Scherzo |

ital. scherzo, lit. – joke

1) In the 16-17 centuries. a common designation for three-voice canzonets, as well as monophonic woks. plays on texts of a playful, comic nature. Samples – from C. Monteverdi (“Musical scherzos” (“jokes”) – “Sherzi musicali, 1607), A. Brunelli (3 collections of 1-5-head. scherzos, arias, canzonettes and madrigals -“ Scherzi, Arie, Canzonette e Madrigale”, 1613-14 and 1616), B. Marini (“Scherzo and canzonettes for 1 and 2 voices” – “Scherzi e canzonette a 1 e 2 voci”, 1622). From the beginning 17th century S. also becomes the designation of instr. a piece close to a capriccio. The authors of such symphonies were A. Troilo (“Symphony, scherzo…” – “Sinfonie, scherzi”, 1608), I. Shenk (“Musical scherzos (jokes)” – “Scherzi musicali” for viola da gamba and bass, 1700) . S. was also included in the instr. suite; as part of a suite-type work, it is found in J. S. Bach (Partita No 3 for clavier, 1728).

2) From con. 18th century one of the parts (usually the 3rd) of the sonata-symphony. cycle – symphonies, sonatas, less often concertos. For S. typical size 3/4 or 3/8, fast pace, free change of music. thoughts, introducing an element of the unexpected, sudden and making the S. genre related to the capriccio. Like burlesque, S. often represents the expression of humor in music – from a fun game, jokes to the grotesque, and even to the embodiment of wild, sinister, demonic. images. S. is usually written in a 3-part form, in which S. proper and its repetition are interspersed with a trio of calmer and lyrical. character, sometimes – in the form of a rondo with 2 decomp. trio. In the early sonata-symphony. cycle the third part was a minuet, in the works of composers of the Viennese classic. school, the place of the minuet was gradually taken by the S. It directly grew out of the minuet, in which features of scherzoism appeared and began to appear more and more. Such are the minuets of late sonata-symphonies. cycles of J. Haydn, some early cycles of L. Beethoven (1st piano sonata). As a designation of one of the parts of the cycle, the term “S.” J. Haydn was the first to use it in the “Russian quartets” (op. 33, No. 2-6, 1781), but these s. in essence did not yet differ from the minuet. At an early stage in the formation of the genre, the designation S. or Scherzando was sometimes worn by the final parts of the cycles, sustained in even sizes. Classic type S. developed in the work of L. Beethoven, to-ry had a clear preference for this genre over the minuet. It was determined to express. S.’s possibilities, much broader in comparison with the minuet, limited by the predominance. sphere of “gallant” images. The largest masters of S. as part of the sonata-symphony. cycles in the West were later F. Schubert, who, however, along with S. used the minuet, F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, who gravitated towards a peculiar, especially light and airy scherzoism generated by fairy tale motifs, and A. Bruckner. In the 19th century S. often used themes borrowed from the folklore of other countries (F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s Scottish Symphony, 1842). S. received a rich development in Russian. symphonies. A kind of national The implementation of this genre was given by A. P. Borodin (S. from the 2nd symphony), P. I. Tchaikovsky, who included S. in almost all symphonies and suites (the 3rd part of the 6th symphony is not named. S., but in essence is S., the features of which are combined here with the features of the march), A. K. Glazunov. S. contain many. symphonies of owls composers – N. Ya. Myaskovsky, S. S. Prokofiev, D. D. Shostakovich and others.

3) In the era of romanticism, S. became independent. music play, ch. arr. for fp. The first samples of such S. are close to capriccio; this kind of S. was already created by F. Schubert. F. Chopin interpreted this genre in a new way. In his 4 fp. S. filled with high drama and often dark in color episodes alternate with lighter lyrical ones. Fp. S. also wrote R. Schumann, I. Brahms, from Russian. composers – M. A. Balakirev, P. I. Tchaikovsky, and others. There are S. and for other solo instruments. In the 19th century S. were created and in the form of independent. orc. plays. Among the authors of such S. are F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (S. from the music for W. Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream), P. Duke (S. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice), M. P. Mussorgsky, A. K. Lyadov and others.