Tbilisi State Conservatoire,
Chair of Music Theory,
Associate Professor, PhD
"We, Georgian composers, live on the crossroads space and time"
(About Eka Chabashvili's Works)
"In Georgia, a Georgian composer lives at a point where
space and time collide. Relatively speaking, time factor is important in
Europe, while space - in Asia. We are in the middle - here these two momentums
are mingled" - says Eka
Chabashvili, one of the most important and interesting representatives of the
Georgian professional musicians, representative of the Georgian composition
school of 90s. Despite of her age, we can say that she
has a distinguishable and individual style, strong artistic reference points
specificity of which we are going to discuss in the following article. Works of
the young composer has not become a subject of research of musicologists that
makes the discussion of the problems more timely.
Eka
Chabashvili works in many genres. Her main works are: two ballets ("Radiance", "Death"),
music for instrumental theatre ("Session", "Wax
Tears", "Voice of a Preacher in Desert"), chamber works for various composition ("Seven Wonders", "Meditation Improvisations", "Meditation
Song", "Frescos", "Mosaics"),
works for piano, guitar, choral, saxophone, symphonic orchestra, opera based on
Kafka's
works is currently being prepared.
Young
composer is a real creator, an artist. Her spheres of interests are not limited
by music, but she works in paintings and literature. It
is not a coincidence that Eka was the first person in Georgia to establish "Theatre of Musical Instruments. "All these, of course, are reflected in her musical
creations as well where the idea of synthesis is revealed in different aspects.
"My wish is to paint music and vice versa, make a
painting heard in music. This is why my music is so colourful, expressive. At
the same time there are subject associations in my music that I want to
be imagined. There are cinema principles manifested here, where some sound
effects, sonours do evoke certain associations in listener which are changing
like movie stills. At the same time, it is possible that each listener may have
in the end different subject. "
The position of the artists can be explained by establishment of inter-arts
synthesis principles, as well as the specificity of the musical dramaturgy.
Meditation dramaturgy is more prevalent in Eka Chabashvili's works that according to the
composer is achieved by "vision", going into in-depth concrete musical associations.
Young composer's
vision has a very rich colour palette and at the same time, this music is very
plain, static, less developing in time and is extremely dynamic in space.
It
is notable that Eka Chabashvili's
music is not colourful or sonorous from the impressionist understanding of it.
The main function of music is to be visual, in other words the aim is not
timbre-colourful, colouristic, but concrete-associational, visual side. For
example, in "Frescos" the composer tried to connect certain colours of
specific frescos with specific musical timbres.
"I prefer to
walk in a space than in time",
says composer. It is known that phenomenon of still, stopped time is especially
emphasised in the classic minimalist-repetitive works, to which Eka Chabashvili's work take after in some way.
Musical-intonation sphere is quite simple with the Georgian artist like it is
for minimalists. There are small motives (often modal, of fourth-fifth
structure) that are developing along the principles of extensive type of theme.
We observe not the classical, European tune-thematic treatment of macro-forms,
gradual variation-improvisational unfolding and development of musical
intonation that is typical for non European music. Although if in the case of
minimalist-repetitive meditation works time category is levelled, contents is
abstract and emphasis is made on the psychological aspect, in case of Eka
Chabashvilis meditation compositions' content is concrete, there is no total ostinato,
accordingly time category appears as well that at the same time it is not
active or accelerated (like the works of Webern).
It
should be noted that in some works of Eka Chabashvili, in a complex of
syncretive completeness primary is not musical, but literature sources. For
example, "Polyphonic Verses" written for four drama actors (timbre is not
indicated), represents a literature work where the author has chosen
compositional principles of musical genres (prelude, chorale, passacaglia and
fugue) as principle for organising text. It is clear that in verbal text more
accented is the sonorous (alliteration) part of it because the author wanted to
see "the music in
very speech", although the
aspect of content also is not completely rejected in the end.
"Aleatorics is a game. You intrigue yourself and the
listener likewise, what could possibly happen?"
this is how the composer evaluates aleatoric composition techniques, which
together with sonoristics is one of the constructive axes of her works. I would
distinguish several forms of numerous of aleatoric's forms used in her works: improvisation of all
parameters of musical material ("Meditation
Improvisations", "Never"), improvisation with retaining pitchs of sounds ("Meditation Improvisations") or in the given register ("Meditation Improvisations", "Echo"), repetition of the given material n-times in the
aleatoric quadrangle ("Echo"), pause of conditional length, introduction or
switching off part at will ("Session") improvisation of the given by the composer segments' materials by their free repetition and sequence ("Mosaics").
The named types of aleatorics have effect on separate parts of the works and
are placed within context of so-called "limited
aleatoric". Like many
other European composers (Stravinski, Lutoslavski, Eka Chabashvili too does not
trust to the performer final composition of the conductor's work and rejects absolute
indeterminate. We consider aleatoric episodes as a means for improvisational
development of the musical material and at the same time one of the means for
creation of the sonorous texture, phonation of static harmonious ostinato. The
latter determines the type of static composition that is always placed in the
dramaturgic open form, even when there are created compositionally three party
("Echo"), or song-form ("Meditation
Song") or other
forms.
"When I compose music I know from the beginning what
would be the final form. I am determining not its concrete parts (working,
culmination, reprise, etc.) but I am establishing textual dramaturgy; where
this or that instrument should enter, the motives of which I have written out
beforehand. Often I am also noting down verbally sound effects too", says the author. And indeed, sonorous side is one of
the most important in the works of Eka Chabashvili. Composer uses electronic,
concrete music ("Mosaics"), although tries to create electronic phonation with
natural timbre ("Apocalypses") which she prefers more. In the scores you often see
that non-traditional ways of notation explanation are accompanied with verbal
description of sounds effects. For example, in "Seven
Wonders", in different
pieces we see author's
explanations of sonours: "effect of
thunder", "rustling of eolle" "effect of waves lashing".
Works
of Eka Chabashvili are original visually as well. You can feel composers creative
nature there too. She says that "it
is important that I write down music maximally easy, to make it easy to read
for the performer." For
denotation of the non-typical sonours (e.g. paying on the strings of the piano
with palms, pinching them, different manipulations with stings and wind
instruments) the composer uses original graphic signs. Her scores is a sample
for synthesis of determinant and non-determinant forms of notation. Like many
modern works, Eka Chabashvili's works
are not also written down in measures. Organisation of music happens by means
of indicated time period.
The
Georgian composer also uses collage in an interesting way. For example, in
instrumental theatre work "Session" she used episodes from Beethoven and Rossini works
that were chosen by musical types of contents. This is musical quotations -
symbols. All four parts of "Frescos" end with folk songs and chorale that are selected by
verbal text contents. For example, in the first part - "Virgin Mary" ends
with "Nana" a type of Georgian lullaby song, second part - "Christ and
John the Baptist" -
with "Mze Shina" (Georgian folk song), third part "St. George and St. Theodore" with "Shavlego" (Georgian folk song) and only last fresco "Crucifixion"
ends with musical symbol of Georgian church chant.
In
E. Chabashvili works static dramaturgy is not always determined with the
transformation of the non-European musical traditions. Oriental musical
traditions are reflected in her "Meditation
Improvisations", "Meditation Song", "Panorama", "Dance of Salome",
etc. Same type of dramaturgy background in "Frescos" with European-Christian roots, title of the work, is
determined by genre: static time, less emotional, being in the same condition,
inclination to imitation is peculiar to polyphonic works of professional music
of the medieval and renaissance epoch.
Uniqueness, exoticness, richness of ideas and
novelties, colourfulness, gallantness and simplicity - these are the distinct features
of a composer Eka Chabashvili who is on the "crossroads
of time and space".