Title: About the Interaction of the Audio and Video Elements in the Composition “Three Tales” by Steve Reich and Beryl Korot
Abstract:The article is devoted to understanding certain artistic principles of the “documentary video opera” (according to Steve Reich’s original definition) as one of the relevant forms of contemporary music...The article is devoted to understanding certain artistic principles of the “documentary video opera” (according to Steve Reich’s original definition) as one of the relevant forms of contemporary music. The author of the article indicates at the sources of documentary theater, highlights the artistic ideas of the composer’s documentary works, and analyzes the compositional techniques of the work. Special attention is paid to the issue of interaction of music and the video element, which has practically never been researched in musicology in Russia and other countries, on the example of the video opera “Three Tales” (2002). In this composition, created by the celebrated American minimalist composer Steve Reich and video artist Beryl Korot, a pioneer of American video art, an original conception of the dialogue between the arts is examined. Here the music and video comprise one scenic entity, developing by the laws of musical minimalism and documentary theater. The composition possesses specific compositional and form-generating peculiarities, including principles of non-linear dramaturgy, polyphonic techniques, including the principles of nonlinear dramaturgy, contrapuntal and repetitive techniques. The documentary nature of the musical material is also emphasized by the verbatim technique, derived from documentary theater and holding a dominating position when the composer wrote his previous opera “The Cave.” The author denotes the expansion of the possibilities of interpretation of Reich’s compositions based on documentary material and arrives at the conclusion about the special potentials of synthesis of various arts within the framework of musical video opera. Keywords: Steve Reich’s musical theater, Beryl Korot, documentary theater, video opera, synthesis of the arts.Read More