Influence of Folk Material on Musical Form Development (by the Example of M. I. Volkov's Piano Cycle “The Seasons”)
Using M. I. Volkov's piano cycle as an example, the research aims to determine the influence of folk material utilised by the composer on form development of the cycle and its constituent pieces. The paper is novel in that it identifies factors in form development of a musical composition that has not been studied from this perspective until now. The research has shown that the use of folk material in the composer's creative work involves certain transformations of both primary sources and classical musical forms. As a result, mixed types of forms synthesising classical and folk principles of form development are produced. In particular, two-part and three-part forms with elements of variations, as well as an expanded and complicated verse-strophic form are used.