Musically symbolics in choral work of M.Shuch
Works of the modern Ukrainian composer Mikhail Shukh attract huge interest of modern researchers as, on the one hand, his composer style is original, and with another – creativity – poorly studied. M. Shukh is one of repeaters of sacred music in the Ukrainian culture. The composer works in many genres, but sacred music is the priority direction in his creativity. Mikhail Shukh is a many-sided composer who thinks various, sometimes contradictory "sound images". He as the philosopher, doesn’t strive for unambiguity of sense of the compositions, often synthesizing genres, forms, representing various conditions, moods of the lyrical hero of works. It isn’t casual that many of his choral compositions have the hidden symbolics ciphered in musical sounds and the poetic word. Choral cycle "From A. Blok’s lyrics" - the secular work, but with spiritual implication, having addressed a secular genre, the composer has enclosed in him sacral symbolics. In article it is described how by means of what ciphered musical means M. Shukh interpreted symbolical poetry of A. Blok which is also connected with the vocal beginning. It occurs thanks to the embodiment of musical and poetic symbols at the expense of which there is a synthesis of the secular and spiritual worlds. The cycle consists of four numbers: "There the sky the clarified edge …", "The girl sang in church choir", "Servus -Regine" and "Fortunetelling". In the first poem through lyrics of the Russian landscape the central theme of creativity of A. Blok – the Homeland subject reveals. In the poem "The Girl Sang in Church Choir" desire of the poet to console human souls minutes of grief, to ennoble suffering as one of the most strong feelings, to present to people hope that "joy will be" was reflected, and compositions of "Servus-Regine" and "Fortunetelling" are bright samples of love lyrics of A. Blok. Touching such exceptional poems, M. Shukh on the one hand, acts as the successor of interpretation of the put symbols in Blok’s poetry, with another, – introduces new, given rise from "spirit of music", "sound images". The first number of the choral cycle "There the Sky the Clarified Edge …" in M. Shukh’s interpretation in many respects follows development of semantics by A. Block. Slow rate, a minor inclination, a certain static character and smooth sound maintaining voices draw a sad image of homesickness. However, M. Shukh finds the hidden poetic symbols, creating new "sound images". In every line he hears as if sounding "ring" - an image of a bell, as tries to transfer by means of music, using long detainees of a cadence on a cluster chord in each phrase, takes place to be such performing stroke as singing of chorus of the sonorny concordant of "n", reception of mormorando. An image of a bell - the first symbol, the first stroke to "sacralization" of the composition promoting emergence of new sense. In the second number "The Girl Sang in Church Choir" the prayful, sublime image of the girl who asks for all mankind acts into the forefront. However M. Shukh innovatively treats this image as an image of the Mother of God which acts as equivalent. It occurs due to emergence of new composer reception of application of verbal and musical "inserts" (as medieval sequences). Viscous sound maintaining chorus by means of reception of mormorando is noticeable, there are detained cadences, as well as in the first part. Thus, semantics of a bell ciphered in music is again created. The third number of a cycle "Servus-regine" is a culmination point of all composition, the sacral culmination. This address to the Mother of God and at the same time address to the terrestrial woman. Semantics of a bell is here too found in a musical tematizm of the third number, other – solemn, festive sounding. He is presented in verbal and musical "inserts" of the composer. Special value is found by a final part "Fortunetelling" which is based on transformation - it is fortunetelling of the artist who creates musical and poetic fabric, the artist who has re-embodied a poetic plan of A. Blok. In spite of the fact that here the composer doesn’t look for the spiritual beginning as a superimage, it is rather on the contrary – reveals the "dark" party, an image the suffering soul. However all-consuming love of the person with which it is impossible to cope, in this case, also a certain superforce that moves him. Thus, the same image, as well as in other parts is ciphered here, is an opposition of two forces – the person and superforce, supernatural. In the intonational and sound embodiment M. Shukh completely follows a thought of A. Block, supplementing a mysterious image of fortunetelling, at the expense of "inserts", only not verbal and musical, but already purely performing on means of sounding of chorus which connects stanzas of the text by continuously moving interludes on a vowel "at", reception of mormorando that helps to create an ominous, gloomy image something fantastic – fortunetelling, guessing. The last part though isn’t deification and the statement of sacral image as fundamental, here at last there is a merge of poetic and composer vision of the composition, that art integrity, a symbolical unification which was under construction at the expense of the ciphered symbols in other parts, constant transition from secular in spiritual and vice versa. The image of a bell which penetrates practically all parts of a cycle acts as that uniting factor, "vertical" of musical fabric. He builds a spiritual image over secular. Therefore the choral cycle "From A. Blok’s lyrics", seeming to secular, becomes sacral. The expressive intoning of the poetic text finds the coded sound figurative symbol as a method of art thinking which is shown in each part and is fundamentals of dramatic art of a cycle.