The violin miniature on the border of the 20th-21st centuries : on the problem of cyclization

Abstract

The miniature is a conceptual genre of musical culture that performs its cultural-forming and socio-cultural functions within a small form. At the turn of the centuries, the tendency to combine miniatures into cycles is spreading, and therefore the problem of studying the principles of cyclization and stylistic features of violin miniature cycles becomes relevant. The aim of the research is to consider the principles of cyclization of violin miniatures at the turn of the 20th-21st centuries on the example of creative work by Ukrainian composers. The cyclic compositions by Yuriy Ishchenko, Yevhen Stankovych, Valentyn Sylvestrov, Lyudmyla Shukailo, and Oleksandr Stanko have been analyzed. As the result of the research, the miniatures cycles classification, stipulated by their content, has been proposed: 1) the cycles with signs of program nature, which does not limit the composer’s imagination to a specific direction of images; 2) the genre sketches with specification of images in the title; 3) the composer’s musical diary – the author’s own thoughts and impressions; 4) the cycles of compositions generalized as a “school of playing” – with artistic and methodological functions.