices stemmed from the preference for an ever stronger discretionary individualism and conceptual complexity, to compensate for the (also progressive) dissipation of the spiritual “temperature”. Musical postmodernism, viewed as a time of chaos, dissemination, fragmentation, deviation, loss and denial of all the strong cultural truths, is but a logical consequence of this spiral evolution, though not in the sense of the Hegelian spiral, but in that of the human DNA, with the two strands – ancient and barbarian, each with two constituents, advancing towards progressive dispersion.
More...
As a consequence of the technical development and growing importance of musical instruments, Baroque music displays, for the first time in musical thinking, a keen interest in the concept of genre, in its suitability to the various functions of music and in the standardisation of certain architectural typologies. After this age of frantic instrumental composition and continuous search for patterns for ordering the different discursive modes, the constant emergence of new musical genres proved to be the consequence of the development, throughout the centuries, of new types of musical architectures, tailored to the new forms of language, aesthetics, cultural environment etc. Assuming that the musical genre is a kind of “contract” between author and public (audience, musicians, analysts etc.), or a convention (sometimes even a mere pretext), the paper discusses the relationship between genre and form, genre and era (cultural environment), genre and musical language.
More...
This paper presents the history of musical life in Thessaloniki during the 20th century, after the liberation of the city from Ottoman rule in 1912. In the early 20th century, musical life in Thessaloniki was rather scarce, despite the artistic societies and associations that existed in the city (most with philharmonic orchestra, chorus and orchestra of mandolins), or the opera performances presented by various touring Greek or foreign melodramatic companies. With the liberation of the city, the musical activity intensified following the establishment of numerous orchestras, choirs and musical ensembles, cultural societies, concert halls and cultural institutions. Many musical education institutions were also established which had a substantial contribution to the development of musical education in Greece and of musical life in Thessaloniki.
More...
One of the most ancient elements of the theoretical thought in South-Eastern Europe is related to the kithara, which, according to Nichomakos, until the time of Orpheus had four strings, tuned D – G – A – D. The tuning system of the ancient guitar was of a tritonic type, this being the second stage in the history of melody. This tonal frame represented an important moment in the evolution of the future principal system of ancient Greece. Apart from this system, musical practice imposed the introduction of a new system in the theory, based on the complexity of melodies and of their modulations. This new system was the Systema elatton. The procedure of passing from one system to another is based on a metabole, i.e. the changing of H with B. The paper provides a detailed presentation of these aspects for the purpose of a comparative study between the South-Eastern European and the Mesopotamian musical cultures, and is illustrated with examples from different geographical areas and historical periods. It is concluded that there are a great deal of relations between Europe and Asia, in both directions. Although certain Mesopotamian elements have been identified in the Greek theory, we cannot neglect the great, complex and logical construction of this latter musical thought.
More...
The term cluster is an English word used in music to describe a complex of sounds played simultaneously. Micro- and macro-systemic approaches within varied fields of activity have caused the exploration of clustering techniques in relationship to variables specific to each area of research. This study undertakes to point out a few particular approaches of clusters in contemporary Romanian piano works, highlighting distinctive notational solutions which have generated various performances of the same sound effect: the cluster. The piano works of composer Violeta Dinescu offer this study analytical highlights, focusing, by means of concrete musical examples, on the trichotomic relationship which measures the connections between sign-object-sonorous output. The explanation of the phenomenon by analogy to Ch. S. Peirce’s theory of the ternary structure of the sign is meant to establish an analytical borderline on both micro- and macro-structural level. The compositional approach of the cluster on the two levels is also highlighted in the pieces Cluster-Melodia and Improvvisazione of the cycle Jocuri pianistice/Piano games by Eduárd Terényi, where the second piece draws the graphic contour of the previous one within hourly durations and a determined sound density. The research study proves that sound innovations gained by the piano in Modernism, Postmodernism, and contemporary music are correspondingly reflected in the field of graphical notation. The cluster, by means of the composers’ utterly personal graphical expression, which generates both varied interpretations and an individualized perception of the effect, opens up new perspectives in terms of the phenomenon’s analysis and hierarchy.
More...
Starting from the question “what are the specific musical means of representing the idea of transcendence in the musical discourse?”, the study reflects upon the philosophical meaning and features of this idea under the inspiration of two German contemporary thinkers – Peter Sloterdijk and Heiner Mühlmann. The author analyzes and adapts to the musical environment seven different possibilities of capturing the idea of transcendence in music and of understanding it in a specific and veiled musical way. These seven possibilities would be: slowness, violence, silence, caress, height, darkness, and explosion.
More...
Der vorliegende Text, eine umfassende Übersicht der im Laufe der letzten acht Jahre in Kroatien veröffentlichten Ergebnisse der einheimischen literaturwissenschaftlichen Forschung, wurde am 15. December 1979 auf der Jahresversammlung des Kroatischen Philologenverbandes (Hrvatsko filološko društvo) verlesen. Die Übersicht läßt erkennen, daß die Literaturwissenschaft in Kroatien innerhalb des angegebenen Zeitraums eine beachtliche allseitige Entwicklung erfahren und dabei Wege jüngster Forschungsrichtungen beschritten hat. In der angegebenen Zeitspanne sind fünf einer auf sieben Bande berechneten Geschichte der kroatischen Literatur erschienen, worunter der erste Band (Maja Bošković-Stulli, Mündliche Literatur - Divna Zečević, Das Phänomen der Volksdichtung) sowie der zweite (Eduard Hercigonja, Literatur des Mittelalters) besondere Beachtung verdienen. Diesem literaturgeschichtlichen Werk darf die auf acht Bände berechnete Geschichte der Welt literatur an Bedeutung gleichgesetzt werden. Beide das hohe wissenschaftliche Niveau der kroatischen Literaturforschung bezeugende Werke sind vom Universitätsverlag Liber herausgegeben worden. Daneben bieten Ergebnisse literaturtheoretischer Forschung in synthetischer Form die Werke von Milivoj Solar (Theorie der Literatur), Aleksandar Flaker (Stilformationen) und Zdenko Skreb (Literaturstudium). Als Ableger der erwähnten reich entwickelten Forschung dürfen kritische Ausgaben der Werke von Matoš, Nazor und Mažuranić angesehen werden, denen sich Ausgaben von Werken kapitaler Bedeutung aus der kroatischen kulturellen und literarischen Tradition anschließen.Zusammenfassend kann festgestellt werden, daß die kroatischen Forscher innerhalb des erwähnten Zeitraums auf dem Gesamtgebiet der Literaturforschung an die hundert Bände veröffentlicht haben. Diese haben die Diskussion der Forschung gewaltig gehoben, eine ganZe Reihe von bisher nicht beachteten Fragen angeschnitten und dadurch einen ungleich tieferen Einblick sowohl in die einheimische Kultur und Literatur wie auch in die Problematik der Forschung selbst ermöglicht.
More...