EVOLUTION OF SOUND: PRACTICES OF PREPARED PIANO IN MUSIC OF THE 20TH – EARLY 21ST CENTURIES

Abstract

The article is devoted to the reception of piano preparation, which became one of the significant innovations in the context of experimental trends in music of the 20th century. The historical context of the emergence and evolution of this technique is studied through the analysis of various approaches and methods of its implementation in composition practices. This is, in particular, playing on the strings of a grand piano as a harbinger of the emergence of this technique (Henry Cowell), giving it the function of an ensemble of percussion instruments by changing its timbre colouring (John Cage), involving all the components of the body of the instrument (George Crumb), overcoming the evenly tempered sound scale in the context of sonoristic technique (Karlheinz Stockhausen), and a combination of prepared piano technique with experiments in the field of electronic music (Pierre Schaeffer). Each of the mentioned composers made a unique contribution to the development of the prepared piano technique and expanded the palette of its possibilities. In the studies devoted to the prepared piano, a classification of performing techniques has been carried out, in particular, Viktor Muzhchil talks about manual and non-manual ways of playing within the framework of a multiparadigmatic method of sound production. In turn, Oleksandr Perepelitsa distinguishes between professional and non-professional means within the framework of a non-manual way of playing. According to the method of implementing the piano preparation technique within a specific work, Luk Vaes divides fixed preparation and non-fixed preparation. It was determined that the prepared piano remains relevant even today, inspiring modern musicians to further experiments, because its potential has not yet been exhausted.