The Piano Duet in the System of Piano Ensemble: Genre-Typological Aspects

• Main Author: I. I. Polska
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kharkiv State Academy of Culture 2018-05-01
• Series: Культура України
• Online Access: http://ku-khsac.in.ua/article/view/136529

The aim of the article is to determine the typological specificity of a four-handed piano duet and a two-piano duo as the main genre varieties of the system of piano ensemble. Research methodology. The article is based on the integrative approach, proceeding from a combination of general scientific (phenomenological, historical, system, comparative) and special art criticism methods and approaches. Results. The Piano Ensemble represents a special sphere of functioning of music art, which belongs both to composer’s work and to music-performing’s work (professional or amateur), is characterized by artistic consistency, balance and integrity and includes 1) the process of joint music performing on piano, 2) quantitative and qualitative composition of the participants in such a process and the tools necessary for this, and 3) the musical works themselves, indicated for such performance. The genre typology of the piano ensemble is due to the differentiation of its main varieties according to the following parameters: 1) the quantitative composition of the instruments necessary for the functioning of the ensemble (one or two and more pianos); 2) the quantitative composition of performers (piano duo, piano terzetto, piano quartet); 3) the qualitative composition of the ensemble associated with the performance on one common (four-handed piano duet and its modifications) or several different (two-piano duo or multi-piano ensembles) instruments. The leading representative of the piano ensemble as such is a piano duet, the main genre types of which are: 1) four-handed piano duet on one piano (Piano Duet) and 2) two-piano duet (Piano Duo). The author elaborates the issues of definition and terminological differentiation of the main types of piano ensemble — four-piano duet (Piano Duet) and two-piano duet (Piano Duo), as well as their modifications (piano terzetto, only piano quartet, etc.). Piano Duet and Piano Duo have their own specific genre characteristics, which fundamentally differ in their semantic, spatio-chronotopic, communication and psychological, ethical and aesthetic, textually-phonical features, etc. The historical paths of both principal types of the piano ensemble are fundamentally different, as such as their genre genesis and the dominant forms of their social existence. Thus, the genesis of a four-handed piano duet and its genre evolution are to a large extent related to the sphere of home-based music-performing, while the origin and development of a two-piano duo is inseparable from forming a public concert-performing practice. The ethical and aesthetic specificity of a four-piano duo is largely due to the socio-psychological and axiological orientation inherent in this genre, the special philosophy of personal relationships, the communication of two people at the piano, based on mutual understanding, mutual empathy and the sense of compatibility, consistency of being. Crystallization of the semantics of a four-handed duet took place at the close of the 18th century — early 19th century under the powerful influence of romantic philosophy and aesthetics, as well as the idyllic worldview inherent in Biedermeier’s culture. The aesthetic peculiarity of the two-piano duo is created by the psychological installation of effectiveness, virtuoso brilliance, large scale, concert performance. The formation of a poetry of a two-piano duet is to a great extent linked with another hypostasis of a romantic attitude — with a romantic heroism, pathetic, theatricality, with images of heroes, rebels and fighters, endowed with superhuman will, by force of spirit, courage and energy. The psychological specificity of duet communication is based on the interaction of the centripetal (performer — performer) and centrifugal (performers — listeners) tendencies. For a four-handed piano duets are more intrinsic to the first of them, due to the psychological targeting of performers to each other, while in the two-piano duets prevails the orientation to the perception of the public. The character of the ensemble interaction in a two-piano duet is typologically related to the nature of the interaction in a piano concerto with the orchestra and is based on the principle of concertation, competition between two performers — two pianists (or soloist and orchestra). The textural specificity of a four-piano duet is due by the commonality of the only keyboard, pedal, and close proximity of the performers. Important prospects for further scientific research in this problematic area are the further development of the phenomenological and system-genre approaches of the study of the piano ensemble, related to the theoretical comprehension of the genre-typological and semantic specificity of its leading varieties, as a manifestation of their meaningful and textually-performing features. Novelty. The issues of the typology and the genre specifics of Piano Duet and Piano Duo in the complex system of Piano Ensemble belong to one of the least studied in musicology. In Ukrainian musicology, this problem was first explored precisely in the scientific works of the author of this article. The proposed article contains a brief summary of the author’s conception of the piano ensemble as a genre system, primarily related to the definition of genre-typological specificity of the piano duet. This is precisely the relevance and scientific novelty of this article, which reveals the genre-typological specificity of the piano duet and its modifications in the general system of the piano ensemble. The practical significance. The theoretical findings of the article can be applied for the developing of the problems of the genre specifics and typology of Piano Ensemble in the musicological issues. The material in this article can be used in the educational research, in particular, in the academic courses «Theory of Music Genres», «Theory and History of Music-Performing Art», «Theory and History of Piano-Performing Art», «Piano Ensemble», «Piano», etc.