Defense of the artistic research project “Interpretation of Primitivism on Piano Music of 20th Century”

On June 21, 23, 2021, the defense of Vincenzo de Martino “Interpretation of Primitivism in Piano Music of 20th Century” took place at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. Artistic Supervisors: Prof. Jurgis Karnavičius, Prof. dr. Lina Navickaitė-Martinelli. Copies of the research paper and its summary are available at the library of the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (Gedimino pr. 42).

Defense of the artistic part

June 21, Monday, 18:00 
LMTA Great Hall (Gedimino pr. 42, Vilnius)

Programme:
F. Mompou. Musica callada: Book I
A. Ginastera. Piano Sonata op. 22 no. 1
F. Mompou. Musica callada: Book II
I. Stravinsky. Three movements from Petrushka 

Defense of the research part

June 23, Wednesday, 10:00 
LMTA Juozas Karosas Hall (Gedimino pr. 42, Vilnius) 

Chairperson of the doctoral thesis defence board:
Prof. ALEKSANDRA ŽVIRBLYTĖ (Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre)

Members of the board:
Prof. SERGEJUS OKRUŠKO (Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre)
Dr. JULIAN HELLABY (Coventry University)

Abstract

Over the twentieth century, several different art movements emerged in Europe as a reaction to people’s dismay at profound changes in the political and socio-economic balance, scientific and technological progress, and daily life. Among these, Primitivism opposed modernity in favour of a return to a simpler and more people-oriented way of life that Europeans could embrace after having observed the lifestyle and customs of non-Western societies at that time. Composers of art music were not exempt from being captivated by such impressions and began to bring a breath of fresh air to their music by drawing upon the most diverse sources of inspiration originating from very remote geographical backgrounds, thus conferring an incontrovertible exotic aura upon their works. The piano music tradition, firmly anchored to a rather crystalized and canonic paradigm of instrumental expression, eventually absorbed all such stimuli too, by, for instance, revealing the percussive character of the piano and opening itself up to a wider timbral diversification. The present artistic research paper delves into the correlations between the artistic current of Primitivism and the field of piano performance over the twentieth century: the artist-researcher identifies the common characteristics of piano music modelled in a Primitivistic style and the ways they are implemented by the diverse composers whose compositions are attributable to this style, while also examining the most relevant performative aspects of this repertoire.