The dissertation is devoted to the study of the creative legacy of Domenico Carlo Maria Dragonetti, a talented musician, virtuoso double bassist, whose creative life and achievements in the field of performance and composition influenced the technique of playing the double bass, and a new perception of this orchestral instrument. Contemporaries emphasized his virtuosity as a performer: it was marked by precise mastery of the high registers of the instrument, which brought the sonority of the lowest registers in the string group closer to the violin timbre, the technique of performing flageolets, the lyrical fullness of the melodic line, the incredible speed and expressiveness of scales and passages inherent in the artist's manner. Although the double bass had previously not been considered suitable for solo performances, D. Dragonetti proved that it could sound fantastic both solo and in any ensembles with other instruments. He acted as a bold innovator in the interpretation of the double bass, established the standards of double bass tuning, bow construction and techniques of double bass playing. D. Dragonetti's exceptional authority in musical circles and admiration for his skill spread these standards to all musical centers of continental Europe.
But Domenico Dragonetti remained in the history of music not only as a virtuoso performer. From under his pen came a number of original works for the seemingly "non-solo" instrument of the double bass, as well as a significant number of transcriptions of baroque, classical and some samples of romantic music. Along with a very intensive performing activity, D. Dragonetti was no less enthusiastically devoted to composing and in that sense can be interpreted as a typical representative of the European musical culture of his time. He left a very voluminous creative heritage, covering various genres and thematic areas, always sensitively responding to the needs of the time and environment. However, in comparison with other famous virtuoso composers on other instruments of the late 18th - 19th centuries. The creative figure of D. Dragonetti remains unexplained and not properly appreciated, despite the fact that his works are included in the didactic repertoire of double bassists around the world.
The purpose of the study is to highlight the performing and composing heritage of Domenico Dragonetti through the prism of virtuosity.
The object of the dissertation research was the virtuoso performing and composing creativity of the last decades of the 18th - first half of the 19th century.
The subject of the study is the performing and composing heritage of Domenico Dragonetti.
Scientific novelty of the obtained results. On the basis of the processed scientific sources, own conceptual conclusions and analysis of the works of D. Dragonetti for solo double bass and with participation in chamber instrumental ensembles, the following new results were obtained:
For the first time in Ukrainian musicology:
- a significant corpus of foreign literature dedicated to D. Dragonetti has been processed;
- the modes of virtuosity of D. Dragonetti's performing activity and compositional heritage are defined;
- a detailed theoretical analysis of a number of the composer's chamber and instrumental works is carried out.
The following have been further developed:
- the category of "virtuosity", which is interpreted not only in a purely artistic, but also in a philosophical and ethical sense;
- the concept of the artist's life-creation, considered in the projection onto the specific conditions of the formation and development of D. Dragonetti's individual "life project";
Added:
- a compendium of D. Dragonetti's life and work and his environment.
The Conclusions present the results of the study. It is indicated that the comprehensive creative activity of the outstanding Italian double bass player and composer Domenico Dragonetti has been considered outlined as life-creativity. The main category, through the prism of which the maestro's multifaceted achievements were considered, was the category of virtuosity, as the most appropriate for clarifying his artistic status against the background of European culture of the last decades of the 18th - first half of the 19th century. By studying and analyzing the artist's performing and composing activities, the following tasks were completed:
1. A review of the scientific literature devoted to the issue of virtuosity in music was carried out and some of our own conclusions were offered regarding the historical evolution of this category.
2. Projecting the general principles of virtuosity onto the performing and composing heritage of D. Dragonetti, it is noted that they are embodied by the outstanding Italian maestro with exceptional ingenuity, combining at the same time the intellectual rationalism of the classicist model with "Beethovenian" expression and drama,
