The Russian musical art of the early 20th century: Antitheses

Abstract

The essay examines the transition from the Classical era to the Modern (the turn and the beginning of the XX century, 1890s-1920s) in Russian musical art. It is noted that for this period, the key driving contradiction was embodied in the opposition “the old world – the new world”, based on the dialogue of the ending and the ascending era. The paper gives a brief description of the trends inherent in the Russian musical art of the Classical era, its final phase, which received various expressions (this was reflected in such antitheses as “degradation, degeneracy – the great petrification”, “the golden sunset – the black twilight”). Special attention is paid to the phenomena of the emerging era, i.e., the Modern. As a result, the author comes to the conclusion that the prevailing trend in the formation of the new world, in addition to the retention and consistent development of established norms, turned out to be a cardinal renewal of the entire system of life views, including the artistic and aesthetic sphere: as for musical technology, qualities such as rigidity, contradiction were put forward; within the framework of semantic aspects, fullness of strength and increased vitality, as well as an optimistic mood were manifested, which would be later associated with the elaboration of heroic imagery and the development of revolutionary heroics.

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About this article

Publication history

• Received: November 28, 2023.
• Published: January 11, 2024.

Keywords

• музыкальное искусство России начала XX века
• антитезы в музыкальном искусстве XX века
• оппозиция «старый мир – новый мир»
• исход Классической эпохи
• Модерн
• Russian musical art of the early 20th century
• antitheses in the musical art of the XX century
• opposition “the old world – the new world”
• end of the Classical era
• Modern

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