Structure in the late instrumental music of Leos Janacek.
Item
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Title
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Structure in the late instrumental music of Leos Janacek.
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Identifier
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AAI9218272
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identifier
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9218272
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Creator
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Skoumal, Zdenek Denny.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Joel Lester
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Date
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1992
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Music
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Abstract
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This study is an exploration of Janacek's musical language in its most developed form. It aims to show in detail those elements which give his instrumental music coherence and points to structural principles that organize these non-traditional compositions.;The musical language is seen as an amalgam of traditional tonal elements, folk-influenced features, and motivic ideas Janacek deemed "natural." Janacek was musically educated in a fairly traditional manner, but immersed himself in Czech folk culture and folk music from the early years of his career. Folk elements such as pedals, ostinatos, static harmonic blocks, and dance rhythms became fundamental components of his own style. He also patterned his musical ideas on sonic impressions from the natural world. As a rule these were brief melodic and rhythmic constructs which he utilized in diverse ways--primarily as important motives. The folk and motivic features complement each other: the motives are less constrained by tradition and more free to assume varied structure-determining roles.;The first two chapters are historically oriented, presented from Janacek's point of view. Chapter 1 deals with folk music. It outlines Janacek's ideas on its significance as well as its relationship to art music. It gives a historical background on Janacek's folk involvement and summarizes the influential stylistic features. Chapter 2 discusses motives: their sources, characteristics, compositional applications. It shows that Janacek's conscious contemplation and reasoning of the compositional process revolves around motivic issues. The chapter also relates motives to folk music and to Janacek's philosophical orientation. Chapter 3 focuses on pitch organization to isolate and define the specific structural elements. The major topics include harmonic motion, semitone shift, fifths-series/diatonic collections, and motives. The chapter serves as a foundation for the longer analyses of chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7. These examine two late instrumental chamber works: the first two movements of the First String Quartet and the first and third movements of the wind sextet Mladi. The four movements are analyzed motivically, using the Schenkerian concept of structural levels.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
