FASHION AND MUSIC ON BORDERS OF AGES. Glossy magazine by Asya Lazar ARDOVA
Fashion and Music on Borders of Ages
Glossy magazine by Asya Lazar Ardova
Listen to the soundtrack “Fashion and Music: Borders of Classicism” constructed and performed by Asya Ardova (piano) at the page ardSOUND of ardisonata.net.
The topic of this most free essay was prompted to me by the sweet music standing between cultural periods and chronological epochs, but being true passion and getting under listener’s skin without any doubt. Thus my attention was drawn to intermediate styles in art. Meanwhile, as artifacts are given birth by human beings of flesh and blood, I became interested, how those authors should be dressed, or, strictly speaking, what was the flare of the epochs, they lived in – from the sound of strings to the embroidery on the hat, from the verbal allegory to the hair cut, make-up, or belt buckle.
I do not suggest studying the peaks of cultural styles, though sometimes the borders are vague, but my most zealous idea is to reveal wonderful artifacts being unchained by the rules of this or that dominating style and trend.
Sometimes stylistic deviations give birth to true emotional discoveries, yet unexpected feelings, symbolizing the purport of generations.
Ancient Egyptian dancers
Borders of Classicism
Listen to the soundtrack “Fashion and Music: Borders of Classicism” constructed and performed by Asya Ardova (piano) at the page ardSOUND of ardisonata.net.
I’d like to show the edges (births and conclusions) of the epochs, standing too far from each other, but welded by their moral objective of creation a highly developed man, educated and physically strong, true citizen, opened for studying the world and to accept harmonious beauty:
Antiquity — its birth during the Cretan-Mycenaean age (the II millennium BC) and its passage to the other historical state during the crisis of the Roman Empire (the III century AD).
Renaissance —awakening interest to human being through art and science, inspired by the philosophers of Ancient Greece and Rome. Baroque as the apogee of Renaissance.
Classicism — its first features in the baroque harmony (the 17th century) and its passage to Romanticism in the end of the 18th century).
The soundtrack “Fashion and Music: Borders of Classicism” (performed by Asya Ardova) is constructed as the promenade along the fashion gallery. Bela Bartók’s theme is our guide and simultaneously the representative of the Cretan-Mycenaean culture (the eldest of the ones on this fashionable defile). First of all, because of Bartok’s wonderful researches in ancient music modes and secondly, his theme is like coffee recommended to be smelt between tasting the diversity of perfumes. Giles Farnaby (1563–1640) is called forth to feature the emerging Baroque polyphonic true pathos through plain childish medieval harmony. George Handel (1685–1759) and J. S. Bach (1685–1750) sign the beginning of Classicism by means of destruction of the polyphonic canons. Muzio Clementi (1752–1832) already mixes Classicism with new-borne romantic tendencies and melodic turns of future grand opera.
“La Parisienne”— archeologists use to call this depiction of a young woman fulfilled in the II millennium BC as a fresco in the Knossos Palace on the Isle of Crete. The Cretan culture (III–II millennium BC), predecessor of the Greek antiquity, is considered really magic and even inexplicable for the scientists. Female depictions let us suppose there was matriarchy. Cretans look boisterous and rather careless, their cults do not resemble any definite religion, and the palace does not look like a fortress. Maybe the sea itself was considered by the Cretans to have been their master, their defender and inspirer. Just follow meandering lines, ever-moving fanciful ornament, iridescent palette and asymmetrical vision of the space. Creto-Mycenaen culture is connected with the Ancient Egypt a great deal (writing and the manner the body’s depiction). The fine art of ancient cultures is so fashionable even nowadays, that even magnets-souvenirs and just badges are made with such prints. Let’s use these trifles instead of the vignettes dividing the stories of our heroes.
Badges, made as the Ancient Greek coins: profile of the warrior (1) and Artemis with a deer (2)
“Gioconda from Zippori” is also archeologists’ name for this wonderful floor mosaic dating the III century AD found in Galilee (Israel). Ancient Zippori experienced all kinds of religions and cults. Everything is mingled here. Judaic symbols of great Hebrew heroes neighbour here with Hellenic signs of mystic Orpheus worship. This female portrait from the Villa of the Roman woman is the apogee of the Hellenic influence because of its inner harmony and outer beauty, and no duality of the sensual and spiritual. The Russian poet Alexander Blok, also living on borders of epochs described that period as follows: “Through the majestic and Spartan sounds of the Roman trumpets, through the severe and harsh noise of the German weapon there was heard some third sound, that has been predestined to cover all the other sounds surrounding it.” Blok means the growing struggle for Hebrew people’s liberation evolving in Hellenic Judea due to Bar Kohba, John the Baptist and Jesus.
When the Catalonian artist Hiacinthe Rigaud (1659–1743) portrays the Czech noble man M. Kaunitz and does it according to the rules of classical visual rendering (remember Rigaud’s portrait of Louis XIV), both the painter and his character are standing on the classical base. Individuality is noticed only through the prism of highly intention. Everything is subordinated to the highest pre-destination of the portrayed person. Painters-classicists make their characters the heroes of some outer drama. Rigaud is a dramatist and his heroes are the personages of the most reasonable harmonious space, acting according to the harmony and rational impulse. It’s enough to remember Aristotle, Horatio and René Descartes (1596–1650) mostly respected by the classicists. Meanwhile every artist neglects the academic rules, when he is getting in touch with a man he portrays. Kaunitz looks most genteel and handsome, his hair are dark and too shaggy, but not fastened by the traditional wig of that time. Meanwhile his posture is classical indeed. Rigaud dared to destroy a fashion a bit, and the haughty hero, the owner of a castle is turned to just a young man, being at a loss and bored by some doubts.
Classicism is so comfortable for perception of heroic deeds. Hence for a long time its expression was the only one suitable for sacred scripture. Only later the mankind discovered, how ancient modes sounded, but classical baroque manner was not refuted forming the true archetype.
Styles appear from nowhere, but no style extinguishes. The same happened with classical attitude that penetrated even straight to romanticism, giving birth to sentimentalism, mostly spread in England. The blast of future romantic wind is whirling in the air of classicism, when you look at John Swineburne on the miniature fulfilled by Richard Coswey (1742–1821).
There are no pompous allegories and strict lines. Everything is softened; everything is intended for secret pondering over it that is peculiar for sentimentalism and future lake romantic trend. Writing the novels about the 18th century Walter Scott could be inspired by this poetic medallion, while describing young Mr Staunton from the novel “Heart of Midlothian”, refined, rather frail representative of the classicism, searching for consolation in the Scottish mountains, disguised as strong and hot-tempered Scottish laird, favourite hero of the future romantic age.