SPIRITUAL AND SEMANTIC ASPECTS OF CHRISTIAN GLORIFICATION IN THE ENGLISH CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL TRADITION (ON THE EXAMPLE OF J. RATTER’S GLORIA)

Abstract

The purpose of the article – the manifestation of the poetic-intonation specificity of “Gloria” by J. Rutter in line with the peculiarities of translating the Christian glorious tradition into English culture and music. The methodology of the article is based on the intonation concept of music from the perspective of intonational-stylistic, etymological analysis, successive from B. Asafiev and his followers, as well as on interdisciplinary and historical-cultural approaches. The latter allow revealing the spiritual-semantic and stylistic specifics of J. Rutter’s “Gloria” in the context of not only the composer’s individual authorial style, but also the evolutionary paths of English choral art and its spiritual attitudes. Scientific novelty of the article is determined by its analytical perspective, taking into account the peculiarities of translating the semantic-rhetorical specificity of Gloria-glorification in the work of J. Ratter of the same name. Conclusions. Thus, the composition “Gloria” by J. Rutter, created in 1974, is one of the most outstanding works of English choral literature of the second half of the 20th century, distinguished by some eclectic style, bearing on its own, on the one hand, the imprint of a European spiritual choral tradition this period (F. Pulenk, I. Stravinsky), marked by the search for «new sacredness» and “new religiosity”. On the other hand, this work (despite the American order) is directly related to the English spiritual and cultural-historical tradition, within the framework of which the concept of “glory” in all the variety of its manifestations occupied a rather significant place, starting from the Middle Ages and constituted one of the most important aspects national outlook and «image of the world», including the poetry of grandiose glorious choral compositions in the genre of Te Deum, Gloria and their national counterparts (antemes). The genre-style and timbre qualities of Gloria by J. Rutter reveal, on the one hand, a significant influence of the work of the same name by F. Poulenc. The appeal to the Lydian system in the 2nd part, the rhythmic capriciousness of the theme of the finale testify to the composer’s interest in I. Stravinsky’s creative discoveries. On the other hand, J. Rutter in this work follows the best traditions of English choral music, which, as noted above, has a lot of experience in the genre of choral praise, since the Renaissance, and later, the work of G.F. Handel.