The stylistic paradigm in O. Shchetinsky’s creative works (illustrated by examples from the work called “The Franz Josef Land”)
Background. The article is devoted to the definition of characteristic stylistic foundations of creativity of the modern Ukrainian composer Olexander Shchetinsky. Beginning with the second half of the 20th century and up today the urgent problem of style has been drawing an especially great attention to itself. New terms have been created, such as style pluralism, style modeling, style polyphony, stylistic paradigm, style allusion etc. They point out the individual composer relationships with a wide range of the known styles. The category of style as the ontology notion is on the top of the hierarchy among all the existing definitions (in the spiritual and ethical analysis offered by V. Medushevskiy for music). In order to define the style of a modern composer one needs to unite two directions: attitude to tradition (including the level of mastering the composition techniques) and the acquirement of own (individual) language and style signs. The complexity in choosing the exact (objective) style characteristics of a modern composer is often concluded in its many-dimensional quality, often demanded by the ambiguity of the situation of postmodernism – post-avant-garde. The second period of Olexander Shchetinsky’s creative career is a qualitatively new stage on the way to forming his individual style. Searching for universal means, the composer is actively using all the intonation and style store of the “sign” elements of the past times by re-considering them in the present time and letting them through his own experience. Objectives.The article is devoted to defining the special style features in the modern Ukrainian composer O. Shchetinsky’s works of the beginning of the 21st century within the context of the situation of postmodernism – post-avant-garde: postmodernism as re-thinking the past through the lenses of the poly-stylistic dialogue; post-avant-garde as continuing the avant-garde line in the form of “implementing” (in contrast to separating) the techniques or their elements into the common language musical context. The present article considers the problem of finding the mechanism for the style synthesis and of choosing the most exact terminology definition from the variety of notions in order to give characteristics to the creative works by Olexander Shchetinsky. The article emphasizes the notion of the “stylistic paradigm” which can explain the special features of the stylistic situation of the second period of O. Shchetinsky’s creative career using the symphony called “The Franz Josef Land” as an example. Methodology. The present work raises the question of an insufficient study of the Ukrainian composer’s creative works. O. Shchetinsky’s works are not often the object for the research by scientists and critics. Sometimes there is interest in the press due to some concerts where the composer’s music sounds. In whole there is a certain selectivity and episodic choice in the musicology approach to O. Shchetinsky’s compositions. For example, some analytical articles devoted to the composer’s instrumental music have a somewhat problem-and-subject character (O. Opanasyuk “The principles of explication of intentional and connotative senses in the modern music (based upon O. Shchetinsky’s chamber and instrumental compositions)”, I. Kohanyk “The style landscapes of “The Franz Josef Land”, O. Kushniruk “The minimalism reception in Olexander Shchetinsky’s oeuvre”). The article also offers an analysis for forming, compositional, and stylistic elements of “The Franz Josef Land” symphony, as well as for the specific features of the author’s individual style in whole. Results. O. Shchetinsky doesn’t have many big symphony works (three of them were composed during the first period of his career, and five of them – during the second part). In 2002 the opera called “The Blind Swallow” starts the second period of his career. The composer turns to grand genres: choir, instrumental, symphonic, opera, where one may distinguish conceptuality, deep immersion into the depth of the universal musical language, and the change in the stylistic paradigm in the very creation. “The Franz Josef Land” was composed in 2011 for the classic double symphonic orchestra supported by three trombones and “decorated” by a romantic harp. It is a one-part composition the basis of which is the first part of J. Haydn’s clavier sonata (Es-dur (KH XVI, 49). In the music practice there are some examples of using somebody else’s text (“Ricercata” by Bach-Webern, “Carmen-Suite” by Bizet-Shchedrin, Bach’s fugues, “The Water Music” by G. Handel performed by the jazz pianist and composer Jacques Loussier), when in new compositions of the other authors it (somebody else’s text) acquires “another” level of existence. In order to study the style processes in the modern music profoundly the notion of poly-stylistics has been introduced (A. Shnitke, 1971). Its manifestations are: stylistic polyphony, stylistic modulation (A. Shnitke), style modeling (O. Kuzmenkova), stylistic pluralism (M. Tarakanov), “stereo-style” (E. Shevlyakov), mono-stylistics (G. Grygoryeva), style synthesis, style contrast (L. Kazantseva) etc. The notion of the “stylistic paradigm” is applied to the style situation of the second period of O. Shchetinsky’s career illustrated by examples from “The Franz Josef Land”. The term “paradigm” is used in philosophy, science (T. Coon), linguistics (R. Bart); in musicology I. Kotlyarevskiy turns attention to it. The stylistic paradigm in O. Shchetinsky’s composition is defined by the author himself in the annotation to the score (verbal forewords along with the title are becoming his important structure and sense element of the composition)It means that the composer creates a certain “inter-textual dialogue” between styles or style models where “…none of the languages has advantage over each other” (R. Bart). The stylistic space of meta-textuality is becoming the stylistic paradigm — the “common denominator” in the musical composition by O. Shchetinsky. The composer chooses the most significant elements of style of the most outstanding symphonists: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Debussy, and Shostakovich. Timbre colouring and specific orchestration have become the “external” attribute to symphonic composers’ styles. The composition principle in the work is as follows: all the thematic material of the sonata (periods, separate phrases) is being led through step by step while interchanging with its author’s variants. Conclusion. As a result of the present research we give proofs of the fact that O. Shchetinsky’s “The Franz Josef Land” is the example of finding a new stylistic paradigm formed by inter-textuality of poly-stylistics. The composer reaches the text stylistic unity (meta-textuality), and the universal musical language (metalanguageFrom the other hand, the stated composition finalizes the tradition of “personification-interpretation” of classic works through the lenses of post-avantgarde.