Download Music, Politics and the People in the European 20th Century

Music, Politics and the People in the European 20th Century
Introduction:
1.
2.
3.
The relationship between politics and music was explored since the days of Plato
in The Republic (in the he discussed ideas about the moral function of music in
society) and Aristotle in Politics and Poetics (in which he presented theories
which formed the basic of later ideas about emotional responses to music.
Aristotle believed that music effected behavior and shaped character, and
therefore played a role in education).
With the emergence of musicology, some writers attempted to establish music as
an independent art form which could be appreciated separately from its social and
political context. Music “has never fully escaped politics” and some composers,
works and movements are not understandable outside of their social and political
context.
In the 20th century, new links were established between music and politics. This
was due, in part, to the rise of powerful nation-states and social movements, so
that music may have been use by the state, written in protest, or written in
response to large social forces/issues:
a. Gebrauchsmusik—practical music, written for use
b. Amateur music—written especially for amateur choirs, musicians.
c. Musical theater—written to attempt to bridge the gap between modernist
music and music which appealed to the broader middle-class public
d. Music sponsored by the state—music written for, approved of, and/or
premiered by state-sponsored radio orchestras, ministries, rallies, or
published by state-owned publishing houses
e. Introduction of music into the curriculum of public schools and the
development of music methods to teach music to children
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Neo-romanticism and Later Nationalists
Neoclassicism versus neo-romanticism:
1. Difference lies in the aesthetic sense of the music
2. Neoclassic music seems to deliberately recall a past aesthetic and to attempt
recreate it:
a. Particularly popular between WWI and WWII
b. Neoclassic music draws inspiration from 18th century music for the music
part, i.e., Baroque and Classical music
c. Can be seen as a reaction to 19th Romanticism, especially Wagner
d. Neoclassic music attempts to restore balance and order, with greater
reliance on form
e. 18th century style had been sustained in the 19th century by otherwise
Romantic composers, e.g., Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations, but the view
of the 18th century was different. In order for Neoclassicism to function,
there has to be a consensus about what the virtues of the older style were.
That consensus was different in the 20th century, compared to the 19th.
3. Neo-romantic music, on the other hand, is a continuation of Romanticism
a. The Earliest manifestations of Neo-romanticism were 19th century
composers such as Wagner, Mahler, Strauss and Wolf. We have termed
them “Late Romantics”
b. Virgil Thomson described Neo-romanticism as involving rounded themes,
rather than the angular themes of the Neoclassicists, and the frank
expression of personal sentiment. He saw 20th century Neoromantics as
eclectic.
c. The term came to suggest music that imitated the high emotional content
of a composer such as Schumann
d. Some critics consider that Neo-romanticism evolved into Expressionism
e. Some authors have used the term “mainstream” to indicate music which
aims at being the continuation of 19th century concert music and opera in
an non-ideological manner
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The Avant-garde
In our text, the distinction is drawn between the modernist impulse and the avant-garde.
The Modernist impulse can be seen in the music of Schoenberg, Copland, early
Shostakovich, early Prokofiev, Hindemith and many others, in which the composers
deliberately seek new musical language while maintaining a strong link with and respect
for the traditional music. The avant-garde movement, on the other hand, challenges the
entire idea and value of a body of revered masterworks, and rejection of the status quo.
The Futurists, led by Luigi Russolo, were the Italian counterpart to the French avantgarde.
France
Eric Satie (1866-1925)
1. Not a member of Les Six (see below)
2. Trendsetter—his music influenced Debussy and Ravel
3. Work included piano pieces (some intended for playing enjoyment rather than
performance), and ballet.
4. Major works include:
a. Gymnopedies (1888)
b. Three Pieces in the Form of a Pear (actually seven pieces)
c. Parade, based on a scenario by Cocteau
i. Composed in 1916-17
ii. Includes noise-making instruments like a factory whistle
iii. Sets and costumes by Picasso
iv. Produced by Ballet Russe with choreography by Massine
v. Contains a Ragtime
d. Relache (a film score)
Les Six
2. Painting by Blanche.
a. Center—Marcelle Meyer;
b. Left: Tailleferrre, Milhaud, Honegger, Durey;
c. Right: Auric, Poulenc, Cocteau
3. Group formed to oppose Wagnerism and Impressionism
4. Inspired by “The Five”
5. In 1917, Swiss novelist Blaise Cendrars (non-de-plumes of Frederic Louis Sauser)
and Moise Kisling gave a concert at the studio of Emile Lejeune. Satie formed a
group called “Les Nouveaux Jeunes” which was the forerunner of les Six.
6. Some authors stress Jean Cocteau’s desire to be the head of an avante-garde group
of composers, authors and painters as the driving force.
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7. Members: Germaine Tailleferre, Georges Auric, Louis Durey, Arthur Honegger,
Darius Milhaud, Francis Poulenc, the latter three being the most important
8. Group was launched around 1920 after a concert at a bar which was named after a
piece by Milhaud. Named by
9. Milhaud wrote that Collet chose the group because “we knew each other and we
were pals and appeared on the same musical programmes, no matter if our
temperaments and personalities weren't at all the same! Auric and Poulenc
followed ideas of Cocteau, Honegger followed German Romanticism, and myself,
Mediterranean lyricism!”
10. Important works by members of Les Six include:
a. Le Boeuf sur le Toit (The Ox on the Roof) by Milhaud—a jazzy,
somewhat surrealist ballet for chamber orchestra with a scenario by
Cocteau
b. Christophe Columb—Milhaud
c. La creation du Monde—Milhaud
d. Pacific 231—Honegger
e. King David—Honegger
f. Dialogues of the Carmelites—Poulenc
g. The Breasts of Tiresias—Poulenc
Futurism
Futurism is the Italian form of the French Avant-garde. In The Art of Noise: A Futurist
Manifesto Luigi Russolo makes the argument that sounds of modern life demand that
noise become part of the musical language. Cocteau’s aphorized that if a Bach fugue
reminds the listener of a gothic cathedral, then modern music reminds him of an alarm
clock, and his sentiments are echoed in Russolo’s words.
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Igor Fydorovitch Stravinsky (1882-1971)
A. Beginnings and First Period
1. Born in Oranienbaum, Russia near St. Petersburg
2. Father was a bass singer at the Mariinsky Theater, but Stravinsky was raised to be
a lawyer
3. At the age of 20 (1902) Stravinsky became the student of Nikolai RimskyKorsakov
4. In 1906, he married his cousin Katerina Nossenko, with whom he had four
children (Feodor, Ludmilla, and later a son Soulima and a 2nd daughter, Maria
Milena. Katerina contracted tuberculosis and infected Ludmilla. Ludmilla died in
1938 and Katerina the following year.)
5. His wedding gift to Rimsky’s daughter Nadezhda and the Russian composer
Maximillian Steinberg in 1908 (an orchestral work titled “Fireworks”) came to
the attention of Diaghelev. Initial assignments were simple orchestrations.
Rimsky-Korsakov died just before the wedding.
6. Diaghelev assigned Stravinsky to compose L’oiseau de feu, taking the assignment
away from Liadov, who had procrastinated for almost a year.
7. The three early ballets are:
a. The Firebird (1910)
i. Most indebted to Rimsky-Korsakov
ii. Calls for large orchestra. Stravinsky came to believe that the
orchestra called for in the original ballet was excessive. He later
extracted several suites, the most popular of which is the 1919
Suite. He lost control of this work with the advent of the Russian
Revolution and loss of copyright protection. He compiled another
suite in 1945 which is less successful.
b. Petrushka (1911)
i. ballet in four tableaux
ii. some of the music was originally intended as a piano concerto
iii. Like Firebird, Stravinsky lost control of the copyright and issued a
new version in 1947
iv. Petrushka is a doll with human feelings. Petrushka loves the
Ballerina. His affections are unrequited, as the Ballerina loves the
Moor.
v. Sets by Benois
vi. Choreography by Mikhail Fokine
vii. The title role was created by Vaslav Nijinsky (1890-1950)
viii. Famous for the bitonal “Petrushka chord” which is C major
overlayed on F# Major. The two chords are contained within the
octatonic scale which was first “discovered” by Rimsky-Korsakov
(for example, the scale: c c# d# e f# g a a#)
c. Le Sacre du printemps (1913)
i. The most revolutionary of the three early ballets
ii. Original idea conceived in 1910 while Stravinsky was working on
The Firebird
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iii. Collaborated with folklorist Nikiolai Roerich to develop the
scenario. Basic scenario is of an ancient pagan Russian tribe which
propitiates Spring through the selection of a Chosen One (a virgin)
who dances herself to death before the tribe.
iv. Structured in two large parts. Part I has eight sections, Part II has
six.
v. Composed for the largest orchestra Stravinsky ever employed.
vi. Premiere was conducted by Pierre Monteux provoked a riot. Some
historians believe that Diaghilev either orchestrated the riot, or
(having heard that one was in offing) capitalized on it.
vii. The choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky departed from classical
ballet. Nijinsky used circle dances, stamping dances and turned-in
feet (as opposed to turn-out in ballet) to create the choreography.
The original choreography is seldom performed, today. Nijinsky
had already scandalized the Parisian public with his choreography
of Prelude á L’Aprés-midi d’un faune in 1912. With a few weeks
of the riot at the premiere, the work was played in concert to great
success, buttressing the argument that the riot was either stimulated
for publicity reasons, or was strictly about the choreography.
viii. Interesting fact—Stravinsky received only $1,200 in royalties from
Disney for the use of The Rite in the animated film Fantasia!
Stravinsky detested the way the music was used, especially
because of the large cuts.
B. Style Periods—Stravinsky’s output can be divided into three distinct style-periods
1. Russian Period (1908-1918). These works are marked by Russian folk music or
folk lore origins and primitivism. Examples include
a. The three early ballets (see above)
b. Renard
c. A Soldier’s Tale (1918). Soldier’s Tale is a work for actor/narrators,
dancers and an orchestra consisting of pairs of each family of instruments
(violin—double bass; clarinet—bassoon; cornet—trombone) plus
percussion. Stravinsky actually collected a set of drums of different sizes
and constructed a “drum set” before the drum set was popularized. The
work is a Faustian story about a soldier who sells his soul to the Devil to
get a magic fiddle. Stravinsky moved away from Russian topics and
toward smaller orchestras because of economic necessity.
d. Les Noce
2. Neo-Classical Period (1919-1951). This period overlaps somewhat with the
Primitive or Russian Period, and in fact, some authors classify some of the works
listed above as “Neoclassic”. Important works include:
a. Pulcinella—based on the music of Pergolesi. The idea for this work
originated with Diaghilev who gave Stravinsky pieces to orchestrate.
Some of the music was erroneously attributed to Pergolesi.
b. Symphony of Psalms (1920). This work is based on the Latin Vulgate
Bible. It includes numerous Baroque features, including near-perpetual
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motion, ostinati (a technique Stravinsky had perfected in The Rite), and a
complete double fugue in the second movement. Symphony of Psalms
relies on many typical Stravinskian devices, including frequent changes of
meter, unexpected silences, and the creation of stasis through large blocks
of sound. The instrumentation excludes violins, because Stravinsky
wanted to avoid the lushness of the romantic orchestra. A synthetic kind of
tonality, termed neo-tonality by our text, is created by the reiteration of
pitches. Stravinsky does not use functional harmony.
c. Octet. The work is a homage to Debussy.
d. Oedipus Rex (1927)—libretto by Jean Cocteau
e. Concerto in E-Flat (Dumbarton Oaks)—this concerto was inspired by the
Bach Brandenburg concerti. It was commissioned by Robert Woods Bliss
and is named for his estate. The premiere was conducted by Boulanger.
f. several ballets and symphonies
g. The Rake’s Progress—opera, based on the series of etchings by Hogarth.
3. Serial Period (1952-1972). After the death of Arnold Schoenberg in 1951,
Stravinsky began to experiment with serial composition. Works from this last
period include “
a. The Flood
b. Threni
c. Agon (ballet)
C. Personal Life and Collaborations
1. In 1906, when he was young, he married his cousin, Katerina Nossenko. The
marriage lasted 33 years, but his true love, and partner, was Vera de Bosset
Sudeikin. She was married to the stage designer Serge Sudeikin, but she left her
husband for Stravinsky. Katerina was aware of the Stravinsky’s double life (she
never left Russia, possibly due to her health), and Stravinsky divided his time
between his first family in Russia and Vera until Katerina died. Then he married
Vera in New York City, where they had gone to escape WWII.
2. Stravinsky collaborated with some of the greatest artistic names of the 20th
century, including:
a. Sergei Diaghilev (impresario of the Ballet Russe)
b. Pablo Picasso (perhaps the greatest painter of the 20th century, who did the
sets for Pulcinella). Stravinsky is often compared to Picasso.
c. Jean Cocteau (the great author and film director who wrote the libretto for
Oedipus Rex)
d. George Balanchine (one of the greatest choreographers, who did the
choreography for Apollon Musagete)
e. W.H. Auden (the great English poet and the librettist for The Rake’s
Progress)
f. Wealthy philanthropist/conductors such as Leopold Stokowski and Serge
Koussevitsky.
3. Stravinsky was Russian born, but he held French citizenship and later American
citizenship
4. Stravinsky was an active conductor, mostly of his own music, as well as a
composer. He was also a writer. His most famous theoretical work is Poetics in
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Music, which he wrote with the help of Alexis Roland-Manuel. In Poetics, he
claimed that music was incapable of expressing anything but itself.
5. Robert Craft, who introduced Stravinsky to Serialism and was his assistant
conductor, transcribed several interviews with Stravinsky into books. With Craft,
he collaborated on Conversations with Stravinsky.
6. He lived most of his American years in Hollywood, living only a few miles away
from Arnold Schoenberg.
7. Stravinsky died in New York and was buried in Venice.
D. Influence
1. Stravinsky’s life spanned much of the 20th century. He embraced many
compositional styles, and his eclecticism made him influential in a number of
style trends of the 20th c. He was a Nationalist. He revolutionized ballet, which
he inherited as a romantic 19th century idiom and which he transformed in several
ways. He pioneered new techniques in orchestration, extending the ideas he
inherited from his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov.
2. He developed important compositional techniques such as:
a. Bitonality—music in two keys simultaneously
b. Ostinato—even multiple ostinati
c. Stravinsky often reduced source material to its most basic melodic
elements. By adding notes or using inversion and/or diminution, he would
disguise the material almost beyond recognition.
d. Pastiche—layering and/or quotation of musical ideas, which he pioneered
as early Pulcinella (1920), in which he used parody and quotation.
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Ethnic Contexts
The text contemplates two composers whose music exists within an ethnic or nationalistic
context. They are Bela Bartók and Charles Ives. Ives is discussed in the chapter on
American music.
Bela Bartok (1881-1945)
1. General--biography
a. Born in 1881 in what is now Romania. He died in 1945 in New York City.
b. Bartok is considered one of the greatest 20th century composers, along side
Schoenberg and Stravinsky.
c. Besides being a great composer, he was a great pianist and one of the
founders of modern ethnomusicology.
d. Parents were amateur pianists
e. Studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Budapest; after graduation he
established a career as a pianist, specializing in the classics
f. Bartok’s initial perception of Hungarian music was informed by the music
of Franz Liszt. In 1904, he heard a Transylvanian woman sing and
changed his views.
g. Richard Strauss’s music was another influence on Bartok
h. Married Márta Ziegler in 1909. She was his student. They divorced in
1923 and he married Ditta Pásztory.
i. In 1934, he began teaching ethnomusicology at the Academy of Sciences.
He was joined by Zoltán Kodaly and others and they began to research
Hungarian music.
j. In 1938, fascism began to threaten Hungary when the Nazis invaded
Austria. By 1940, the Bartóks had fled to the United States. His last years
were plagued by financial difficulties (he could not find a post) and ill
health. He died of a form of leukemia in 1945, on the brink of success and
fame.
2. Works
a. Bluebeard’s Castle (1911)
i. Dedicated to his first wife, Marta
ii. Work was rejected as being unplayable
iii. Librettist’s name was stricken under government pressure
b. Wooden Prince (1914)
i. Ballet
ii. Gave Bartok some measure of International fame
c. The Miraculous Mandarin (begun 1918, performed 1926)
i. Expressionistic
ii. Influenced by Schoenberg and Strauss
iii. Explosive sexual content (story of prostitution, robbery, sexual
obsession and murder) caused problems with premiere
1. A prostitute and her cohorts lure men into an apartment to
robber them
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d.
e.
f.
g.
2. Two unsuspecting men are “rolled”
3. The third is a Mandarin whose attraction to the girl is
intense
4. He is attacked, beaten, and eventually hanged, but will not
die until the girl relents
Mikrokosmos
i. In 1923, Bartok divorced Marta and married a piano student named
Ditta Pasztory. His second son, Peter, came from this marriage
ii. The Mikrokosmos, a six-volume collection of piano pieces in
graded difficulty, were written for Peter
Six string quartets (ca. 1915-1939)
i. The set of six quartets are considered landmark works
ii. Equal in stature and importance to the Beethoven quartets
iii. A compendium of 20th century string technique
Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta (1937)
i. Commissioned by the Basel Chamber Orchestra
ii. Orchestrated for strings (including harp), percussion (xylophone,
snare drum, cymbals, bass drum, tam-tam, timpani and piano), and
celeste. The strings are divided into two groups, seated
antiphonally
iii. Movements: slow—fast—slow—fast
iv. Extensive use of the Fibonacci number sequence to construct
chords, melodies, phrase-lengths, and large architectural divisions
of the music.
v. Combination of classical and peasant elements
vi. Tritone is an important constructive element, analogous to the
tonic-dominant relationship of tonal music.
vii. Themes are constructed from small motives. Melodic shapes
suggest modal scales like the Lydian and Phrygian modes.
viii. Movement 1—a complex fugue in which each successive entrance
follows around the circle of 5ths until the tritone is reached
ix. Movement 2—sonata form
x. Movement 3—a modified arch form (ABCB’A’), or palindrome.
This movement also contains a Serbo-Croatian song
xi. Movement 4—a rondo
xii. Bulgarian dance rhythms (2+3, 3+2+2, 2+2+2+3, and 2+3+3) are
used. Some of these sequences are embryonic Fibonacci
progressions.
xiii. Bartók uses thematic reoccurrence, similar to Tchaikovsky,
Berlioz, Franck and others.
xiv. The music was used in Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”
Concerto for Orchestra
i. Bartok became increasingly uncomfortable in Europe with the rise
of Nazism. He immigrated to the USA in 1942 with Ditta. Peter
followed.
ii. Bartok’s last work might have been the Sixth Quartet if not for the
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interest and support of Fritz Reiner, Serge Koussevitzky and
Yehudi Menuhin.
iii. Reiner and Koussevitzky commissioned the Concerto for
Orchestra, a five-movement work for large orchestra
1. Movement 1—Introduzione—a slow introduction, followed
by a truncated sonata form
2. Giuoco delle coppie—a scherzo with introduction, played
by a drum, followed by an ABA’. A is a series of duets for
pairs of woodwinds, each pair moving in parallel intervals
like 3rds, fifths, sixths, sevenths. B is a chorale for brass.
A’ reprises the couples’ dances with a third part as a
counterpoint. The movement ends with the drum solo.
3. Elegia—the emotional focal-point of the work, it is an
example of Bartok’s “night music”.
4. Intermezzo interrotto—a witty scherzo which parodies
Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony at one point. Bartók is
said to have heard the work on the radio, while he was
convalescing in a nursing home in Ashville, NC. Peter
Bartók denied the story.
5. Finale—a sweeping virtuoso work for with an elaborate
fugue in the middle of it.
6. The Concerto for Orchestra is a virtuoso work which
features all sections of the orchestra
h. Other American works include the Third Piano Concerto and the
unfinished Viola Concerto
i. Bartok died of a form of leukemia
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Germany
Krenek and Weill—After the Second Viennese School, a new spirit of objectivity swept
over German/Austrian composers. This is exemplified by the music of Ernst Krenek and
Kurt Weill. Both men eventually immigrated to the Unite States to escape Nazism.
1. Ernst Krenek became a university professor at several schools. The theorist
George Perle was one of his students. Krenek became a serialist in the United
States.
2. Kurt Weill, a Jewish composer sympathetic to the Left, fled Germany. Before
coming to the USA, Weill collaborated with Betolt Brecht on several operas, the
most famous of which are The Three-Penny Opera and The Rise and Fall of the
City of Mahogany. After coming to the USA, Weill wrote Broadway musicals
like Knickbocker Holiday, Lady in the Dark, and Lost in the Stars. His scores
incorporate popular tunes, and jazz. His wife was the famous actress and singer
Lotte Lenya.
Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Important German composer, violist, theorist and conductor
Extraordinarily prolific.
Early career in Europe in all phases of his career
His music was condemned by the Nazis as being degenerate
Hindemith taught at the Berlin School of Music. He fled to the USA with the rise
of Nazism and taught at Yale. Later, he taught in Switzerland.
6. Hindemith fled to the USA in 1940
a. Taught at Yale University
i. Students included Lukas Foss and Norman Dello Joio
ii. Also held a chair at Harvard
iii. Published “A Composer’s World” around 1946
iv. Wrote important ear-training book which is widely used in
colleges
v. Codified a theory of musical composition based on the idea of
“Harmonic fluctuation”. He revised his earlier works, not always
for the better, to conform to his theories
1. arranged the 12 notes as a progression from one “pole” (for
example C) to the extreme pole (F#) more or less as
follows: C G F E A D G# D# A# B C# F#
2. Classified intervals from most consonant to most dissonant
3. E and B-flat are welding tones between the two poles
vi. Important works:
1. Cardillac (1925-26, rev. 1952)--opera
2. Matthis der Maler (1934-35)—opera, based on the life of
Matthias Grünwald and set during the Late Renaissance,
explores the role of the artist in a repressive society.
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Libretto by the composer. This work caused Hindemith
problems with the Nazis. Hindemith published a three
movement concert suite from this opera called Stymphony
Mathis der Maler in 1933-34, prior to the opera’s being
premiered.
3. Nobilissima Visione (1938)—ballet on the life of Saint
Francis of Assisi; choreography by Massine
4. Ludus Tonalis (ca. 1940)—a cycle of 12 fugues with
interludes, emulating the work of Bach.
5. Theme with Variations (The Four Temperments)(1940)—
ballet for Martha Graham
6. Concert Music for Strings and Brass (1940)—virtuoso
orchestral work
7. Symphonic Metamorphoses of Themes by Carl Maria von
Weber (1943)—popular concert work
8. Twelve concertos for most of the orchestral instruments
9. Eight sonatas
10. When Lilacs Last at Dooryard Bloom’d—a requiem based
on the poetry of Walt Whitman
Carl Orff (1895-1982)
1. Important German composer and music educator
2. Head of the Guenther School for gymnastics, music and dance in Music
3. Orff’s association with the Nazi Party has never been established
a. Orff was one of the few composers who responded to the Nazi regimes’s
request to write new music to replace Mendelssohn’s “Midsummer
Night’s Dream” music
b. On the other hand, he was friends with members of the Resistance and
claimed membership (not proven by any source)
4. His major work, Carmina Burana, was popular in Nazi Germany
a. Premiered 1937 in Frankfurt
b. Based on 13th Century erotic verse titled “Codex latinus monacensis”
c. Poetry written by Bavarian Goliards
d. Orff used exclusively modern techniques and did not use any Medieval
melody, but still captured the spirit of the period
e. Utilizes ostinati, simple melodies and tonality
f. Poems are in German, Latin and Old French
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The Soviet Union
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Prior to 1917, the position of the Czar deteriorated as the economic
situation in Russia declined
Revolution began in 1917
Civil War (1918-1920) brings economic crisis to Russia. The period is one
of relative artistic freedom for composers. Two organizations emerge: the
Association of Contemporary Music, which was modernist, and the
Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians, which considered the ACM
to be elitist and decadent, and encouraged simple, direct musical
expression.
After Stalin came to power, these two were replaced with the Union of
Soviet Composers.
By 1934, a writers’ congress established what it considered the guidelines
of Soviet realism. The biographies of Prokofiev and Shostakovich must be
understood against this background
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
1. Early years
a. Born in Krasnoe, once a part of the Soviet Empire, now part of the
Ukraine
b. Only child; mother was a pianist, father a wealthy engineer
c. Child prodigy—was an accomplished musician and chess player
d. Composition lessons by age nine
e. Entered St. Petersburg Conservatory at age 13
f. Studied with Rimsky-Korsakov, but was a difficult and uncooperative
student—he later regretted this
g. Earned reputation as an enfant terrible
h. Graduated in 1914 with highest marks, receiving a grand piano as prize
i. Played his own piano concerto at graduation, over the objections of
Glazounov
j. Traveled to London, met Diaghilev and Stravinsky
k. Important works from this period include opera “The Gambler” (on the
novel by Dostoyevsky) and the Classical Symphony
l. After the October, 1917 Revolution, Prokofiev feared for his safety and
doubted that there would be artistic freedom—he determined to go abroad
2. Years Abroad
a. First traveled to San Francisco
b. Commissioned by Lyric Opera of Chicago to compose The Love of Three
Oranges
c. Opera premiere was canceled. The time spent on composing the opera
distracted Prokofiev from establishing a solo career and he fell into
financial difficulties.
d. Prokofiev left the USA for Paris in 1920
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e. Returned to USA in 1921 for premiere in Chicago. The opera was coldly
received.
f. Married the Spanish dancer Lina Llubera
g. Returned to Paris. He remained in Europe until 1936.
h. Important works from this period include the Third Piano Concerto, The
ballet The Fiery Angel (unperformed during this period), Second and
Third Symphonies (the 3rd symphony is based on the ballet). Also
composed during this period are the 4th and 5th piano concerti.
i. His hand was injured in a car accident in 1929
j. Toward the end of this period, Prokofiev began to receive commissions
from Russia; including the film score Lieutenant Kije and the ballet
Romeo and Romeo (see below).
3. Return to Russia
a. In 1936, Prokofiev moved his family back to Russia
b. Initial positive environment rapidly changed with the establishment of the
“Composers’ Union” which basically censored the work of all Soviet
composers. Russian composers became isolated from the rest of Europe
and the world
c. Prokofiev was initially untouched by this because of his stature
d. Prokofiev suffered a heart attack in 1941
e. He was separated from his wife several times during the war and
developed a relationship with Mira Mendelson. He separated from his
wife. Marriage to foreigners was illegal at the time, and the break-up may
have been forced. They divorced after seven years. Lina was tried and
convicted of espionage in 1948 and sentenced to 20 years. She was freed
after Stalin’s death. Many sources report that Prokofiev married Mira that
same year, but other sources report that there is no evidence of a marriage
license and that Mira may have been a State operative.
f. Important works from the Soviet period include:
i. Peter and the Wolf
ii. Film score Alexander Nevsky from Sergei Eisenstein (later
arranged as a cantata)
iii. Operas—Semyon Kotko and War and Peace
iv. Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Symphonies
v. Violin Concerto No. 2
vi. Numerous piano works including 11 sonatas (some earlier) and
etudes and toccatas
g. Prokofiev fell and subsequently died of a cerebral hemorrhage,
coincidentally on the same day the Stalin died! He is buried in
Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow
h. Lena outlived her husband, immigrated to Paris on her release, and
became relatively affluent from the royalties. She died in 1989.
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Dimitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
1. General
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
The major Russian composer of the Soviet period
Complicated relationship with the government
Unlike Prokofiev, Shostakovich never left Russia
He came from a politically liberal family
Shostakovich was a child prodigy
He entered Saint Petersburg (Petrograd) Conservatory in 1918
Shostakovich had two major denunciations of his music, the first in 1936
and a second in 1948
2. Early work
a. Considered part of the Russian avant-garde
b. His first symphony was composed from 1924-25 as his graduation thesis.
Premiered by the Leningrad Philharmonic, it was taken up by Bruno
Walter and established Shostakovich’s reputation in the West.
c. Mahler was an early influence on Shostakovich. In total, Shostakovich
composed 15 symphonies
d. The opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (1934) was initially a
success. It was heralded as “the result of the general success of Socialist
construction, of the correct policy of the Party" and that such an opera
“could have been written only by a Soviet composer brought up in the best
tradition of Soviet culture” by Pravda.
e. In a denunciation instigated by Stalin in 1936, an article in Pravda titled
Muddle Instead of Music appeared. This resulted in Shostakovich’s
withdrawal of his Fourth Symphony and a collapse in his income. In the
Great Terror of 1936, many of Shostakovich’s friends and relatives were
imprisoned or killed.
3. Middle Years
a. Shostakovich’s response was his Fifth Symphony, which is much more
conservative
b. During the war, Shostakovich composed symphonies and propaganda
music, including the Seventh Symphony, nicknamed “Leningrad”. The
Eighth Symphony, a somber and violent work, was banned
c. Second Denunciation in 1948 for formalism. Stalin’s death in 1953 eased
the restrictions on him. His Tenth Symphony features the musical “name”
DSCH (the composer’s initials) and is said to depict Stalin. The meaning
of the symphony is debated.
d. Shostakovich joined the Communist Party in 1960
i. Interpreted as show of communist loyalty, cowardice, or result of
political pressure
ii. Shostakovich suffered from depression, suicidal feelings, heart
attacks, possible polio, and several falls. He never gave up
cigarettes and vodka, however. He died of lung cancer
4. Later Life
a. Symphony No. 13 (Babi Yar) is based on the poetry of Yevgeny
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Yevtushenko, and is about the massacre of Jews in the Russia during the
Second World War
b. Symphony No. 14 uses 12-note themes
c. Symphony No. 15 is melodic and retrospective in nature. It quotes
Rossini’s William Tell and Wagner’s Fate Motif from Der Ring
5. Influences
a. Western: Beethoven, Mahler, Bach
b. Russian: Mussorgsky, Prokofiev, Stravinsky
6. Historical Assessment
a. A brilliant symphonist who struggled under a repressive regime, he
managed to make his personal statements against the Stalinist state
through encoded messages in his music, always testing the limits.
Shostakovich had good reason to fear for his and his family’s safety.
b. A third-rate Mahler who wrote a great deal of propagandistic music, he
was capable of writing low and trashy music. His style is eclectic.
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