ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE A. BLOK’S POETRY IN THE SYMPHONIC SCORE OF B. TISHCHENKO'S BALLET THE TWELVE

Abstract

The article examines the relationship between music and poetry in the ballet The Twelve by the outstanding Russian symphonist of the second half of the XX century Boris Ivanovich Tishchenko (1939–2010). The performance by the famous choreographer L. Yakobson, staged at the Kirov Theater in Leningrad in 1964, became one of the first avant-garde ballets in the Soviet Union.

The study focuses on the different approaches of the composer and choreographer to the stage performance of A. Blok's poetry, which led to serious creative disagreements and even conflicts during the preparation of the premiere. Tishchenko in his reading relied on Blok's verse, its rhythm, size and complex, sometimes unexpected semantics. The speech beginning in The Twelve is quite tangible, the composer often follows Blok's lines literally. They now and then emerge in the flow of music, controlling it not only in the figurative-semantic and plot plans, but also in the rhythmic-intonation.

The article concludes that Tishchenko's work has led to an impressive artistic result: the ballet score is written in a fresh, original and modern language. Tishchenko's music became the basis of the first avant-garde Soviet ballet performance and, in this context, firmly entered the history of Russian art