PRELUDE AND FUGUE IN A MINOR NO. 2 BY V. ZADERATSKY AS A MUSICAL MODEL OF ANXIOUS TIME

Abstract

The article is devoted to the life and work of the Ukrainian composer V. P. Zaderatsky, especially the study of a part from the cycle “24 Preludes and Fugues”, namely the Prelude and Fugue in A minor No. 2. The purpose of the study is an attempt to shed light on the historical, cultural and psychological motives of creativity. For this purpose, a wide range of historical sources were studied, mainly related to the conditions of life in concentration camps, psychological works, in particular the work of Viktor Frankl, who at one time also went through Auschwitz and survived, and after his release wrote the book “Man in Search of True Meaning”, where he described all the horrors of the life of prisoners and characterized the psychology of survival in inhuman conditions, in particular depersonalization, loss of faith, lowering the threshold of emotional sensitivity and the search for the meaning of life, despite the training and pain. For V. P. Zaderatskyi’s such a story was the cycle “24 Preludes and Fugues”, which is a kind of musical mystical-psychological diary.Here, each mini-cycle is a story about the psychological state of anxiety, hope, and bright faith in the Future. The study pays special attention to the psychological aspects inherent in the prelude and fugue in A minor No. 2, namely the emotions of anxiety that accompany a concentration camp prisoner and become basic throughout the entire period of imprisonment. Despite the heroic core of the fugue’s theme, internal struggle, and psychological saturation, the outcome is still tragic. The only thing that can keep a person within the framework of minimal psychological adequacy is the memory of his relatives, his native land, and hope for a better future. It is this state that the composer “draws” in the prelude of the mini-cycle, reinforcing it with “triplet” anxiety, which creates a feeling of uncertainty and tension. The cycle “24 Preludes and Fugues” by V. P. Zaderatsky has not yet been permanently included in the concert and pedagogical repertoire, and scientific research is limited to single publications and scant mentions in dissertation studies dedicated to composers of the 20th–21st centuries. The composer’s work demonstrates that even in the most difficult times, similar to those that our state is experiencing today, that no matter what, one must fight for one’s own identity, for the preservation of historical and cultural memory and pass it on to descendants.