FEATURES OF SEMANTIC EXPRESSION IN FRENCH VOCAL MUSIC AT THE TURN OF THE ХІХ–ХХ CENTURIES

Abstract

French vocal music of the twentieth century is an integral layer of musical culture that is perceived as a deeply national phenomenon. The vocal cycles and individual miniatures of Gabriel Fauré, Emmanuel Chabrier, Ernest Chausson, Claude Debussy, and Maurice Ravel embody specific features of semantic expression that determine the originality of their works. Structural logic of the sentence, intonational peculiarity, and some features of the lexical space are considered in the article in the projection on the musical language of chamber-vocal opuses by French composers. The purpose of the article is to outline the main aspects of semantic expression in French vocal music and to provide them with a mental, sociological, and artistic justification. The methodology of the study is based on general scientific methods: analytical, generalizing, source study, as well as the method of musicological analysis. The scientific novelty lies in the comprehension of the semantics of expression in French vocal music from the standpoint of mentality, sociology, and the national picture of the world. Another aspect of the study is the linguistic and cultural peculiarities of the French language, which significantly affect the semantic interpretations of vocal works. Conclusions. The vocal works of the composers of the considered era reflect a subtle and refined image of the national world with its inherent sensual awe, grace, gentle touching and sophistication of aesthetic ideas. The art of the turn of the century opens the curtain to some signs of mental space, including the images of birds, plants, and closed geometric forms. Of course, manifestations of sensuality in other national cultures also exist and cannot be denied, but their expressiveness is often not as defined and, moreover, they are associated with other factors (comprehension, emotions, passions, etc.). Similar conclusions are valid for other qualities of the national image of French vocal music discussed in this article (e.g., dynamism, softness, flexibility).French vocal music of the twentieth century is an integral layer of musical culture that is perceived as a deeply national phenomenon. The vocal cycles and individual miniatures of Gabriel Fauré, Emmanuel Chabrier, Ernest Chausson, Claude Debussy, and Maurice Ravel embody specific features of semantic expression that determine the originality of their works. Structural logic of the sentence, intonational peculiarity, and some features of the lexical space are considered in the article in the projection on the musical language of chamber-vocal opuses by French composers. The purpose of the article is to outline the main aspects of semantic expression in French vocal music and to provide them with a mental, sociological, and artistic justification. The methodology of the study is based on general scientific methods: analytical, generalizing, source study, as well as the method of musicological analysis. The scientific novelty lies in the comprehension of the semantics of expression in French vocal music from the standpoint of mentality, sociology, and the national picture of the world. Another aspect of the study is the linguistic and cultural peculiarities of the French language, which significantly affect the semantic interpretations of vocal works. Conclusions. The vocal works of the composers of the considered era reflect a subtle and refined image of the national world with its inherent sensual awe, grace, gentle touching and sophistication of aesthetic ideas. The art of the turn of the century opens the curtain to some signs of mental space, including the images of birds, plants, and closed geometric forms. Of course, manifestations of sensuality in other national cultures also exist and cannot be denied, but their expressiveness is often not as defined and, moreover, they are associated with other factors (comprehension, emotions, passions, etc.). Similar conclusions are valid for other qualities of the national image of French vocal music discussed in this article (e.g., dynamism, softness, flexibility).