Scrieri & prezentări

Music is traditionally considered as a temporal art. At the same time, a musical work supposes organisation, unity, continuity. These are attributes of spatiality. By consequence, we are talking in music about a special kind of space – not surfaces or volumes, but a metaphorical one, which we call here the virtual musical space. It is important not only to admit its presence among the musical language elements, but especially to comprehend its structure, and its influence in the modern forms of art.

Both art and science do create rules, concepts, theories, but the first makes an aim to infringe them, while the second cannot exist without them. There are no strict limits between arts – actually there are joint areas, wherein the perceptions are mingling and more than one feeling consequently appears. The effect is intense, pleasant, sometimes unbearably stunning. 

Music has a large, consistent and historical joint area with visual sphere, producing among other results, the syncretic art. An interesting investigation field is the existence and especially the importance of sight in music in two aspects: a) the real view (material presence) of the performers during the musical act, and b) virtual image – psychological consequence of music upon the auditor. 

Comparing two performances at aria Una furtiva lagrima (Donizetti) it is obvious that gestures, mimics, and costume – all visual details are influencing the shaping of character. 

Vocal Lied is another example where the visual part may increase the poetic meaning. Dynamics tint and vocal colour, mimics and discrete gestures – all these represent plastic exposures of music meanings.  

However, music has also a non-visual zone – or in which at least the visual features are less important: sacred genre. On the contrary, further experiments appeared nowadays, in which the visual image almost replaces the sound. 

Can we see the so called ′pure′ music? – That is the question we try to answer to, by two samples like Nigel Kennedy ′case′ or Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet with Voces Quartet and the Hungarian clarinettist Kalman Berkes. 

Does pure music need the visual support? Yes and No! Yes – for unknowledgeable auditors, but also when the performing artist (or artists) wishes to reveal new and/or deeper meanings. No – this ′slim′ branch of music is understandable for music lovers by its very nature and its proper language. 

This text represents an abridgement of an extensive research paper, recently completed, and titled The Song-Symbol, History and Content. About the National Anthems. It has not been long since I wrote about a sensitive subject: that of prejudices in considering and reconsidering history, those which could manipulate (in fact do manipulate!) consciences positively or negatively, and sometimes generate extremist ideas and attitudes (Chelaru, 2017). Following the course of history, a dilemma arose regarding the national anthem, particularly regarding its origins, the circumstances under which a particular anthem was chosen, and above all, comparisons of one anthem to another. From a general point of view, the first observation is that the anthem, especially as it is perceived nowadays in Europe, involves historical meaning, symbols of human communities and nations. As a result, I want to suggest certain improvements towards the current configuration of this musical genre. First I will summarize the history of the Romanian national anthems, beginning with the very first one, adopted during the reign of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, continuing with the monarchic period, then the anthems of communist Romania, and finally the present one, Deșteaptă-te, române! – which is in fact the oldest of all. The main reason I chose this issue does not concern purely academic curiosity; it pursues my entirely subjective interest in the circumstances that prompted Romanians to adopt, over the last century and a half, just these hymns and not others.

Iannis Xenakis
sau jocul dintre real și imaginar, dintre spațiu și timp

Articol de Carmen Chelaru

Rezumat: Iannis Xenakis este considerat un artist de avangardă deopotrivă în sfera muzicală și în cea a arhitecturii. Creațiile sale sunt incitante prin împreunarea realului cu imaginarul, a timpului cu spațiul și la acestea aș adăuga: îmbinarea dintre vizual și auditiv, dintre arhaic și neologic. Însăși individualitatea sa constituie o întâlnire peste timp și spațiu a două culturi diferite – poate chiar divergente – cea greacă (antică, meridional-răsăriteană) și cea franceză (modernă, occidentală). În intervenția de față am pornit pe urmele acestor disjuncții ale personalității și creației sale, acum, la împlinirea celor o sută de ani de la nașterea artistului în târgul Brăilei începutului de veac 20. De la Metastasis și Pithoprakta la Polytopi, Xenakis a creat punți între sfere greu de reunit, care tocmai de aceea au reprezentat provocări pentru mulți artiști de-a lungul timpului. Pentru Xenakis, muzica reprezintă inefabilul care, în raport cu materialul, cu concretul poate stabili suprafețe de contact variabile, dar care își păstrează totodată propriul ambient. O experiență de viață marcată de evenimente tragice și-a pus amprenta deopotrivă asupra fizionomiei sale și asupra propriei personalități artistice, a filozofiei sale de viață și de creație.