| Research Abstract |
The Czech people have developed their own musical opera through spiritual conflicts, calling for their own real identity and, above all, depending on regional elements musically or semantically. As a result, the historical development of Czech opera in modern age is also identified with that of national music. This research indicates creative aspects of modern Czech opera from the viewpoint of national identity, including the issue of cultural nationalism. Consequently, the movement of the Czech nationalism music since the second half of the 19th century is characterized by two tendencies, under the development of European art music of the same age. One is the influence of B.Smetana, who established Czech modern music in Bohemia and aimed for the New Romanticism in Western Europe with the concrete program music and, above all, for the Czech national opera, descriving concretely the antique history of the Czech people of their village-lives etc., even though based on Bohemian folklore.
… More
The other is the influence of A.Dvorak, who tried to realize the formation of national music in absolute music and a fairy opera (e.g. Rusalka), based on Pan-Slavonic expressions extending to the Moravian or Slavonic folk resourcess. On the other hand, a Moravian characteristic phase of Czech modern music was succeeded to further Moravian composer Janacek's opera 'Jenufa', which is not only a work anticipating the beginning of Czech modern music, but also one defining a style of Moravism in music, with the use of Moravian folkloristic idioms. In his Moravian opera, I refered to the aspect of local colour expressed in opera, and besides the issues of regionalism or folklorism, that is, the relations between words and tons, against the standard Czech declamations, Janacek's speech melodies, and his own rhythmic theory. Thus, including the characteristic of modern Czech opera, I published a book entitled 'the Charm of Czech music' (2007), from the viewpoint of national culture, that is, it is a investigation of 'Czechness' on the Czech modern opera with the controvasy of national music. Modern Czech opera is distinctly a precious product of national culture of Central ＆ East Europe. Less
|
