The Apocalypse of St. John in Three Musical Renditions of Contemporary Composers of Pomerania and Kujawy
Journal Title: Edukacja Muzyczna - Year 2014, Vol 9, Issue 9
Abstract
The subject matter of the paper comprises of the three works of composers of the Pomerania and Kujawy region inspired by the Apocalypse of St. John – Septem Tubae dated 1966 and Apocalypsis according to St. John dated 1977 by Bernadetta Matuszczak and Apocalypse by Marcin Gumiela dated 2006-2010. The author uses the methodology proposed by Mieczysław Tomaszewski, in which the musical work is examined in the aspect of its functions in culture, therefore from the perspective of expressive, impressive, referential and phatic function. The choice of the means of expression and the ways to influence the listener are connected with rich means of performance. The categories of extramusical meanings are brought by such compositions of intervals and timbres that depict the sphere of sacrum and profanum. In these works the illustrative character interpenetrates with symbolic and allusive thinking. The composers refer to the rich tradition of the earlier periods, to the Gregorian psalmody, sequence Dies irae(B. Matuszczak) and apply formal and sound solutions inspired by the symbolism of numbers (M. Gumiela). In the three presented musical renditions of Apocalypse, two structural and expressive idioms are the most noticeable: the idiom of horror (sevenfold apocalyptic “woe”) and the idiom of sanctity – New Heaven and New Earth, in which the words Sanctus and Alleluja sound. It is these words that eventually carry the strongest message of these works – the message of hope and peace.
Authors and Affiliations
Anna Szarapka
Keywords
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- EP ID EP758560
- DOI https://doi.org/10.16926/em.2014.09.09
- Views 43
- Downloads 0
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