XXII: Twentieth Century Nationalism
When the phonograph was invented by Thomas Edison in 1877, composers were able to quote folk songs more precisely, and nationalism spread throughout several countries. In Paris, a group of composers associated with Erik Satie (1866-1925) formed the group Les Six. They were Georges Auric, Louis Durey, Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud, Francis Poulenc, and Germaine Tailleferre. The best remembered today is Poulenc (1899-1963). Out of Russia emerged Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943), Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915), Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953), and Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975). German composers included Paul Hindemith (1895-1963), Carl Orff (1895-1982), and Kurt Weill (1900-1950). Even England produced important composers: Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1858) and Benjamin Britten (1913-1976). Other nationalists were Béla Bartók (1881-1945) and Zoltán Kodaly (1882-1967) from Hungary, Leoš Janáček (1854-1928) from the Czech Republic, Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) from Spain, Carlos Chávez (1899-1978) and Silvestre Revueltas (1899-1940) from Mexico, and Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) from Finland.
So as not to be too remiss, let's have a quick word on the Russians. Rachmaninoff was an exceptional composer, pianist, and conductor. He studied with Nikolai Zverev and graduated early from the Moscow Conservatory, earning the prestigious Conservatory Great Gold Medal. His First Symphony premiered in 1897 under conductor Alexander Glazunov. Glazunov might have been drunk during this performance, and the symphony was considered a failure. After three years of depression and professional help from psychologist Nikolai Dahl, Rachmaninoff resumed composition, married his cousin, and began touring as a concert pianist. When the Russian Revolution broke out in 1917, Rachmaninoff and his family fled to Sweden and Denmark. The next year, his family settled in America where he concertized for the rest of his life. Rachmaninoff wrote four piano concertos, the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for piano and orchestra, three symphonies, two piano sonatas, twenty-four piano preludes, two sets of piano etudes, two piano trios, choral works, and several songs.
Scriabin said (and presumably believed) things like, "I am God." According to Bowers' biography, "No one was more famous during their lifetime, and few were more quickly ignored after death." Scriabin composed mostly for piano and has been praised for his unique and original sound. Although his works are extremely lyrical and emulated those of Chopin, his harmonic language became increasingly atonal throughout his life. Strangely, he attributed his compositional procedures to "mysticism." Scriabin's output includes five symphonies and hundreds of piano works, including ten piano sonatas. He died before completing his last work, Mysterium, which was envisioned to last a full week at the foothills of the Himalayas, incorporating senses of touch, smell, and sound. Following this performance would be the end of the world and the annihilation of the human race.
Prokofiev entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory as a young boy to study piano and composition until 1914. Because of the outbreak of World War I, he headed for the USA in 1918 and Paris two years later. Prokofiev began concertizing in Russia, the USA, and Europe. In 1935, Prokofiev and his family returned to Russia, but the Composers' Union regulated all newly composed works. Eventually, his music was accused of being too formalist. Soviet formalist music was criticized for failing to display mass appeal with the intention of glorifying the country. Among Prokofiev's output are five piano concertos, nine piano sonatas, two violin sonatas, two violin concertos, two cello concertos, seven symphonies, the opera Love for Three Oranges, the ballet Cinderella, the film score for Alexander Nevsky, and the famous Peter and the Wolf.
Shostakovich had a lot of trouble with Stalin's policies. Although he was the recipient of numerous awards, his music was also severely criticized as formalist, and was officially denounced in 1936 and 1948. Despite the fact that Shostakovich issued a public apology for his compositions, many of his compositions were banned, he was fired from teaching at the Conservatory, and his ten-year-old son was forced to denounce his father in school. Shostakovich spent nights outside his apartment to protect his family from any violence in the case of his arrest. The following year, Stalin called him personally to request that he travel to New York and represent the Soviet Union at the Cultural and Scientific Congress for World Peace. When Shostakovich pointed out that his music was banned in his own country, and Stalin promptly revoked these orders. In New York, Shostakovich was relentlessly attacked by the press. Stalin died in 1953, but Shostakovich never fully recovered from these experiences. He composed fifteen symphonies, two piano concertos, two violin concertos, two cello concertos, fifteen string quartets, many other chamber works, several suites and symphonic works, and works for solo piano. He also composed numerous operas, ballets, film scores, choral works, and songs.
XXIII: The United States & The Devil
From the previous generation and across an ocean, our book reads, "Stephen Foster, America's most beloved songwriter, died an alcoholic in 1864, alone and in poverty." Foster composed parlor and minstrel songs that are still well-known today, including Oh Susanna, Camptown Races, Old Folks at Home, My Old Kentucky Home, Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair, Beautiful Dreamer, and Oh Boys Carry Me 'Long. Instrumental popular music was developing at this time as well; inspired by the British Military Band, the U.S. Marine Band formed in 1798 and was directed from 1880 to 1892 by none other than "march king" John Philip Sousa (1854-1932). Sousa composed over 130 band marches, as well as dance music, operettas, and arrangements of ragtime. He is the composer of Stars and Stripes Forever. Influenced by band music, hymns, and patriotic songs was Charles Ives (1874-1954). Ives' art music, which displayed modern techniques such as polytonality and polyrhythm, also incorporated several of these popular tunes.
Ragtime, named for its syncopated or "ragged" rhythms, emerged as an African-American style of piano playing. Scott Joplin (1868-1917), the "king of ragtime," performed with his orchestra in 1893 at the World Exposition in Chicago. Six years later, the sheet music to his Maple Leaf Rag would sell one million copies and help to establish him as one of the first recognized black composers. Although Joplin wanted to develop ragtime as a basis for art music forms such as the opera or symphony, his efforts were not well received during his lifetime. In 1976, a mere fifty-nine years after his death, he earned a Pulitzer Prize for his opera Treemonisha. When the Blues spread to white audiences in the early part of the century, it earned a reputation as the "devil's music." (I was very glad to hear about this, for the notion of Hell is less daunting with the promise of musical condolence.) Simply put, the blues is a type of American folk music based on a simple twelve or sixteen bar harmonic pattern. Jazz first formed in New Orleans, combining ragtime, blues, spirituals, work songs, art music, and improvisation. Legendary musicians of New Orleans jazz were cornet player Joseph "King" Oliver, saxophonist Sidney Bechet, pianist Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton, and trumpeter Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong (1901-1971). Armstrong's playing would influence jazz singers such as Billie Holiday (1915-1959) and Ella Fitzgerald (1918-1996).
The swing or big band era took place in the 30s and 40s, and its star was composer, arranger, and band director Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (1899-1974). By the end of the 40s, bebop emerged as a newer jazz style led by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, saxophonist Charlie Parker, and pianists Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk. Substyles of bebop are cool jazz, West Coast jazz, hard bop, and soul jazz. Trumpeter Miles Davis is associated with cool jazz, a style filled with lush harmonies and lyricism. The Dave Brubeck Quartet and Gerry Mulligan Quartet from the 50s are West Coast ensembles, which feature contrapuntal improvisation between different instrumental timbres. By the 40s, jazz rhythms were heavily influenced by Latin American music. Jazz historian Gunther Schuller (b. 1925) advocates the idea of third stream, a new form of music in which jazz and art music are combined. Newer forms of jazz include avant-garde jazz, fusion, contemporary neoclassical, free jazz, and new age jazz. Other notable jazz musicians are pianist John Lewis, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, saxophonist John Coltrane, trumpeter Miles Davis, guitarist Jerry Garcia, vibraphone player Gary Burton, and saxophonists Ornette Coleman and Paul Winter.
George Gershwin (1898-1937) incorporated ragtime, blues, and jazz into his songs, musicals, and instrumental works. When he was fifteen, he quit school and played popular tunes in bars and cafés. Eventually, he became a Broadway rehearsal pianist and started composing. His older brother Ira became his lyricist, and the two created sixty-four songs together. Into the 20s, Gershwin took lessons in composition and theory. He met conductor Paul Whiteman, who was interested in proving that jazz could be considered serious music. The result was Rhapsody in Blue, which was a hit with the public. Critics, however, argued that the compositions was nothing more than a collection of songs, and looked down on Gershwin's use of a professional orchestrator. Gershwin orchestrated his Piano Concerto in F, but unfortunately, it was not as well received. Other notable works include tone poem An American in Paris, three Preludes for Piano, sixteen musicals, five film scores, and his opera Porgy and Bess.
Born in Brooklyn, Aaron Copland (1900-1990) was less interested than Gershwin in popular music. He left the USA in 1921 to study modern music in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. Upon returning to the United States, he composed a jazz-influenced Piano Concerto and the neoclassical Piano Variations, Short Symphony, and Statements for Orchestra. Due to the growing use of radio, phonograph, and movies, Copland simplified his sound and began composing for a larger audience. In the 30s and 40s, Copland composed several film scores, an orchestral piece El salón México, and his three ballets: Billy the Kid, Rodeo, and Appalachian Spring. Criticized as having a split personality, his later works such as Connotations for Orchestra use Schoenberg's twelve tone system. Nevertheless, it is Copland who is considered the "Dean of American Composers."
According to Lunday, this is Copland's account on his Ballet for Martha, the work that would become his most famous:
"Martha, whatdya call the ballet?" She said, "Appalachian Spring." "Oh," I said. "What a nice name. Where'd d'ya get it? She said, "It's the title of a poem by Hart Crane." "Oh," I said. "Does the poem have anything to do with the ballet?" She said, "No, I just liked the title and I took it." And over and over again, nowadays people come up to me after seeing the ballet on stage and say, "Mr. Copland, when I see that ballet and when I hear your music I can just see the Appalachians and feel spring." I've begun to see the Appalachians myself a little bit.
From Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
Starring American choreographer Martha Graham (1894-1991)
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