Exposition

Rethinking the traditional concert format through the lens of Russian mystic composer Nikolai Obukhov (2022)

Carlota Carvalho
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About this exposition

Born in 1892, composer Nikolai Obukhov belongs to the Russian avant-garde generation and was one of the pioneers in experimenting with twelve-tone systems, notation, and electronic instruments. He stands out from his contemporaries having inherited not only some aspects of Alexander Scriabin’s musical style, but, most prominently, the Russian symbolist belief in transcendence and collective spiritual uplifting through the performative act as well. The metaphysical substance and religious symbolism of Obukhov’s body of work reveals itself as a very rich and exciting source of inspiration for performers today. In this exposition I analyze the most relevant features of Nikolai Obukhov’s aesthetic, from his conception of the total work of art, to his harmonic language and annotations on the score, contextualizing them in the broader cultural and philosophical panorama of Russian Symbolism. I focus on understanding the social function of musical performance, and by conceptualizing certain basic principles, I shape my own performative approach to Nikolai Obukhov’s solo piano works. In the creative process of building a more holistic performance practice inspired by Russian Symbolism, the role of the modern performer expands from one of mere executor to the curator of an experience both for themself and for their audience. With this research I intend to encourage the musical community to reflect on our current relation with performance, to experiment with different concert formats, and to realize that we too, like the artistic community of Russians mystics, can project our own hopes about the future of civilization in our performance practices.
typeresearch exposition
keywordsAesthetics, Russian music, Alexander Scriabin, piano, performance, interdisciplinarity, concert, curatorship
date17/11/2021
published11/05/2022
last modified11/05/2022
statuspublished
share statusprivate
copyrightCarlota Gonçalves de Carvalho
licenseAll rights reserved
urlhttps://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/1425933/1425934
doihttps://doi.org/10.22501/koncon.1425933
published inKC Research Portal
portal issue1. Master Research Projects


Copyrights

nameNicolas OBouhow
copyrightNikolai Obukhov
licensePublic domain
usagespicture
nameNicolas OBouhow - copy
copyrightNikolai Obukhov
licensePublic domain
usagespicture
nameObukhov photo
copyrightRaymond Petit
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespicture
nameLa Croix Sonore. Nikolai Obukhov. Paris. Vie Musicale
copyrightJournal Gaumont
licensePublic domain
usagesvideo
nameEsquisse Goncharova
copyrightGoncharova
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespicture
namecroix sonore
copyrightBnF
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespicture
nameNikolai Obukhov - Révélation
copyrightJay Gottlieb
licenseAll rights reserved
usagesaudio
nameRichter excerpt - enigma doc._Moment
copyrightEnigma
licenseAll rights reserved
usagespicture

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