Parenting the Piano: Miroslav Miša Savić's St. Lazarus Waltz
Abstract
This article deals with a work by a contemporary Serbian composer Miroslav
Miša
Savić
(b.
1954):
St. Lazarus Waltz
for one or two grand pianos, with or without
children’s
toy
pianos.
Since
St.
Lazarus
is
a
children’
s
holiday,
the
composer’s
idea
was
to
depict
children
by
toy
pianos,
while
the
grand
pianos
are
'parents’.
The
waltz
exists
in
several
versions:
from
the
first
one,
where
the
children
pianos
are
quite
small
and
their
musical
parts
very
restricted,
to
the
version
for
two
'adult’
pianos,
which
describes
the
moment in life when children have grown up and left their parental home. Aside from
exploring
these
musical
'family
ties’,
Savić
implements
a
simple
yet
ingenious
constructive principle in all versions of this waltz. The structure of the piece is based on the exploitation
of
the
system
of
equal
temperament
and
on
the
Fibonacci
row,
and
this
frame
is
filled
with
several
laye...rs
of
musical
references,
including:
Johann
Sebastian
Bach
and
other
composers
who
wrote
'well-tempered’
piano
music;
repetitive/processual
minimalism,
a
style
that
Savić
and
his
peers
brought
into
Serbian
music,
but
have
since
evolved in different directions; the Serbian tradition of romantic salon piano pieces; finally, the
Orthodox
tradition,
but
referenced
in
a
way
very
different
from
the
'neo-Orthodox’
trend
that has been present in Serbian art music since the late 1980s.
Keywords:
Miroslav Miša Savić / St. Lazarus Waltz / parents and children / toy pianos / Serbian Ortodox Church / The Well-Tempered Clavier / Nada Kolundžija / LP DuoSource:
New Sound International Journal of Music, 2017, 49, 123-138Publisher:
- Belgrade : Department of Musicology, Faculty of Music
Funding / projects:
- Serbian musical identities within local and global frameworks: traditions, changes, challenges (RS-177004)
URI
http://ivanamedic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Parenting-the-Piano.pdfhttp://www.newsound.org.rs/pdf/en/ns49/10.I.Medic.pdf
https://dais.sanu.ac.rs/123456789/3612
Institution/Community
Музиколошки институт САНУ / Institute of Musicology SASATY - JOUR AU - Medić, Ivana PY - 2017 UR - http://ivanamedic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Parenting-the-Piano.pdf UR - http://www.newsound.org.rs/pdf/en/ns49/10.I.Medic.pdf UR - https://dais.sanu.ac.rs/123456789/3612 AB - This article deals with a work by a contemporary Serbian composer Miroslav Miša Savić (b. 1954): St. Lazarus Waltz for one or two grand pianos, with or without children’s toy pianos. Since St. Lazarus is a children’ s holiday, the composer’s idea was to depict children by toy pianos, while the grand pianos are 'parents’. The waltz exists in several versions: from the first one, where the children pianos are quite small and their musical parts very restricted, to the version for two 'adult’ pianos, which describes the moment in life when children have grown up and left their parental home. Aside from exploring these musical 'family ties’, Savić implements a simple yet ingenious constructive principle in all versions of this waltz. The structure of the piece is based on the exploitation of the system of equal temperament and on the Fibonacci row, and this frame is filled with several layers of musical references, including: Johann Sebastian Bach and other composers who wrote 'well-tempered’ piano music; repetitive/processual minimalism, a style that Savić and his peers brought into Serbian music, but have since evolved in different directions; the Serbian tradition of romantic salon piano pieces; finally, the Orthodox tradition, but referenced in a way very different from the 'neo-Orthodox’ trend that has been present in Serbian art music since the late 1980s. PB - Belgrade : Department of Musicology, Faculty of Music T2 - New Sound International Journal of Music T1 - Parenting the Piano: Miroslav Miša Savić's St. Lazarus Waltz SP - 123 EP - 138 IS - 49 UR - https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_dais_3612 ER -
@article{ author = "Medić, Ivana", year = "2017", abstract = "This article deals with a work by a contemporary Serbian composer Miroslav Miša Savić (b. 1954): St. Lazarus Waltz for one or two grand pianos, with or without children’s toy pianos. Since St. Lazarus is a children’ s holiday, the composer’s idea was to depict children by toy pianos, while the grand pianos are 'parents’. The waltz exists in several versions: from the first one, where the children pianos are quite small and their musical parts very restricted, to the version for two 'adult’ pianos, which describes the moment in life when children have grown up and left their parental home. Aside from exploring these musical 'family ties’, Savić implements a simple yet ingenious constructive principle in all versions of this waltz. The structure of the piece is based on the exploitation of the system of equal temperament and on the Fibonacci row, and this frame is filled with several layers of musical references, including: Johann Sebastian Bach and other composers who wrote 'well-tempered’ piano music; repetitive/processual minimalism, a style that Savić and his peers brought into Serbian music, but have since evolved in different directions; the Serbian tradition of romantic salon piano pieces; finally, the Orthodox tradition, but referenced in a way very different from the 'neo-Orthodox’ trend that has been present in Serbian art music since the late 1980s.", publisher = "Belgrade : Department of Musicology, Faculty of Music", journal = "New Sound International Journal of Music", title = "Parenting the Piano: Miroslav Miša Savić's St. Lazarus Waltz", pages = "123-138", number = "49", url = "https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_dais_3612" }
Medić, I.. (2017). Parenting the Piano: Miroslav Miša Savić's St. Lazarus Waltz. in New Sound International Journal of Music Belgrade : Department of Musicology, Faculty of Music.(49), 123-138. https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_dais_3612
Medić I. Parenting the Piano: Miroslav Miša Savić's St. Lazarus Waltz. in New Sound International Journal of Music. 2017;(49):123-138. https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_dais_3612 .
Medić, Ivana, "Parenting the Piano: Miroslav Miša Savić's St. Lazarus Waltz" in New Sound International Journal of Music, no. 49 (2017):123-138, https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_dais_3612 .