Tel Aviv University

The concept of the functional in musicology is traditionally related, first of all, to the theory of tonal and harmonic functions created by Hugo Riemann and more thoroughly developed in the works of his numerous followers. Today, with systemic research became one of the leading trends in scientific methodology, the concepts of function and structure have acquired a wider meaning applicable to the realm of music.

One of the characteristics of Russian musicology has always been the search for new methodological approaches. The intention of this paper is to deal with one of these trends, namely, the functional concept of musical form. The theory of the functional organization of musical form has taken shape gradually and has deep roots in the history of both Russian and foreign musicology. Among the researchers that have approached some aspects of this theory are Riemann, E. Prout, Kurth, and Fischer, and in Russia S. Taneev, G. Katuar, and V. Yavorsky. A more significant formative contribution to the functional theory of musical form appears in the works of B. Asafiev and, more specifically, in the initial part of his fundamental research, The Musical Form as Process. Asafiev describes music as "the art of meaning that can be intoned." and reaches the conclusion that musical form represents an intonational process whose logical basis lies in three general developmental functions: initio-motus-terminus. His ideas on the unity of form and content, as well as those of process and function, are compatible with historical concepts. The concept of the functional in musicology is traditionally related, first of all, to the theory of its requirements, thus paving the way for the further development of the theory of musical form. An important milestone on this path was the method of integral analysis of the musical work proposed and developed by L. Mazel and V. Zuckermann in the 1930s. The authors defined their method as "the analysis of the whole together with all its governing laws". It is a method based on the functional and procedural understanding of the musical form and on the research of the compositional structures in their historical development and in their genre and style context. The works of musicologists such as I. Sposobin, S. Skrebkov, V. Protopopov, Y. Tulin and S. Grigoriev were important contributions to the problem of the functionality of form. However, these researchers did not ignore the works of musicologists such as Schenker, Reti and Keller who have, in one way or another, also approached these same matters.

The development of the systemic and structural representations in other sciences has largely activated the interest in the functional approach in the theory of musical form. Research publish- ed in the 1970s and 1980s theorize at a new level accumulated theoretical observations and analytical approaches. In this respect we should first of all mention the following books: V. Bobrovsky, On The Variability of the Functions of Musical Form; E. Ruchievskaya, The Functions of the Musical Theme; and S. Milka, Theoretical Bases of Functionality in Music. The above-mentioned works already approach the functional organization of the musical form as an independent scientific concept. The outlining of this concept requires a more specific approach and a reinterpretation of older terms and concepts together with the introduction of new categories appropriate to the characteristics of the discovered phenomena. This leads to such pairing of concepts as: "structure and function,” "composition and dramaturgy,” "general and special compositional functions,” "the variability of the functions of the form" and "the combination of the functions of theorem,” "the permanent combination of the functions of the form" and "the variable combination of the functions of the form,” as well as “compositional deviation,” “compositional modulation,” "compositional ellipsis,” "compositional rhythm" or "rhythm of form,” etc..

In light of the functional approach, the musical form appears as a multi-layered hierarchical system whose elements possess paired characteristics - function and structure. But this is only the most general tenet accepted as one of the fundamental theses. However, the most important aspect, and traditionally characteristic to the Russian theory of music, is that behind all the analytical procedures and theoretical construction hides the perennial question of the musical form as artistic phenomenon. A possible answer to this essential question has been formulated by V. Bobrovsky: "The musical form is a functionally mobile process of the intonational embodiment of a concrete artistic idea.”