FEATURES OF THE CONTEMPORARY FORM-BUILDING IN THE THIRTEENTH LONDON SYMPHONY BY GEORGS PELĒCIS

Abstract

Parallelism of styles in music is rather a widespread phenomenon, especially in the 20th century. A game with styles, usage of a strange word in compositions of contemporary composers, even inclusion of a style in the language store of this or that author – this tendency, so impetuously revealed in the second half of the last century, has not lost its significance nowadays as well. In Latvian music it was not disregarded, either. The game with styles appeared to be attractive enough for many Latvian authors. Moreover, the most different genres turned out to be involved in this process, including the symphonic one. In this respect particular attention should be paid to the Thirteenth London Symphony (2002) by Georgs Pelēcis – the first composition of this genre in the composer’s creative work. The symphonic title itself clearly points to the style that in the world of music is known as classic. The Thirteenth London Symphony is a sort of continuation (if I may say so) and an afterword, a postlude to the London Symphonies by Joseph Haydn. It should be noted that the title London out of twelve symphonies by Haydn is marked by No. 104 which is the last one. Hence, Georgs Pelēcis, entitling his composition the Thirteenth London Symphony, as if directly associated it with the symphony of the Viennese classic. The present paper, comparing the London Symphonies by Haydn and the composition by Pelēcis, focuses on the general and individual (concerning the latter) peculiarities of the relevant style.