Neoclassicism (music)

The border between neoclassicism and neo-baroque is blurred, as the composers themselves willingly used genre and stylistic features (form, composition technique, harmony, texture) of both historical periods, without distinguishing them especially. Recently, the term "neoclassicism" is used excessively broadly. It is understood not only as stylizations of Viennese classics and Baroque, but also as “aesthetic reconstructions” of other historical periods, different from romanticism. According to the famous 20th century music researcher L.O. Hakobyan , “modern commentators often expand the concept of neoclassicism beyond measure, encompassing all the music of most of the 20th century that does not fit into the category of“ modernism ”or“ avant-garde “<...> in essence the term “neoclassicism”, taken out of the context of Western European music of the 1910-1930s, has little content and has no special explanatory value ” ^[2] .

The normativeness of artistic thinking was partly inherent in a number of composers of the 19th and early 20th centuries, representing a moderate branch of late romanticism, such as I. Brahms , M. Reger , S. Frank , C. Saint-Saens , V. d'Andy , A. K Glazunov , S.I. Taneev . With regard to their work, it is customary to talk about "classicist tendencies" ^[3] or anticipation of individual elements of the neoclassicism style ^[4] .

Separate composer imitations of the “classical style” were already noted in the second half of the 19th century: “Intermezzo in the classical style” by M. P. Mussorgsky (1862), “The Ancient Minuet” by M. Ravel (1895). Examples of neoclassicism in 1910s music - “ Classical Symphony ” by S. S. Prokofiev (1917) and “Bureaucratic Sonatina” (1917, parodying Clementi in C major sonatine) E. Sati ^[5] .

According to the musicologist Galina Filenko , who interprets neoclassicism broadly as the embodiment of an “antique theme” (and not at all in the sense of stylizing Viennese classics), “ Socrates ” (1916-1918) Sati “clearly anticipates the neoclassicism” of “Apollo Musaguet” and “Oedipus Rex” Stravinsky , as well as the "Antigone" Honegger ^[6] . At the same time, Filenko notes that the reconstruction of the “spirit of antiquity” by means of the “Gregorian psalmody” (as in Filenko) is deeply alien to the very essence of “saturated with the juices of living feelings of ancient art” ^[6] .

In the "symphonic drama" (the author's designation of the vocal cycle for soprano and orchestra, into the French translation of fragments from Plato 's Dialogues) Socrates, Sati's musical language is distinguished by almost classical clarity and restraint in expressive means. A small chamber orchestra (almost stringed ) envelops the vocalist’s parts with transparent polyphonic fabric, without violating the harsh and rigorous nature of the sound anywhere ^[7] . Sati's music does not strive to match the text in detail, it conveys only the “general environment” and atmosphere, constantly maintaining the “average temperature” of emotions and the nature of sound throughout the symphonic drama. In this property, Sati is akin to artists of the early Renaissance , such as Fra Beato Angelico , Botticelli and Puvi de Chavannes , a beloved artist of Sati's youth, who were close in spirit to them in the 19th century. In their canvases, they solved the problem of the unity of the whole image, the absence of restless contrasts, the repetition of parallel lines or small strokes, and the symmetrical position of the figures ^[8] . Sati's new style finds expression in maintaining a single, extremely restrained emotional tone throughout the music of Socrates. Expressive means are similar, pre-selected harmonic sequences, textured drawings, groups of motifs and thematic formations, divided into short one-two-stroke cells, are constantly repeated or alternating. As a rule, repetitions are symmetric or almost symmetrical at close and distant distances. In the very same constructive and emotional way, in the near future, other neoclassical composers will follow the tracks of Socrates Sati ^[6] .

Eric Satie himself did not use the term "neoclassicism" because of his squeamishness to any schools and other "isms . " However, he did not leave the slightest doubt about his intentions. After the scandalous premiere of the ballet Parade , Sati decided to radically change his style and confuse everyone by presenting the world with a “fundamentally new” work ^[9] . At the beginning of 1917 he speaks of the essay “White & Pure as Antiquity ” ^[9] . And a year later, after completing the score, he concludes that in Socrates there is a “return to classical simplicity, but with modern sensitivity” ^[9] . The first performance of the symphonic drama Socrates took place in June 1918. A little less than a year later, the orchestral premiere of Socrates took place in one concert with Stravinsky 's Fox, who met in great detail with Sati's opening: both in clavier and in orchestra performance ^[9] . After listening to Socrates in March 1919, Stravinsky exclaimed in a burst of enthusiasm: “there are only Chabrier , Bizet and Sati!” ^[10] . As for Arthur Onegger, in 1918-1921 he attended all the premieres of Sati, and sometimes even led his concerts ^[11] .

In 1920, F. Busoni declared Neoclassicism as an artistic direction by publishing an article “New Classicism” (in the form of an open letter to musicologist P. Becker) ^[12] . Neoclassicism gained powerful development later, first of all, with I.F. Stravinsky (Apollon Musaget, Pulcinella, Orpheus, The Adventures of the Hang) and A. Russell (Suite in Fa, Bacchus and Ariadne) ), in relation to the music of which the term "neoclassicism" was first used (in 1923) ^[13] . Many composers of the first half of the 20th century gave tribute to neoclassicism, including A. Honegger (compositions?), D. Millau (compositions?), F. Pulenk ( Rural concert for harpsichord, partly Alborada [Aubade]), P. Hindemith (Chamber music No. 6, “Artist Mathis”), A. Casella . Sometimes the Italian composer O. Respighi is ranked among the neoclassicists, in whose work (three orchestral suites “Antiche arie e danze”, 1917, 1923, 1932), stylistic and genre imitations of late Renaissance music (rather than Viennese classics) are noted, for example, balletto , villanella , galliards .

In the 21st century, the term “neoclassic” is often used as an option (which is a big misconception) for the names of the Classical Crossover style - a kind of synthesis, a harmonious combination of elements of classical music and pop , rock , or electronic music . Some representatives of this style are the band Elend , Ludovico Einaudi , Secret Garden and Lind Erebros

• Neoclassical metal
• Socrates (Eric Satie's symphonic drama; the beginning of neoclassicism in music) )

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