نشریه هنرهای زیبا - هنرهای نمایشی و موسیقی
پیاپی 55 (بهار و تابستان 1396)

This article addresses the opera “Matthias the Painter” by Paul Hindemith and the analysis of his symphony with the same name. The emphasis is on the social and artistic life of Mathias Grünewald (who was a painter and a renaissance artist) and how the events around him affected his works. This article attempts to show that expressionism in painting does not exclusively belong to the early twentieth century, and one can find traces of this philosophical perspective in the earlier centuries by looking at the works of artists such as Grünewald. Although Grünewald lived during the Renaissance era, his painting style is a display of neo-classical thinking whilst revealing an homage to the previous medieval mentality. He shows inclination towards unearthly scenes and particularly visualizing the duality of heavenly and earthly worlds as well as the infernal world; a subject which has been attended by very few painters. The use of contrast in colors indicates expressionistic atmospheres in the majority of his works. This made the expressionist painters of the early twentieth century such as Oscar Kokoschka and Max Beckmann inspired to study Grünewald’s style. In music, likewise, composers in favor of this movement such as Hindemith, with their specific neo-classical spirit, attempted to create works of this kind by combining expressionism and neo-classicism to achieve the connection between music and painting. In this set that includes symphony and opera, Hindemith initially plans an opera named “Matthias the Painter” in 1933. Concurrent with beginning to write the opera, as suggested by his friend, he started to also create a suite in three movements with the same name (it was later referred to as a symphony) which was inspired by three paintings in the Isenheim Altarpiece by Grünewald, namely “Concert of Angels,” “Entombment,” and “The Temptation of St. Anthony.” He finished writing the symphony in 1934 and one year later the opera was completed. The relation between the opera and the symphony of “Matthias the Painter” can be seen in the fact that the composer used all three symphony movements in the opera: he uses the first movement of the symphony, “Concert of Angels,” in the overture, the second movement, “Entombment,” in the seventh act of the opera, and the third movement, “The Temptation of St. Anthony”, in the sixth act. He adopts his musical experience as well as materials from the past such as common musical forms, orchestral timbres and old melodies such as cantus firmus (in first movement) and hallelujah (in the third movement) to interconnect the music of various eras. The symphony’s premiere, due to the unfavorable political situations in Germany during 1936, troubled the composer in a way that forced him to leave his country. Consequently, the premiere of the opera was also performed outside Germany in 1938 in the city of Zurich, Switzerland. In this set of opera and symphony, Hindemith seeks to create a coherence between music and painting in a way that enables him to describe the life and paintings of Mathias Grünewald.

Many resources in the field of piano pedagogy have been accumulated and translated in Iran. However, the concept of piano pedaling has been neglected to some extent. In this research, pedaling pedagogy in Iranian tertiary level education is examined and practical solutions to enhance the quality of piano pedagogy are suggested in accordance to the cited research. According to music scholars in Iran, insufficient understanding of pedaling results in the ineffective usage of piano pedals. Sometimes students employ the pedal signs in the edited and original versions of the pieces, yet correct and artistic use of pedals depends on the knowledge of musical styles and ability to hear the complexities that piano pedals can produce in tone and color. In this research, the participant observation approach examines piano pedagogy in Iranian higher education specifically on the usage of the damper pedal. Data gathered from interviews with piano instructors and students from Art University of Tehran, are compared to international master classes, in order to track the positive and negative points on piano pedagogy in Iran. The conclusive analysis of the data reveals that the weakness of pedaling pedagogy in Iran is mainly influenced by two factors. Firstly, the hearing ability of the students is not well developed. This could be due to the fact that the ear training courses at the universities are not well programmed to enhance the ability of hearing the sound of the piano pedal intently. No actual relationship is taken into consideration between the piano performance courses and ear training. In this research using different examples and case studies adopted from Western pedagogic texts we demonstrate the significance of having trained hearing in a proper and artistic pedaling technique. The second issue is that, many pedagogical and analytical texts of pedaling in piano performance have been neglected by translators and those engaged in gathering musical texts. In Western literature there are many sources that discuss a “pianistic” approaches to compositions, in very well-organized study of pedaling technique from the composers’ point of view or from the performer’s experiences. The existence of these sources is not known to many scholars in tertiary education in Iran. Not being familiar with these texts, many students apply incomplete pedaling signs in musical scores for suggestions on using the pedals. In this research, the main ideas of great performers, composers and piano pedagogues, from analysis of piano performance and use of pedals are introduced. Practical solutions on promoting piano pedagogy in Iranian music academies with respect to the use of the damper pedal are suggested. Through this study it will be made clear that a deep knowledge of the stylistic feature of a composer and a mature hearing ability are the essential keys to an artistic usage of the damper pedal.

The ancient science of music therapy in the essays on the Iranian—Islamic music is observable with ontological and scientific attitudes. Thus, the metaphysical manifestations and the psychological effects of music are considered as the most important aspects of music. The aim of the study is to assess the views of scholars on various dimensions of music therapy, as well as the amount of topics presented in this regard. Accordingly, utilizing library studies and taking notes of relevant information and employing comparative and analytical method have been carried out in this study. The findings are on the basis of the chapters on the effect of music in the treatment collected from the contents of 12 music epistles from 3rd to 13th centuries A.H. The analysis has been done based on the number of words and pages by using Excel software to indicate the importance of the amount of subjects related to music therapy in each epistle. The epistles have been divided into the different dimensions of music therapy by, music steps and rhythms with the human moods, time, cosmology and the natural elements. based on the analysis of 5 categories, the total proportion of the pages and words in relation to music therapy in each section is as follows: 1. the effect of melodies types, 0/83 pages and 0/77 words; 2. the effect of music steps with the human moods, 0/72 pages and 1/17 words; 3. The effect of music steps with the day and night times, 0/55 pages and 0/75 words; 4. The relation of therapy to tone (Maghamat) and chords to the four elements, 0/86 pages and 0/52 words; rhythm to treatment, 7/54 pages and 3/9 words. Most authors place the assumption of a direct correlation between a melody and various personal types and particular emotional responses as well as issues such as cosmology and the theory of temperaments in the science syllabus. The effect of music and its correlation as a method alongside the medical services has been focused by the intellectual authors of music essays from the 4 to 13 centuries A.H. Then, the music in the treatment of patients has been similar to what today is called the comfort therapy. In fact, their reasoning was that the effectiveness of treating many diseases would be related to the mental status of the patient. And the patient needs the breezy factors outside the body that influence his brain and physiological factors. They sought to implement the melodies influencing the moods and culture of listeners, which could be pleasant to them. It is noteworthy to point that the studied treaties tended to focuse themselves mostly on the page and word contribution of the effects of music rhythm and steps on an individual’s mood and also the music relevance and relation to the therapy. Hence, the three epistles of "Kenz-ul-Tohaf", “Nasime Tarab” and "Jame Alhan" are believed to have devoted themselves more intensely on the subject matter of music therapy in comparison with other studied treaties.

This paper examines the intervallic organization and coherency in Shostakovich’s music, both in a movement as a whole and in a particular segment, for instance, in a harmonic progression. The questions revealed are: “What are the factors that result in coherency and certain sonorities in Shostakovich’s music?” “How did he consider intervals of the materials?” To this end, in the first step, the focus is on the mottos such as “DSCH” and “SASCHA” in Shostakovich’s works. Whereas previous studies about DSCH aimed at exploring the origins of DSCH and its direct use in Shostakovich's music, this paper tries to find implied or indirect use of the motto in harmonic progression and in alteration of diatonic modes. Inasmuch as they apparently represent certain qualities and sonorities in most of his works, studying the potentiality of the mottos is helpful to find the intervallic correlation. In other words, Shostakovich not only used these mottos directly but also benefitted from their potentiality in melodic lines, harmonic progressions, scales, and finally in forming the intervallic structures of a movement. As a case in point, analyzing Quartet No.8 illustrates that transposition of DSCH and its simultaneous use as a harmonic progression. It further demonstrates that these mottos are a way to select certain intervals and to use them in different aspects of a piece to achieve coherency in music. On the other hand, Shostakovich’s works can be seen as a struggle between tonality and atonality. Especially in the last decade of his life, he had a tendency toward twelve-tone rows. Therefore, in the second step, the focus of this paper is on the approach of Shostakovich toward dodecaphony. Similar to mottos, the same approach toward selecting intervals in choosing the rows seemed to be functioning. In other words, Shostakovich’s favorite intervals and intervallic organization can be seen in the rows, too. One of the most important points about Shostakovich’s application of dodecaphony is his different approach toward dodecaphony compared with the Second Viennese School. He used different rows along with tonal elements in the same piece. However, it may pose the risk of incoherency. It can be observed, therefore, that dodecaphony doses not have the pivotal role in making in his work coherent but his intervallic organization, which similar to his approach in choosing mottos, results in coherency. Analyzing several instances extracted from his works, the paper will test the conclusion that some common features result in coherency and specific sonorities of his music. One of these factors is the presence of cell 3-5 which can be found in different works such as symphony No.15. It should be noted that using dodecaphonic rows and atonal elements did not damage the coherency of Shostakovich’s music whilst also resulting in a unique musical language in his works. Indeed, Shostakovich enriched tonal materials by atonal elements. Therefore, his approach toward the material, both in selecting mottos and dodecaphonic rows, can be described as a systematic intervallic organization which leads to coherency of his works.

Non-narrative elements encompass a broad set of formal techniques, ranging from visual elements to musical forms. The use of camera movements, lighting, actor's clothing, and even the space selected for various scenes of the film can play a major role in creating non-narrative elements. Furthermore, the use of organized specific parameters and stylistic techniques leads to creating a sort of narrative that is called parametric narrative. Since there is no explicit implication for the application of these specific stylistic techniques in parametric narrative, and on the other hand we cannot also consider implicit meanings and implications for them, the ultimate function of such organized stylistic techniques can be considered to be in establishing such a strong internal norm in the film; a norm that in most cases shows the mastery of film's style on its plot and story. That is why the themes used in this narrative style are selected simply to prepare space to highlight the stylistic structure of the film. Non-narrative elements, unlike the parametric narrative elements, usually have implicit and conceptual meanings. In fact, non-narrative elements try to penetrate the hidden layers of meaning in line with the general meaning of the film. So, essentially a dual role can be considered for non-narrative elements. This means that on one hand, these elements, having hidden layers of meaning, will increase the conceptual dimensions of the artwork; and on the other hand, due to their formal properties, they enrich the artwork in terms of shape and form. So it can be said that non-narrative elements play an important role in the aesthetic expression of the film. However, these elements constitute only a part of the style-oriented techniques of the film. The shape of these elements and the techniques used to display them suddenly impress the audience and makes him to step down for a moment from the normal world of the film and to immerse in depth of the entity of characters or their inner world. But the point that should be noted is that where these elements refer to people insights, they dont purely express personal and psychological aspects of people. This means that they do not contribute in the characterization and expression of personal attributes; a task that is done mainly in classical narrative by well-known arrangements. These moments are like a kind of Revelation of time for the character of the film and sometimes for us - a search for a meaning which may even doesnt exist. From this perspective, non-narrative elements are the mere expression of being in a pure emotional moment, which is less definable. Although a type of formal similarity is seen among the non-narrative elements used in a film due to the overall style and atmosphere of the film, in general, such a similarity is seemed to be more a result of the common theme of the film, because in terms of conceptual expression, each of these elements recount a part of the hidden meaning behind the film at that particular moment.

Oversight and inaccurate interpretation to ancient written sources on the history of making papier-mâché figures in cultural domain of Iran has resulted in some mistakes in this field and correct information is not presented in most related sources about the history of this subject. It is commonly thought that the use of Papier-mâché for making masks and figures made of paper is an imported art which is related to contemporary era. However, current evidence of Iranian written heritage suggests that from the first century of Islamic calendar, this method of making objects existed in the Eastern world including Iran for making sculptures and masks of humans, animals and other objects which were used in different ceremonies. In this study, the authors have sought to find evidence for this issue by studying the ancient Persian literature, collected and selected from second hand resources. Ten texts are selected for this purpose which only deal with the main theme of study (i.e. the use of paper (or paperboard) for crafting Papier-mâché statuettes and masks). These texts are selected from the first century to the early 14th century AH. The study of documents is classified and arranged based on the time that each text has been written. ccordingly, and in general terms, the samples are divided into three sections. First category deals with travelogues and chronicles written by travelers and Iranian historians who have collected the customs and traditions of different countries. This section include subcategories: one of them is dedicated to countries located in eastern Iran and also the Far East, such as China, India and the surrounding areas. The other part deals with countries that are located in West Iran, such as Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The second category includes travelogues that foreign historians wrote during their travels to Iran, which mention a description of the living conditions as well as culture of Persians and are ultimately recorded by travelers themselves. Later, these travelogue-form accounts have been translated into Persian language, and have been considered a part of our important documents. The third category includes items written by Iranian writes about Iran describing events related to Persia. This evidence suggests that from the early centuries, Iranians were fully aware of this type of paper, paperboard and Papier-mâché applications for the construction of various objects, and they applied it to fit their different purposes. The main part of the paper is devoted to the review of the literature which indicate that Persians were acquainted with the manufacture of different types of masks and statuettes. However, some evidence that have been recorded by Persian historians deal with the events that occurred outside the borders of Iran. This paper intends to explore the long history of the use of Papier-mâché in Persian and Islamic culture and to change the way it is considered as an imported technique.

The word “Illusion” in most English dictionaries such as Webster, Oxford, Collins, Longman and also Heritage is being defined as: wrong appearance or deceptive perception of reality, false or illusory understanding of reality. In Encyclopaedia Britannica this word means “false perception, incorrect idea, misrepresentation of a real sensory stimulus, delusion, deceptive image.” By joining this word with the word “Environment” “Illusionistic Environments" is created, referring to a space with a deceptive appearance that can create a false impression of what is really there in the audience. This tradition has continued from ancient Greece and is created in different ways. Thanks to modern technologies, the western contemporary theater scenography has created digital spaces called "soft décors." These spaces can create illusionistic environments and provide new performance possibilities for directors and actors along with "hard décors." Illusionistic environment provides opportunities beyond conventions, symbols and signs through which theater artists try to create a mental picture of reality for the audience using "mental process of spectator". In this environment, the created space can create a deceptive image of reality on its own without the use of mental faculties of spectators. The main objective of this article is to examine the role of digital spaces in creating illusionistic environments in the Western contemporary theater scenography and examine the new performance possibilities achieved in the field of acting and directing. For this purpose, the following questions are considered as the main research questions: A) What is the role of digital spaces in Western contemporary theater scenography in creating illusionistic environments? B) What new performance possibilities in the field of acting and directing at the scene can be provided by digital technology for creating illusionistic environments? After reviewing the databases related to the field of theater, the scientific and valid articles inside and outside of Iran, treatises registered in the Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology, and other databases related to the field of theater, it was observed that some studies solely introduced digital technology and machinism in the theater, and there is no independent article or book with the same goal of the present study. In the process of this research, in addition to explaining the research basics, examinations of the role of digital images, telematics technology and real (not virtual) actor's body as the main elements of illusionistic environments and, on the other hand, the works of recent outstanding scenographers, including "Josef Svoboda" (1920- 2002), "Paul Sermon" (1966- ) and "Marcel·lí Antúnez Roca" (1959-) with the aim of achieving their scenography ratio by creating illusionistic environments are further explored. Using the analytical-descriptive method referring to library resources and images, results indicate that digital technologies not only cause interaction and sharing of space inside and outside of the scene for acting and directing, but also they herald the advent of a new medium that may be able to achieve whatever the theater lacks and the cinema cannot achieve.

Two of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s piano sonatas reflect the virtuosic standards of the Mannheim School during his residence in that city in 1777. Acknowledged as one of the most important music centers and schools in Europe, its orchestra and individual players were re-known throughout the continent. In letters to his family, including December 8th and 11th 1777, Mozart distinctly mentioned that piano sonata K. 309 was inspired by the Mannheim School. As for sonata K. 311, although there is no reference to it directly in the letters, prominent Mozart researchers such as Robert Levin and John Irving have confirmed influences of Mannheim School with this sonata as well. The present article, through identification and analysis of these influences of major Mannheim composers and use of secondary literature correlates Mozart’s sonatas to this famous school. These influences are studied from different perspectives: the first one is related to imitation of orchestral qualities and dynamic shadings reflected in these two compositions. The second aspect the identification of specific figures of Mannheim applied in these two compositions. Shortly before Mozart’s journey to Mannheim, he had been acquainted with Stein’s fortepiano and observed its extraordinary capabilities for performing a wider range of dynamics and tone colors. Having the experience of playing Stein’s instrument and also observing Mannheim Orchestra closely in which dynamic contrasts and masterful performance of crescendos were among its characteristics, Mozart was encouraged even more to reflect these orchestral qualities in his piano sonatas and to utilize dynamic variations and contrasts similar to those of Mannheim. In this article, each movement is studied separately and for comparison and better understanding of this influence. Examples of illustrious Mannheim composers including Christian Cannabich with whom Mozart has been in touch during this time and Johann Stamitz are included. Distinct musical figures and gestures are introduced in the order of importance. For example, the first discussed figure is the “Mannheim Rocket” which consists of a quick ascending arpeggio which is mostly used at the beginning of Mannheim symphonies. This figure might be used with unison accompaniment. Another important figure is the “sigh figure.” This is introduced due to its historical significance. It is a motif which has been used since Baroque and is applied very often in Mannheim compositions. Furthermore, examples of applying tremolos in both compositions are mentioned which are performed frequently by Mannheim Orchestra. Finally, form and structure are discussed. The first movement in sonata K. 311 is the only movement that has the form of sonata among all Mozart’s piano sonatas in which reverse recapitulation is applied- (the position of first and second subjects are reversed). This type of sonata has been very common among composers of Mannheim School. The next point is the virtuosic aspects of the two compositions. Both pieces are among difficult compositions of Mozart and demands special technical skills. Mannheim Orchestra consisted of virtuoso musicians and its progress was mainly related to its professional musicians. This encouraged composers to take virtuosic capabilities of each instrument into account.