Abstract

The opera Magic Mountain and the multimedia spectacle Herr Thaddäus by Paweł Mykietyn, created in cooperation with Mirosław Bałka, a valued artist of visual arts, are original reinterpretations of the important texts of culture – novels by Thomas Mann and Invocation by Adam Mickiewicz. These works gained the recognition of critics and researchers and were presented a few times in recent years. Based on the analysis of both works and their reception, as well as the composer's self-reflection, the author of this paper indicates that unconventional multimedia, with the simultaneous limitation of mediums of expression, can be the way to open up contemporary music to the audience. The author also points to the similarity of both artists' aesthetics, which is minimalism, striking equally in the musical and visual layer, allowing for new expressive and interpretative qualities. The paper also asks questions about the future and the way of researching contemporary music with the visual layer as a part, which brings new contexts and interpretation challenges to the musical composition.

Short biography

PhD in humanities, an assistant professor at the Institute of Musicology at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, M.A. in Polish philology and musicology. Her scholarly research concentrates on contemporary music and the surrounding aesthetic and sociological issues, particularly its reception, as well as music criticism with a focus on the problem of describing music in language. She has published in such journals as “Res Facta Nova”, “Lithuanian Musicology”, “Interdisciplinary Studies in Musicology”, “International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music”, “Muzyka”.