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THE WORK OF THE ACCOMPANIST ON THE ROMANCES OF E.
GRIEG (PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS)
E.E.Emanuel
Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14604209
Introduction
.
E. Grieg, a classic of Norwegian music, was the first to make it known to the
whole world. The most important basis of his work was Norwegian folklore,
which he collected and recorded throughout his creative life. The genres of folk
songs in Norwegian folklore are essentially inseparable from instrumental
music. The performance of songs was accompanied by the playing of strings,
brass and percussion instruments, which was reflected in the accompaniment of
the composer's songs and romances.
E. Grieg's early songs were inspired by the lyrics of F. Schubert, R.
Schumann and F. Mendelssohn. They are based on the poems of G. Heine, I.
Goethe, A. Chamisso. Powerful images of raging nature and the romance of the
forest, mournful meditation and contemplation are typical themes of the song
lyrics of Schubert and Schumann. Schubert's influence is noticeable in the song
"The Miller's Wife" - a touching confession of an abandoned girl. Schumann's
mournful lyrics find a direct response in the heartfelt monologues: "What should
I say?", "I stood in gloomy thought...". Against the background of the gloomy
"Schumann" songs of his youth, Grieg's romances to the verses of G. Andersen
stand out for their clarity and purity of color. The composer wrote 15 works to
Andersen's words, all of them retain common features: this is, first of all, a bright
perception of life, an enthusiastic hymn to nature, art and first youthful love... In
the entire vocal legacy of the composer, there are not many songs of such a
radiant plan as "I Love You" and "The Heart of a Poet", combining the pathos of
lyrical outpourings with sincere simplicity. The inspired song-confession "I Love
You" is a lyrical confession of a young soul. It immediately became a "repertoire
piece" and flew around all the concert stages of the world. What made the
youthful romance so famous? The main reason, apparently, is the extreme
fullness and richness of the lyrical feeling, expressed succinctly and simply, with
captivating sincerity. The romance is a series of compressed, short stanzas of a
simple one-part structure (each verse in the form of a period). But in the
development of the emotionally bright, steadily striving upward melody, a great
spiritual uplift is felt.
THEORETICAL ASPECTS IN THE FORMATION OF
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International scientific-online conference
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The harmony of the accompaniment is also expressive. Grieg uses the
characteristic technique of "pulling out the tonic" and builds the development of
the romance mainly on unstable harmonies, increasing the strength of
expression.
The typically "Grigian" juicy chord (minor seventh chord of the second
degree on the dominant bass) sounds especially tense at the moment of the
lyrical culmination, where the delight reaches its limit. A number of the
composer's romances are devoted to the theme of art and creativity ("The Poet's
Heart", "Poetry", "The Poet's Last Song"). They speak sincerely and simply of the
invincible power of art. The melody of these romances is romantically aspiring,
distinguished by its plasticity and broad melodiousness. Grieg avoids complex
compositional structures and creates a simple couplet form that responds well
to the melodious nature of the melody. The enthusiastic "poet's songs" flow
easily and freely, and the excited harmonic accompaniment gives this music a
high pathos of sound: gloomy - in "The Poet's Heart", jubilant - in "Poetry".
Among the romances of the mature period, I would like to especially note
the romances to the poems of G. Ibsen ("Into the Album", "The Swan", "With a
Water Lily..."). In these romances, distinguished by exceptional psychological
depth and restraint of emotional tone, Grieg found a new type of romance-
monologue for him. In these romances, the principles of the vocal style changed
significantly. If in the early period of his work the composer only resorted to
declamatory-speech expressiveness in isolated cases, now the characteristic
techniques of vocal declamation are widely developed. The melody of the
romance "The Swan" both sings and narrates. It is not for nothing that, along
with the tempo designations, Grieg makes the characteristic remark "talende" -
"narrating". The cycle of romances to the poems of Ibsen is a work that is largely
a turning point. The romances of this cycle touch upon various aspects of lyric
poetry: philosophical, devoted to the theme of art ("Swan", "Musicians"), gloomy
and elegiac ("I called you", "Hidden"), expressing bright images of spring nature
("With a water lily", "Bird song"). The romance "Swan" undoubtedly takes first
place among all of Grieg's lyrical and philosophical romances. With its sublime
poeticity, it surpasses everything that was created by the composer in this
regard. In this masterpiece, everything is thought out to the end, the smallest
details of harmonic accompaniment, texture, form are subordinated to the poetic
concept. There is nothing superfluous either in the emotional development of
the melody - so restrained and at the same time full of hidden drama, or in the
colorful and romantic harmony that supports it - so rich, soft and full-sounding.
THEORETICAL ASPECTS IN THE FORMATION OF
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The philosophical theme of Ibsen's poem received a lyrical and tragic coloring in
this romance. The image of the swan is a symbolic image of the poet, dying with
a song on his lips. The main theme of the romance is quite integral and complete
in its internal development. The melody is a smooth singing of a third, in the
accompaniment part there is the same soft sequence of the tonic and the seventh
chord of the fourth degree (the leitharmony of the entire romance). A short
chant gradually develops into a wide, smoothly soaring melody of a
declamatory-chant-like structure, with characteristic romantic motives of a call
("swan cry"). This "swan cry" sounds languidly and tenderly in the echoes of the
piano part. The final part of the romance (reprise) depicts a slow fading away.
The last sigh of farewell is an expressive quart exclamation in the vocal part and
the accompanying "echo" - a smooth final cadence in the accompaniment.
Distinguished by its bright national coloring, the vocal music of E. Grieg is the
highest embodiment of Norwegian national culture. In his romances and songs,
the composer realized one of the most important aesthetic tasks: the fusion of
music and poetic image. The wise simplicity, spiritual responsiveness, and
warmth of heart inherent in the vocal work of the composer won him the love of
all mankind.
