RESEARCH ON THE PROBLEMS OF PIANO CREATIVE WORK BY A. ARENSKY IN THE SCIENTIFIC PAPERS OF PROFESSOR N. USUBOVA

The article examines the scientific work of one of the prominent representatives of the 20th century Azerbaijani piano performing school, Honored Art Worker, Professor Nigar Usubova (1914–1994). N. Usubova devoted an important part of her life to pedagogical activity, raising a generation of talented pianists. She made an exceptional contribution to the development of the Azerbaijani piano school and the definition of its future directions. N. Usubova’s pedagogical principles are reflected in her dissertation work and methodical manual. As it is known, N. Usubova studied in the class of A. Goldenweiser and wrote these scientific works under the guidance of the prominent pianist. An important part of these scientific works is devoted to the study of A. Arensky’s piano creative activity. Here, the musician touched upon the features of the composer’s piano performing, as well as the characteristic features of his music. The research also provides performing characteristics of the works analyzed and covering various genres. The purpose of the research is to study the fundamental results and main performing principles in the scientific works dedicated to A. Arensky’s piano creative work by Nigar Usubova, a brilliant representative of the Azerbaijani piano school of the twentieth century. In these scientific research works, N. Usubova touched upon the features of the prominent composer’s piano creative work, performing principles, circle of images; moreover, analyzed the form, genre, tone and other aspects and conducted research on the background of characteristic features of Russian music. We would like to bring to your attention that N. Usubova’s scientific works have not been published. This raises the scientific significance and relevance of the topic more. These scientific works are the first research work dedicated to the study of A. Arensky’s piano music in the Azerbaijani science of music. The research methodology is based on analytical and theoretical analysis, as well as on the source research method (work with archival materials). The main principle is the study and analysis of the fundamental results obtained by N. Usubova in the study of piano music by A. Arensky. The scientific novelty of the research is that for the first time the scientific works of the outstanding pianist Nigyar Usubov are studied, their scientific significance, as well as the issues reflected in those works, are revealed. We would like to bring to your attention that © Gunel Eyvazzade, 2021 Recieved 08.12.2020


Introduction
The study of the works of prominent personalities is of great importance in Azerbaijani musicology. Among the scientific works carried out in modern times, the names of scientific works of V. Humbatov (2020), I. Nazarov (2020) and other researchers can be mentioned. The appeal to the work of N. Usubova, a prominent representative of the Azerbaijani piano school, is also important. Honoured Art Worker of Azerbaijan, Candidate of Arts, Professor Nigar Usubova was one of the recognized specialists in the field of music education. The representative of the school of such a legendary personality of Soviet musical pedagogy as A. Goldenweiser, N. Usubova proved herself not only as an excellent pedagogue but also as a deep researcher and qualified methodologist.

Purpose of the research
The creative work of the prominent Russian composer A. Arensky covers various genres (Brown, 2001). Piano works have a special place in the composer's creative work and they always attract the attention of pianists with their unusualness (Skvortsova & Gorshkova, 2019, pp. 24-29). N. Usubova also gave a great place to the study of some piano works by A. Arensky in her scientific creative work. The purpose of the research is to clarify the scientific creative work of N. Usubova, as well as the issues reflected in the scientific works of the pianist.

Recent research and publications analysis
We would like to note that for the first time N. Usubova's creative work and the issues reflected in her scientific papers have been studied on a scientific basis at  (Seyidov,1988) and Azerbaijani piano culture of the 20th century (Seyidov, 2006). The study also draws on the research of G. Tsypin (1966), A. Alekseev (1969 and others in the analysis of the features of Arensky's work.

Main research material
N. Usubova is the author of several methodological works of two types, dedicated to the pedagogical and performing principles of A. Goldenweiser, as well as methodological research on the piano works by A. Arensky, narrating about various performing problems of the composer's music and having a great value for the younger generation of musicians.
N. Usubova's methodological work, dedicated to the piano creative work of A. Arensky, dates back to 1987-1988. This methodological work was approved at the 1st Special Piano Department of the Azerbaijan State Conservatory named after U. Hajibeyov (now the Baku Music Academy named after U. Hajibeyli) and is kept in the archive of the library of this educational institution.
N. Usubova was always interested in the creative activity of A. Arensky, a talented representative of Russian musical culture. It is no coincidence that the dissertation, written under the guidance of her pedagogue A. Goldenweiser, is devoted specifically to the piano creative work of A. Arensky. In scientific and methodological works N. Usubova repeatedly expressed valuable observations about the role and significance of A. Arensky in the history of Russian music, shared interesting advice and recommendations regarding the performing features of the composer's piano works. In these works, guided directly by the advice of A. Goldenweiser, N. Usubova analyzed the works of A. Arensky thoroughly, comprehensively and in detail.
The first thing the researcher highlights is the continuation of the traditions of Russian classics in A. Arensky's music, his special dedication to the traditions of P. Tchaikovsky in the field of piano music. N. Usubova writes: "A. Arensky's piano compositions are characterized by the clarity of form, the simplicity of presentation, the richness of melodic material -features, to a greater extent, coming from the chamber lyrics of P. Tchaikovsky. In his piano works, A. Arensky rarely uses authentic folk melodies (the exception is Fantasy on the themes of Ryabinin). Nevertheless, his works have a definite national face: their Russian character is felt very vividly" (Usubova, 1987, p. 2). Further, she finds confirmation of B. Asafiev's idea that A. Arensky embodies in his music a characteristic feature of P. Tchaikovsky's musical language -Russian household manor and urban city. Simultaneously, noting such components of his music as sincerity and truthfulness of expression, the author emphasizes one feature of A. Arensky's works, namely, the absence of big ideas inherent in P. Tchaikovsky's work.
In N. Usubova's work, the following features of A. Arensky's piano music are noted: 1. The composer's piano creative work, except for a few large-scale compositions, developed in the field of miniatures. He didn't embody the genre of the sonata in his music. Simultaneously, piano miniatures are presented in a wide and varied manner.

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ІСТОРІЯ 2. The genre panorama of A. Arensky's creative work (lyrical and programmed miniatures, virtuoso pieces) indicates that being a lyric composer by the nature of his talent, he prefers lyrical miniatures. This feature is reflected in such a typical feature of his musical language as rich melodicism. N. Usubova writes: "Arensky is a typical representative of the Russian piano school, the main features of whom are the melodic richness and melodiousness of the instrument's sound. The academician B. Asafiev rightly points out that the main quality uniting the piano creative work of S. Rachmaninoff, A. Scriabin with P. Tchaikovsky and A. Arensky is melodicism" (Usubova, 1987, p. 4).
3. Along with lyric compositions, numerous virtuoso pieces, etudes, scherzo, and capriccio also have an important place in the creativity of A. Arensky. Etudes by A. Arensky played an important role in the formation of the genre of etudes -Etudes-Tableaux by S. Rachmaninoff and early etudes by A. Scriabin. 4. A. Arensky's piano music is also characterized by programmaticity. In his program compositions, the composer, in general, continues the traditions of P. Tchaikovsky, namely, he prefers the programmaticity not of an illustrative, but a generalized nature. The musical image is expressed by means of an artistic expression. (24 characteristic pieces for piano op.36). 5. A. Arensky laid the foundations of the genre of the program suite for two pianos (Suites op.23).
6. Although A. Arensky in his piano creativity did not gravitate towards pieces of large form, nevertheless, his Fantasy on the themes of Ryabinin became an example of symphonic disclosure of images of the Russian folk epic by means of piano music. A. Arensky in this work continued the traditions of the Russian classical concert, fantasy and other pieces of a concert plan.
N. Usubova in her methodological work thoroughly examines the distinctive features of the piano style of A. Arensky. The author highlights such characteristic features of the composer's music as polyphonic and polymelodic piano texture; polyrhythmics (combination of different meters -5 \ 4, 5 \ 8, etc.); alternation of quartiles and quintiles).
In addition, N. Usubova points out the absence of a full-sounding, internally justified culmination in a number of the composer's piano works. In some dramatic musical pieces by A. Arensky, a "breakdown" occurs precisely at the moment of the culmination. Usubova explains this feature of the composer's works by his desire to avoid unnecessary deep dramatization of the image. She notes some features inherent in A. Arensky's piano miniatures, which subsequently found their development in the early piano works by A. Scriabin and S. Rachmaninoff, in particular, a bright concert style, the versatility of the piano texture, full-sounding harmonic background and "singing" melodic material.
N. Usubova emphasizes that the historical role of A. Arensky is much broader than his contemporaries believed: "The significance of A. Arensky is not in the uniqueness or innovation of his work, but in the fact that A. Arensky (especially in the field of chamber works) was the successor of traditions of Russian classics" (Usubova, 1987, p. 1

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HISTORY tures, the use of staccato sonority as a characteristic touch when creating playful and graceful images, etc. All these diverse means of musical expression are closely interconnected with the character of the artistic image. The artistic content of each piece, the richness and variety of the piano texture is subordinated to the musical image.
Arensky's piano miniatures reveal the colourful world of human feelings: joy, humour, lyrical mood, emotions, pathos. The heartfelt musical images, depicting a diverse world of emotions and reflections, lead to the creation of "living" portrait characteristics by the composer. In miniatures of this kind, N. Usubova recommends emphasizing the melodiousness, the vocal nature of the piano texture:  N. Usubova believed that the piano is a "singing" instrument, and the colourful piano texture contributes to the disclosure of various aspects of the musical content. The rich harmonic background, the "multidimensional" texture of A. Arensky, in her opinion, is close to S. Rachmaninoff's piano style. The piece "By the Sea" (op.52, no. 3) is exactly such an example of piano miniature: Example 4. The piece "By the Sea, op. 52, no. 1. ISSN 2616-7581 (Print) ISSN 2617

HISTORY
Comprehensively examining the piano music of A. Arensky, N. Usubova reveals a number of its characteristic features: 1. The influence of the European classical musical heritage, in particular, the music of F. Chopin and R. Schumann. Therefore, the author points to A. Arensky's piano concerto, to "Elegy" op. 54 (G minor), "Sketch" op.24 (F minor), "Mazurka" and other works similar in texture to the pieces of F. Chopin. A number of the composer's works with the romantic imaginative world are consonant with the artistic images of R. Schumann.
2. The virtuosity of the piano style is defined in the compositions of A. Arensky by a circle of certain images. In particular, N. Usubova writes: "Here we will not find the monumentality of Liszt's "symphonies". These are, first, miniatures, which, despite having a fairly wide and rich range of images, do not go beyond the chamber lyrical content. The very virtuosity of these pieces does not pose the highest virtuoso tasks for the performer" (Usubova, 1988, p. 9).
N. Usubova defines the most typical images of the composer's virtuoso pieces, in particular his etudes, as pictures of mood. On this occasion, it is interesting to cite the following thought of the author: "These are a kind of lyrical impromptu, in which, as well as in all the piano creativity of S. Arensky, various psychological states of a person are clearly, truthfully and convincingly captured" (Usubova, 1988, p. 9).
N. Usubova in her own way interprets the features of the piano texture in the works of the composer. She notes that the choice of texture in a piece always depends on its figurative content. In particular, light, transparent sonority is typical for A. Arensky's scherzo. Small, but bright and graceful accents, register and textured contrasts alternate here. An example of this kind is the composer's Scherzo in E major: Example 5. Scherzo in E major.

ІСТОРІЯ
In A. Arensky's etudes, the instructive and technical side is subordinate to the artistic image. Poetic pictures of mood or landscape are revealed in the composer's music through a pronounced textured design. Etude in E flat major from the collection op. 41 is a vivid example of the lyrical interpretation of the etude genre:

Example 6. Etude in E flat major
Considering the stylistic features of A. Arensky's etudes, she observes two forms of their expression. Some etudes, in terms of intonation and melodic character, bring the composer closer to his younger contemporary S. Rachmaninoff. A number of etudes by A. Arensky, in their figurative mood, harmonic language and peculiar rhythm, are similar to samples of early etudes by A. Scriabin. Specifying her thoughts, N. Usubova compares the etude in G minor from the cycle 12 Etudes (op. 74) by A. Arensky, in terms of the piano texture and plasticity of the melody, with the etude in A major from the cycle 12 Etudes (op. 18) by A. Scriabin.
In the Etude in A minor (op. 41) by A. Arensky, polyrhythm is associated with dynamic development; the texture with dynamic growth resembles the Etude in B minor, op.8 by A. Scriabin: ISSN 2616-7581 (Print) ISSN 2617

Conclusions
N. Usubova's scientific research, written in 1972 and dedicated to the piano creativity of A. Arensky, was a kind of continuation of A. Goldenweiser's thoughts on the composer's pedagogical and performing principles contained in his scientific work in a new perspective and a slightly different style. In particular, in the second section of the work, dedicated to the pedagogical and performing principles of A. Goldenweiser, N. Usubova considers a number of works by A. Arensky and S. Rachmaninoff. Comprehensively analyzing some of A. Arensky's piano compositions, N. Usubova pays special attention to their performing principles. And in the methodical work dedicated to the piano creative work of the composer, the author mainly considers the figurative and emotional content, texture, and in general, the stylistic features of the works. Simultaneously, the author applies to such a little-studied genre of A. Arensky's music as etudes.
Thus, the methodological recommendations of the excellent pedagogue and methodologist Nigar Usubova have not lost their relevance in our time.