Page 36 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2018. Nova glasba v “novi” Evropi med obema svetovnima vojnama ?? New Music in the “New” Europe Between the Two World Wars. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 2
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nova glasba v »novi« evropi med obema svetovnima vojnama
These concluding maestosos can be further divided. The Act 2 Jenůfa
can be categorized as melodramatic and exciting, but the orchestral con-
clusion to Act 3 of the opera (fig. 82), after the touching scene of forgiveness
between Jenůfa and Laca, marked Maestoso con moto, is instead a type of
redemptive, transcendental maestoso that can be found, for instance at the
end of The Cunning Little Vixen. The six-bar maestoso orchestral conclusion
to Fate Act 2 (Scene 5, bars 133–8) after Živný’s discovery of the dead bodies
of his wife Míla and her mother is clearly melodramatic. M akropulos Act 2
has a more substantial maestoso ending. It begins straight after Emilia Mar-
ty has demanded from Jaroslav Prus the envelope containing the formula
for her father’s elixir of life. A fortissimo orchestral unison, with a sforzan-
do cymbal roll rings out, maestoso (bars 975–95). In its final bar Prus asks
“A kdy?” [And when?], i.e. when would be their assignation in payment for
the envelope. A softer, more relaxed Andante accompanies the pair’s brief
exchange, but Prus’s final “Platí” [Agreed!] initiates the maestoso (bars 992–
1003), which brings the act to an end – another melodramatic act-ending.
All three acts of Káťa Kabanová end in maestoso. The nine-bar orches-
tral conclusion to Act 1 (fig. 33), with Tichon’s departure despite Káťa’s pleas
for him stay (she rightly fears that her feelings for Boris will lead to disas-
ter) is another, melodramatic maestoso, as is the seven-bar orchestral maes-
toso conclusion to Act 3. Here after Káťa’s suicide and her mother-in-law’s
triumph over the corpse Janáček combines the prominent themes of the
voices of the Volga (calling Káťa to her death) with the eight-note timpani
theme (portending fateful events) heard in the early bars of the overture. By
contrast, the conclusion to Act 2, as Káťa slowly departs after her meeting
with Boris, belongs to the transcendental type. Radiant fortissimo E-ma-
jor chords (an unusual key for Janáček) highlight what has surely been the
happiest moment of Káťa’s adult life. After the initial outburst, the chords
slowly move down from their initial height and a double bass and then cel-
lo solo lead into the end of the act where the maestoso gives way to five bars
of cadential Adagio.
It is not easy to characterize the maestoso at the end of The Fiddler’s
Child. If the composer is adhering at all to the story of Svatopluk Čech’s
poem that gives Janáček’s symphonic poem its name, this is the point af-
ter the Mayor (the villain of the piece) has discovered the corpse of the fid-
dler’s child: a melodramatic situation. But the long maestoso that follows
(bars 438–84), after its initial fortissimo chords, soon subsides, producing a
subdued ending that suggests pathos rather than transcendence. The same
34
These concluding maestosos can be further divided. The Act 2 Jenůfa
can be categorized as melodramatic and exciting, but the orchestral con-
clusion to Act 3 of the opera (fig. 82), after the touching scene of forgiveness
between Jenůfa and Laca, marked Maestoso con moto, is instead a type of
redemptive, transcendental maestoso that can be found, for instance at the
end of The Cunning Little Vixen. The six-bar maestoso orchestral conclusion
to Fate Act 2 (Scene 5, bars 133–8) after Živný’s discovery of the dead bodies
of his wife Míla and her mother is clearly melodramatic. M akropulos Act 2
has a more substantial maestoso ending. It begins straight after Emilia Mar-
ty has demanded from Jaroslav Prus the envelope containing the formula
for her father’s elixir of life. A fortissimo orchestral unison, with a sforzan-
do cymbal roll rings out, maestoso (bars 975–95). In its final bar Prus asks
“A kdy?” [And when?], i.e. when would be their assignation in payment for
the envelope. A softer, more relaxed Andante accompanies the pair’s brief
exchange, but Prus’s final “Platí” [Agreed!] initiates the maestoso (bars 992–
1003), which brings the act to an end – another melodramatic act-ending.
All three acts of Káťa Kabanová end in maestoso. The nine-bar orches-
tral conclusion to Act 1 (fig. 33), with Tichon’s departure despite Káťa’s pleas
for him stay (she rightly fears that her feelings for Boris will lead to disas-
ter) is another, melodramatic maestoso, as is the seven-bar orchestral maes-
toso conclusion to Act 3. Here after Káťa’s suicide and her mother-in-law’s
triumph over the corpse Janáček combines the prominent themes of the
voices of the Volga (calling Káťa to her death) with the eight-note timpani
theme (portending fateful events) heard in the early bars of the overture. By
contrast, the conclusion to Act 2, as Káťa slowly departs after her meeting
with Boris, belongs to the transcendental type. Radiant fortissimo E-ma-
jor chords (an unusual key for Janáček) highlight what has surely been the
happiest moment of Káťa’s adult life. After the initial outburst, the chords
slowly move down from their initial height and a double bass and then cel-
lo solo lead into the end of the act where the maestoso gives way to five bars
of cadential Adagio.
It is not easy to characterize the maestoso at the end of The Fiddler’s
Child. If the composer is adhering at all to the story of Svatopluk Čech’s
poem that gives Janáček’s symphonic poem its name, this is the point af-
ter the Mayor (the villain of the piece) has discovered the corpse of the fid-
dler’s child: a melodramatic situation. But the long maestoso that follows
(bars 438–84), after its initial fortissimo chords, soon subsides, producing a
subdued ending that suggests pathos rather than transcendence. The same
34
