Heroes of musical works that reveal human feelings. Lyrical images. Lyrical images in music. What makes a lyric unique?

The center of any lyrical work is a person. If there are no people in a song or story, then each object is described through the prism of the feelings of the author or a fictional character.

Lyrical image

In a work of art or music, there is a character whom the author describes, endowing him with some characteristic features. In lyricism - a type of work based on the emotional disclosure of the narrator himself and his character - he completely bares his soul and heart.

The reader or listener can identify all the feelings that lyrical images conceal. Only an attentive audience will read the author's message through his work.

What are lyrics?

This is a species that came from Ancient Greece. It was named after string instrument- lyres. During such concerts, ancient artists conveyed their sensitive side through music. The most common misconception is that the lyrics are based on melancholy motives. This is not true. It can focus on one emotion, but most often reflects the whole spectrum: grief, joy, sadness, fun. Whatever feelings a person experiences, if they are brought to the fore in art, it becomes lyrical.

The main types of works are poetry, music, messages. The most ancient lyrical texts are considered to be the "Song of Songs", which was written by legendary king Solomon, and the Psalms of David. The first work is a poem, the second is religious poetry.

This type of creation may simply be a segment or digression into large work, during which main character experiences a number of feelings and shares them with the public.

What makes a lyric unique?

The main feature of this kind of work is that, apart from feelings and personal sensations from some phenomena, the author does not describe anything. It’s as if an individual confession is being heard from the stage. There are no active events developing.

Main characteristics:

  • inaction,
  • feelings and emotions,
  • mood.

Ancient times

Lyrics began their development in ancient Greece. Stesichorus and Alcman, who glorified heroes and the state, were considered prominent representatives of this style at that time. Lyrics reached their greatest development in the first century, during the period of the activity of Virgil, the author of the Aeneid, and Ovid with his Metamorphoses. The authors chose love as the main themes of moral experiences. She had a variety of dramatic images: love for father (like Aeneas), love for homeland, for loved ones.

Middle Ages and Renaissance

In the Middle Ages, the main lyricists were troubadours. They wandered around different villages, sang, read poetry, and played flutes. The troubadours united with their creativity various types lyrics into one. They even gave theatrical performances.

The Renaissance brought the flourishing of love poetry to world art. Of the poets, the most famous were Dante and Petrarch. At the same time, musical ballads appeared. A prominent representative of the genre was Charles of Orleans.

The lyrics were not only love in this period. For Ulrich von Hutten it was entirely polemical in nature. Lyrical images, examples of which were taken from philosophers and musicians of the classical era, had to be made more modern, less emotional. But still, the unhappy love of Petrarch’s hero for his lovely Laura dominated in all further works. His poems were taken as a basis.

In England, lyricism developed little. A song about Robin Hood in the style of a lyrical ballad arose among the people. William Shakespeare as the discoverer of this literary kind in his country he brought to the fore the dramatic images of the sufferer and martyr Hamlet, hiding the truth of Macbeth and other heroes.

The recent past

The nineteenth century is replete with the names of lyricists: Friedrich Schiller, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, William Wordsworth, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Alfred de Musset...

In Russia famous poets Those working in this style were Alexander Pushkin, Vasily Zhukovsky, Mikhail Lermontov, Kondraty Ryleev, Vladimir Odoevsky.

Description of the hero in the lyrics

In a work of this kind the main thing is not necessarily actor there will be a person. The lyrical hero is a man, woman, child, old man, nature, heavenly body, season. Only the author can choose the object that will ultimately endow it with emotions. The creator of the work tries to put his own thoughts into the mouths of his lyrical images. He does not transfer himself completely to the hero, but he gives them the feelings that he experiences.

Even if the author did not intend to expose his personal experiences, he cannot avoid it. The main lyrical image will reflect the worldview and perception of a musician or writer. The main character exhibits all those traits that are characteristic of a person of the present time, his social class. In this image, everyone can learn for themselves the lesson hidden by the author inside the work.

Lyrical images in music

Lyrics are conveyed through music. She is the closest to her. Music without words can express all the feelings that are not so difficult for an attentive person to understand. Lyrical images in a melody can be conveyed using an instrument or vocals.

Among the instrumental lyrical works the classic works of Mozart, Schubert, Debussy, Beethoven, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and others stand out. With the help of melodies they formed lyrical images. A striking example is Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The composer focuses on the whole people, the entire ethnic group appears lyrically. The music sounds attempts to reconcile warring people.

Beethoven throughout his life tried to bring positive traits to all your images. He said: “What comes from the heart must lead to it.” Many researchers take this statement into account when forming a definition of the lyrical image as a whole. In “Spring Sonata” the melody talks about nature, about the awakening of the world after winter sleep. Lyrical images in the composer's music were embodied in abstract concepts - spring, joy, freedom.

In Tchaikovsky’s “Seasons” cycle, nature also becomes central. Debussy's lyrical image is focused on the Moon in the composition "Tenderness". Each maestro found inspiration in nature, in man, in some moment. All this then became main theme in music.

Among the most famous romances with lyrical images can be called:

  • "The Beautiful Miller's Wife", "Winterreise" by Schubert,
  • Beethoven's "To a Distant Beloved"
  • “Romance about romance” - words by Akhmadulina, music by Petrov,
  • “I loved you” - words by Pushkin, music by Sheremetyev,
  • “Thin Rowan” by I. Surikov.

Lyrical images in literature

This is most evident in poetry. It is in it that the lyrical images of characters are most often revealed by describing their worries. Poets brought their own “I” into their works. The hero became the double of the author of the lines. A description of the fate of a person appeared, his inner world, as well as some characteristic features, habits. This special poetry was forever immortalized by Byron, Lermontov, Heine, Petrarch, and Pushkin.

These great geniuses secretly invented the basic rules in the chosen genre, according to which the lyrical images were formed. The works became softer, more individual, more intimate. Writers call these poets romantics, which once again emphasizes the subtle connection with style. However, in lyric poem there may not be a self. So, an example would be Blok’s poems, where the author does not transfer himself into the work. The same goes for Fet.

Pushkin in his poems “The Cart of Life” and “To Chaadaev” emphasized not “I”, but “we” - in them he appears on a par with his characters.

In Russian literature, a hero can even be the opposite of a poet in his spiritual worldview. Vivid examples of this stylistic direction are images in Russian literature in the works of:

  • “Borodino” by Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov,
  • “Black Shawl”, “I’m here, Inesilya...”, “The Page, or the Fifteenth Year”, “Imitations of the Koran” by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin,
  • "Philanthropist" Moral man", "Gardener" by Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov.

This is not full list works. The lyrical images in them became iconic for Russian literature.

In the poems of Sergei Yesenin, such a surge of emotions was transferred to the horse. And Marina Tsvetaeva has heroes in the form of birds. Poets endowed the characters with their own feelings, combining them into one image.

Many researchers of the lyrical hero in Russia, including Gudkovsky, Ginzbursh, Rodnyanskaya, believe that the audience itself complements it with its own perception. Each person can imagine the feelings experienced by the hero of the work in his own way. He is guided by the emotions that were evoked by music or a poem, a ballad or a theatrical performance. Eternal images literature confirms this theory. The author of the lyrical image tries to convey his vision, relying on the fact that the audience will understand it.

  • To form in students an attitude towards universal moral and spiritual values, to prepare them for the perception of the complex, sometimes contradictory inner world of a person, recreated in the music of different eras.

Tasks:

Educational:

  • to form an idea of ​​the stylistic features of the work of the Russian composer P.I. Tchaikovsky using the example of the fantasy overture “Romeo and Juliet” and
  • the ability of a bard's song to reveal the emotional world of a person.

Developmental:

  • develop emotional responsiveness and musical thinking;

Educational:

  • to instill in students, through the works of P.I. Tchaikovsky and Yu. Vizbor, spiritual and moral qualities: humanism, mutual understanding, devotion, the ability to find a compromise, rejection of violence against the individual, faith in goodness and love.

Equipment: PC, multimedia projector, ID, interactive presentation, Power Point presentation, piano.

Lesson plan:

Lesson structure Teacher's actions Student Actions
1.Org. moment – ​​2–3 min. Greetings. Landing. Entering the classroom, greeting, preparing for the lesson.
2. Updating knowledge – 5 min. Asks questions about the material covered on the topic “The World of Human Senses” Answer the teacher's questions.
3 Listening to music – 15 min. Introduces a new work on this topic that will be performed in the lesson, its authors and genre, suggests turning to the presentation and using the text of the prologue to highlight and name the main images that could become the main ones in music. (Presentation pp slides).

Offers, imagining themselves as composers, to try to create musical images, guided by tables Interactive presentation.

The teacher suggests listening to the music of P.I. Tchaikovsky and comparing your guesses musical images with a composer's expression.

Offers repeated listening to identify human feelings expressed in music.

Gives homework and summarizes the conversation in poetry.

Listen to the teacher’s conversation, the prologue from the tragedy and identify the main images of this work.

After identifying main images, create, using an Interactive presentation, supposed musical versions of these images.

After creating the expected images, they listen to the music of P.I. Tchaikovsky and compare them with their images and draw conclusions to what extent the opinions of the listeners and the composer coincide.

Listen to a fragment of the work again and determine the feelings expressed in each image.

Write down homework.

4. Choral singing – 18 min. Introduces and shows Yu. Vizbor’s song “You are the only one I have,” offering to compare the world of human feelings.

Having summarized the children’s answers, he offers to learn the song and works on learning verses I and II.

Students listen to the song and determine what feelings this song expresses, how it is similar to the work of P. Tchaikovsky and how it is different.

Students learn a song.

5. Consolidation and generalization – 4 min. Asks questions about what has been heard and performed musical material, their significance in understanding and revealing the topic of the lesson and makes a generalization. They answer the teacher’s questions, reinforcing the material covered. Listen to the teacher's summary.

Lesson progress

1. Organizational moment

Entering the classroom, greeting, seating.

2. Updating knowledge

U: Today we will continue our conversation with you about music dedicated to eternal theme in art. Maybe you will remember and name yourself what this topic is?

D: This topic is “The World of Human Senses.”

W: That’s right, but how often do you think artists, poets, musicians, and playwrights have turned and are turning to this topic?

D: Quite often.

U: Let’s turn to the artistic and pedagogical idea of ​​our lesson, think about its meaning and tell me how it can work in our lesson, why did I choose it for today’s lesson? (Reading).

D: These lines hide a very broad and deep meaning. They say that today's man, our contemporary, experiences the same feelings that other people experienced. New generations do not invent new relationships and feelings; they experience the same ones that people who lived far from us in space and time could experience.

W: Well done, you understood the meaning of these lines very accurately. Tell me, how can we connect it with works of art, in particular with the music that will be played in the lesson?

D: Any work of art tells us about people, their experiences, passions. And music is precisely the language that, like no other art, will clearly and clearly tell about this!

3. Listening

U: It’s great that you understood the focus of our lesson today, and I invite you to get acquainted with a new piece of music that will reveal to us a wonderful world - the world of human feelings.

Take a look at the screen (Slides 3,11 and 12, cm . Appendix 3).

- Today we will find out sad story, which was told to the world almost 4 centuries ago by the great English playwright, poet and actor - William Shakespeare. A person who was most interested in human relationships, feelings and willingness to defend his views and principles, even dying for them. This story is told in the tragedy “Romeo and Juliet”. Listen to its beginning - the Prologue - and think about what is the basis of the plot? (Slide 4)

D: The plot of this work is based on the conflict between two warring families, which led to the death of their children.

W: Why do you think their children died - their names were Romeo, the son of Montague, and Juliet, the daughter of Capulet?

D: Probably because they fell in love and wanted to always be together, but their parents most likely did not allow this, so they stayed together and resisted blind unnecessary enmity.

T: Look at the task and think about it. (Slide 5) Is there a place for human feelings in this difficult story?

D: Yes, of course, very different, vivid and contradictory feelings can appear here.

W: Well, what images, in your opinion, should a composer who would write music for this story have to show?

D: Most likely this is the Love of Romeo and Juliet and the Enmity of the Parents.

U: That’s right, you, like real composers, coped with this task! You have identified and named the main images. But let's clarify which image to show first - Love or Enmity? What came first?

D: Enmity. But, despite it, Love appeared!

U: Well done! Look at the screen to see how exactly you did it! (Slides 6 and 7).

Now let's try to “compose” the music of these images, resorting to basic musical expressive means and using the Interactive presentation (or tables on slides 15 and 16).

(Students select musical and expressive means for the image of Enmity and the image of Love, thereby creating images as a whole. It is advisable to give tasks in groups (rows) or boys-girls to speed up the work on designing images. Appendix 1). We check the result and clarify it.

U: Well, you are real masters, you presented the images very vividly. And now I want to introduce you to the music already created based on this tragedy. The author of this music is a well-known composer - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Slide 8). This is the Overture - a fantasy of Romeo and Juliet.

Are you familiar with the genre - overture? What is it?

D: Overture is an orchestral introduction to an opera, ballet, play or film, which briefly shows the main images of the work. Sometimes an overture can be an independent symphonic work.

U: Quite a comprehensive answer, all that remains is to find out what type our overture should be classified as?

D: Most likely this is an independent work.

W: Yes, indeed, it is so. Today we will hear a fragment from P.I. Tchaikovsky’s overture, while listening to the music, try to answer these questions - (Slide 10).

Listening to a fragment of P.I. Tchaikovsky’s overture “Romeo and Juliet”.

Children's answers to questions No. 1 and 2 placed on slide 10, marking in the table with a green matrix the elements that match the composer’s choice and red - the elements that are different (in a simple table + and -).

Listen to the fragment again and answer the remaining tasks. Checking them out.

W: Guys, I would like you to think again and again not only about the music of this work, but also about the actions of our heroes. Write at home in your notebooks your reflection on how you feel about the actions of Romeo and Juliet, did they manage to preserve their feelings in this way or did their love die with them? How can you figure out what the ending of this overture is, what theme, Enmity or Love, will the author end his overture and why?

(Record homework).

– Thus, today we were once again able to verify that music can very clearly convey people’s feelings to the smallest shades and not only convey, but also force the listener, that is, you and me, to empathize with them.

“They take away the spirit - powerful sounds!
They contain the rapture of painful passions,
In them is the voice of crying separation,
They contain the joy of my youth!

The excited heart skips a beat,
But I have no power to quench my longing;
The mad soul languishes and desires
And sing, and cry, and love!”
(V. Krasov)

4. Choral singing

U: Guys, today I want to introduce you to another piece of music - a song born in the 20th century famous bard Yuri Vizbor (slide 10). Yuri Vizbor is a poet, bard, journalist, screenwriter, creator of a youth radio station, and has starred in several films. Most of his songs are related to mountaineering themes. Listen to his song and tell me if he can modern music express people's feelings? Does this song have any similarities with the music of P. Tchaikovsky, what does it say and how does it sound?

Demonstration of Yu. Vizbor’s song “You are the only one I have” and conversation about it.

The teacher summarizes the children's answers and concludes that in the 20th century and in all other eras, people love, suffer, carry their feelings through any adversity and trials, just like the heroes of William Shakespeare.

Learning a song, when learning it uses the techniques of “echo”, singing in a chain, etc.

When working on a song, pay special attention to the manner of performance: a quiet, warm, soulful sound should truthfully convey the confidential, friendly atmosphere in which bard songs are usually performed.

5. Consolidation and generalization of the lesson

T: What kind of music did we meet in class today? When were these works created? What do these works have in common? What has music taught us today?

Children's answers.

– Turn again to the artistic and pedagogical idea of ​​today’s lesson and tell me, have we found confirmation of their meaning in the music and conversation in this lesson? Briefly express your attitude to today’s lesson conversation in syncwine.

(Distribute pre-prepared syncwine templates. Appendix 2)

Well, well, it’s time to say goodbye, the lesson is over, but I hope that today’s lesson will make you and I think again and again about the feelings and relationships of people, will teach us how to build these relationships and develop feelings.

Literature:

  1. Kabalevsky D.B.“How to tell children about music?” M., “Enlightenment” 1989.
  2. “Music” - a program for educational institutions, V.V. Aleev, T.I. Naumenko. M., “Bustard” 2003.
  3. “Music” T.I. Naumenko, V.V. Aleev. Textbook for general education educational institutions, 8th grade. M., “Bustard” 2002
  4. Great encyclopedia Cyril and Methodius”, version 2004, Internet resources, www.KM.ru
  5. Smolina E.A.“Modern music lesson.” Creative techniques and tasks. Yaroslavl, Development Academy, 2006.
  6. “I explore the world” Children's Encyclopedia, volume “Music”, M., “Astrel” 2002.
  7. “...Both music and words...” (Poems for musical works) compiled by N.V. Leshchova GOU SPO “Omsk Musical Pedagogical College”, Omsk, 2005.

What is music?

Music is a cultural practice and art form that consists of a combination of sounds and silence of varying lengths. These sounds and silences necessarily maintain a rhythm, which can vary depending on musical style. Through their works, composers can convey different messages and thoughts to the audience. This turns music into a means of communication to the fullest.


Difference between musical genres

To distinguish between musical genres, several criteria must be taken into account.
The sound source is the most important criterion. Depending on the instruments present in the music, the use of the voice or the set of voices and/or instruments, the musical genre may differ.

The destination of the music also helps determine its musical genre. For example, church music and a military march differ depending on the place in which they are played.

The duration of songs is also an important specific characteristic. The national anthem does not last as long as a classical piece of music or opera music.

The social role of music facilitates the differentiation of musical genres. For example, religious, funeral, dance music, film music, computer games etc. have well defined social roles.

Depending on musical genre and perception, listeners experience completely different emotions. So we're going to look at how these emotions differ and how they are communicated from a general perspective.


What emotions?

Emotion is a psychological and physical reaction to a situation, internal or external stimulus. As Rene Descartes showed, there are different types of emotions. According to Descartes, there are 6 primary emotions: admiration, love, hatred, sadness, desire and joy. All other existing emotions consist of these primary emotions or are some modified form of them. Meanwhile, the intensity of one individual's emotions may differ from that of another because all people do not respond in the same way to the same stimuli. Therefore, we will look at several common emotions and the times in which we experience them.

Several emotions

Joy - positive emotion. Usually it means satisfaction with the situation in at the moment, such as the joy of eating your favorite dish or when you manage to succeed at something difficult. Physically, people experience joy by smiling and/or laughing. Joy is usually associated with hope and jubilation. Indeed, if we achieve a goal that we have been pursuing for years, then we are happy and experience joy.

Sadness ranges from mild malaise to deep depression, experiencing which people have no desires and seem drowned in their emotions. Sadness is associated with despair, powerlessness and melancholy.

Admiration- an emotion experienced in relation to what is great, beautiful or the actualization of an ideal. We admire someone whom we find to be the best in a certain field or in general.

Love- the emotion of affection, sentimental and/or sexual attraction between people. In a broader sense, we can also love something abstract. Then we try to find spiritual, intellectual, physical or imaginary intimacy with what we love.

Hatred- a deep and violent dislike for someone or something. This emotion is the opposite of love. Therefore, we do not seek any intimacy with the person or thing we hate.

Wish- an emotion that implies the fact of wanting something. We always want to get what we don't have. Therefore, when we get what we want, we fill that lack.

Therefore, it is interesting to ask yourself what the relationship is between music and emotion, and how a musician conveys the exact emotion through his or her work.


The relationship between music and emotions

Music has always been one of the main emotional vectors. As the famous German philosopher Emmanuel Kant said about it: “Music is the language of emotions.”
Meanwhile, people have different personalities, are sensitive to different things and react differently to situations. Consequently, music awakens different emotions and memories in each person. That is, people are not the same in their attitude towards music. This explains why they don't like the same genre of music, the same tone of voice, or why some prefer one instrument faster than another. For example, a man may love a piece of music because he danced to it with his wife for the first time. Conversely, a person may hate and/or may be overcome with sadness because he heard this music when he learned of the death of a loved one. These emotional associations enhance the subjective evaluation of individuals and are a minimal part of our musical experience.

Likewise, musical works have a strong expressive structure that allows them to convey emotional states. a large number individuals. Something that allows for the power of significant social cohesion across cultures. This social cohesion occurs mainly during adolescence. During this period, music translates the emotional states experienced by teenagers. It also makes it easier to group according to musical preferences, so we find groups of rockers, rappers, goths. This also explains why, during the dating process, a teenager most often asks about musical preferences. The act of listening to a certain style of music allows teenagers to belong to something and have common ground with other people. Emotional responses in music may change over the course of life, but they will remain a major focus during adolescence.

Music is also different from other forms of art because, contrary to painting, for example, where emotions are conveyed by vision, music conveys emotions only by hearing. Therefore, it requires the presence of sounds, exceptional and original ways in order for each piece of music to correctly convey the desired emotions.

Moreover, music is an art form and, like all art, individuals can appreciate it voluntarily. Therefore, the audience listens to music willingly to experience pleasure. This pleasure can take different forms and depends mainly on what the listener has experienced, on his state at the time of listening. For example, when a couple is alone at a candlelit dinner, they would rather listen to romantic pieces of music to enhance the emotions of the moment than heavy metal with a volume of 130 decibels.

So, we can come to the conclusion that 4 large categories of music emotions predominate in music: joy, anger (or fear), sadness and calm. An interesting fact is that even if the emotions are negative, the music is nevertheless pleasant for the listener. Therefore, it is interesting to know how composers convey emotions through their works.

How to convey the exact emotion through music?

As said earlier, music has several characteristics such as scales, notes, silence and much more. Therefore, the musician must play and change its characteristics at his own discretion in order to create the desired piece of music, and therefore the emotion that he wants to convey.
However, there are several rules to follow depending on the genre of music the musician wants to compose. The composer must carefully choose which instruments he wants to use and who he will use. The sound of each instrument is extremely significant in order to obtain a common participation with the music.

Also, tempo can quickly determine the genre of music. Slow pace with the piano melody will make you feel sad or calm. Conversely, a fast tempo with appropriate melodies will convey some joy. People are happy to listen and want to dance. However, tempo alone cannot convey a specific emotion. Therefore, every instrument is important and can change the entire music. Indeed, if the tempo remains fast, but there is an aggressive double bass, a heavy battery with a double pedal, the emotions will be completely different, as will the dance. This is a pretty rough example, but the same is true depending on where the note is placed. These little tweaks can absolutely change the music.

The composer may also use the normal hearing of the majority of the audience to enhance the conveyance of emotion. For example, sounds reminiscent of negative events will convey emotions with a negative valence (anger, fear or sadness). Conversely, sounds reminiscent positive events, will convey emotions with a positive valence (joy, calmness).

Consequently, it is quite difficult to perfectly manipulate all sounds to convey the desired emotion. It requires a lot of experience and mainly listening. The composer must be inspired by everything that surrounds him, that exists musically, in order to ultimately create his own music.

2.2 Beauty and fidelity human feeling

Overture-fantasy “Romeo and Juliet” is an outstanding work of the world musical classics. For Tchaikovsky this is the first major achievement in the field of program symphony. In "Romeo and Juliet" many of the principles that would later characterize mature creativity composer.

The first edition of the overture dates back to 1869; then this work was revised by the composer twice (in 1870 and 1880). In the 80s, Tchaikovsky began composing an opera on the same plot, but wrote only the scene of the farewell meeting of Romeo and Juliet, the basis of which was the music of the fantasy overture.

The idea of ​​choosing Shakespeare's tragedy "Romeo and Juliet" by Tchaikovsky as the plot of a programmatic symphonic work was prompted by Balakirev, who by that time had already created the music for "King Lear" and thereby laid the foundation for the embodiment of Shakespeare's work in Russian symphonic music. Tchaikovsky dedicated his composition to Balakirev.

Creativity of a genius English playwright- representative of the Renaissance - caused in the middle XIX century exceptionally great interest from leading figures of Russian culture. The humanism of Shakespeare's works, their accusatory power aimed at combating inertia and prejudices medieval society in the name of high ethical ideals, in the name of the prosperity of a strong, harmonious human personality,! were close to advanced Russian artists.

Tchaikovsky repeatedly turned to themes from Shakespeare. The fantasy overture “Romeo and Juliet” is the most artistically perfect and closest to the character of Shakespeare’s work. It is based on the plot of one of Shakespeare's early tragedies (1595), which is based on an ancient Italian legend about the love and fidelity of two young heroes and their tragic death due to family feud and hatred of their families.

Overture-fantasy - shining example that generalized approach to the embodiment of the idea of ​​a work that is characteristic of Tchaikovsky. With Shakespearean depth, the composer revealed in music the beauty and fidelity of human feeling; together with the poet, he pronounced a harsh verdict on the cruelty, prejudice and inertia of the social environment surrounding the heroes.

The main ideological concept of the tragedy is conveyed by the composer through a contrasting comparison and collision of different characters. musical themes. As the most consistent with the dramatic concept, the composer chose a sonata form with a broad introduction and an extended coda-epilogue. The impetus for the emergence of musical themes was, undoubtedly, individual specific images and scenes of the tragedy. However, each of the themes changes in a variety of ways during the development process (especially the introduction theme). And only in the interaction of all topics and! common ideological meaning works.

The first gloomy, focused theme (F-sharp minor, clarinets and bassoons), receiving a choral character thanks to its four-voice presentation and calm, measured movement, introduces us to the world of the Middle Ages:

Already the second time it is performed (for flutes and oboes), the overall color of the music becomes somewhat lighter, but at the same time, thanks to the new rhythm of the accompaniment, the theme sounds more excited. It becomes dramatically tense at the end of the introduction, appearing at a changed tempo and with a new sonority. Here, various groups of the orchestra imitate one of the most active motives of the theme:

Further modifications will occur in development. There, the opening theme will appear predominantly in the timbre of brass instruments and personify the image of an evil, cruel force that stands in the way of Romeo and Juliet.

In the introduction, immediately after the first performance of the chorale theme, it is contrasted with mournful intonations of the strings, which introduce a feeling of tense anticipation. They are preparing new topic, which will sound in the key of G-flat major:

This is an initial, still sketchy, description of lyrical images, which will later find wide development in the secondary allegro part. Thus, already in the music of the introduction the main emotional spheres of the overture are outlined and the plot of the subsequent drama is given.

The introduction moves into the main section of the overture, which begins with an energetic, impetuous, forward-moving theme with a syncopated, jerky rhythm, dissonant harmonies and frequent changes of keys (the main key is B minor):

This theme contrasts both with the entire intro music and with the lyrical themes that appear in the side section. In the 4th beat main party a new thematic element arises (scale-like passages in sixteenth notes), playing important role in subsequent development and contributing to the creation of great dramatic tension, as well as the characteristic “throw-blows” of the chords and elastic rhythm (This rhythm comes to the fore in the middle section of the main part when sounding a gradually ascending motive of three sounds).