Paweł Szymański’s ‘Miserere’ for Voices and Instruments. Sound Structure and Meanings
Violetta Kostka
Stanisław Moniuszko Music Academy in Gdańsk (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1655-8485
Abstract
This article is devoted to Paweł Szymański’s Miserere for voices and instruments (1993), with the aim of discussing its sound structure and the meanings attributed to it. Based on analysis of the work and a range of literature, the author claims that Miserere is an openly intertextual work, composed freely without the application of algorithmic methods. It is characterised by the presence of two basic structures rather than one: modal Gregorian chant and four-part canon in extended major–minor tonality. These two basic structures were combined into a whole using abstract ideas typical of Szymański. One easily notes that while the solo psalmody assumes its centuries-old form, the choral parts, though colouristically resembling plainchant, consist not of monodic singing but of recitations on six pitches and whispered passages. If we compare the canon with the ultimate shape of the composition, it turns out that the former was used as the basis for ensemble sections, primarily the cello and vibraphone parts, but with many (around one third) of the canon’s notes left out. The discussion of the work’s structure ends with information about its tripartite form.
The author opens the section on meanings by presenting her cognitivist stance that meanings are not intrinsic to the work, but rather the music provokes interpreters to create them. Based on her own associations, the opinions of music critics and psychology literature on emotions, the author argues that the three sections of Miserere may be interpreted as corresponding to three emotions: balance, anxiety and balance regained. The article also contains the opening of the initial canon, which the author received from the composer, a fragment of Miserere arranged by the author and a table showing the work’s form.
Keywords:
Paweł Szymański, Miserere, intertextuality, concealed structure, transformations, meaningsReferences
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Authors
Violetta KostkaStanisław Moniuszko Music Academy in Gdańsk Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1655-8485
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