Elements of perception theory in Pierre Souvtchinskyʼs musicology

The principle of unfolding and concentration in Igor Stravinsky

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24215/18530494e001

Keywords:

Souvtchinsky, Stravinsky, time, unfolding, concentration

Abstract

In his most outstanding musical writings, Pierre Souvtchinsky alludes in various ways to a mechanism of unfolding and concentration in the perceptual field. These concepts and the reflection on musical time (chronos), a central issue in the philosopher, appear in a particular way in his texts dedicated to Igor Stravinsky. Considering, among others, some partially unpublished source, in the first part of this article is exposed and analyzed this mechanism, until now unexplored in the thinking of Souvtchinsky. Trying to articulate these concepts and the way in which the philosopher approaches the music, the musical time and the figure of the composer, in the second part is proposed its application to illuminate some peculiarities of Stravinsky's musical thought. Finally, pondering the possible categorization of this mechanism as a structural principle of perception, we suggest the hypothesis that it can be an appropriate tool for the analysis of a musical thought.

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Author Biography

Javier Ares Yebra, Fundación Paul Sacher, Suiza

Javier Ares Yebra studied music at the Superior Music Conservatories of Córdoba and A Coruña (Spain), obtaining the Extraordinary End of Degree Prize in the specialty of Classical Guitar with Professor Ramón Carnota Méndez.

He has a PhD in Communication Research from the University of Vigo with the first thesis on the Russian philosopher and musicologist Pierre Souvtchinsky and his connections with Igor Stravinsky, who obtained the Cum Laude and International Mention distinctions. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Communication Research from that university and a Bachelor’s Degree in Audiovisual Communication from the Rey Juan Carlos University of Madrid.

He offers concerts in the European, American and Asian continents, appearing in important halls such as the Opera Hall of the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation of Astana (Kazakhstan), the Manuel de Falla Auditorium in Granada (Spain), the Luigi Boccherini Center in Lucca (Italy), the Palace of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain in Buenos Aires, the Cultural Center of Spain in Córdoba and the Cultural Center Parque España of Rosario (Argentina), among others.

Javier has publications in specialized magazines and journals in Spain, Portugal and Argentina. His research focuses on communication theory, interwar European culture, twentieth-century Spanish-American music for guitar, the music of Igor Stravinsky, the musical sources of Pierre Souvtchinsky and the Eurasian movement.

He holds specialized courses on a scholarships from the Barrié de la Maza Foundation, the Botín Foundation, the Menéndez Pelayo International University, the Ibero-American Postgraduate University Association, Music in Compostela and the International University of Andalusia.

In 2016 Javier recorded his album Travesía in the city of Rosario (Argentina), produced by the Parque España Cultural Center, which includes a repertoire of the Spanish Renaissance and the first recording of his own compositions. His guitar pieces.

{Leave in the spirit a feeling of tranquility, peace, serenity … very remarkable. But at the same time they make you dream of something ethereal, that you would like to grasp with your hand but that is too subtle to hold it}

                                                                                          (José López Calo, music notes to the album Travesía).

This record work was presented at the L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University (Kazakhstan), the Cultural Center of Spain in Córdoba (Argentina) and the XXII Encuentros Manuel de Falla of Granada (Spain) with the collaboration of the Patronato de la Alhambra and the sponsorship of the Manuel de Falla Archive.

In that same year he published his book Atlantic Preludes. Essays on music and communication, presented at the International Book Fair of Buenos Aires.

Convened by the Spanish Embassy, in 2017 premieres the Joaquín Rodrigo’s Andalusian Concert in Kazakhstan with the Astana Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Berik Batyrkhan and guitarists Andrei Shakenov, Denis Rusakov and Andrei Marychev.

Javier has been invited to offer lectures and seminars at the University of Valladolid, the University of Granada, the Kazakh National University of Arts, the Goldsmiths University and the University of Central Lancashire.

Holds research stays in the Chair of Musical Aesthetics of the University of Buenos Aires, the School of Arts (Oporto) and the Center for Philosophical and Humanistic Studies (Braga) of the Portuguese Catholic University.

Among other recognitions, in 2015 Javier is chosen by the Academy of Arts and Communication Sciences of Argentina as Corresponding Academician for Spain. Since 2018 he is member of the IMS (International Musicological Society).

He is currently preparing his debut in England (Deptford Tawn Hall, London) and Switzerland (Allgemeine Lesegesellschaft, Basel), a research stay funded by the Paul Sacher Foundation to work on the Stravinsky Collection, and a new edition in Spanish of the Poetics of Music.

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Published

2019-06-20

How to Cite

Ares Yebra, J. (2019). Elements of perception theory in Pierre Souvtchinskyʼs musicology: The principle of unfolding and concentration in Igor Stravinsky. Epistemus. Journal of Studies in Music, Cognition & Culture, 7(1), 001. https://doi.org/10.24215/18530494e001

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Section

Artículos originales de investigación