The life and work of J. Dorfman: self-knowledge journey

Section 1. World music: retrospections and modernity

Abstract

Statement of the problem. The name of Joseph Dorfman (1940, Odesa, Ukraine – 2006, Los Angeles, buried in Tel Aviv, Israel) is little-known in our country, although the artist began his career in Ukraine, and his composer creation is extremely large and diverse – it contains more than 200 works in various genres that have received worldwide recognition. In addition, J. Dorfman was involved, along with J. Tal, M. Kopytman and N. Sherif in the creation of the modern Israeli school of composing. Thus, the study of the origins of J. Dorfman's work, his heritage in general and its genre and style paradigm is an important task of music science. Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. To date, there is no study of the creativity and personality of the outstanding artist of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries – J. Dorfman – in the national musicology. The latter determines the novelty of the proposed research, as well as the study of the origins of J. Dorfman’s work, his legacy in general, and its genre and stylistic direction. The purpose of the study is to create a periodisation of the life of the outstanding Israeli composer and to consider the most significant works of his heritage. The study used methods such as biographical to study the composer’s life; historical and contextual to identify J. Dorfman’s achievements in the context of Israeli musical art; the value method to comprehend the artist's worldview of the spiritual perception of the world; and the genre and style to highlight the composer's achievements in terms of the genre palette and style paradigm. Research results. The analysis of J. Dorfman's life work allowed for its periodisation according to biographical, geographical, creative, evolutionary and age criteria. The periodisation helped to structure the artist's life vicissitudes, pedagogical achievements, educational projects, and creative achievements. The three periods of J. Dorfman's life reflect his evolution as a composer, performer, teacher, public figure, and educator. According to the conclusions of the study by N. Savytska's study of age-old musicology, J. Dorfman’s biographical scenario corresponds to the logic of the life arc of such artists as Mendelssohn, Chopin, Bruckner, Franck, and Saint-Saëns. Conclusion. Three periods of J. Dorfman's life are identified: the first (1940– 1958, Odesa – Uzbekistan – Odesa) is his childhood, when his fate as a musician was determined; the second (Odesa, 1958–1968 – Moscow, 1968–1972) is the formation of J. Dorfman as a performer, teacher, and composer; the third period (1973–2006, Israel) – creative maturity – the culmination of the artist’s life, when the Jewish theme of his work became decisive, and his achievements in various fields of musical culture were recognized by the world academic community.