Excerpt from an article by M. Astakhova
‘I. Manoukian, Concerto amoroso: to the Problem of Formation’

 

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The Concerto amoroso continued the themes of the lyrical and psychological Third Symphony. But unlike the symphony, in the concerto the composer gives a new solution to the Romantic theme of man's encounters with the outside world.  The Third Symphony is devoted to the theme of overcoming the tragic; the concerto amoroso reveals the idea of a calm and wise reconciliation with dramatic collisions. And whereas the Third Symphony ended with a triumphant apotheosis, an affirmation of a positive beginning, the concerto ends with a gentle, gradually ‘withering’ lyricism.

The Concerto amoroso continued the themes of the lyrical and psychological Third Symphony. But unlike the symphony, in the concerto the composer gives a new solution to the Romantic theme of man's encounters with the outside world.  The Third Symphony is devoted to the theme of overcoming the tragic; the concerto amoroso reveals the idea of a calm and wise reconciliation with dramatic collisions. And whereas the Third Symphony ended with a triumphant apotheosis, an affirmation of a positive beginning, the concerto ends with a gentle, gradually ‘withering’ lyricism.
The concerto solves the problem of one-movement composition in a new way. In the 1990s the composer was attracted to mixed musical forms. Thus in the 3rd Symphony (‘32 Variations on the descending bass’) Manukian creates a new type of variations on the basso ostinato, combining them with a free genre-characteristic and timbre-dynamic through development. 1) Concerto amoroso provides an arc of genres and methods of musical formation. The chamber instrumentation and certain principles of musical form make one think of the genre of the early concerto. Like Baroque works, the concerto, as has been shown, develops several related thematic formations and all sections of musical form are based on their variant ‘germination’ and polyphonic combination. Baroque techniques are also realised in the internal structure of the sections.

The exposition of the intonational core and its unfolding is characteristic of both the presentation of themes and the structure of the developing episodes.

On the other hand, the concerto contains vivid contrasts and a narrative development through and through, which are not typical of Baroque works. The composer makes extensive use of the Romantic technique of genre transformation and saturates the concerto with symphonic development. The overall composition of the work reveals features of the sonata form, in which the expositional monologue themes are the main part, the polyphonic ‘dialogue’ section is the linking part, and the ‘lullaby’ theme is the collateral part. The section that begins with the dramatisation of the collateral part and gives a genre change, the polyphonic unification of various thematic elements can be regarded as a development, and the mechanistic Allegro molto as an episode in it. In the reprise new combinations of themes are given. The main and linking themes are merged into a single section in which a ‘dialogue’ theme separates the monologic statements of the orchestra and cello. The collateral part has, as already indicated, a codal character. The conclusion, as a reminder, polyphonically interweaves motifs from the various themes.

In addition to the principles of Baroque art and sonata development, the composer also turns to the techniques of twentieth-century formations. Manukian uses elements of serial technique, ‘building’ vertical and horizontal on the same thematic elements. Such a synthesis of compositional methods of various styles allows the composer to create an individual musical form, combining the traditional and the innovative. In this respect, the concerto amoroso also continued the 3rd Symphony, in which the composer gave an individual interpretation of the genre of variations.