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Mihaela-Georgiana Balan

UAGE Iasi, Musicology, Faculty Member

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Mihaela-Georgiana Balan (b. 1987) is lecturer PhD at the National University of Arts „George Enescu” in Iași, having a broad teaching and musicological activity based on research, involvement in artistic projects, guidance and support for students. Being herself a graduate and PhD specialist in musicology at this institution, she dedicated her training years to the events organized within the academic space, participated in scientific symposiums, specialized competitions, and artistic events. She is currently teaching courses and seminars for the disciplines: Musical Forms and Analysis, History of Music, Musicology, and Applied Research.As a researcher, she is the author of the volume of musicological analysis entitled Language, Structure, Musical Semantics in the Piano Sonatas of Russian Composers from the first half of the 20th Century, published by Editura Muzicală, Bucharest, 2022, ISBN 978-973-42-1237-8, ISMN 979-0-69491-241-3.She has written musicological studies for various publications in Romanian and English, those of the last 10 years being visible in international databases, numerous articles of music criticism, reviews, reports for music magazines, and specialized websites in this field.

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Papers by Mihaela-Georgiana Balan

Uneltele Muzicologiei (Epistemologica) [The Tools of Musicology (Epistemologica)]1 by Oleg Garaz or the Theory of Everything in Musicology

Artes, Jul 1, 2023

is a prominent figure of Romanian culture, not only as a well-known and appreciated musicologist,... more is a prominent figure of Romanian culture, not only as a well-known and appreciated musicologist, respected in the academic community and by the general public alike, being a member of the Romanian Union of Composers and Musicologists since 1998, but also as a prose writer, essayist in the field of literature, awarded twice by the Romanian Writers Union, Cluj subsidiary, in 2004 and 2007. Author of important scholarly volumes such as Contraideologii muzicale

In Search of Spiritual Identity: Comparative Aspects Between Gustav Mahler and Alfred Schnittke

In this paper, I will approach the connections I have discovered between two composers born in di... more In this paper, I will approach the connections I have discovered between two composers born in different centuries and cultures, belonging to distinct historical periods, but having certain biographical resemblances, similar compositional conceptions and multiple stylistic options. Gustav Mahler and Alfred Schnittke have in common the combination of various musical styles and different sources of inspiration, the integration of folkloric elements in musical contexts with new aesthetic features and the approach to Western European tradition with an explicit referential intention. They used similar techniques such as quotation, development and distortion of the model or they created original themes in the manner of other styles, frequently generating parodic effect by overlapping contrasting elements. For a deeper understanding of the compositional profile and the semantic substratum of their music, it is necessary to approach some aspects of the personal life of the two composers, relating significant details with features of their works. The purpose of this research is a general overview of the biographical course and historical context in which G. Mahler and A. Schnittke lived, leading to an analytical comparison between two vocal-symphonicworks, which have a similar general theme and are both very suggestive for the spiritual search undertaken by the two composers, in order to exemplify the peculiarities of musical language and semantic content: Symphony No. 8 by G. Mahler and Symphony No. 4 by A. Schnittke.

Polystylism in the context of Postmodern Music. Alfred Schnittke’s <i>Concerti Grossi</i>

Artes, Apr 1, 2021

One of the multiple orientations of the musical postmodernism is polystylism-a concept used and t... more One of the multiple orientations of the musical postmodernism is polystylism-a concept used and theorized by the Russian composer and musicologist Alfred Schnittke. He identified its specific techniques in previous academic tradition and organized its principles by writing many essays, papers and by applying these compositional methods in his own work. The approach of polystylism offers the opportunity to observe artistic phenomena in a synthetic perspective and to understand the compositional methods by which tradition is still revalued in some directions of the postmodern period. This paper deals with the problems encountered in the research on this subject, the lack of this term in the dictionaries, the political and cultural context when polystylism was introduced, the tendency to consider unorganized and unoriginal those works based on quotes, previous writing techniques and musical languages, traditional genres or structures and therefore, the perception of some musicians to underestimate Schnittke's talent and mastery as a composer.

Franz Liszt – a Dilemma of Stylistic Interferences

Equally considered national and universal artist, Franz Liszt has roused a deep process of contin... more Equally considered national and universal artist, Franz Liszt has roused a deep process of continuous progresses and radical changes in music, on every level he has undertaken: piano playing, composing, conducting, writing about music. He remained in the history as a complex musician, with a rich activity, maybe the most visionary composer at that time, because his personality was so controversial, that he literally shocked his contemporaries in every parameter of his art. There are numberless books, biographies, treatises, studies, dissertations about his activity, written in different manners and using various analysis techniques. My paper aims at going beyond some texts where Franz Liszt was approached as one-sided figure and outlining his personality as a whole, by pointing some key-elements in his artistic psychology, some deep resorts of his composing principles. In this regard, I have chosen some well-known authors who wrote about Liszt and I have kept the most representative elements of their works to describe him, trying to &quot; catch &quot; the essence of the great Franz Liszt. Mihaela Balan (n.1987)

Aspects of Musical Semantics from the Perspective of Structuralism, Semiotics and Narratology

Artes, Mar 1, 2018

Music is a universal force, a widely spread mean of communication on the entire planet, because i... more Music is a universal force, a widely spread mean of communication on the entire planet, because it has a strong ability to influence human emotions, even without words (when referring to instrumental or symphonic music). Thus, music is one of the most challenging arts in 'deciphering' the hidden message of its creator. The present paper is focused on three analytical techniques which imposed themselves in the musicology field of the 20 th century-structuralism, semiotics, narratology. Our purpose is to offer a general outlook on these perspectives and some specific principles of applicability when approaching a musical score, in terms of formal construction, sonorous structures, equivalence classes applied to musical elements, energetic potential of musical isotopes using modal verbs, essential aspects in determining the narrative frame (spatiality, temporality, actoriality). Structuralism, semiotics and narratology emerged as independent sciences successively, during half a century, influencing each other in a stimulating coexistence which enabled a wide scientific opening until present.

Dostoevskian Literary Poliphony as Lyrical-Theatrical Hypostasis of Sergey Prokofiev’s Opera <i>The Gambler</i>

Artes, Mar 1, 2020

Fyodor Dostoevsky's perspective on humankind and society continues to intrigue any reader, whethe... more Fyodor Dostoevsky's perspective on humankind and society continues to intrigue any reader, whether specialized or from other areas of activity, due to the universality of the topics and the complexity of the characters involved. The novel entitled The Player depicts the life and specific concerns of 19th-century world society, a subject which attracted Sergey Prokofiev to compose a work with the same title, at the beginning of the 20 th century. His opera is a unique work through the avant-garde musical language, the atypical construction of the discourse, the elements of style and conception of the libretto in relation to the original source. These elements generate a multiple correlation between the Dostoevskian prose, literary theory, the philosophy of language through studies and volumes of hermeneutic analysis, such as those signed by critic and semiotician Mikhail Bakhtin, on which we will focus our attention during this research. The terminology used by Bakhtin (dialogism, polyphony, ventrilogism, carnival) indicates a profound insight into the connection between Dostoevsky's prose and the theatrical, dramatic, lyrical, musical aspects of the epic substratum in his novels. At the same time, Dostoevsky was an involuntary forerunner of the artistic movement initiated in Western Europe by German composers-Expressionism-, which also had echoes in the works of Russian composers from the first half of the last century, as we shall see in Sergey Prokofiev's approach of The Gambler.

Richard Taruskin - “Titan” of Universal Musicology. On the Fascination and Imperative of Cursed Questions

Artes, Jul 2, 2023

On the first day of July 2022, the headline of an article in the New York Times officially announ... more On the first day of July 2022, the headline of an article in the New York Times officially announced the passing of the great American musicologist Richard Taruskin. The news of the loss of a world-renowned researcher, whose prolific activity changed ancient paradigms of musical thought, constitutes an impetus for the new generations of musicologists of the 21st century in approaching music history and analysis from a new, multi-branched and integrative perspective, constantly adaptable to the reality of our days. The present study aims to systematize and promote the ideas gathered in the last volume published during the author's lifetime, Cursed Questions: On Music and Its Social Practices (2020), which comprises in a condensed form Taruskin's conceptions regarding the relationship between music, external factors and the other adjacent disciplines (aesthetics, philosophy, sociology).

Richard Taruskin - “Titan” of Universal Musicology. On the Fascination and Imperative of Cursed Questions

ARTES. JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY

On the first day of July 2022, the headline of an article in the New York Times officially announ... more On the first day of July 2022, the headline of an article in the New York Times officially announced the passing of the great American musicologist Richard Taruskin. The news of the loss of a world-renowned researcher, whose prolific activity changed ancient paradigms of musical thought, constitutes an impetus for the new generations of musicologists of the 21st century in approaching music history and analysis from a new, multi-branched and integrative perspective, constantly adaptable to the reality of our days. The present study aims to systematize and promote the ideas gathered in the last volume published during the author’s lifetime, Cursed Questions: On Music and Its Social Practices (2020), which comprises in a condensed form Taruskin’s conceptions regarding the relationship between music, external factors and the other adjacent disciplines (aesthetics, philosophy, sociology).

In Search of Spiritual Identity: Comparative Aspects Between Gustav Mahler and Alfred Schnittke

SWS International Scientific Conferences on ART and HUMANITIES - ISCAH

In this paper, I will approach the connections I have discovered between two composers born in di... more In this paper, I will approach the connections I have discovered between two composers born in different centuries and cultures, belonging to distinct historical periods, but having certain biographical resemblances, similar compositional conceptions and multiple stylistic options. Gustav Mahler and Alfred Schnittke have in common the combination of various musical styles and different sources of inspiration, the integration of folkloric elements in musical contexts with new aesthetic features and the approach to Western European tradition with an explicit referential intention. They used similar techniques such as quotation, development and distortion of the model or they created original themes in the manner of other styles, frequently generating parodic effect by overlapping contrasting elements. For a deeper understanding of the compositional profile and the semantic substratum of their music, it is necessary to approach some aspects of the personal life of the two composers, re...

Polystylism in the context of Postmodern Music. Alfred Schnittke’s Concerti Grossi

Artes. Journal of Musicology, 2021

One of the multiple orientations of the musical postmodernism is polystylism – a concept used and... more One of the multiple orientations of the musical postmodernism is polystylism – a concept used and theorized by the Russian composer and musicologist Alfred Schnittke. He identified its specific techniques in previous academic tradition and organized its principles by writing many essays, papers and by applying these compositional methods in his own work. The approach of polystylism offers the opportunity to observe artistic phenomena in a synthetic perspective and to understand the compositional methods by which tradition is still revalued in some directions of the postmodern period. This paper deals with the problems encountered in the research on this subject, the lack of this term in the dictionaries, the political and cultural context when polystylism was introduced, the tendency to consider unorganized and unoriginal those works based on quotes, previous writing techniques and musical languages, traditional genres or structures and therefore, the perception of some musicians to...

Dan Dediu’s Artistic Identity Reflected in Frenesia and Mantrana

Musical Romania and the Neighbouring Cultures, 2013

In the present paper, the author proposes an exploration of Dan Dediu’s orchestral works Frenesia... more In the present paper, the author proposes an exploration of Dan Dediu’s orchestral works Frenesia op. 84 and Mantrana op. 94, starting from the complex personality of the composer, who made himself remarked as a central figure of the young generation of Romanian composers. His musical activity is spread in the last decades of the XXth century, his creation having a significant number of compositions until present (in 2000, at 33 years old, his creation had already reached the number 90). His musical universe and way of thinking can be characterized using terms such as originality, stylistic and aesthetical diversity, coherence, equilibrium, paradoxical synthesis between old and new, classical and experimental, usual and unusual, known and unexpected solutions. The purpose of this study is to surprise the essential aspects of his creative personality in two of his orchestral works (Frenesia op. 84 and Mantrana op. 94), beginning with the composing process, aesthetical vision, semantic function of the titles and connection between the external elements and the musical content itself.

Franz Liszt – a Dilemma of Stylistic Interferences

Semiotica, 2015

Equally considered national and universal artist, Franz Liszt has roused a deep process of contin... more Equally considered national and universal artist, Franz Liszt has roused a deep process of continuous progresses and radical changes in music, on every level he has undertaken: piano playing, composing, conducting, writing about music. He remained in the history as a complex musician, with a rich activity, maybe the most visionary composer at that time, because his personality was so controversial, that he literally shocked his contemporaries in every parameter of his art. There are numberless books, biographies, treatises, studies, dissertations about his activity, written in different manners and using various analysis techniques. My paper aims at going beyond some texts where Franz Liszt was approached as one-sided figure and outlining his personality as a whole, by pointing some key-elements in his artistic psychology, some deep resorts of his composing principles. In this regard, I have chosen some well-known authors who wrote about Liszt and I have kept the most representative elements of their works to describe him, trying to &quot; catch &quot; the essence of the great Franz Liszt. Mihaela Balan (n.1987)

Dostoevskian Literary Poliphony as Lyrical-Theatrical Hypostasis of Sergey Prokofiev’s Opera The Gambler

Artes. Journal of Musicology, 2020

Fyodor Dostoevsky’s perspective on humankind and society continues to intrigue any reader, whethe... more Fyodor Dostoevsky’s perspective on humankind and society continues to intrigue any reader, whether specialized or from other areas of activity, due to the universality of the topics and the complexity of the characters involved. The novel entitled The Player depicts the life and specific concerns of 19th-century world society, a subject which attracted Sergey Prokofiev to compose a work with the same title, at the beginning of the 20th century. His opera is a unique work through the avant-garde musical language, the atypical construction of the discourse, the elements of style and conception of the libretto in relation to the original source. These elements generate a multiple correlation between the Dostoevskian prose, literary theory, the philosophy of language through studies and volumes of hermeneutic analysis, such as those signed by critic and semiotician Mikhail Bakhtin, on which we will focus our attention during this research. The terminology used by Bakhtin (dialogism, pol...

Aspects of Musical Semantics from the Perspective of Structuralism, Semiotics and Narratology

Artes. Journal of Musicology, 2018

Music is a universal force, a widely spread mean of communication on the entire planet, because i... more Music is a universal force, a widely spread mean of communication on the entire planet, because it has a strong ability to influence human emotions, even without words (when referring to instrumental or symphonic music). Thus, music is one of the most challenging arts in ‘deciphering’ the hidden message of its creator. The present paper is focused on three analytical techniques which imposed themselves in the musicology field of the 20th century – structuralism, semiotics, narratology. Our purpose is to offer a general outlook on these perspectives and some specific principles of applicability when approaching a musical score, in terms of formal construction, sonorous structures, equivalence classes applied to musical elements, energetic potential of musical isotopes using modal verbs, essential aspects in determining the narrative frame (spatiality, temporality, actoriality). Structuralism, semiotics and narratology emerged as independent sciences successively, during half a centur...

Nikolai Myaskovsky – 140th birth anniversary. Rediscovering the composer in the present times

Artes. Journal of Musicology

On the occasion of the 140th anniversary of composer Nikolai Myaskovsky’s birth, in the spring of... more On the occasion of the 140th anniversary of composer Nikolai Myaskovsky’s birth, in the spring of 2021, in the city of Ekaterinburg there took place the Myaskovsky Dialogues festival dedicated entirely to the Russian composer, being one of the few musical events with a musical programme based on his works. Known as the “father” of the Soviet symphony, Nikolai Myaskovsky was one of the pillars of resistance in Russian music culture in the first half of the 20th century, managing to maintain a stylistic balance between traditional genres, harmonic language with innovative tendencies, ideas promoted within the new political system and a neutral way of integrating communist ideals musically. Although his contemporaries perceived him with respect and consideration, N. Myaskovsky was discredited after the tensions and political events of 1948, entering a shadow zone during the Cold War, until the fall of the Iron Curtain. Therefore, it was only in the last three decades that he was redisc...

Franz Liszt - a Dilemma of Stylistic Interferences

Proceedings Volume of the The 12th World Congress of Semiotics, Sofia, Bulgaria, 2014, 2015

Considered both as a national and a universal artist, Franz Liszt has inflamed a deep process of ... more Considered both as a national and a universal artist, Franz Liszt has inflamed a deep process of continuous progress and radical changes in music, on every level he has undertaken: piano playing, composition, conducting and writing about music. He remained in the history as a complex musician, with a rich activity, maybe the most visionary composer at that time, because his personality was so controversial, that he literally shocked his contemporaries in every parameter of his art. There are numberless books, biographies, treatises, studies, dissertations about his activity, written in different manners and using various analysis techniques. The purpose of this paper is to go beyond some texts where Franz Liszt was approached as one-sided figure, in order to outline his personality as a whole, by pointing some key-elements in his artistic psychology, some deep resorts of his composing principles. In this regard, I have chosen some well-known authors who wrote about Liszt and have kept the most representative elements of their works to describe him, trying to 'catch' the essence of the great Franz Liszt.

Dan Dediu’s Artistic Identity reflected in „Frenesia” and „Mantrana”

Musical Romania and the Neighbouring Cultures, Traditions – Influences – Identities, Eastern European Studies in Musicology, 2014

In the present paper, the author proposes an exploration of Dan Dediu’s orchestral works „Frenesi... more In the present paper, the author proposes an exploration of Dan Dediu’s orchestral works „Frenesia” op. 84 and „Mantrana” op. 94 , starting from the complex personality of the composer, who made himself remarked as a central figure of the young generation of Romanian composers. His musical activity is spread in the last decades of the 20th century, his creation having a significant number of compositions until present (in 2000, at 33 years old, his creation had already reached the number 90). His musical universe and way of thinking can be characterized using terms such as originality, stylistic and aesthetical diversity, coherence, equilibrium, paradoxical synthesis between old and new, classical and experimental, usual and unusual, known and unexpected solutions.
„Frenesia” and „Mantrana” are two orchestral works (the first is for usual orchestra and the second is for chamber orchestra) composed in consecutive years (2000 and 2001); although closely created in time, these works have various features that awaken the interest to analyze the conceiving process, the aesthetical background, the connection between title, content and other aspects. The study focuses on each of the musical parameters (melody, rhythm, dynamics, agogics, orchestration, musical quotations concerning the musical references to other stylistic periods or areas), trying to investigate the technical as well as artistic “anatomy” of „Frenesia” and „Mantrana”.

Psychological perspective in the musical work „Mithya” by Doina Rotaru

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov - Supplement - Series VIII: Performing Arts, 2016

Musical analysis and semantic interpretation are nowadays inherent aspects when approaching a mus... more Musical analysis and semantic interpretation are nowadays inherent aspects when approaching a musical score, no matter its genre, composer, cultural-geographical origin, stylistic features or historical period. The present research is concerned with the analytical techniques which are necessary when analysing a contemporary musical work, in order to grasp its deepest meanings. The purpose of our paper is to use structural analysis, semantic interpretation, combined with hermeneutical remarks and psychological aspects of the composing process, in order to analyse the musical work "Mithya", created by Romanian composer Doina Rotaru, whose name has a large echo all over the world. Beginning with the principles indicated by Leonard Meyer in his book, "Emotion and Meaning in Music", we tried to learn the mechanism by which the first piece of the cycle, entitled "As a prayer", generates an exciting psychological process and a permanent connection between playing and listening.

In Search of Spiritual Identity: comparative aspects between Gustav Mahler and Alfred Schnittke

Proceedings Volume of the 8th International Scientific Conferences on Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities - ISCSS and ISCAH 2021, 2021

In this paper, I will approach the connections I have discovered between two composers born in di... more In this paper, I will approach the connections I have discovered between two composers born in different centuries and cultures, belonging to distinct historical periods, but having certain biographical resemblances, similar compositional conceptions and multiple stylistic options. Gustav Mahler and Alfred Schnittke have in common the combination of various musical styles and different sources of inspiration, the integration of folkloric elements in musical contexts with new aesthetic features and the approach to Western European tradition with an explicit referential intention. They used similar techniques such as quotation, development and distortion of the model or they created original themes in the manner of other styles, frequently generating parodic effect by overlapping contrasting elements. For a deeper understanding of the compositional profile and the semantic substratum of their music, it is necessary to approach some aspects of the personal life of the two composers, relating significant details with features of their works. The purpose of this research is a general overview of the biographical course and historical context in which G. Mahler and A. Schnittke lived, leading to an analytical comparison between two vocalsymphonic works, which have a similar general theme and are both very suggestive for the spiritual search undertaken by the two composers, in order to exemplify the peculiarities of musical language and semantic content: Symphony No. 8 by G. Mahler and Symphony No. 4 by A. Schnittke.

Alexander Scriabin's Structural and Harmonic Conception Revealed in Piano Sonatas No. 3 and 7

Musicology Today, 2016

Set between tradition and innovation, Alexander Scriabin brought the most daring novelties of mus... more Set between tradition and innovation, Alexander Scriabin brought the
most daring novelties of musical language among his contemporaries,
in the context of Russian composers’ generation from the first half of
the 20th century. In the piano field, he approached genres considered to be
typically to Chopin’s works (etudes, preludes, waltzes, mazurkas, nocturnes), but he has also composed ten sonatas, that reflect all stages of his artistic formation.
Since 1892, when he composed his first sonata, until 1913, when he
finished his eighth, ninth, and tenth sonatas, Scriabin has been keeping a consistent interest for this genre, bringing new ideas on the structural, harmonic, piano level and inserting pitch structures at the limit between tonal, atonal and modal. In this paper, I have approached two contrasting works (especially from the stylistic point of view), in order to emphasize Scriabin’s position at the boundary between tradition and innovation.

Uneltele Muzicologiei (Epistemologica) [The Tools of Musicology (Epistemologica)]1 by Oleg Garaz or the Theory of Everything in Musicology

Artes, Jul 1, 2023

is a prominent figure of Romanian culture, not only as a well-known and appreciated musicologist,... more is a prominent figure of Romanian culture, not only as a well-known and appreciated musicologist, respected in the academic community and by the general public alike, being a member of the Romanian Union of Composers and Musicologists since 1998, but also as a prose writer, essayist in the field of literature, awarded twice by the Romanian Writers Union, Cluj subsidiary, in 2004 and 2007. Author of important scholarly volumes such as Contraideologii muzicale

In Search of Spiritual Identity: Comparative Aspects Between Gustav Mahler and Alfred Schnittke

In this paper, I will approach the connections I have discovered between two composers born in di... more In this paper, I will approach the connections I have discovered between two composers born in different centuries and cultures, belonging to distinct historical periods, but having certain biographical resemblances, similar compositional conceptions and multiple stylistic options. Gustav Mahler and Alfred Schnittke have in common the combination of various musical styles and different sources of inspiration, the integration of folkloric elements in musical contexts with new aesthetic features and the approach to Western European tradition with an explicit referential intention. They used similar techniques such as quotation, development and distortion of the model or they created original themes in the manner of other styles, frequently generating parodic effect by overlapping contrasting elements. For a deeper understanding of the compositional profile and the semantic substratum of their music, it is necessary to approach some aspects of the personal life of the two composers, relating significant details with features of their works. The purpose of this research is a general overview of the biographical course and historical context in which G. Mahler and A. Schnittke lived, leading to an analytical comparison between two vocal-symphonicworks, which have a similar general theme and are both very suggestive for the spiritual search undertaken by the two composers, in order to exemplify the peculiarities of musical language and semantic content: Symphony No. 8 by G. Mahler and Symphony No. 4 by A. Schnittke.

Polystylism in the context of Postmodern Music. Alfred Schnittke’s <i>Concerti Grossi</i>

Artes, Apr 1, 2021

One of the multiple orientations of the musical postmodernism is polystylism-a concept used and t... more One of the multiple orientations of the musical postmodernism is polystylism-a concept used and theorized by the Russian composer and musicologist Alfred Schnittke. He identified its specific techniques in previous academic tradition and organized its principles by writing many essays, papers and by applying these compositional methods in his own work. The approach of polystylism offers the opportunity to observe artistic phenomena in a synthetic perspective and to understand the compositional methods by which tradition is still revalued in some directions of the postmodern period. This paper deals with the problems encountered in the research on this subject, the lack of this term in the dictionaries, the political and cultural context when polystylism was introduced, the tendency to consider unorganized and unoriginal those works based on quotes, previous writing techniques and musical languages, traditional genres or structures and therefore, the perception of some musicians to underestimate Schnittke's talent and mastery as a composer.

Franz Liszt – a Dilemma of Stylistic Interferences

Equally considered national and universal artist, Franz Liszt has roused a deep process of contin... more Equally considered national and universal artist, Franz Liszt has roused a deep process of continuous progresses and radical changes in music, on every level he has undertaken: piano playing, composing, conducting, writing about music. He remained in the history as a complex musician, with a rich activity, maybe the most visionary composer at that time, because his personality was so controversial, that he literally shocked his contemporaries in every parameter of his art. There are numberless books, biographies, treatises, studies, dissertations about his activity, written in different manners and using various analysis techniques. My paper aims at going beyond some texts where Franz Liszt was approached as one-sided figure and outlining his personality as a whole, by pointing some key-elements in his artistic psychology, some deep resorts of his composing principles. In this regard, I have chosen some well-known authors who wrote about Liszt and I have kept the most representative elements of their works to describe him, trying to &quot; catch &quot; the essence of the great Franz Liszt. Mihaela Balan (n.1987)

Aspects of Musical Semantics from the Perspective of Structuralism, Semiotics and Narratology

Artes, Mar 1, 2018

Music is a universal force, a widely spread mean of communication on the entire planet, because i... more Music is a universal force, a widely spread mean of communication on the entire planet, because it has a strong ability to influence human emotions, even without words (when referring to instrumental or symphonic music). Thus, music is one of the most challenging arts in 'deciphering' the hidden message of its creator. The present paper is focused on three analytical techniques which imposed themselves in the musicology field of the 20 th century-structuralism, semiotics, narratology. Our purpose is to offer a general outlook on these perspectives and some specific principles of applicability when approaching a musical score, in terms of formal construction, sonorous structures, equivalence classes applied to musical elements, energetic potential of musical isotopes using modal verbs, essential aspects in determining the narrative frame (spatiality, temporality, actoriality). Structuralism, semiotics and narratology emerged as independent sciences successively, during half a century, influencing each other in a stimulating coexistence which enabled a wide scientific opening until present.

Dostoevskian Literary Poliphony as Lyrical-Theatrical Hypostasis of Sergey Prokofiev’s Opera <i>The Gambler</i>

Artes, Mar 1, 2020

Fyodor Dostoevsky's perspective on humankind and society continues to intrigue any reader, whethe... more Fyodor Dostoevsky's perspective on humankind and society continues to intrigue any reader, whether specialized or from other areas of activity, due to the universality of the topics and the complexity of the characters involved. The novel entitled The Player depicts the life and specific concerns of 19th-century world society, a subject which attracted Sergey Prokofiev to compose a work with the same title, at the beginning of the 20 th century. His opera is a unique work through the avant-garde musical language, the atypical construction of the discourse, the elements of style and conception of the libretto in relation to the original source. These elements generate a multiple correlation between the Dostoevskian prose, literary theory, the philosophy of language through studies and volumes of hermeneutic analysis, such as those signed by critic and semiotician Mikhail Bakhtin, on which we will focus our attention during this research. The terminology used by Bakhtin (dialogism, polyphony, ventrilogism, carnival) indicates a profound insight into the connection between Dostoevsky's prose and the theatrical, dramatic, lyrical, musical aspects of the epic substratum in his novels. At the same time, Dostoevsky was an involuntary forerunner of the artistic movement initiated in Western Europe by German composers-Expressionism-, which also had echoes in the works of Russian composers from the first half of the last century, as we shall see in Sergey Prokofiev's approach of The Gambler.

Richard Taruskin - “Titan” of Universal Musicology. On the Fascination and Imperative of Cursed Questions

Artes, Jul 2, 2023

On the first day of July 2022, the headline of an article in the New York Times officially announ... more On the first day of July 2022, the headline of an article in the New York Times officially announced the passing of the great American musicologist Richard Taruskin. The news of the loss of a world-renowned researcher, whose prolific activity changed ancient paradigms of musical thought, constitutes an impetus for the new generations of musicologists of the 21st century in approaching music history and analysis from a new, multi-branched and integrative perspective, constantly adaptable to the reality of our days. The present study aims to systematize and promote the ideas gathered in the last volume published during the author's lifetime, Cursed Questions: On Music and Its Social Practices (2020), which comprises in a condensed form Taruskin's conceptions regarding the relationship between music, external factors and the other adjacent disciplines (aesthetics, philosophy, sociology).

Richard Taruskin - “Titan” of Universal Musicology. On the Fascination and Imperative of Cursed Questions

ARTES. JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY

On the first day of July 2022, the headline of an article in the New York Times officially announ... more On the first day of July 2022, the headline of an article in the New York Times officially announced the passing of the great American musicologist Richard Taruskin. The news of the loss of a world-renowned researcher, whose prolific activity changed ancient paradigms of musical thought, constitutes an impetus for the new generations of musicologists of the 21st century in approaching music history and analysis from a new, multi-branched and integrative perspective, constantly adaptable to the reality of our days. The present study aims to systematize and promote the ideas gathered in the last volume published during the author’s lifetime, Cursed Questions: On Music and Its Social Practices (2020), which comprises in a condensed form Taruskin’s conceptions regarding the relationship between music, external factors and the other adjacent disciplines (aesthetics, philosophy, sociology).

In Search of Spiritual Identity: Comparative Aspects Between Gustav Mahler and Alfred Schnittke

SWS International Scientific Conferences on ART and HUMANITIES - ISCAH

In this paper, I will approach the connections I have discovered between two composers born in di... more In this paper, I will approach the connections I have discovered between two composers born in different centuries and cultures, belonging to distinct historical periods, but having certain biographical resemblances, similar compositional conceptions and multiple stylistic options. Gustav Mahler and Alfred Schnittke have in common the combination of various musical styles and different sources of inspiration, the integration of folkloric elements in musical contexts with new aesthetic features and the approach to Western European tradition with an explicit referential intention. They used similar techniques such as quotation, development and distortion of the model or they created original themes in the manner of other styles, frequently generating parodic effect by overlapping contrasting elements. For a deeper understanding of the compositional profile and the semantic substratum of their music, it is necessary to approach some aspects of the personal life of the two composers, re...

Polystylism in the context of Postmodern Music. Alfred Schnittke’s Concerti Grossi

Artes. Journal of Musicology, 2021

One of the multiple orientations of the musical postmodernism is polystylism – a concept used and... more One of the multiple orientations of the musical postmodernism is polystylism – a concept used and theorized by the Russian composer and musicologist Alfred Schnittke. He identified its specific techniques in previous academic tradition and organized its principles by writing many essays, papers and by applying these compositional methods in his own work. The approach of polystylism offers the opportunity to observe artistic phenomena in a synthetic perspective and to understand the compositional methods by which tradition is still revalued in some directions of the postmodern period. This paper deals with the problems encountered in the research on this subject, the lack of this term in the dictionaries, the political and cultural context when polystylism was introduced, the tendency to consider unorganized and unoriginal those works based on quotes, previous writing techniques and musical languages, traditional genres or structures and therefore, the perception of some musicians to...

Dan Dediu’s Artistic Identity Reflected in Frenesia and Mantrana

Musical Romania and the Neighbouring Cultures, 2013

In the present paper, the author proposes an exploration of Dan Dediu’s orchestral works Frenesia... more In the present paper, the author proposes an exploration of Dan Dediu’s orchestral works Frenesia op. 84 and Mantrana op. 94, starting from the complex personality of the composer, who made himself remarked as a central figure of the young generation of Romanian composers. His musical activity is spread in the last decades of the XXth century, his creation having a significant number of compositions until present (in 2000, at 33 years old, his creation had already reached the number 90). His musical universe and way of thinking can be characterized using terms such as originality, stylistic and aesthetical diversity, coherence, equilibrium, paradoxical synthesis between old and new, classical and experimental, usual and unusual, known and unexpected solutions. The purpose of this study is to surprise the essential aspects of his creative personality in two of his orchestral works (Frenesia op. 84 and Mantrana op. 94), beginning with the composing process, aesthetical vision, semantic function of the titles and connection between the external elements and the musical content itself.

Franz Liszt – a Dilemma of Stylistic Interferences

Semiotica, 2015

Equally considered national and universal artist, Franz Liszt has roused a deep process of contin... more Equally considered national and universal artist, Franz Liszt has roused a deep process of continuous progresses and radical changes in music, on every level he has undertaken: piano playing, composing, conducting, writing about music. He remained in the history as a complex musician, with a rich activity, maybe the most visionary composer at that time, because his personality was so controversial, that he literally shocked his contemporaries in every parameter of his art. There are numberless books, biographies, treatises, studies, dissertations about his activity, written in different manners and using various analysis techniques. My paper aims at going beyond some texts where Franz Liszt was approached as one-sided figure and outlining his personality as a whole, by pointing some key-elements in his artistic psychology, some deep resorts of his composing principles. In this regard, I have chosen some well-known authors who wrote about Liszt and I have kept the most representative elements of their works to describe him, trying to &quot; catch &quot; the essence of the great Franz Liszt. Mihaela Balan (n.1987)

Dostoevskian Literary Poliphony as Lyrical-Theatrical Hypostasis of Sergey Prokofiev’s Opera The Gambler

Artes. Journal of Musicology, 2020

Fyodor Dostoevsky’s perspective on humankind and society continues to intrigue any reader, whethe... more Fyodor Dostoevsky’s perspective on humankind and society continues to intrigue any reader, whether specialized or from other areas of activity, due to the universality of the topics and the complexity of the characters involved. The novel entitled The Player depicts the life and specific concerns of 19th-century world society, a subject which attracted Sergey Prokofiev to compose a work with the same title, at the beginning of the 20th century. His opera is a unique work through the avant-garde musical language, the atypical construction of the discourse, the elements of style and conception of the libretto in relation to the original source. These elements generate a multiple correlation between the Dostoevskian prose, literary theory, the philosophy of language through studies and volumes of hermeneutic analysis, such as those signed by critic and semiotician Mikhail Bakhtin, on which we will focus our attention during this research. The terminology used by Bakhtin (dialogism, pol...

Aspects of Musical Semantics from the Perspective of Structuralism, Semiotics and Narratology

Artes. Journal of Musicology, 2018

Music is a universal force, a widely spread mean of communication on the entire planet, because i... more Music is a universal force, a widely spread mean of communication on the entire planet, because it has a strong ability to influence human emotions, even without words (when referring to instrumental or symphonic music). Thus, music is one of the most challenging arts in ‘deciphering’ the hidden message of its creator. The present paper is focused on three analytical techniques which imposed themselves in the musicology field of the 20th century – structuralism, semiotics, narratology. Our purpose is to offer a general outlook on these perspectives and some specific principles of applicability when approaching a musical score, in terms of formal construction, sonorous structures, equivalence classes applied to musical elements, energetic potential of musical isotopes using modal verbs, essential aspects in determining the narrative frame (spatiality, temporality, actoriality). Structuralism, semiotics and narratology emerged as independent sciences successively, during half a centur...

Nikolai Myaskovsky – 140th birth anniversary. Rediscovering the composer in the present times

Artes. Journal of Musicology

On the occasion of the 140th anniversary of composer Nikolai Myaskovsky’s birth, in the spring of... more On the occasion of the 140th anniversary of composer Nikolai Myaskovsky’s birth, in the spring of 2021, in the city of Ekaterinburg there took place the Myaskovsky Dialogues festival dedicated entirely to the Russian composer, being one of the few musical events with a musical programme based on his works. Known as the “father” of the Soviet symphony, Nikolai Myaskovsky was one of the pillars of resistance in Russian music culture in the first half of the 20th century, managing to maintain a stylistic balance between traditional genres, harmonic language with innovative tendencies, ideas promoted within the new political system and a neutral way of integrating communist ideals musically. Although his contemporaries perceived him with respect and consideration, N. Myaskovsky was discredited after the tensions and political events of 1948, entering a shadow zone during the Cold War, until the fall of the Iron Curtain. Therefore, it was only in the last three decades that he was redisc...

Franz Liszt - a Dilemma of Stylistic Interferences

Proceedings Volume of the The 12th World Congress of Semiotics, Sofia, Bulgaria, 2014, 2015

Considered both as a national and a universal artist, Franz Liszt has inflamed a deep process of ... more Considered both as a national and a universal artist, Franz Liszt has inflamed a deep process of continuous progress and radical changes in music, on every level he has undertaken: piano playing, composition, conducting and writing about music. He remained in the history as a complex musician, with a rich activity, maybe the most visionary composer at that time, because his personality was so controversial, that he literally shocked his contemporaries in every parameter of his art. There are numberless books, biographies, treatises, studies, dissertations about his activity, written in different manners and using various analysis techniques. The purpose of this paper is to go beyond some texts where Franz Liszt was approached as one-sided figure, in order to outline his personality as a whole, by pointing some key-elements in his artistic psychology, some deep resorts of his composing principles. In this regard, I have chosen some well-known authors who wrote about Liszt and have kept the most representative elements of their works to describe him, trying to 'catch' the essence of the great Franz Liszt.

Dan Dediu’s Artistic Identity reflected in „Frenesia” and „Mantrana”

Musical Romania and the Neighbouring Cultures, Traditions – Influences – Identities, Eastern European Studies in Musicology, 2014

In the present paper, the author proposes an exploration of Dan Dediu’s orchestral works „Frenesi... more In the present paper, the author proposes an exploration of Dan Dediu’s orchestral works „Frenesia” op. 84 and „Mantrana” op. 94 , starting from the complex personality of the composer, who made himself remarked as a central figure of the young generation of Romanian composers. His musical activity is spread in the last decades of the 20th century, his creation having a significant number of compositions until present (in 2000, at 33 years old, his creation had already reached the number 90). His musical universe and way of thinking can be characterized using terms such as originality, stylistic and aesthetical diversity, coherence, equilibrium, paradoxical synthesis between old and new, classical and experimental, usual and unusual, known and unexpected solutions.
„Frenesia” and „Mantrana” are two orchestral works (the first is for usual orchestra and the second is for chamber orchestra) composed in consecutive years (2000 and 2001); although closely created in time, these works have various features that awaken the interest to analyze the conceiving process, the aesthetical background, the connection between title, content and other aspects. The study focuses on each of the musical parameters (melody, rhythm, dynamics, agogics, orchestration, musical quotations concerning the musical references to other stylistic periods or areas), trying to investigate the technical as well as artistic “anatomy” of „Frenesia” and „Mantrana”.

Psychological perspective in the musical work „Mithya” by Doina Rotaru

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov - Supplement - Series VIII: Performing Arts, 2016

Musical analysis and semantic interpretation are nowadays inherent aspects when approaching a mus... more Musical analysis and semantic interpretation are nowadays inherent aspects when approaching a musical score, no matter its genre, composer, cultural-geographical origin, stylistic features or historical period. The present research is concerned with the analytical techniques which are necessary when analysing a contemporary musical work, in order to grasp its deepest meanings. The purpose of our paper is to use structural analysis, semantic interpretation, combined with hermeneutical remarks and psychological aspects of the composing process, in order to analyse the musical work "Mithya", created by Romanian composer Doina Rotaru, whose name has a large echo all over the world. Beginning with the principles indicated by Leonard Meyer in his book, "Emotion and Meaning in Music", we tried to learn the mechanism by which the first piece of the cycle, entitled "As a prayer", generates an exciting psychological process and a permanent connection between playing and listening.

In Search of Spiritual Identity: comparative aspects between Gustav Mahler and Alfred Schnittke

Proceedings Volume of the 8th International Scientific Conferences on Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities - ISCSS and ISCAH 2021, 2021

In this paper, I will approach the connections I have discovered between two composers born in di... more In this paper, I will approach the connections I have discovered between two composers born in different centuries and cultures, belonging to distinct historical periods, but having certain biographical resemblances, similar compositional conceptions and multiple stylistic options. Gustav Mahler and Alfred Schnittke have in common the combination of various musical styles and different sources of inspiration, the integration of folkloric elements in musical contexts with new aesthetic features and the approach to Western European tradition with an explicit referential intention. They used similar techniques such as quotation, development and distortion of the model or they created original themes in the manner of other styles, frequently generating parodic effect by overlapping contrasting elements. For a deeper understanding of the compositional profile and the semantic substratum of their music, it is necessary to approach some aspects of the personal life of the two composers, relating significant details with features of their works. The purpose of this research is a general overview of the biographical course and historical context in which G. Mahler and A. Schnittke lived, leading to an analytical comparison between two vocalsymphonic works, which have a similar general theme and are both very suggestive for the spiritual search undertaken by the two composers, in order to exemplify the peculiarities of musical language and semantic content: Symphony No. 8 by G. Mahler and Symphony No. 4 by A. Schnittke.

Alexander Scriabin's Structural and Harmonic Conception Revealed in Piano Sonatas No. 3 and 7

Musicology Today, 2016

Set between tradition and innovation, Alexander Scriabin brought the most daring novelties of mus... more Set between tradition and innovation, Alexander Scriabin brought the
most daring novelties of musical language among his contemporaries,
in the context of Russian composers’ generation from the first half of
the 20th century. In the piano field, he approached genres considered to be
typically to Chopin’s works (etudes, preludes, waltzes, mazurkas, nocturnes), but he has also composed ten sonatas, that reflect all stages of his artistic formation.
Since 1892, when he composed his first sonata, until 1913, when he
finished his eighth, ninth, and tenth sonatas, Scriabin has been keeping a consistent interest for this genre, bringing new ideas on the structural, harmonic, piano level and inserting pitch structures at the limit between tonal, atonal and modal. In this paper, I have approached two contrasting works (especially from the stylistic point of view), in order to emphasize Scriabin’s position at the boundary between tradition and innovation.