Valery Gavrilin’s Method of Music Composition: Reviewing Archival Materials
Many of Valery Gavrilin’s musical themes are known to have emerged from drama theatre. For instance, the famous oboe theme from the choral symphonic action “Chimes” was first performed entirely in the play “Son of the Regiment”, while the theme of the song “The Joke” initially featured under the name “Charleston” in the play “Playing with a Cat”. Having considered Gavrilin’s works as a single text, the author concluded that his themes and the shaping of sound are semantically multifaceted. Music often migrates between different works, being modified according to their inherent dramatic composition. In other words, the composer’s characters, being expressively shaped, would easily change their lines and masks once the genre changed. This reveals the intrinsic theatrics of Gavrilin’s style, which makes it truly unique and recognizable.