Music as Metaphysics: Structure and Meaning in Skryabin’s Fifth Piano Sonata.
Because Skryabin’s mature philosophy centers on a temporal narrative, issues of long-range coherence can overcome the technical–cultural division in studies of the composer’s music. The essence of that narrative is captured in the program attached to the Fifth Piano Sonata, Op. 53 (1907). Two thread...
| Publicado en: | Journal of Musicological Research Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. 1 - 38 |
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| Autor principal: | |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
2004
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| Sumario: | Because Skryabin’s mature philosophy centers on a temporal narrative, issues of long-range coherence can overcome the technical–cultural division in studies of the composer’s music. The essence of that narrative is captured in the program attached to the Fifth Piano Sonata, Op. 53 (1907). Two threads can be exposed by a close reading of the sonata: (a) a multistage, ascending bass line that allegorizes cycles of birth and death and (b) temporal and pitch motives that depict various “ages of existence” in a theosophical cosmology. Such close readings are needed to test the relevance of Skryabin’s metaphysics to a better understanding of his music. |
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