Features of motivic development in Marilyn Shrude’s trio “Notturno: In Memoriam Tōru Takemitsu”

The purpose of this article is to describe the features of motivic development in the trio “Notturno: In Memoriam Tōru Takemitsu”, written by the American composer Marilyn Shrude for violin, alto saxophone, and piano. The article demonstrates that the motivic development is based on a germ motif taken from Tōru Takemitsu’s “sea” theme. Based on the analysis of the musical score, the study demonstrates the use of tritones, major sevenths, and trichords to enhance dissonance and create atonality. In addition, the use of wide intervals – fifths, sixths, sevenths, octaves, tenths – is revealed as a means of creating the illusion of sound in large, resonating spaces. The composer also uses extremely low piano sounds to create resonance. The results demonstrate the presence of the main techniques of motivic development characteristic of Marilyn Shrude’s chamber instrumental works. It is shown that the germ motif is a unifying element throughout the entire composition. Furthermore, unity is created through the constant repetition of trichords, the use of long phrases formed by the insertion of additional sounds to these trichords, and melodic development. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that this well-known composition by M. Shrude is being studied for the first time in Russia, as a result of which the application of a germ motif for motivic development – a distinctive feature of her compositional style – is demonstrated.