CELLO CONCERTO “LA MEMOIRE” BY CHEN MUSHENG: PROGRAMME AND ITS INTERPRETATION

The article is devoted to revealing the world of artistic images of the First Cello Concerto “La Memoire” (2011/2013) by the talented contemporary composer Chen Musheng (b. 1971). The prehistory of the composition is considered, connected with Chen's creative biography and his studies in Switzerland with the great master Eric Godibert, to whose memory the Concerto was dedicated. The article concerns the influence of the avant-garde ideas of Western composers on Chen Musheng's work, perceived from his teacher. It is about the manifestation of an important trend of the time — the use of European writing techniques to embody an idea in a work with Chinese roots. The peculiar genre and style content of the Concerto with the features of symphony, fantasy, instrumental requiem is emphasized. The methods of implementing the idea of the Cello Concerto were similar to those of the German-Swiss expressionist artist Paul Klee (1879–1940), who had influenced the work of Godibert and Chen Musheng. In this regard, Klee's “Pedagogical Sketches” are notable for their vivid presentation of his techniques of continuous compositional movement and the formation of form elements borrowed from the musical sphere. “The painter of music” Paul Klee was called. Chen Musheng can be called “Graphically showing the movement of images”. The associativity of the Chinese composer's thinking and his use of genre allusions make it possible to reveal the content of the Concerto and to identify some important stylistic features of his writing.