The features of modern choral arrangements of classical works on the example of “Khreshchatyk” Academic chamber choir repertoire
Background. One of the most demanded directions in contemporary choral arts are the choral arrangements of popular works of the opera and symphony genre and variety programs constituted from them. In particular, the choir “Khreschatyk” has produced concert programs “Choir smiles”, “Hit-parades from everywhere” and “Hits of the space age” in recent years. The basis of these programs is the transcriptions of popular classical and modern works performed by young Ukrainian composers. The last publications, devoted to the choral culture of the modern Ukraine, mainly analyze and study the phenomena of staging and reveal the question of synthesis artistic genres (Baida L., Batovska O., Kirilenko Y., Stanislavska K., Mostova Y., Kireeva N.). Some publications (Zaverukha O.) devoted to the works of Ukrainian composers V. Silvestrov, Yu. Alzhnev, V. Muzhchil consider them in the context of the authors’ philosophical and world-view instructions. Meanwhile, the choral transcriptions by contemporary Ukrainian authors have not received the proper researchers’ attention yet. Objectives. The goal of our work is to identify the features of the choir arrangements by Petrichenko E. and Tormakhova V., written by request of the choir collective “Khreschatyk” within the frameworks of the concert program “Choir smiles”. The mentioned program included the arrangements of famous works by G. Verdi, W. A. Mozart, G. Bizet, P. Tchaikovsky, J. S. Bach, S. Prokofiev G. F. Handel, L. van Beethoven, F. Liszt, E. Grieg, and others. Methods. Traditional methods of musicological science, such as the analysis of harmonic, texture and musical form, were used for the considering of mentioned works above. The comparative method of analysis was also used. The arrangements were compared both with each other and with the original model. It gave the possibility to track changes made by the arranger. Results. The analysis results showed the variety of the composers’ approaches to the arranging, which included both the redistribution of the orchestral textures and special attention to the articulation decisions. The redistribution necessity of the orchestral textures connects with the fact that the choir’s range is a little narrower than the orchestra’s. It was found that arrangers use both linear and nonlinear methods of redistribution. The example of the linear method of the redistribution is the arrangement of “Brindisi” by G. Verdi made by V. Tormakhova. In this arrangement, the narrowing of the high-sound range is achieved by avoiding octave duplications in the melodic line and bass part. The example of the nonlinear method of the redistribution is the arrangement by E. Petrichenko of “The Aria of the Queen of the Night” by Mozart . The main melody is given to the lower voices, such as alto, tenor and even bass in turn. It is sometimes moved down for one octave and it’s frequently moved down for two octaves. However, orchestral echoes or even the pedal notes are entrusted to the sopranos. In the moment, when the soloist, as one expects, to hit f3, the sopranos start with sounds on the staccato a2 – b2 – a2. These sounds are quite high for the choir parts. However, thanks to that the main melody presented by basses and tenors in the octave duplications in the range between F-f1, the effect of the distance of the upper sound even increases in comparison with the original. The special attention to the articulation decisions is dictated by the fact that the choir’s timbre palette does not foresee the presence of the contrasting sound-forming tools, but it provides the wide possibilities of articulation. It was revealed that the melody is usually used in the “pa” or “pa-ra-ra” in the moderate movement. The quick sixteenths usually are sung on “da-ba-da-ba”. Such order of syllables allows to articulate maximally clearly because the labial “b” (“p”) and pointed “d” (“t”) are characterized by the quick sound attack and their alternation allows to perform them for a long time. A number of works have found the use of different syllables for insonification the different layers of textures. For example, the accompanying bunch of bass chords is solved through the subtitle “um-pa” in the “Fairy Dragee’s Dance” arranged by E. Petrichenko. The syllable “um” suits well for simulating pizzicato for contrabass and, contrasting with the syllable “pa” due to timbre, compensates the loss of register contrast. The principle of collage is also considered as an important forming principle. The example of its using is the collage arrangement of four J. S. Bach’s compositions created by E. Petrichenko. It has got the following structure: “Toccata” (the first sentence) – “Badineria” (the first period) – “Toccata” (the second sentence) – “Badineria” (the repeating of the first period) – “Toccata” (the third sentence) – “Badineria” (the beginning of the second period) – “Toccata” (the fourth sentence) – “Badineria” (the finishing of the second period) – Prelude (the fragment of 14 bars) – “Badineria” (the beginning of the second period) – Fugue (the fragment of 5 bars) – “Badineria” (the finishing of the second period). Conclusions. Considered choral arrangements of the opera and symphonic classic allow to distinguish such innovation features, as: – the using both the linear transporting of the elements of musical texture and nonlinear, consisting in redistribution of the musical texture with the maximum possible clarification of its most expressive elements; – the using of differentiated articulation which allows to imitate different orchestral colors and strokes, to create the timbre contrast between the elements of the texture, as well as, in some cases, to perform the sound-painting function; – the using of the collage technology as the specific forming method. The enumerated methods open the wide area for the experiments and for the new reading of the classical works in choral arrangements.