THE SECRET OF SUCCESS: THE STYLISTIC DISSONANCE OF THE CLARINET REPERTOIRE OF THE LAST THIRD OF THE 20th CENTURY (ABOUT “THEME WITH VARIATIONS” BY JEAN FRANÇAIX)

A significant number of composers little-known to the general public remains informationally unavailable in the Ukrainian-language musicological discourse. Among them is the figure of the French neoclassicist Jean France (1912–1997). “Theme with Variations” for clarinet and orchestra became a classic of the genre during the author’s lifetime. The article offers a musical and stylistic analysis of the variation cycle for the first time. This is important because the composition is a mandatory component of the educational repertoire of clarinetists in the European system of higher music education. The idea of using one’s own style during artistic life and consciously avoiding the influence of the latest trends, contrary to any expectations or requirements for a modern composer of the last third of the 20th century, distinguishes “Theme with Variations” by Jean France from among all other works for clarinet with piano. This stylistic dissonance (that is, a composition with a clear form of the theme; using a variation of the classical type; it has a relatively simple texture; not sharply dissonant harmony with clear verticals; a benevolent scherzo instead of grotesque, sarcasm or irony; not quite commensurate with the musical language and aesthetics of the 1970s melody of the cantilene, not instrumental type) became the real secret of the success of this work and ensured the composition’s long stage destiny. Along with this, “Theme with Variations” is of interest to concert clarinetists, as a spectacular composition interesting from the point of view of imagery and technical findings. This variation cycle does not lose its relevance and freshness of sound, despite the fact that it was written half a century ago and is considered the third most popular variation cycle for claret in the 20th century (after Variations for clarinet and piano by André Messager (1899) and Henri Rabaud (1901).