”Aeneid” by Ivan Kotliarevskyi: Peculiarities of the Musical Embodiment (Exemplified by the Operas of Yaroslav Lopatynskyi and Mykola Lysenko)

Author

Sikorska Iryna

a Ph.D. in Art Studies, a senior research fellow at the Musicology and Ethnomusicology Department of M. Rylsky Institute of Art Studies, Folkloristics and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine).

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3485-9206

”Aeneid” by Ivan Kotliarevskyi: Peculiarities
of the Musical Embodiment (Exemplified by the Operas of Yaroslav Lopatynskyi
and Mykola Lysenko)

Abstract

An attempt to find out some common and distinctive peculiarities of the musical interpretation of the operas “Aeneas on a Journey” by Yaroslav Lopatynskyi (1906, libretto by Mykola Kurtseba) and “Aeneid” by Mykola Lysenko (1910, libretto by Liudmyla Starytska-Cherniakhivska) based on the plot of “Aeneid” by Ivan Kotliarevskyi through their comparative analysis is made in the article. A bright national coloring, a folklore basis of musical language (from exact citation, generalization of typical intonations of Ukrainian songs and dances to modeling the phrases of the living Ukrainian language in music) are considered as a common feature of both works.

Both composers have been guided by the principle of generalization through genre, creating a musical characterization using a corresponding genre. Composers often resorted to the technique of sound association, introducing well-known fragments of works by various composers and styles into the music, often in a grassroots treatment.

Significant differences are caused by their diverse conceptual orientations with numerous coincidences caused by the plot. M. Lysenko has been aimed at creating a domestic lyrical-comic opera, related to the traditions of the national musical theater. “Aeneas on a Journey” by Ya. Lopatynskyi has been oriented towards Western European operetta (frivolity, levity of the heroes, traditional three acts, dominance of ariozo and couplet form). At the same time, Ya. Lopatynskyi’s opera has been also gravitated towards comic opera of the Western samples (without spoken dialogues, continuous development of the action, large choral finales, buffoonery, etc.).

M. Lysenko’s “Aeneid” has been deeper, more extensive, and solved more serious problems. Ya. Lopatynskyi’s “Aeneas on a Journey” is more chamber, its ariozo is marked by the features of sentimentality.

Thus, both Ya. Lopatynskyi and M. Lysenko, while remaining on national soil, have demonstrated different creative orientations and enriched significantly the genre of national comic opera.

Keywords

“Aeneid” poem by Ivan Kotliarevskyi, comic opera, “Aeneas on a Journey” by Yaroslav Lopatynskyi, “Aeneid” by Mykola Lysenko, interpretation, coincidences and discrepancies.

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