نشریه هنرهای زیبا - هنرهای نمایشی و موسیقی
پیاپی 73 (بهار 1401)

It is undeniable that an artist’s everyday life directly affects his/her artistic creations: art is not notional, a phenomenon that is produced impervious to other phenomena and/or created in a void without bearing relations to the artist’s life experience. In the case of Beethoven’s music, this is quite pronounced. His music is idiosyncratic and the weight of its creator upon them can be felt in every moment of the performance. As a piano player, I have always found Beethoven’s music fascinating and challenging at the same time. One question in particular demonstrates the character of this challenge best: «How can one approach Beethoven’s œuvre?» More simply put: ‘How can I perform his music?’ Beethoven’s music possesses certain unique features; and the large and weighty shadow of the composer is always looming over the player in all moments of performance. It might be beneficial to players and performers to have a better understanding of this composer’s mentality, temper and disposition, as it could pave the way for better interpretations of his work. Of all the composers in the Romantic period, Beethoven was the first to influence and even dominate the classical music scene of the nineteenth century. Sensitive, yet passionate and driven, he (was a man who) shouldered the weight of his life’s hardships and afflictions. He was excitable, irritable and quick to take offense. His periods of depression were often accompanied by suicidal tendencies. It could be inferred from his letters that he showed little patience when faced with life’s difficulties; when angry, not even his brother Karl was safe from getting a beating at his hands, nor servants from him throwing this or that household item at them. He never married but had several love affairs, including one with a married woman whom we know as « ? » today. Beethoven has written her three love letters imbued with emotion and infatuation. He loved drinking wine and this same substance came to be his undoing. By the age of fifty-six, he was suffering from liver cirrhosis which was the cause of his death. Beethoven’s works for piano, till today, remain among the most important and essential in the classical piano repertoire. To better understand and interpret his work, performers ought to have a grasp of his mindset and character, his illnesses, and most importantly, his hearing loss. Beethoven has created the most significant works for piano, and it is difficult to exaggerate the influence he has had on improving the techniques of piano performance. After his total hearing loss, Beethoven’s contact with society was through his written works, which provide a valuable insight into his latter-day mindset and character. This article will first offer a sketch of Beethoven’s life experience through his correspondences and notes and then explores his musical innovations (especially in the development section) as well as his compositional style. Finally, one of his most influential pieces for piano, Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57, also known as the ‘Appassionata’ is studied.

Graduate students' theses have always been a valuable reference source for studies conducted in scientific and academic circles. The current study reviews the topics under study in 126 graduate theses of students studying performance of western classical music instruments in two state-run universities in Iran, namely the Faculty of Music at University of Art; and the Department of Music, Faculty of Fine Arts at University of Tehran in a time span of ten years covering the 2009-2019 period. This study aims to analyze the following topics: 1-The classification of thesis titles and subjects, 2- Topics from the most popular topics to those that were the least addressed, 3-Types of research methods adopted, and 4- Most frequently-used key words.Amongst the chief goals of the current study was a thematic study of areas addressed in the theses in order to evaluate the research findings therein and pave the way for further studies. Although this study is new in the field of music theses, similar studies with the focus on topics and methodologies in academic theses in other majors, often included fields of humanities, art research and various technical and engineering fields have formerly been carried out in Iran's universities. The methodology employed in this paper is a library based study to collect information through a descriptive-analytical method and the theses under study were ultimately grouped under five major categories: Music Performance, Music Education, Musical Instruments (performance and technical skills), Musicology, and others. In addition to the thematic analysis of the theses, the abstracts and key-words of the theses were also studied.The study showed that the majority of the theses under study were those which conducted a formal or harmonic analysis of repertoire pieces in the practical part of the graduation project of the student in question, second to this, came theses which addressed Musical Instruments Training, Music Interpretations and Performance.It is noteworthy that the majority of the theses which dealt with Music Analysis were those completed prior to the year 2011, which reflects a change in the outlook of universities to music research. It is also interesting to note that the topics pertaining to Music Education, Pedagogy, Practical Tips on Practicing pieces, became more prevalent in the more recent theses. Conversely, few theses tackled issues such as Stage Anxiety, Practice harms and physical injuries related to playing an instrument, Performance Planning and Preparations, or Historical Studies in Music or in the development of a certain musical instrument, etc. Taking into consideration the importance of such less-addressed topics in the field of performance, it would be advisable to carry out more studies and research in such fields.The most frequently-used key-words in the theses under study were: Performance, Sonata, Technique, Education, Johann Sebastian Bach, Concerto, Piano, Baroque, Violin, and Pedal. There have been instances of key-words which appeared only once in the theses, words such as Anxiety (Stage fright), Physical Practice Harms, Breathing, Intonation (sound production). The methodology adopted in the theses according to frequency from most to least employed come into the following order: descriptive, descriptive analytical, experimental.

This research attempts to analyze the intercultural aspects in Iranian dramatic translations of last two decades on the basis of former Professor of theatre studies and theatre semioticist Patrice Pavis (born 1945) intercultural theories specially in his book ‘Theatre at the Crossroad of Cultures’ and by using some related Interdisciplinary methods. Nowadays the necessity of an intercultural theory in theatre, which does the fine-tuning between theatrical forms and academic informations, is more perceptible in multicultural communities and intercultural relations. The fine-tuning of sociosemiotics model of culture should make a relationship between theatre mise en scène and cultural context with an emphasis on translations and adaptations. This research tries to find out what changes in dramatic (performative) translations on the road from source culture to the target culture. In order to study these changes, the plays that are known as "re-readings" or “retellings” in the conventional playwriting terms and they are considered as adaptations of foreign plays are among the best cases that fit the academic discipline of the dramatic literature. In intercultural theory of theatre, all these adaptations called as dramatic translations. Two major structural models for dramatic translations which describe the intersection of situations of enunciation and the series of concretizations are used in order to analyze case studies. Besides, the definition of mise en scène in intercultural theory like french criticism tradition includes all theatrical elements and it holds them all together with specific aesthetic principles. This view of mise en scène is much more suitable for analyzing modern performances and intercultural dramatic translations, which considers participation in the process of interpretation and signification for audiences and readers. There are different typologies of mise en scène, but mise en scène of classic texts typology is used in Pavis’ intercultural theory of theatre. This typology includes three kinds of mise en scène named autotexual, ideotexual and intertextual. This research first explains the theoretical foundations of intercultural analysis using Pavis’ opinions, then it analyzes the case studies in a descriptive analytics. This study hopes it can show that these cultural changes on the context of mise en scène and the intersection of situations of enunciation, involve the series of concretizations, although at last these adaptations did not pay sufficient attention to the target culture elements. To this purpose, with taking into account the artistic eminence of the playwrights and also with considering the unchanging of the medium in the direction of dramatic translation, two plays have been selected as case study: The Mares’ Dance (Raghs-e Madian-ha) Mohammad Charmshir's retelling of the play “Yerma” by Federico Garcia Lorca, and Based on The Duchess of Malfi Naghmeh Samini and Mohammad Rezaei-Rad’s cooperation reread of the play “The Duchess of Malfi” by John Webster. This research tries to show that the first case evolved in intersection of three situations of enunciation by a autotexual mise en scène and the other one shaped in crossroad of fourteen situations of enunciation by a ideotexual mise en scène.

The narrative-therapy approach was first proposed by Michael White and David Epston. This approach focuses on treatment through the narratives of people's lives and considers their problems as dominant in the way they look at narratives and cultural discourse, and emphasizes that "one is not a problem but a problem is a problem”. Narrative therapy is a six-step process that includes: problem-solving, problem-naming, externalization, cultural discourse, connecting single consequences, and alternative narrative. The Irish playwright Brian Friel often focuses on the influence of society and the dominant cultural discourse of people's lives. Based on his experiences, Friel has used being a teacher and a priest and has created narrative works in his plays using a narrative-centered perspective. The commonalities between the theories of narrative-therapy and Friel's plays are examined in this research, and reveal the process and elements of narrative-therapy such as narrative expression of problems, cultural discourse and the use of language.The present study points to the narrative and validity of the narrative and then introduces the theory of narratives. Molly Sweeney and Healing are examined from the perspective of narrative therapy. By examining the stages of narrative therapy in these two plays, this research then expresses that there are no problems in the lives of people, and whatever the problem is described is the false narrative of people, whose narrations can overcome the problem. The mind understands the experiences of people through narrations. Traditions are an integral part of people's lives, the problems are our experience of false traditions, and narrative therapy is a new method for treating and ignoring people's problems. Problems and whatever the norm is introduced is all the product of society and the identity of individuals is meaningful and shaped through communication with others. Moreover, narratives are divided into two general categories namely “diegetic” or “diegesis”, and “mimetic” or “mimesis”. However, in a different classification, narratives are narrated in a first or third-person style. Typically, the diegetic texts narrate the story from the first-person’s point of view and in a soliloquy manner pertaining to the personal experiences of individual. This is the style with which the two of Friel’s plays are written and it is the style analyzed in this research. Reading this approach, the reader realizes that, narrative is a scheme by means of which human beings give meaning to their experience of temporality and personal actions. It is the primary scheme by means of which human existence is rendered meaningful. Here, diegetic plays are studied with a narrative approach and with narrative therapy regard. A detailed assessment is performed in this research on Friel’s narrative plays by taking a closer look at narrative therapy process and using a descriptive-analytical approach.

Apart from being a means of entertainment, the dramatic works for children serve, on the one hand, as educational tools and, on the other, as an artistic means to pass the legacy of the past (traditions, rites, religion, politics, and the socio-ethical norms of society) over to the consciousness of the current generation. This is especially true, when the authors of the works draw on such important structural elements as time, place, plot, characters and, in times, even, the integrity of a story in an intertextual interaction with ancient texts. Significant adaptations are myth and mythical narratives reflected always in various forms including stories, dramas and screenplays. Persian myth can help enrich the visual language and spiritual richness of the play, reflect national themes, and introduce children to national identities and some of the rituals and beliefs of their past. The themes are one of the most important elements of traditional Persian anecdotes that, in addition to structure, also strengthen their semantic and aesthetic aspects. The origins of fictional themes are numerous and sometimes unclear. Some of them are mythological elements and others are the representation of people's culture. Motifs change their functions over the centuries. One of the most widely used motifs in Iranian culture is the apple, the forbidden fruit, which due to its characteristics and its diverse functions, has a significant presence in both mythology, modern scripts and has even found its way into children's plays. Dramatic Literature is the most appropriate mass media for a young audiences with a very high impact factor. The play (which is the product of the imagination of the writer, director and actor), when accompanied by reality (traces of reality woven into its fabric), will be able to connect and relate to the delicate mind of a child by means of imagination. The imagination of a child is the product of paintings and images, speeches and gestures which he/she can relate to, that is a kind of basic creativity. A child's mind is highly imaginative, so works created for children should appeal to their imaginations and engage them creatively with the work. This is made easier by means of myths and mythical themes. Using Genette’s transtextuality theory, especially hypertextuality, in a descriptive-analytic fashion, the ways in which the myth of the forbidden fruit (Apple) in some of the top plays of children and adolescent theater festivals are recreated are studies. The most important result revealed are as follows: the authors of the plays have mostly used the myth of the forbidden fruit by using the method of text extension (quantitative transformation). Of course, in some of the plays, in order to better understand and make the play attractive, the content is also seen. For this reason, the hidden angles of these plays are better understood in connection with these myths. In general, children are the purest creatures on earth, their world is full of love and friendship. Their existence causes hope, affirmation of human aspirations, human interests and emotions, honesty and correctness.

Game-theater is a hybrid phenomenon which arises from the Intermediality of video game and theater. This inter-medial production carries the features and specifications of both performing events. The immersed atmosphere of this hybrid performative phenomena leads to a unique theatrical experience, actively engaging participants in the performance space. Although theatre audiences always participate in any theatre as a spectator, in Game-theatre, audience participation is not passive since it is inevitably necessary for the completion of the performance. The audience is not only the player of a video game but also acts as a character in the play. Therefore, the spectator is transforming to spect-actor. Other creative members of the group (including actors) should adjust and react according to this active participation. In this interactive theatre production, the spect-actor is free to choose actions, interact with actors and wander in the architectural space of the performance on the basis of a story telling event. Considering the nonlinear, live and interactive nature of this production, the script keeps an open structure in order for the variables that are brought into the performance by the audience participation. In other words, the participant’s choices, actions and gestus in combination with a narrative dramatic core give birth to a performance-text particularly designed for an immersive and interactive performance. This text transforms with each and every participant. The participant not only interacts with the performance on stage but also with the script. These features give an unpredictable characteristic to game-theatre, however the shaping the whole process is based on a dramatic core which is a way to unify all actions. Furthermore, it helps the performance to maintain its goal that is the final promised achievement similar to video games. This final achievement and predictable future is very similar to the determined destiny of a tragic character. During the performance, the spect-actor should challenge with side quests, a turning point and a resolution to carry on the predesignated mission. One should note that in the first encounters with a production, the spectator doesn’t have skills and knowledge equal with other prepared members of the performance group. Therefore, the simplicity and familiarity of the narrative and the initial introduction of characters are essential. Aristotelian drama can provide an appropriate narrative core to encourage role-playing and action. However, according to the dynamic and ever-changing nature of game-theater, the script is not anymore a solid base from which to perform, but it should be considered as a foundation material which undergoes a transformation. Hence, the concept of change in media according to the theory of intertextuality, can validate the inevitable dynamic transformation of Aristotelian plays into a performance text while performing game-theater. In this process, the encounter of spectator as a cultural text with an Aristotelian drama as the hypertext, produces a performative intertext. This intertext contains both verbal and performing elements and should remain open to audience participation. This study tries to explain how the process of interaction and co-execution affects the structure and dramatic elements of an Aristotelian drama as an appropriate dramatic core for game-theater.