Studiul Artelor şi Culturologie: Istorie, Teorie, Practică (Dec 2020)
THE SUITE IN FOLK STYLE FOR STRING QUARTET BY V. VERHOLA: THEMATIC AND COMPOSITIONAL PARTICULARITIES
Abstract
The ”Suite in folk style” (1978) for string quartet, by Vitali Verhola represents a cycle of three movements which alternate on the fast-slow-fast principle. Beginning with a dancing song with an asymmetric measure (in the I movement), the composer uses in the II movement a theme inspired by folklore and transforms it into a„doina” by charging its rhythm. In the III movement, the composer combines the polyphonic writing with various compositional devices, paying a tribute to the folkloric heritage, which inspired the themes, and to the composers, who served him as a model during his formation: D. Shostakovich and V. Zagorsky, evoking through different devices specific characteristics of their style. In the intermediary section, the folkloric element represents the background ostinato rhythm, on which the composer layers the melody of a doina in a heterophonic structure, resembling with some moments from St. Neaga’s ”Poemul Nistrului”. Therefore, the presence of the folkloric element in all the three movements of the cycles justifies entirely the name of the suite „In Folk Style”.
