The Enduring Value of Children’s Music by D. B. Kabalevsky as a Subject of Mastering by Young Pianists

Abstract

This article analyzes pages from the piano heritage of D. Kabalevsky, which is addressed to the children studying in children musical schools and art schools. The creative image of the musician is revealed through the prism of his multifaceted artistic and social activity, the assessment of which has undergone some revision nowadays. The article also discusses the reasons of why many previously popular works of famous Soviet composers have faded into the shadow. It is emphasized that Kabalevsky was a graduate of the Piano Faculty of the State Moscow Conservatory and has inherited the wonderful traditions of his teacher, A. B. Goldenweiser. The best traditions of the Moscow piano school are used by Kabalevsky as bases in his creative activity, which acquires specific value in the field of music. Today, when the method of young musicians training is going through innovative transformations, this aspect should be especially considered. The high artistic and instructive value of the composer’s piano heritage is noted. The pieces of the piano cycle “From the Pioneer Life,” op. 14, are methodologically analyzed. It is concluded that Kabalevsky’s cycles addressed to children have not lost their artistic and pedagogical value and therefore can be used in the modern pedagogical practice in their entirety. As for the cycles dedicated to the pioneers’ life, they could play an important educational role by raising the younger generation’s interest in one of the most captivating pages of the country’s past.

Keywords

• composer
• music
• piano
• traditions
• modern times
• country
• program
• concert
• competition
• performer
• musical work
• cycle
• ideology
• children
• repertoire
• soviet pianism
• epoch
• school
• methodology