Concerti by internationally acclaimed composer Gheorghi Arnaoudov collected in a monograph

Gheorghi Arnaoudov’s Concerti:  Surrealistic Reinterpretations of Musical History by Assoc. Prof. Ilia Gramatikov is a musicological study on the oeuvre of internationally acclaimed Bulgarian composer Gheorghi Arnaoudov, whose works are performed across the world, from Canada to China.
This is the first of its kind complex research problematising Arnaudov’s compositional solutions in the concerto genre, focusing on his mature concerti composed after 2007. The subjects studied in the book are placed within a maximally broad historical horizon, ranging from the time of the emergence of the concerto type of compositional thinking (a transitional period on the threshold of the early baroque) to the present, seeking to bring forth the specific characteristics of Arnaoudov’s interpretation of the genre. The analysed opuses are placed in a relevant cultural context through providing semantic references to of the greatest artworks, writings and creative practices typical of other arts. The monograph offers a research strategy and a musicological approach relevant to the creative intentions of the composer as well as to the specifics of his pieces. An overall concept is formulated of the author’s mature style based both on the main subjects of research and other his works, analysed at different levels and adduced as supplementary argument about the offered assumptions. A critical apparatus is added to typologise and characterise the author’s mature style, the specifics of his compositional technique and the texture of his compositions.
The book was written under a three-year research project, Contemporary Music Composition, Theory and Philosophy, funded by the Bulgarian National Science Fund, Ministry of Education and Science, and published by the Institute of Art Studies, BAS.
Scientific editor is renowned musicologist Prof. Natasha Yapova, author of a number of books, articles, teaching aids, etc., a long-standing teacher at the National Academy of Music; proofreader Penka Kamova.
The designer of this first de luxe edition is Yasen Panov, who apart from the graphic design made more than 250 exclusive illustrations/collages meant to conduct a ceaseless dialogue with the text. Moreover, to give a visual image of both certain ideas of crucial importance to the study and the spirit of Arnaoudov’s music.
The charity book launch at Sofia Music Weeks International Festival 2020 raised funds to support the Hug Me Atelier and give a chance to abandoned children and young people living in orphanages and institutions for a better life, getting them familiarised with the world of art and developing their creativity.