“Jazz Slide” by M. Tovpeko – A. Strilets: Aspects of the original source interpretation
Authors: Pliushchenko M.Yu. 
Published: March 2020

Background. This article is devoted to the actual issues of musical interpretation in connection with one of the most common genres of modern art – genre of transcription in its various aspects. These questions are considered in aspect of genre specificity of transcription as the work with dual authorship that determines a special methodology of such musical samples study, the need of the comparative analysis of the original and transcription versions, the study of principles of composition and artistic interpretation, the manifestations of the performing characteristics in it. This field of creativity encourages researchers to study the principles of artistic thinking, inter-style communication, and virtual creative dialogue between the authors of the original and the version at all levels of musical content and form using the samples of transcriptions. The example of such approach is the given research, which studies the mechanisms of musical interpretation creation in the genres transcription and arrangement in aspect of the contemporary composing and performing practices. The object of the study is the creativity by a bright representative of the Kharkiv school of the playing on folk instruments, Andrii Strilets, the subject of consideration in this article are his orchestra transcriptions-arrangements. The purpose of the research is to determine the principles of interpretation and inter-style dialogue in the genre of transcription on the example of the musical piece “Jazz-slide” by M. Tovpeco for two accordions in the arrangement by A. Strilets. For the first time in musicology this composition becomes an object for the theoretical analysis in aspect of the artistic interpretation and inter-style dialogue in genre of transcription-arrangement. This determines the relevance and scientific novelty of the study. For the first time also, the research is focused on the multifaceted creative activity of the talented Kharkiv musician A. Strilets, which combines the various directions – composition, conducting, bayan performance and pedagogy. Results of the study. The list of the works by A. Strilets includes dozens of positions, in particular, the orchestral opuses – about 40, the vocal pieces – more than 40, there are also the dance music, vocal-choreographic compositions and others. Composer prepared for publication the author’s collection “Concert works for bayan”, which will be a musical presentation of his work. Pedagogical work of the musician is successfully combined with the performing activity. A. Strilets is a talented accordion / bayan performer (the winner of all-Ukrainian and international competitions, among them, the prestigious international competition “Vogtland Music Days” in Klingenthal, Germany; participant of tours as a bayan player-performer in Belgium, Germany, Poland, Ukraine) and conductor. He worked as a conductor at the Kharkiv City Theater of Folk Music “Oberegi”; he made a significant contribution to the creation of the “Slobozhanskii Big Academic Song and Dance Ensemble” (2011), which he conducts nowadays, and also acts as an author and arranger of a significant part of the musical repertoire of this ensemble. Being the head of the folk instruments orchestra, musician directs his actions, first of all, to improve the performing level of the musicians, to expand the concert repertoire and the genre diversity of the performed compositions, to change and complete the instrumental compositions. The study also highlights several signs of the pedagogy of A. Strilets. As a teacher, he encourages in his class the independent thinking of the performer and the searching of a reasonable interpretation, provides the information about stylistic features of works for fully disclosing of its content, he takes into account the analysis of their dramaturgy and form, carefully relates to the reproduction of author’s remarks, aims from the musicians the task of the most accurate composer’s intention disclosure. These pedagogical principles project onto the compositional features of A. Strilets’ works, which are clearly demonstrated in sphere of his arranger’s work. The study specifies a number of basic composer principles and methods used by A. Strilets in the transcription-arrangement of “Jazz Slide”. 1. First of all, the arranger updates the timbre-texture complex of the original, redistributing certain content and form-building components in the musical “space” and “time”, giving them new configurations, which leads to strengthening or, in opposite, leveling (down to rotation) of their original dramatic functions – general and minor, solo and accompanying, monological and dialogical, ensemble and orchestral, melodic, harmonic, rhythmic and others. 2. The sound-texture aspect demonstrates both smallest and systemic changes of musical and expressive complex of the original – from the separate elements to their cumulative action, which contributes to the genre-style qualities transformation of the work, strengthening the through development in it, up to the presence of signs of symphonization. 3. Hence, the genre concept of the work is updated, and it leads to the emergence of a new genre quality – “concert-ness” – and to the consolidation of the concert status of the work (which becomes similar to a concert for two accordions / bayans with an orchestra). The quality of “concert” is also achieved due to the growing role of soloists, in particular, the strengthening of solo replicas in the orchestra (separation of elements of the original melodic themes and distribution them to orchestral groups), which leads to the polyphonization of the musical facture, emphasizing (new coloring) some features of the melodic lines of the soloists and like other. 4. At the level of harmony, on the one hand, the emphasis of its original content, on the other hand, the search of its melodic potential is observed. 5. The rhythmic parameter of sound-facture complex contributes to the enhancement of genre-style semantics of the original source, taking into account its jazz “filling”. 6. Comparative analysis of the original and version reveals signs of a method of composer interpretation that involves a creative component in arranging, supplementing, and rethinking the content of the original. Conclusion. In course of studying it was found that the arranger, at the preserving of the structure of the original piece – a contrast-composite form, updates the procession-dynamic and dramatic sides of it, primarily due to the action of the timbre-texture complex as the key interpretative factor in creating of the orchestral version of the original. The prospect of the research. The considered issues require, of course, the further research – both from the point of view of the artistic significance of genres, arrangement and transcription, in particular, for orchestras and ensembles of folk instruments, and in the aspect of the action of mechanisms of artistic interpretation and the features of the transcription process, which naturally combines composer and performing arts. The work of the talented Kharkiv musician Andrii Strilets who is one of the most prominent representatives of the Kharkiv school of folk instruments, deserves a separate study.