Music Q&A
What is your favorite instrument and why?
I adore piano and believe that no other instrument has so many merits and abilities. I know that every professional musician, in spite of his specialization, knows the basis of playing the piano. It’s not an accident: I think playing it is a great help in learning solfege and musical notation. It sounds wonderful, I can’t name a person who dislikes piano, though I know people who don’t like a violin or drums. It has a wide pitch. I’m also impressed by the width of piano use. It’s universal: it can be used as a solo instrument; it can accompany any other instrument, or human voice, or be a part of a large orchestra. I don’t know any other instrument so many “solo” musical literature is written about. There are incredible many masterpieces written especially for a piano.
What do you think was the most influential musical achievement of the Baroque and why?
I like Baroque because it developed dramatic expression in music, it deployed “scenic” types of music, such as opera and musical drama; opera-ballet emerged in that period; aria, oratorio, and cantata were formalized as genres. Baroque, in fact, expanded the scope of genres. Though, probably, the most influential achievements are of the technical character (not everyone listens to opera now). During Baroque the complexity of the music performance increased; musicians even invented new methods of playing, such as tremolo and pizzicato. It was linked with changes in the musical notation.
First, it became more precise, and we use it today. The second achievement, I believe the main, was the formation of functional harmony. Originally it was subordinated to polyphony, but today it’s dominant. The harmony was described with a hierarchical scheme of functional tonality. It’s easy to understand and apply, and most composers use it nowadays.
Who is the best representative of the "classic" era: Haydn or Mozart and why? Share with us your favorite composition
My favorite composition is the 45th Symphony by Haydn, especially its slowest part. I think that Haydn represents the Classical period, though Mozart is more popular and known today. In a manner, Haydn was an inventor of classicism and a tutor of Mozart (Mozart wrote six quartets dedicated to Haydn in which he perfected findings made by Haydn). He worked mostly with instrumental music, and intensively explored and exploited folk motives when Mozart was universal composer and experimenter, rather untypical to represent the era.
What is the most significant musical achievement of the Romantic Era and why?
The Romantic Era focused the attention of people on the “meaning” of music. It, certainly, made a contribution into the musical theory and technique, expanding, for instance, a palette of timbre: that time it was a tendency to enlarge a symphony orchestra through the introduction of new …
