LIFE AND ART: N. MEDTNER’S MUSIC AND ITS MEANING

Abstract

The purpose of the article. A deeper understanding of Medtner’s music can be obtained both by considering the symbolical layers of his works with regard to his personal life, and by juxtaposing possible or obvious influences of other composers’ music on his own compositions. The methodology of the article is determined by the combination of musicological and aesthetic approaches to Metner’s musical thinking. The scientific novelty. Most of the traces of Medtner’s private life in certain vocal and instrumental compositions are shown for the first time. The discussion of the connections of Medtner’s music to other composers is decisively broadened. Conclusions. We are lucky to live in a time where the aesthetic battles of the 20th century up to Adorno and his disciples have become meaningless. But that does not prevent us from realizing that Medtner, as a person and in his art, has been part of this battle, and a very active one. His writings and his compositions are imbued with his convictions. It would be naive to ignore these convictions when quoting from his writings – and it would be naive to ignore them when playing or hearing his music. This is even true for his seemingly non-programmatic piano music, especially the sonatas whose flexible structures are directly shaped by the poetic content lying beneath the skin. One cannot tune out the symbolic dimensions of Medtner’s music without damaging its message. If we really want to understand Medtner, we must face the contradictions that are part of his person and his aesthetics. Many of Medtner’s works, his songs and sonatas, are symbolic signs: they bear witness to traumatic experiences, and they represent creative attempts to cope with monstruos burdens – predominantly by transcending earthly dimensions and seeking for ideal realms of spirituality and religion, be that a Goethean past or Christian faith. Contextualizing Medtner in terms of style and worldview would help us seeing him as a child of his time, a time brutally torn apart by ideologies. In a typical symbolist manner, Medtner has encoded personal and private messages and subtexts in many of his compositions. A re-lecture of diaries, letters, memories and other biographical sources can open new paths towards a deeper deciphering of the hidden messages of his works. At the same time, his music is not as isolated and unique in his time as usually has been stated by music historians: Motivic findings, structural solutions and psychological narratives can in some cases be traced back not only to models like Beethoven, Chopin, or Wagner, but to contemporary composers like Grieg, Catoire, or Rachmaninoff.