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lat. diminutio; German Diminution, Verkleinerung; French and English. diminution; ital. diminuzione

1) Same as diminution.

2) A method for transforming a melody, theme, motive, rhythmic. drawing or figure, as well as pauses by playing them with sounds (pauses) of shorter duration. Distinguish U. exact, without changes reproducing osn. rhythm in the appropriate proportion (for example, an introduction from the opera “Ruslan and Lyudmila” by Glinka, number 28), inaccurate, reproducing the main. rhythm (theme) with various rhythmic. or melodic. changes (for example, the aria of the Swan-Bird, No. 11 from the 2nd act of Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, number 117), and rhythmic, or non-thematic, with krom melodic. the drawing is preserved either approximately (the beginning of the introduction to the opera Sadko by Rimsky-Korsakov), or not preserved at all (the rhythm of the side part in U. in the development of the 1st movement of Shostakovich’s 5th symphony).

J. Dunstable. Cantus firmus from motet Christe sanctorum decus (counterpunctuated voices omitted).

J. Spataro. Motet.

The emergence of U. (and increase) as a musical expressive and technically organizing means dates back to the time of the use of mensural notation and is associated with the development of polyphonic. polyphony. X. Riemann indicates that the first U. used the motet I. de Muris in the tenor. Isorhythmic motet – main. U.’s scope in the 14th century: repeated, similar to ostinato, conducting rhythmic. figures are the basis of music. forms, and U. is actually a muse. the regularity of its organization (unlike most other forms defined by the main arr. text). In the motets of G. de Machaux (Amaro valde, Speravi, Fiat voluntas tua, Ad te suspiramus) rhythmic. the figure is repeated in U. each time with a new melodic. filling; in isorhythmic motets J. Dunstable rhythmic. the figure is repeated (twice, thrice) with a new melody, then everything is reproduced with the preservation of the melody. drawing in one and a half, then 3-fold U. (see column 720). A similar phenomenon is observed in some masses of the Netherlands. contrapuntalists of the 15th century, where the cantus firmus in subsequent parts is held in U., and the melody taken for the cantus firmus at the end of the work. sounds in the form in which it existed in everyday life (see an example in Art. Polyphony, columns 354-55). Masters of a strict style used W.’s technique in the so-called. mensural (proportional) canons, where voices identical in pattern have diff. temporal proportions (see the example in Art. Canon, column 692). In contrast to the increase, U. does not contribute to the isolation of the general polyphonic. the flow of that voice in which it is used. However, U. well sets off another voice if it is moved by sounds of a longer duration; therefore, in masses and motets of the 15th-16th centuries. it has become customary to accompany the appearance of cantus firmus in the main (tenor) voice with imitation in other voices based on U. of the same cantus firmus (see column 721).

The technique of opposing the leader and rhythmically more lively voices contrapunctuating him was preserved as long as the forms on the cantus firmus existed. This art reached its highest perfection in the music of J. S. Bach; see, for example, his org. arrangement of the chorale “Aus tiefer Not”, BWV 686, where each phrase of the chorale is preceded by its 5-goal. exposition in U., so that the whole is formed in strophic. fugue (6 voices, 5 exposures; see the example in Art. Fugue). In Ach Gott und Herr, BWV 693, all imitating voices are double and quadruple W. chorale, i.e. the whole texture is thematic:

J. S. Bach. Choral organ arrangement “Ach Gott und Herr”.

Reachercar con. 16th-17th centuries and close to him tiento, fantasy – an area where U. (as a rule, in combination with an increase and reversal of a theme) has found wide application. W. contributed to the development of a sense of pure instr. dynamics of form and, applied to individualized themes (in contrast to the thematism of a strict style), turned out to be a technique that embodies the most important idea of ​​motive development for the music of subsequent periods.

Ya. P. Sweelinck. “Chromatic Fantasy” (an excerpt from the final section; the theme is in two- and four-fold reduction).

The specificity of U.’s expressiveness as a technique is such that, in addition to isorhythmic. motet and some op. 20th century there are no other forms where it would be the basis of the composition. Canon in U. as independent. play (A. K. Lyadov, “Canons”, No 22), answer to U. in fugue (“The Art of the Fugue” by Bach, Contrapunctus VI; see also various combinations with U. in the final fugue from the pianoforte quartet, op. 20 Taneyev, in particular the numbers 170, 172, 184) are rare exceptions. U. sometimes finds use in fugue strettas: for example, in measures 26, 28, 30 of the E-dur fugue from the 2nd volume of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier; in measure 117 of the fugue Fis-dur op. 87 No 13 Shostakovich; in bar 70 from the finale of the concerto for 2 fp. Stravinsky (characteristically inaccurate imitation with a change of accents); in measure 63 from the 1st scene of the 3rd act of the opera “Wozzeck” by Berg (see the example in Strett’s article). W., a technique that is polyphonic in nature, finds an extremely diverse application in non-polyphonic. music of the 19th and 20th centuries. In a number of cases, U. is one of the ways of motivating organization in a topic, for example:

S. I. Taneev. Theme from the 3rd movement of the c-moll symphony.

(See also the initial five bars of the finale of Beethoven’s sonata No. 23 in piano; the orchestral introduction to Ruslan’s aria, No. 8 from Glinka’s Ruslan and Ludmila; No. 10, b-moll from Prokofiev’s Fleeting, etc.). The polyphonization of music is widespread. fabrics with the help of U. when presenting the theme (the chorus “Dispersed, cleared up” in the scene near Kromy from Mussorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov; this type of technique was used by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov – 1st act of the opera The Legend of the Invisible City Kitezh”, numbers 5 and 34, and S. V. Rachmaninov – the 1st part of the poem “The Bells”, number 12, variation X in “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini”), during its deployment (small canon from Berg’s violin concerto, bar 54; as one of the manifestations of the neoclassical orientation of style – U. in the 4th part of the violin sonata by K. Karaev, bar 13), at the climax. and conclude. constructions (code from the introduction of the opera Ruslan and Lyudmila by Glinka; 2nd part of Rachmaninov’s The Bells, two measures up to number 52; 4th part of Taneyev’s 6th quartet, number 191 and further; end of the ballet “The Firebird” Stravinsky). U. as a way of transforming the theme is used in variations (2nd, 3rd variations in Arietta from Beethoven’s 32nd piano sonata; piano etude “Mazeppa” by Liszt), in transitional constructions (basso ostinato when moving to the coda of the symphony’s finale c-moll Taneyev, number 101), in various kinds of transformations of opera leitmotifs (reworking of the thunderstorm leitmotif into subsequent lyrical themes at the beginning of the 1st act of Wagner’s opera Valkyrie; isolating the motif of birds and various motifs of the Snow Maiden from the theme of Spring in “ Snow Maiden” by Rimsky-Korsakov; a grotesque distortion of the Countess’s leitmotif in the 2nd scene of the opera “The Queen of Spades”, number 62 and beyond), and the figurative changes obtained with U.’s participation can be cardinal (the tenor’s entry into Tuba mirum from Mozart’s Requiem, measure 18; leitmotif in the coda of the finale of Rachmaninoff’s 3rd symphony, 5th measure after number 110; middle movement, number 57, from Taneyev’s scherzo symphony in c-moll). U. is an important means of development in the developing sections of forms and sonata developments of the 19th and 20th centuries. U. in the development of the overture to Wagner’s Nuremberg Mastersingers (bar 122; triple fugato, bar 138) is a cheerful mockery of aimless learning (however, the combination of the theme and its U. in bars 158, 166 is a symbol of mastery, skill). In the development of the 1st part of the 2nd fp. concerto Rachmaninov U. the theme of the main party is used as a dynamizing tool (number 9). In production D. D. Shostakovich U. is used as a sharp expressive device (imitations on the theme of a side part in the 1st part of the 5th symphony, numbers 22 and 24; in the same place at the culmination, number 32; the endless ostinato canon on the sounds of the leitmotif in 2- th part of the 8th quartet, number 23; the 1st part of the 8th symphony is inaccurate U. the theme of the side part is one of the themes of the double canon, number 23).

I. F. Stravinsky. “Symphony of Psalms”, 1st movement (beginning of the reprise).

U. has a rich express. and depict. opportunities. The “great ringing” from Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” (change of harmony through a beat, half a beat, a quarter of a beat) is distinguished by a special dynamism. An almost visual image (Sigmund’s Notung, shattered by a blow against Wotan’s spear) appears in the 5th scene from the 2nd act of Wagner’s Valkyrie. A rare case of sound-visual polyphony is a fugato depicting a forest in the 3rd village of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “The Snow Maiden” (four rhythmic variants of the theme, number 253). A similar technique was used in the scene with the insane Grishka Kuterma in the 2nd scene of the 3rd act. “Tales of the Invisible City of Kitezh” (movement in eighths, triplets, sixteenths, number 225). In the symbol code Rachmaninoff’s poem “Isle of the Dead” combines five variants of Dies irae (bar 11 after number 22).

In the music of the 20th century the concept of W. often passes into the concept of a decreasing progression; This applies primarily to the rhythmic. topic organization. The principle of U. or progression in some serial works can be extended to the structure of a whole product. or means. its parts (1st of 6 pieces for harp and strings, quartet op. 16 by Ledenev). The long-used combination of the theme and its language in the works of the 20th century. is transformed into a technique of combining similar figures, when harmony is made up of the sounding of the same melodic-rhythmic sound at different times. turnover (for example, “Petrushka” by Stravinsky, number 3).

This technique is used in partial aleatoric, where performers improvise on given sounds, each at their own pace (some works by V. Lutoslavsky). O. Messiaen studied the forms of U. and increase (see his book “The Technique of My Musical Language”; see an example in Art. Increase).

References: see at Art. Increase.

V. P. Frayonov