The Semantics of Revolutionary Imagery

The formation of revolutionary imagery in the works of 20th century Russian composers turned out to be a lengthy process. Its decisive stage coincides with the 1950s and is primarily connected with the musical legacy of Dmitri Shostakovich. Among the main criteria of revolutionary semantics, the following are highlighted in the article: the direct or indirect connections with the folklore of the Revolution and the Civil War; efficacy and drama, which presumes the recreation of the high tension of life experience, outlining of confrontations of life; the audacity, virility and sternness of tone, a highlighted civic consciousness of utterance, a martial, assertive spirit. The varieties of the examined complex are viewed according the principles of paired contrasts: the march-like vs. the swirling, the songlike vs. the instrumental, the potential vs. the kinetic. At the same time, it is emphasized that the attribute of the march in all of its possible interpretations, open or concealed, always remains the foundation of revolutionary imagery. The dialectic quality inherent to it always becomes unfolded in conjugacy with such seemingly incompatible pictorial characteristic features as being tuned at an irate mood and the spirit of radiance. Within the system of the examined semantics, they appear as mutually complimentary essences forming an organic whole.