INSTRUMENTAL-ORCHESTRIAL FACTORS OF FORMING MUSICAL THEMATICS IN AN OPERA

Abstract

The aim of the article is to determine the criteria for assessing the orchestral sphere of opera as a carrier of the symphonic principle, that is, an integrative factor of opera composition. The methodology of the work is determined by the historical approach to the genre form of opera and the principle of stylistic analysis of the musical components of the opera text. Interpretive assessments of operatic form-making are proposed, which reveal the main indicators of opera dramaturgy as performing ones. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the development of a holistic concept of opera musical thematics and in proving the importance of its instrumental-orchestral components. For the first time, the predominant stylistic purpose of the orchestral side of the opera with its symphonic qualities is proven, as well as the dependence of the latter on theatrical dramaturgy, which appears fundamental in the textual procedurality and temporal concept of the opera work. The idea of compositional resources and semantic indicators of musical composition in Baroque opera is significantly updated, the transitional genre-stylistic nature of J.-B. Lully’s operatic poetics is revealed, the self-sufficiency of the orchestral (symphonized) concept of opera in his work is revealed. The conclusions allow us to confirm that opera thematism, as a predominantly figurative-dramaturgical phenomenon, has a broad textual basis, connected with all factors of opera composition, but is most clearly specified in the musical material of the opera work, acquiring procedurality and real content, as well as functional genre powers in orchestral sounding. The history of opera is largely revealed as the history of the opera orchestra, which always appears as the main tool of interpretation, making the figure of the conductor the leading one in the implementation of the operatic idea. At the same time, orchestral thematism is inseparable from the totality of theatrical and stage actions and images, it exists on the basis of not only verbal, but also visual components of the opera performance, which makes it necessary to closely interact with the conductor’s and director’s assessments of opera thematism in its broad content and specific musical and performing meaning.