The dissertation is dedicated to the study of the vocal and choral creative work of the Swiss composer Frank Martin (1890-1974), which appears as a phenomenon of artistic and performing practice in the modern Western Europe. The relevance of the topic is stipulated by: 1) the lack of domestic musicological works on the vocal-choral creativity of F. Martin as a phenomenon of Western European culture, marked by artistic integrity; 2) the urgent research quest for substantiating the concept of vocal-choral works through the prism of their performance realization in contemporary artistic practice.
The object of research is F. Martin's creative work in the context of Western European musical art of the 20th century; the subject – the composer's vocal and choral compositions in modern performance practice.
The material of the research. When conducting a comparative analysis of the performance versions of the Mass for a double choir, the audio recordings of the performance of the piece by the RIAS-Kammerchor under the direction of D. Reuss and The National Youth Choir of Great Britain under the direction of S. Layton served as the material.
The comparative analysis of the performances of the oratorio-opera "The Magic Potion" has been carried out on the basis of the performances of the Canadian Ballet-Opéra-Pantomime theatre directed by Ph. Boutin and the Swiss St. Gallen theatre directed by P. Graham.
The peculiarities of interpretations of the opera "The Tempest" have been analysed on the example of the performance of vocal and stage images of Prospero (D. Fischer-Diskau, R. Holl), Miranda (C. Buffle), and Ferdinand (S. O'Neill). The comparative analysis of the interpretations of the Overture has been conducted based on the study of the versions by F. Martin-conductor, M. Bamert and T. Fischer.
The substantiation of the concept of vocal and choral music by F. Martin is based on the periodization of creativity by the three periods (early, mature, late). The criterion for the selection of the compositions was their demand in modern performing practice.
The novelty of the obtained results lies in the fact that for the first time in Ukrainian musicology: the significance of F. Martin's creative legacy has been substantiated; a systematic analysis of vocal and choral compositions as a phenomenon of modern performing practice is provided; the periodization of the composer's creative work has been developed, in accordance with the evolution of the artist's thinking style.
A periodization of F. Martin's creative work is proposed, created on the basis of a reassessment of the provisions belonging to J. Tupper, Ph.D.
The Mass for a double choir a cappella is marked by the combination of neoclassical style in the conditions of dodecaphony, the formation of F. Martin's artistic worldview.
RIAS-Kammerchor in their performance of the Mass managed to reproduce the canonical forms of the Divine Communion with attention to the psychology of religious experience.
The oratorio-opera "The Magic Potion" characterizes the mature style of F. Martin. The comparative analysis of the polar interpretations of the composition made it possible to track current trends in the art of the postmodern era:
the tendency to use new formats of musical communication;
the "layering" of the classical vocal tradition, which was whole once in its foundation;
the increased interest in new, as yet unexplored venues that deconstruct the traditional concepts of "theatre" and "theatrical art", filling their modern existence with new meanings.
The dominant feature of F. Martin's late style was the accumulation of methods learned in earlier periods of creative evolution. This period is marked by a clear division of the composer's music into two genre-stylistic spheres: the genres of instrumental music testify to the tendency towards tonally coloured dodecaphony, and the vocal-choral – to devotion to neoclassicism.
The composer's artistic consciousness was always open to experimentation; this led to the search for a synthesis of the traditional and the new, which determined the high level of his composing mastery (techniques of vocal, choral, orchestral writing). In turn, the conceptualism of Frank Martin's thinking provided him with the status of a progressive artist who was concerned with the problems of the spiritual crisis of humanity during the period between the two world wars.
This way, the dissertation is the first experience of analysing the vocal and choral creativity of F. Martin as a holistic stylistic system. As a result, the outstanding compositions by F. Martin have been introduced into the national scientific circulation.
