You are on page 1of 15

Monografa Rodrigo Bustos Fica

Captulo I

1.1 Antecedentes del problema


La forma musical
La obra cuadros de una exposicin corresponde a una suite de diez
movimientos escritos para piano, compuesta por Modest Mussorgsky en 1874.
Esta obra fue compuesta como un homenaje al arquitecto, pintor y diseador
Vktor Hartmann, quien falleci a los 39 aos. Ambos se conocan por un amigo
en comn Vladimir Stasov, quien reuna escritores, poetas, escultores, artistas
y msicos, de San Petersburgo que compartan la caracterstica de exaltar el
nacionalismo ruso en sus obras. Por este motivo, reunieron algunas de sus
obras para montar una exposicin de cuadros y escritos, en la cual Mussorgsky
tom notas tanto de los cuadros mismos, el camino entre uno y otro, el
compositor quiso dibujar esto en msica, adems de reflexiones sobre el arte
de Hartmann y recuerdos de l mismo.
La escritura de esta obra ha sido catalogada como virtuosa, no-pianstica,
siendo diametralmente diferente a la escritura de otros compositores
occidentales de la misma poca como Chopin, Schumann o Liszt, en elementos
como el uso de arpegios, por ejemplo, la ornamentacin y texturas utilizadas
en el estilo pianstico de la poca romntica. Adems, del uso protagnico de la
meloda, con la armona otorgando colores caractersticos. Mussorgsky y otros
compositores rusos pertenecientes al crculo de Balakirev, buscaban crear un
estilo de msica propiamente de su pas, sin considerar las enseanzas de los
conservatorios europeos.
Existen diversas orquestaciones de esta obra, Nikolai Rimski-krsakov edit la
partitura tras la muerte del compositor, y orquest dos movimientos. Michail
Tuschmalov orquest siete cuadros, en la actualidad existen versiones en el
marco de la msica contempornea y rock progresivo, incluso trabajos que
intentan seguir el estilo de Mussorgsky, sin embargo, la orquestacin de
Maurice Ravel es la ms reconocida mundialmente y la que ms se ha
presentado como repertorio de la orquesta sinfnica, y adems la que sent la
reputacin internacional del orquestador.
El inters de esta monografa es analizar tcnicas compositivas y de
orquestacin usadas a partir de la escritura para piano, considerando la
estructura, el color y timbre utilizados, para poder aplicar estos criterios en
composiciones para piano.
1.2 Formulacin del problema
Investigar las obras de artistas, como tambin su contexto social e histrico,
nos permite comprender los procesos que influyeron en la creacin de sus
obras, las cuales pueden presentar un lenguaje ms apegado a las reglas
convencionales de la poca o, en cambio, pertenecer a un campo ms
experimental o rupturista artsticamente. Estos ltimos, comnmente, son los
precursores de nuevos movimientos o conceptos artsticos. De esta manera,
cada autor desarrolla un lenguaje propio tras la internalizacin y experiencia en
el oficio de su arte
En el caso de esta obra, la escritura en el piano de esta composicin es
atemporal a su poca, haciendo que esta sea nica, por esta razn, ha sido
orquestada en varias ocasiones, siendo parte de esta monografa el anlisis de
las tcnicas compositivas y orquestales de la obra, el uso de la armona, forma,
textura, como tambin el color orquestal de acuerdo a mencionados
parmetros

1.3 Relevancia de la investigacin


Comprender el lenguaje musical e identificar las herramientas utilizadas por un
compositor en la creacin de sus obras, otorga la posibilidad a un estudiante de
composicin de incorporar estas herramientas a su propio desarrollo musical,
siguiendo la misma lnea o estilo del compositor estudiado, como tambin
evitndolo, siendo consciente de cmo hacerlo, o mezclando ambas opciones;
incorporando estas nuevas tcnicas e inventando un lenguaje musical ms
amplio, para crear una propuesta personal en sus composiciones
En cuanto a esta obra y compositor, existe informacin sobre este tema, tanto
anlisis musicales como descripciones poticas de la obra, sin embargo son de
difcil acceso tanto por el idioma como por la ubicacin y el acceso restringido
a estas publicaciones
1.4 Pregunta de investigacin
Cules son las tcnicas compositivas y orquestales utilizadas por Mussorgsky
en la suite de cuadros, que pueden aplicarse a composiciones propias?
1.5 Objetivos
1.5.1 Objetivo general
Describir tcnicas compositivas y orquestales utilizadas en la obra cuadros de
una exposicin de Mussorgsky que puedan aplicarse a composiciones propias
1.5.2 Objetivos especficos
Describir estructura de las composiciones: definiendo textura, forma y armona
Describir tratamiento orquestal a partir de la forma
Describir ejemplos de traduccin del piano a la orquesta

Marco terico
Nacionalismo ruso corresponde a una poca en la que se promovi la cultura y
tradiciones populares de los orgenes del pas, en base al inters de crculos de
educacin de la alta sociedad, musicalmente, es la incorporacin de materiales
o temas reconocibles de un territorio o una nacin, como la msica folklrica,
considerando tanto su ritmo, meloda o armona como su uso conceptual,
esttica e ideolgica.
Crculo de Balakirev, tambin conocido como los cinco, corresponde a un grupo
de compositores rusos reunidos en San Petersburgo entre 1856-1870, cuyo
objetivo era producir msica especficamente de su pas, en lugar de imitar las
enseanzas de los conservatorios de Europa.

Sus integrantes fueron Mili Balkirev, Csar Cui, Modest Mssorgsky, Nikali
Rimski-Krsakov y Aleksandr Borodn
A diferencia de Tchaikovsky
Los cuadros
Distintas orquestaciones

Escritura coral de muss y promenade, la msica folclrica rusa es


principalmente coral
Una tcnica presente a travs de la pieza es el uso de acordes en bloque en
melodas y armonas rpidas, duplicando o triplicando la lnea meldica, y
agregando intervalos entre ellas (principalmente segundas, sptimas, cuartas y
quintas justas, y tritonos)
Otra tcnica es el uso de martellato
Canto antifonal en promenade
Comienza en diferentes tiempos
Aparicin de las notas en relacin de cuartas
Al principio de promenade, se ubica la tnica en tiempo dbil, comps 4,

Citas bibliogrficas

rimski krsakov no estaba completamente satisfecho, y en su edicin cambi


algunas marcas de dinmicas, y en algunos casos la armona David Brown,
Musorgsky: His life and Works (Oxford: University Press, 2002), 237
Estas modificaciones corresponden a presentaciones divergentes del trabajo
original, incluso en la actualidad hay ediciones que consideran retornar a la
intencin del compositor,

Se generaron dos visiones, una occidental y una rusa, en la parte rusa se


defini de una manera unificada, formada por la cultura, tradiciones, y
mentalidad de la gente rusa.

En occidente no se desarroll una sola visin,

el pueblo ruso ha tenido relativamente poca libertad de expresin, escritores,


poetas y msicos preferan expresar sus pensamientos y opiniones
metafricamente a travs de su arte

La msica de Mussorgsky es comparada con las novelas de Dostoievsky, ambos


intentaban expresar el sufrimiento y dolor de las personas pobres y oprimidas,
como se puede ver en algunos de los nombres de los cuadros, como en
tulleries, enfermeras y nios, bydlo campesinos, el pobre schmuyle contra
Samuel goldenberg, el mercado de Limoges cocineros, quera asociarse a esas
clases mas bajas
Alfred Schnitke, Pictures at an Exhibition by M. P. Musorgsky: Analytical
Experience, Voprosy Muzykoznaniya, 1st ed. (Moscow: Muzgiz, 1954), 329

Tambin las indicaciones exactas en las partituras, vienen de Aleksandr


Dargomzhsky, quien tambin era un nacionalista ruso
6 Solomon Volkov, The History of Saint Petersburg (Moscow: Exmo Press, 2004),
106

Mussorgsky compuso esta obra en hnor a su fallecido amigo (Victor Seroff,


Modeste Moussorgsky, 15)
Dibujar en msica los cuadros Michael Russ, Musorgsky: Pictures at an
Exhibition, 16.

The Ballet of the Chicks in Their Shells, Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle, The
Catacombs, The Hut on Fowls Legs, and The Great Gate of Kiev, y el dibujo de
la catedral de Prigueux, Francia, podra ser la imagen inspiradora del viejo
castillo, sin embargo no existen pruebas concluyentes Ibid., 37.

LA OBRA DA PARA PENSAR QUE MS ALL DE LOS CUADROS, UN HOMENAJE A


LA PERSONA Y SU ARTE, REFLEXIONES PROPIAS SOBRE EL ARTE DE HARTMANN,
IMPRESIONES SOBRE LA OBSERVACION, O RECUERDOS DEL PROPIO HARTMANN

Ambos se conocan por un amigo en comn Vladimir Stasov, quien reuna


escritores, poetas, escultores, artistas y msicos Ibid 114

Rimsky-Korsakov re-worked and re-orchestrated Mussorgskys operas Boris


Godunov and Khovanshchina.15 15 S. Shlifshtein, Musorgsky: Artist. Time.
Destiny (Moscow: Muzyka Press, 1975), 213.

By carrying the folk song elements into their art music, the Russian composers
developed a unique idiom which contained the following: the cell development
technique (a short motif or phrase repeated exactly or slightly varied),
pronounced interest in orchestral colour, variety of dynamics, use of (inverted)
pedal points, drone basses, dominant hovering, use of exotic harmony
(chromatic or modal), pentatonic or modal tunes and their associated
harmonies, and additive structures resulting from the cell development on a big
scale, small melodic compass, recurring intervallic shapes . . . By the second
half of the nineteenth century, original Russian tunes could almost be mistaken
for folk songs as the folk idiom had been assimilated so successfully. 27
27 M. Tevfic Dorak, Russian Nationalism in Music [article on-line]; available
from http://www.dorak.info/music/national.html

Mussorgsky, although less prolific than Rimsky Korsakov, contributed a great


deal to the development of musical nationalism and realism. 3030 Realism
was another feature of the Russian music (opera) in the nineteenth century.
The plots were true to contemporary life. . . M. Tevfic Dorak, Russian
Nationalism in Music [article on-line]; available from
http://www.dorak.info/music/national.html;

The modal sounds of Russian church music and folk-songs were echoed in
much of the art music in Russia in the nineteenth century (as in the music of
Stravinsky, Glazunov and Rachmaninoff). Composers were already using folk-
songs to write variations on them or as a basis for their compositions. In the
hands of Glinka and Borodin, most of them became world-known. Despite a
comparatively small output, Glinka formed the basis for a Russian nationalist
school which resulted in the Russian Five (Balakirev, Borodin, Cui, Mussorgsky
and Rimsky-Korsakoff). The Russian Five used the folk material extensively in
their music. Balakirev's symphonic poem Tamara, Borodin's Polovtzian Dances
from Prince Igor, and Rimsky-Korsakoff's Scheherazade are examples of Russian
orientalism.

In 1868 he began
composing his opera The Marriage. He planned to set to music Gogols novel,
which
was written in prose rather than poetry

Mussorgsky, in turn, was fascinated by the idea of naturalistic imitation of


human speech. 32
32 Seroff, Modeste Moussorgsky, 80.

The composer was much more successful with


his other two operas: Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina, both of which became
his
masterpieces. Mussorgskys three song-cycles The Nursery, Sunless, and
Songs and
Dances of Death, along with his numerous art songs made an important
contribution to
the Russian vocal repertoire

. Musorgsky strived for naturalism in his compositions, so much that many of


his songs include street language and peasant expressions. Eurasian Studies
201 Handouts: Music, Russian Music [article on-line]; available from
http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/russ110/handout_p2_music.htm;

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky composed his celebrated programmatic cycle of


ten character pieces in 1874 as a tribute to his deceased friend Victor
Hartmann, who unexpectedly died of a heart attack at the age of 39. 4444
Victor Seroff, Modeste Moussorgsky, 15.

Hartmann (1834-1873) was an


architect, painter, and designer. Mussorgsky met him through Vladimir Stasov,
who
knew and befriended a large number of talented writers, poets, sculptors,
artists, and musicians.4545 Ibid., 114

This is how the wise usually console us blockheads, in such cases: He is no


more, but what he has done lives and will live. True . . . but how many men
have the luck to be remembered? 47 47 Oscar von Riesemann, Moussorgsky
(New York: Alfred Knopf Press, 1929), 289

Mussorgsky, who attended the exhibition held in January of 1874, was


fascinated by Stasovs idea of transmuting Hartmanns painting into musical
representations. 4949 Michael Russ, Musorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, 16.

For instance, there are several common traits between the Pictures and
Schumanns Carnaval (Opus 9, created in 1834-1835).5353 Riesmann,
Moussorgsky, 290.

Lisztian influence also appears to be prominent in Mussorgskys Pictures;


martellato octaves, octave leaps, tremolos in the right and left hand are
present in
Mussorgskys piano cycle. For instance, Mussorgskys Baba-Yaga abounds with
martellato octaves and octave leaps; indeed, the wild character and fast
motion of this
piece is somewhat reminiscent of Liszts Transcendental Etude No.8 Wilde Jagd.

My music must reproduce the peoples language even in the most insignificant
nuances. Thus, the sounds of the words, which represent an exterior
manifestation of the thoughts and emotions, must, without any exaggeration or
violence, become genuine and authentic but highly artistic. 5555 A. N. Rimsky-
Korsakov, M. P. Musorgsky. Letters and Documents, 142; quoted in Seroff,
Modeste Moussorgsky, 9

Ballet of Chicks in Their Shells. However, even this piece is


in fact tied to France. Mussorgsky composed this Picture upon Hartmanns
design of the costumes for the ballet Trilby
In 1870 the famous choreographer Marius Petipa
produced this ballet for the stage of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theater. The
plot of this
ballet is based on a novel entitled Trilby, ou le lutin dArgail (1822) by French
writer Charles Nodier (1780-1844). 60

He applied several procedures that helped unify the cycle into a


tight structure. The four devices that will be discussed in this section are as
follows:
1) Organizing the Pictures in categories according to their programmatic
content.
2) Introducing specific key relationships; a procedure that creates a unifying
link between
some pieces and enhances the dramatic contrast between others.
3) Introducing a transition piece (the Promenade) that appears between the
Pictures and
plays a role of a specific refrain.
4) Alternating the Pictures by contrast: fast-slow, loud-quiet, joyful-dramatic,
energetic
mysterious.

First, the Soviet musicologist Bobrovsky 63 noticed that the first half of the
cycle
is a kind of mirror image of the second half, in which the Pictures are paired
by their
programmatic content: fantastic characters, mysterious pieces, fantastic
creatures, and
scenes from French everyday life 63 Vladimir Bobrovsky, Structural Analysis
of Musorgskys Pictures from an Exhibition, From Lulli to our Days (Moscow:
Muzyka Press, 1967), 151
Ballet of the Chicks in their Shells is the only piece
that stands alone; it resides at the center of the cycle and represents a lyrical
nucleus for
Pictures at an Exhibition. Bobrovsky, however, does not place The Great Gate
of Kiev in
his configuration. It might be, however, paired with the opening Promenade
under the
category of Russian nationalistic pieces. This pair would frame the entire suite

it is impossible to underestimate the unifying role of the Promenades in the


cycle. Aside from serving as connecting pieces, they represent Mussorgsky
himself reflecting on the exhibition. 6666 Rimsky-Korsakov, M.P. Musorgsky,
302

in the
closing Picture (The Great Gate of Kiev) the intonations of Promenade are heard
again. 6767 Bobrovsky, Structural Analysis of Musorgskys Pictures at an
Exhibition, 148.

Each Promenade has its own prominent characteristic, such as:


length, tonality, mode, dynamics, tempo, and emotional expressivity

Bobrovsky suggests that the odd-numbered Promenades infuse positive


emotions into the cycle and by contrast, the even-numbered Promenades are
quiet and lyrical. 6969 Bobrovsky, Structural Analysis of Musorgskys Pictures
at an Exhibition, 148.
The odd-numbered Promenades are, indeed, energetic pieces: they all are
written in
major keys and are to be played at faster and livelier tempos. The even-
numbered
Promenades, on the contrary, are quieter and slower. Two of them are written
in minor
keys.

Fourth, these contrasts carry over into the character of the Pictures. As in the
Promenades, the odd-numbered Pictures are to be played at fast tempos and
the evennumbered ones are slower (see chart 4). 70

During Moussorgskys life this original cycle of piano pieces, rich in thought and
music, was completely ignored. It was first printed six years after his death; it
was hardly ever heard in concert halls, and it was impossible for amateurs to
play at home, owing to its great technical and musical difficulty.7272
Riesemann, Moussorgsky, 293.
REALISMO Y NATURALISMO EN MUSICA

Mussorgskys many innovations applied in his Pictures anticipated 20th century


music styles and currents: atonality, 12-tone technique, interest in church
modes and ancient folklore. 82 Yevgeny Trembovelsky, Style of Mussorgsky:
Mode, Harmony, Structure (Moscow: Composer Press, 1999), 19.

The composer created a precedent for the free treatment of dissonances, use
of a pentatonic scale in serious classical music, and specific
polyharmony that did not fit into a traditional tonal system

Frankenstein, Alfred. Victor Hartmann and Modeste Musorgsky. The


Musical Quarterly David Brown. Musorgsky: His Life and Works. Oxford
University Press. 2002. 391pp.

Michel D. Calvocoressi. Modest Mussorgsky, His Life and Works. Essential


Books. 1956. 322pp.

Caryl Emerson. The Life of Musorgsky. Cambridge University Press. 1999.


194pp.

Montagu Montagu-Nathan. Moussorgsky. New York: Constable and


Company. 1917. 100pp.

Michael Russ. Musorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition. Cambridge University


Press. 1992. 99pp.

Richard Taruskin. Musorgsky: Eight Essays and an Epilogue. Princeton


University Press. 1997. 449pp.

Oskar von Riesemann. Translated by Paul England. Moussorgsky. Alfred A.


Knopf. 1929. 410pp.

Music and painting developed a truly synergetic relationship at the turn of the
nineteenth century. Musicians, such as Saint-Sans, Debussy and Ravel, and
painters
Monet, Gauguin and Van Gogh, enriched and remodeled their art through
mutual
exchange, culminating in the twentieth century evolution of abstract art, and
creation of
musical works directly inspired by paintings or visual elements.1 1 Marsha L.
Morton and Peter L. Schmunk, From the Other Side: An Introduction, in The
Arts Entwined: Music and Painting in the Nineteenth Century, ed. Marsha L.
Morton (New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 2000), 1.

Romantic composers expressed non-musical events and extra


musical meanings through programmatic works, which were usually laid out as
collections of miniature pieces with descriptive titles.3 Among the most
illustrious piano
works of such genre are Robert Schumanns Carnaval, Op. 9, Kreisleriana, Op.
16, and
Franz Liszts Annes de Plerinage, and Mephisto Waltz. 3 Ibid, 198

Compared to composers from the Romantic Era, Impressionist


composers focused on the power of suggestion and atmosphere rather than
expression of

strong emotion and/or depiction of a story 4 Michael Kennedy,


"Impressionism," Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online, Oxford University
Press, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t237/e5138

One of the innovative figures in the worlds music scene of the nineteenth
century, whose unique musical language reflected features of both
Romanticism and
Impressionism, was Russian composer Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky
, creating little scenes out of them,
which, in turn, may carry messages about Russian culture and society.77 Russ,
preface to Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, x.
mussorgsky vida y obra:
14, David Brown, Mussorgsky: His Life and Works (Oxford, New York: Oxford
University Press,
2002).
15 Oskar Von Riesemann, Mussorgsky, trans. Paul England (New York: Alfred A.
Knopf, Inc.,
1929).
16 Caryl Emerson, The Life of Mussorgsky (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1999)

Contexto histrico y personalidad


17 Jay Leyda and Sergei Bertensson, The Mussorgsky Reader: A Life of Modeste
Petrovich Mussorgsky in Letters and Documents (New York: W.W. Norton, 1947).
18 Alexandra Orlova, Mussorgskys Days and Works: A Biography in
Documents, trans. and ed. Roy J. Guenther (Ann Arbor, Michigan: UMI Research
Press, 1993).

19 Alexandra Orlova, Mussorgsky Remembered, trans. Vronique Zaytzeff and


Frederick Morrison (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1991).

UNISONO, ACORDES EN BLOQUE

ekhrasis

You might also like