The United States:Some Themes and Myths Debunked
Freedom/Equality – Liberty/Democracy
Manifest Destiny
The New World
The Melting Pot
In Music: The “American Experimental Tradition”
The situation around the turn of the 20th century
Two distinct ethics emerge:
•Europe is seen as the source of history and culture – to be taken seriously, a composer must have studied in Europe, and must cultivate a style in reference to established European musical practices
•American music needs to emerge from the shadow of Europe – a variety of creative approaches seek to find a uniquely and authentically “American” style/approach
Charles Ives (1874-1954):American Maverick
•Musical “experimenter”•Classically trained•Poly-stylistic – freely mixed elements from folk, popular, religious, patriotic and classical music•Collage
Composed:•Songs•Symphonies•Sonatas•String Quartets•Choral Works•Orchestral Sets•Miscellaneous programmatic works
Henry Cowell (1897-1965):New Musical Resources
Early book, New Musical Resources, introduces radical new ideas for expanding the possibilities in music – complex ideas about harmony, rhythm, and texture
Experiments with the piano: invents “inside the piano” techniques, which greatly expand the sonic possibilities of the instrument
Experiments with style: utilizes a self-conscious approach to musical style (including folk-elements) which parallels Stravinsky’s ideas
Edgard Varése (1883-1965):New Sonic Awareness
“Music is organized sound”
Developed a uniquely sensitive sense of sonic immediacy
Music emerges as a “plastic” experience, rather than a traditionally expressive, or narrative-based type of communication
Elements of “pure sound” color, rhythm, pitch, texture, emerge as the defining aspects of the music
Piet MondrianComposition with Yellow, Blue, and Red
Harry Partch (1901-1974):Hobo Inventor
“Harry Partch: composer, microtonal theorist, instrument-builder, writer, visual artist, satirist, philosopher, flunky, musicologist, copy editor, hobo, man of letters, publisher, iconoclast, record-producer, eccentric, teacher…”
Diamond Marimba
Chromelodeon