The Structural Poetics of Nikolai Korndorf’s Piano Trio

The article is devoted to Nikolai Sergeyevich Korndorf’s Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano Are you ready, brother? (1996). Stemming from analytical observations of the structure of the musical text and the path of hermeneutic interpretation of the content-based aspect of the composition, the author of the article formulates important principles concerning the artistic structure of this composition. The peculiar architectonic aspects of the trio serve as a point of departure for analytic examination. At the same time, diverse structural particularities, revealed for the first time by the author of the article on the level of structural, rhythmic and timbral organization come within the focus of attention of research. Being remote from the ideas of abstract construction, the structural principles of Korndorf’s composition, many of which are discussed in the article, are closely connected with the artistic assignment. Korndorf’s style and compositional technique appear in the Piano Trio from a new side, demonstrating not only a refined structural logic of the musical text, but also the high poetical meaning conveyed in it.