Tanulmány
A népdal a 18. században 113. - 132. o
Domokos Mária; Paksa Katalin abstract
Folk Song in the 18th Century
Mária Domokos – Katalin Paksa

In Hungary, the concept of „folk song” was clarified at the beginning of the 20th century only, with the bird of modern folk musicology. Accordingly, there were no „folk songs” noted down in the 18th century. Still, the number of written music sources relating to folk music increased significantly in the 18th century, compared to that originating from the 16th and 17th centuries. As a result of their scientific analysis the melodic parallels of some five hundred 18th century tunes were found in the central folk music collection of the Institute for Musicology of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. These melodic parallels involve 153 folk song types. In a specific era of folk culture there is always a co-existence of elements and styles of different age. The sources also contain examples of the descending pentatonic style (that either originates or developed from oriental roots), of the lament style and of the medieval and early modern tunes. Of particular interest are the songs that first appeared in the 17th century, then undergone significant changes in form and a rich collection of variants developed around them (Exs. 1 and 2). The most remarkable result of our research is that contrary to former beliefs regarding its comparative insignificance, the 18th century enriched the Hungarian folk music with some sixty new melody types. One of the most interesting groups of this rather mixed collection of songs is that of the songs in a major key with a narrow compass that seems to be the most characteristic music of the time (Exs. 3-6). Plagal songs in a major key with perceptive functional chords behind their melodies also entered Hungarian tradition at this time (Ex. 7). Plagal tunes, unfamiliar to Hungarian folk music, were sometimes transformed into descending tunes (Ex. 8). The antecedents of the new Hungarian folk song style hardly feature in these sources – this style probably developed in the late 19th century. However, among the popular art-songs that flourished from the 1830s onwards we found about a dozen melody types with a partial or full similarity to 18th century melodies.
A large proportion of tunes on record relate to folk customs. Although Hungarian folk customs have an earlier origin, their stock of melodies increased considerably in the 18th century, often as a result of new types of melodies originating from the West.
Haydn cigány adagiója 133. - 142. o
Somfai László abstract
Haydn’s “Gypsy” Adagio
László Somfai

The second movement of Haydn’s C major String Quartet op. 54 no. 2 (Hob. III:57) offers a fascinating case study: can we reconstruct significant characteristics of gypsy performance in late 18th-century in Hungary? The basic theme of this uniquely “exotic” slow piece in ¾ is not Hungarian, but the embellished first violin part documents the inspiration of a style, which Haydn could only hear in the performance of gypsy bands in the Esterházy realm in Hungary. Previously marked as bold per figuram retardationis cases (Tovey, Rosen), more recently characterized as primas style, rhapsody is gypsy style, gypsy ornaments (Landon, Webster, Finscher), the present study discusses the otherwise atypical specific rhythmic features, dissonances beyond retardatio, and the irregularities in articulation and dynamics.
Egy arabeszkfogalom és zenei konzekvenciái : dallamformálás és polifónia Debussy zenéjében 143. - 181. o
Fazekas Gergely abstract
A Concept of the Arabesque and its Musical Consequences: Melodic Construction and Polyphony in Debussy’s Music
Gergely Fazekas

Although Debussy was not particularly keen on systematic aesthetical thinking, he developed a concept borrowed from the contemporary Art Nouveau movement in the fine arts and used it consistently throughout his lifetime. The notion of the arabesque appears in his letters as early as the 1880s and it can be found even in his last writings from the year 1913. The present essay gives a survey of the appearance of this notion in Debussy’s correspondence, writings and interviews to demonstrate how important a role it played in Debussy’s aesthetics. An attempt is made to define Debussy’s notion of the arabesque and to show that it can help us understand what he thought about absolute music and programme-music, how he received the music of Palestrina, Bach, and the Javanese gamelan, and, most important, it provides an insight to the way he conceived his own music. In the second, analytical part of the essay it is demonstrated on music examples how Debussy’s different concepts of polyphony and melodic construction are rooted in his concept of the arabesque. Through the study of Debussy’s melodic construction it is revealed that his instrumental music has a specific vocal quality and attention is draw to the “Wagnerian” endlessness of his melodic style. Concerning Debussy’s peculiar polyphony, the analysis aims to display its polyrhythmic nature and its resemblance to the tissue-like fabric of the arabesque in the fine arts.
Choufleuri úr szalonjában, avagy A Théâtre-Italien görbe tükre 183. - 199. o
Bozó Péter abstract
In M. Choufleuri’s Salon
or The Crooked Mirror of the Théâtre-Italien

Péter Bozó

Jacques Offenbach’s operettas are mostly interpreted as social and political satires. Although there are some authors who analyse these pieces as examples of musical humor and parody, this aspect received much less scholarly attention. This fact is hardly surprising, because a great part of the Offenbach literature is written not by musicians, but by men of letters, sociologists and historians such as Karl Kraus, Siegfried Kracauer, Volker Klotz and Jean-Claude Yon. But what can be revealed about Offenbach by a musicologist? How can the music of his operettas be analyzed? This paper is an attempt to give an example of musicological study of Offenbach’s music, by analyzing one of the ensemble numbers of the one-acter Monsieur Choufleuri restera chez lui le… (1861), telling also the plot of this sparkling piece, and describing the operetta-like circumstances of its genesis and first performance.
Dohnányi Ernõ zeneszerzõi mûhelyében : a tételindítás problematikája 201. - 214. o
Kovács Ilona abstract
In Ernõ Dohnányi’s Workshop
Starting the Composition
Ilona Kovács

The in-depth examination of Dohnányi’s sketches, miscellaneous jottings and rough drafts reveals that he had few problems to sketch the beginning of the works – compared to the second themes, which have several corrections and even complete re-writings. In general, we can say the same about the closing. Furthermore, when he started composing the main ideas were more or less elaborated in his head and therefore we rarely find ‘concept sketches’ among his manuscripts. That is why some sketches of the 1st movement of the Sextet in B-flat major (without opus number) and the 3rd movement of the Quartet in A major (op. 7) are so remarkable and extraordinary and worth a closer look. These types of sketches are non-typical in Dohnányi’s oeuvre since they enable us to participate in the compositional process from the very beginning. With the help of these surviving sketches we can follow the composer’s hesitation while creating the main themes in the above mentioned compositions.
Örökség
Pro és contra Wagner: Nietzsche 1870-71-ben 215. - 216. o
Zoltai Dénes
Hátrahagyott jegyzetek (1870 vége-1871 április) : Zoltai Dénes fordítása 217. - 221. o
Nietzsche, Friedrich
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