Yavorsky, Boleslav Leopol'dovich

(b Kharkov, 10/22 June 1877; d Saratov, 26 Nov 1942). Russian musicologist, music educator and pianist of Polish descent. He graduated from the Kiev College of Music, having specialized in the piano with Pukhal'sky (1894–8); he also studied mathematics at Kiev University, 1897–8. He then attended the Moscow Conservatory (1898–1903), studying the piano (with N.Ya. Shishkin) and composition (with Ippolitov-Ivanov and Taneyev) and attending Smolensky's course in the history of Russian church music. From 1921 to 1931 he was a member of the State Academy of Artistic Studies (later the State Academy of Arts), and in 1941 he was awarded an honorary doctorate.

Yavorsky's career embraced an extremely wide variety of activities. From 1903 onwards he took an active role in the Music-Ethnography Commission, which promoted the collection, study and teaching of folksong. He took a special interest in music education: he was a founder of the Moscow (1906) and director (1917–21) of the Kiev narodnïye konservatorii (‘people's conservatories’), which were created to disseminate knowledge of music among wide sectors of the population. Together with the singer M.A. Deysha-Sionitzkaya, he was the organizer of ‘Muzïkal'nïye vïstavki’ (‘Musical Exhibitions’) from 1907 to 1911, concerts programming lesser-known works by Russian and West European composers. As a pianist he gave many concerts, both as a soloist at concerts organized by the Association of Contemporary Music, Moscow, in the 1920s and as an ensemble player (with the soprano Nina Koshetz and with the Stradivari Quartet among others). Between 1921 and 1930 he occupied leading posts in governmental organizations, in which he contributed to the reform of musical education. From 1932 to 1939 he worked for the publishing house Muzgiz as an editor. He also composed an opera, orchestral and piano works and romances, and arranged folksongs.

Yavorsky was an outstanding teacher. During the course of his career he taught the piano, conducting, composition, the history of performance styles and theoretical subjects. He worked at a number of institutions, among them the Moscow People's Conservatory (1906–16), the Kiev State Conservatory and People's Conservatory (1916–21), Kiev University (1920), Moscow University (1929–30), the opera studio of the Bol'shoy Theatre (1930–31), the First Moscow Technical College of Music (1921–30) and the Moscow State Conservatory (1938–42). His many distinguished pupils include the musicologists Al'shvang, Vladimir Protopopov and Zuckermann, and the composers A. Krein, Leontovych, Melkikh and Sergey Protopopov.

Yavorsky was also an outstandingly original scholar whose erudition and breadth of vision made a deep impression on his colleagues. He sought to define the interdependence between social and historical processes, the evolution of human psychology and the development of different types of musical thinking. He was equally comfortable writing on historical and aesthetic questions (1947, 1987) as he was writing on pure theory. An example of his work in the latter field is his celebrated ‘theory of key rhythm’ in which he examined the systems of lad (‘modes’) developed during the 20th century. The study established for the first time the general principles according to which these systems function, examining the inner coherence and the ‘objective’ effect of atonal systems built primarily on augmented and diminished intervals. His work paved the way for V.P. Dernova's groundbreaking Garmoniya Skryabina, published in 1968 but written in 1950, and Yavorsky's theories were later expanded by Protopopov to include quarter tones. Messiaen also studied Yavorsky's writings, and Messiaen's idea of intonation as a first principle of expressive musical form reflects the writer's influence.

Very few of Yavorsky's writings were published during his lifetime, and publication of the vast quantity of his extant written material began only recently. His views, however, were well-known to his contemporaries by word of mouth and were discussed at congresses. His work was highly valued by Myaskovsky, Shostakovich, Asaf'yev and Gnesin and continues to attract the attention of modern scholars.

WRITINGS

Stroyeniye muzïkal'noy rechi [The construction of musical speech] (Moscow, 1908)

Uprazhneniya v golosovedenii [Exercises in part-writing] (Moscow, 1913, 2/1928)

‘Tekst i muzïka’ [Text and music], Muzïka, no.163; no.166; no.169 (1914)

Uprazhneniya v obrazovanii ladovogo ritma [Exercises in the formation of schemes of modal rhythm], i (Moscow, 1915, 2/1928)

with S.N. Belyayeva-Ėkzemplyarskaya: ‘Vospriyatiye ladovïkh melodicheskikh postroyeniy’ [The perception of tonal melodic structures], Sborniki eksperimental'no-psikhologicheskikh issledovaniy (Leningrad, 1926), 1

with S.N. Belyayeva-Ėkzemplyarskaya: Struktura melodii (Moscow, 1929) [incl. ‘Konstruktsiya melodicheskogo protessa’ [The construction of the melodic process], 7–36]

Syuitï Bakha dlya klavira [Bach’s keyboard suites] (Moscow, 1947)

‘Pis'ma’ [Letters], B. Yavorskiy, ed. D. Shostakovich (Moscow, enlarged 2/1972), 247–610

‘Zametki o tvorcheskom mïshlenii russkikh kompozitorov ot Glinki do Skryabina’ [Notes on creative thinking in Russian composers from Glinka to Skryabin], ‘Vospominaniya o Sergeye Ivanoviche Taneyeve’ [Reminiscences of Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev], B. Yavorskiy: izbrannïye trudï, ed. D.D. Shostakovich (Moscow, 1987), 41–235, 241–348

BIBLIOGRAPHY

G.M. Rimsky-Korsakov: ‘Akusticheskoye obosnovaniye teorii ladovogo ritma’ [The acoustic basis of the theory of key rhythm], Muzïkoznaniye, iv (1928)

N. Boicenco: Nuovi principi della composizione musicale: teoria ed esercizi (Rome, 1928)

V. Zuckermann: ‘Teoriya ladovogo ritma i yeyo primeneniye’ [The theory of key rhythm and its use], Proletarskiy muzïkant (1929), no.7; no.8

I.Ya. Rïzhkin: ‘Teoriya ladovogo ritma (B. Yavorsky)’, in L.A. Mazel' and I.Ya. Rïzhkin: Ocherki po istorii teoreticheskogo muzïkoznaniya, ii (Moscow, 1939), 105–205

V. Zuckermann and L. Kulakovsky: ‘Yavorskiy: teoretik’ [Yavorsky: the theorist], SovM (1957), no.12, pp.68–75

D. Shostakovich, ed.: B. Yavorskiy, i (Moscow, 1964, enlarged 2/1972)

Yu.N. Kholopov: ‘Simmetrichnïye ladï v teoreticheskikh sistemakh Yavorskogo i Messiana’ [Symmetrical modes in the theoretical systems of Yavorsky and Messiaen], Muzïka i sovremennost', vii (1971), 247–93

I. Nabok: ‘Problemï sotsial'noy prirodï muzïkal'nogo tvorchestva v teoreticheskom nasledii B. Yavorskogo’ [Problems of the social character of musical composition in the theoretical work of Yavorsky], in A.A. Farbshteyn, ed. Muzïka v sotsialisticheskom obshchestve, iii (Leningrad, 1977), 219–32

K. Wiłkomirski: ‘Bołeslaw Jaworski: twórca teorii myślenia musycznego’ [Boleslav Yavorsky: founder of a theory of musical thought], Ruch muzyczny (1977), no.25, pp.3–6

B. Bayevsky: ‘Yavorskiy i nekotorïye tendentsii kul'turï yego vremeni’ [Yavorsky and some trends in the culture of his time], SovM (1978), no.5, pp.83–9

Yu. Kon: ‘Neskol'ko teoreticheskikh paralleley’ [Some theoretical parallels], ibid., pp.90–92

N.B.L. Finkel'berg: ‘Yavorsky ob ispolnitel'stve’ [Yavorsky on performance], Muzïkal'noye ispolnitel'stvo, x (1979), 3–21

M. Aranovsky: ‘Intonatsiya, znak i “novïye metodï”’ [Intonation, symbol and ‘new methods’], SovM (1980), no.10, pp.99–109

L.B.L. Maslennikova: ‘Yavorsky o vospitanii slukha’ [Yavorsky on the education of hearing], Kritika i muzïkoznaniye, ii (1980), 198–207

TAT'YANA S. KYUREGIAN

Ya-yüeh

(Chin.: ‘elegant music’).

A general term for Chinese court music. It also refers to the ritual music of Confucianism. See China, §II.

Ycart [Hycart, Hycaert, Icart, Ycaert], Bernhard [Bernar, Bernardus]

(fl c1470–1480). Catalan or Spanish composer. He was a singer at the Aragonese court of Naples, where his presence is first recorded in 1478, although he may have been there from 1476. A papal provision of 27 October 1478, which described Ycart as a clericus from the diocese of Tortosa, granted him an abbacy ‘in commendam’ at the monastery of S Maria del Pendino in Basilicata. He is last mentioned in a register of 25 (or 27) October 1480, where he is listed among 21 singers; his name is given just above that of Tinctoris.

Musical life at the court flourished during the 1470s and 80s, with the presence of composers such as Vincenet, Villette and Baude Cordier. Pantaleone Malegolo, the contemporary biographer of Gaffurius, reported that Gaffurius had discussed matters of music theory with Ycart. But if he was a theorist there is no trace of any treatise that he may have written. He is, however, cited in Hothby’s Dialogus in arte musica and Gaffurius’s Tractatus practicabilium proportionum, and it seems likely that he was part of their circle in northern Italy. His music must have already been known in Italy by the early 1470s, as he is included in the part of I-FZc 117 that Bonadies completed in 1473. The works included in this manuscript (the 3 Magnificat settings and the fragmentary setting of the Ordinary) must date from before his arrival in Naples. The three-voice Magnificat sexti toni, like the Kyrie and Gloria, sets sections of polyphony with a cantus firmus tenor; the work is therefore an early forerunner of the ‘parody’ Magnificat, which became more popular in the 16th century. Ycart’s large-scale setting of the Lamentations almost certainly dates from his Neapolitan years, since such lavish music would have been stylistically appropriate for the music of Holy Week at the court. His music remained in circulation for some time, as witnessed by the fact that two works were published by Petrucci in 1506.

WORKS

Kyrie, 4vv; Gloria, 4vv: I-FZc 117

Magnificat, 3vv, ed. in Atlas (1985); 2 Magnificat, 4vv: FZc 117 (1 also in F-Pn Rés.Vm7676)

Lamentations, 4vv, 15061; ed. G. Massenkeil, Mehrstimmige Lamentationen aus der ersten Hälfte des 16. Jahrhunderts (Mainz, 1965)

O princeps Pilate, motet, 4vv, I-MC 871, ed. in Pope and Kanazawa

Non touches a moy, chanson, 3vv, F-Pn 15123, ed. G. Haberkamp, Die weltliche Vokalmusik in Spanien (Tutzing, 1968)

Missa de ‘Amor tu non mi gabasti’, lost

Missa ‘Voltate in qua’, lost

Pover me mischin dolente, Se io te o dato, 1 textless piece, I-PEc 431, attrib. Isaac by J. Wolf, DTÖ, xxviii, Jg.xiv/1 (1907/R), but probably by Ycart; see Atlas (1977)

Tarde il mio cor and Amor, both FZc 117, attrib. Ycart by A.W. Ambros, Geschichte der Musik, iii (Leipzig, 1868, rev. by O. Kade, 2/1893/R), are by John Hothby

BIBLIOGRAPHY

StevensonSM; Vander StraetenMPB

D. Plamenac: ‘Keyboard Music of the Fourteenth Century in Codex Faenza’, JAMS, iv (1951), 179–201

H. Anglès: La música en la corte de los reyes católicos, MME, i (1941, 2/1960/R) [see also review by D. Plamenac of 1st edn, MQ, xxxiv (1948), 289–93]

C.A. Miller: ‘Early Gaffuriana: New Answers to Old Questions’, MQ, lvi (1970), 367–88

A. Atlas: ‘On the Neapolitan Provenance of the Manuscript Perugia, Biblioteca Comunale Augusta, 431 (G 20)’, MD, xxxi (1977), 45–105

I. Pope and M. Kanazawa: The Musical Manuscript Montecassino 871: a Neapolitan Repertory of Sacred and Secular Music of the Late Fifteenth Century (Oxford, 1978)

A.W. Atlas: Music at the Aragonese Court of Naples (Cambridge, 1985)

R. Stevenson: ‘Spanish Musical Impact (1200–1500)’, España en la música de occidente: Salamanca 1985, 115–64

D. Fallows: Catalogue of Polyphonic Songs, 1415–1480 (Oxford, 1999)

ALLAN W. ATLAS/JANE ALDEN

Ye Dong

(b Shanghai, 21 July 1930; d Shanghai, 12 July 1989). Chinese musicologist. He studied composition and music theory at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music under Ding Shande, Deng Erjing and Sang Tong; after graduating he joined the faculty there in 1956. He became vice-chair of the Department of Chinese Composition, and director of the Chinese Music Research programme in the conservatory’s Music Research Institute. His 1983 book on Chinese instrumental music was one of the earliest and most comprehensive textbooks on the subject.

In 1964 Ye had become interested in the 10th-century ce musical notation from Dunhuang. But his work was soon interrupted by the Cultural Revolution, which took a grave toll on his health. He was only able to resume work early in the 1980s on this and other material relating to Tang dynasty music. This research, along with that of scholars such as He Changlin, Chen Yingshi and Xi Zhenguan, as well as that of Laurence Picken, gave a high profile to the study and recreation of early Chinese music. The publication of Ye's transnotations was a major event in the Chinese musical life of the 1980s. Discussing important issues such as metre, musical syntax, performing practice, and lyric settings, his work sparked off an unprecedented interest in early notation and music, leading to lively debates. Apart from its scholarly value, his work has also inspired composition, dance and film music.

See also China, §II, 3.

WRITINGS

‘Dunhuang qupu yanjiu’ [Study of the Dunhuang musical notation], Yinyue yishu (1982), no.1, pp.1–13

‘Dunhuang Tangren qupu yipu’ [Transnotation of the Tang musical notation from Dunhuang], Yinyue yishu (1982), no.2, pp.1–5

Minzu qiyue de ticai yu xingshi [The form and structure of Chinese instrumental music] (Shanghai, 1983)

‘Dunhuang bihua zhongde wuxian pipa jiqi Tangyue’ [The five-string pipa and Tang music in the Dunhuang frescoes], Yinyue yishu (1984), no.1, pp.24–41

‘Tangchuan wuxian pipapu yipu’ [Transnotation of the five-string pipa notation transmitted from the Tang], Yinyue yishu (1984), no.2, pp.1–11

Dunhuang pipa qupu [The Dunhuang pipa notation] (Shanghai, 1986)

‘Tangchuan zhengqu yu Tang shengshiqu jieyi: jianlun Tangyue zhongde de jiezou jiepai’ [Interpretation of zheng and vocal music transmitted from the Tang: rhythm and metre in Tang music], Yinyue yishu (1986), no.3, pp.1–17

‘Dunhuang quzici de yinyue chutan’ [Study of the music of quzici from Dunhuang], Zhonghua wenshi luncong (1987), no.2, pp.177–202

‘Tangchuan shisanxian zhengqu ershiba shou’ [28 pieces for 13-string zheng transmitted from the Tang], Jiaoxiang (1987), no.2, pp.20–30; no.3, pp.18–30

‘Tang daqu qushi jiegou’ [Form and structure of the Tang daqu], Zhongguo yinyuexue (1989), no.3, pp.43–64

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Tansuo zhi ge: Jinian yinyuexuejia Ye Dong jiaoshou [Song of an explorer: in memory of the musicologist Professor Ye Dong] (Shanghai, 1991)

SU ZHENG

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