Narrative Theories as an Important Tool for the Analysis and Interpretation of Contemporary Music: the Case of 21st-Century Piano Concertos
In the area of contemporary music, traditional musical genres still retain their relevance and vitality, accompanied – concurrently – by the decline of classical paradigms of musical forms. This phenomenon can be observed for example within the instrumental concerto genre, in the past strongly determined by the determinants of the sonata cycle and sonata form, now – embodied in a wide variety of representations. The aforementioned situation creates the need to find new research methods, useful in analyzing the course of the form, its dramatic flow, as well as solo-tutti relationships in contemporary concertos. Such a perspective is provided by theories of musical narrative – a research perspective that emerged in the 1970s, initially in literature and cultural studies, but soon extended its reach to a wider range of disciplines, including musical arts. Their application makes it possible to grasp the dynamic, paradigmatic course of a musical work, constitutes new analytical areas for forms and genres for which the classical schemas of musical forms are no longer an important point of reference, and allows for the construction of an interpretation anchored in a wide spectrum of hermeneutic references creating today’s music memory.
In my paper I will present briefly narratological methods that have aroused in recent decades, with special focus on those especially designed or suitable for new music analysis (by Byron Almén, Michael Klein, Nicholas Reyland, Vincent Meelberg) illustrated with analytical examples taken from contemporary piano concertos written by Polish composers.
Material presented is based on author’s doctoral dissertation titled: Genre Memory, New Ideas, New Narratives in Polish 21st-century Piano Concertos (2024).
Keywords: piano, concerto, genre, narrativity, contemporary music
Biography
Malwina Marciniak – PhD, pianist and theorist, Assistant Professor at Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, Poland, where she previously studied piano performance, music theory and composition. Her research interests include contemporary instrumental music, piano literature, new methods of analysis including semiotic and narratological theories. Malwina is an author of a number of scholarly articles in reviewed music periodicals; speaker at national and international scientific conferences (i.a. Spain, Serbia, USA). She gave guest lectures in Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome. As a pianist, Malwina performed at assorted venues in Poland and abroad. She joined the European Union Youth Orchestra tour, performing i.a. in Vienna and Bolzano. Malwina frequently undertakes interdisciplinary projects comprising theory and performance.
Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, Poland – sympatyczna10@gmail.com