• 1/2021: Music of Today

    1/2021: Music of Today

    Cover: Ľubomír Zabadal © Conductor, 2020

    Preface

    ČIERNA, Alena: Preface
    In: Slovenská hudba, Vol. 47, 2021, No. 1, pp. 5 – 6

    Hommage a Irena Medňanská

    KOPČÁKOVÁ, Slávka: Irena Medňanská – She Blazed a Trail and Filled the Hearts of Future Generations with Love for Music – Obituary
    In: Slovenská hudba, Vol. 47, 2021, No. 1, pp. 7 – 11

    DOI: 10.4149/SH_2021_1_1

    Studies

    LACKOVÁ, Ivana: Dorian Gray and His Musical Portrait in the Eponymous Opera by Ľubica Čekovská
    In: Slovenská hudba, Vol. 47, 2021, No. 1, pp. 12 – 55

    DOI: 10.4149/SH_2021_1_2

    The primary focus of the presented study is the identification of devices used for characters’ description in the opera Dorian Gray by the composer Ľubica Čekovská and librettist Kate Pullinger. The first part of the study deals with the Irish writer Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, on which the opera is based. It explains the results of the comparison of the opera libreto and its literary model. The second part of the study is dedicated to the characterization of the musical language and characters of the opera Dorian Gray. Last but not least the study focuses on the central theme of the opera – the Voices of the Picture.

    Keywords
    Oscar Wilde, novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, Ľubica Čekovská, opera Dorian Gray, characters’ description

    BAŠTEKOVÁ, Katarína: Epic Music – Its History, Origination and Description
    In: Slovenská hudba, Vol. 47, 2021, No. 1, pp. 56 – 79

    DOI: 10.4149/SH_2021_1_3

    Our present era offers us ideal conditions for experimenting both with combinations of various music genres, and with creation of new ones, not analysed hitherto in theoretical reflection. A rather young – and still in the process of development – music genre of epic music, with origins rooted in film music, and namely in trailer music, may serve as an example. Epic music, a music phenomenon popular mainly with young generations, is gradually acquiring a permanent position among the similar genres of film music and trailer music.
    As the issue of epic music as a new music genre has not been dealt with in the scholarly literature sufficiently yet, the aim of the study is to present basic existing information about and characteristic features of the genre, as well as a comparison with related genres, and to bring new impulses for further elaboration of this current theme.
    In the study we focus on the origins of epic music, its historical background and theoretical definition of epic music, film music and trailer music. We deal in more detail with the question of what tendencies and facts in the domains of film and trailer music contributed to the origination of the new genre. The most famous composers and companies producing epic music are presented. We offer concise data regarding the way of creation and combination of epic music with other genres. We likewise deal with theoretical questions and present our own definition reflecting the characteristic features of the genre. The comparison of epic music, trailer music and film music genres forms the core of the study.

    Keywords
    epic music, trailer music, film music, epic music analysis, soundtrack, non-diegetic music

    Interview

    JAVORKA, Peter: Every Epoch Has Its Own Spirituality... An Interview with Yevgeny Irshai
    In: Slovenská hudba, Vol. 47, 2021, No. 1, pp. 80 – 91

    DOI: 10.4149/SH_2021_1_4