UKRAINIAN EPOS AND FORMS OF EASTERN MONODY

Abstract

The article «Ukrainian epos and forms of Eastern monody» deals with the problem of comparative studies of Eastern monodic forms such as raag, mugam, maqom, mucam, and their affinity with musical stylistics of Ukrainian dumas. Subjected to the study were the oral professionalism traditions of the Indo–European nations and also of those Turkic nations whose ethnic genesis is based on Indo–Iranian cultural layer. Detection of common and distinguishing features between thoughts and forms of the eastern monody requires consideration of its basic forms, which in the most countries of the East became the fundamental principles of classical music. The article consistently considers the compositional and stylistic features of duma epos: 1) the triad principle of recitative deployment (beginning– stepping), 2) three–phase compo-sition of its steps (beginning–lamentation, song–like language and ending), 3) variation and repeated and microrondo principle of thematic deployment, masterly melody ornamentation; 4) instrumental refrains (overplay) between tirades involving epic instrument – kobza or bandura. The subject of the study also involves the compositional and performing dramatic features of different national monodic forms of the – Indian raag, Iranian, Armenian and Azerbaijani mughams, Iranian dasthah, Uzbek, Tajik and Arab maqoms, Uyhurskii mukha-mams, Kazakh Cui. The investigation of stylistics and structure–building principles of different kinds of Eastern monody and Ukrainian dumas gives reasons to state their shared and distinctive features (intonation–rhythmic, formal and performing). Their shared features are following: 1) Their evolution from the ancient ritual–epic traditions; 2) Indo–Iranian roots of intonation (so called Indo–Iranian scale, V. Petr); 3) general improvisation, ornamental phenomenon, expressive decoration of tones (“adding dolorous tones”, O. Veressay) correlated with the phenomena of Indian hamaka, alamkara and Iranian takhrir; 4) narrow–scope formulation, micro–chromatics, hemiolics; 5) form–building organization principles of monody – variable or intonation–rising rondo repeating of musical phrases as the disclosure of universal musical logic regularities. 6) mastering and transmitting manner of oral traditions; 7) learning type “imitation of a model” meaning the apprentice to follow the behavior pattern and the performing manner of the teacher. Their distinctive features are: 1) interpretation of the scale function as a single thematic–intonation model (based on one or two melodic phrases) – in duma, and form–building (“scale improvisation”) – in the different types of Eastern monody; 2) compositional model: cyclic structure of meditative dramaturgic–type in the types of Eastern monody and the poem–like dramaturgy with optional variable repetition – in dumas; 3) performing composition. Direct connection between duma and Eastern types of monody may be seen in the slow introductory parts of Uygurian mukams, Iranian dastgakhs, North–Indian raags which preserved their link to the ancient forms of national epos of the East. If the art of the Eastern monody developed and cultivated in the forms of the Palace Music under the patronage of the ruling dynasties of the East, and a description of its regularities from the Middle Ages recorded in the music and theoretical treatises and preserved due to involvement of these traditions into the national musical education of the East, then, the Ukrainian duma of such “theoretical” tradition has not developed yet for many reasons. The Eastern monody art preserved until nowadays as deployed multipart compositions. Their records maintained on modern CD and DVD media widely replicated in the world, while the duma epos until now remains a “thing in itself” available to a narrow circle of researchers. Ukrainian dumas recorded on the phonograph preserved until nowadays a tiny proportion of national epic works and their fragments (some pieces go back to Kievan Rus’). The latter due to the historical circumstances were not preserved within Ukrainian territory (in their relics – Kuban). In-depth comparative study of their musical poetics and structure generation remains an urgent task of the modern music epics science.