Whose 20th Century? or, Boulez Poisoned the Well
At present, I see direct conflict between those composers who would completely
redefine the basic structural materials and parameters of contemporary pieces
and those who would subsume any new developments under the larger
umbrella of tonal tradition. The situation is similar to that in physics
at the advent of Einstein's explanation of the behavior of atoms according
to Max Planck's quantum theory, an explanation which seemed to contradict
classical Newtonian mechanics, which assumed point masses at specific coordinates
in space.
The analogy between music and physics, however, breaks down when we consider
that music, as the art of sound is not replaced by a newer and "better"
music. The historian, R.G. Bury articulated the comparatively modern Western
obsession with progress (The Idea of Progress, 1931), and the
onslaught of an economy, driven by technology, has confirmed the rightness
of the paradigm of the "software upgrade." Great transcendental
art can be meaningful for anyone willing to accept its premises, and art
from a very distant past can still speak to people of today. I contend that
the subtext of Kirchner's remark implies that we have confused art with research,
with disasterous results. The following extended passage from Boulez on
Music Today (P.27, transl. Bradshaw & Bennett), a polemic of 1963,
will make my point:
"Harmonic functions for example can no longer be thought of as permanent; the phenomena of tension and relaxation are not established on at all the same footing as before....Figuration itself...can no longer be generated by the classical canonic formulae.... From now on the two dimensions of classical (horizontal and vertrical) polyphony are linked by a kind of diagonal dimension, whose characteristics figure in each of them, in varying degrees. The laws which organise structures of duration have absolutely no connection with classical metre...
If we are to take Boulez at his word, no music with dance rhythms, obvious
repetitions, "antique" figurations, or any link with the recent
or distant past is "allowed." From the vantage point of 1992 it
is precisely this kind of dogma, handed down from the throne of academe (or
pseudo academe as in the case of Carter) that all but killed the spontaneity
of new music and lost its audience in the process. [ From the standpoint
of late 1996, from which is speak in this revision, a piece like my new
Trumpet Concerto is blasphemy, with its imitation fugues, ritornellos, and
tinfoil chorales.]
I am not merely trying to suggest that composers should only write triadic
tonal music. If we look at (now) long line of minimalist music, which consists
almost exclusively of triads, we can find a negation of traditional structural
devices as described by Boulez [An ironic twist on all this is the insistence
of those minimalists that they are travelling in the well worn footsteps
of Vivaldi and Telemann, as masters of sequential figuration]. Since the
long range expectations which imbue tonal works of the past with their
sustaining power are lost in minimal or deconstructionist pieces, the effect
is the same. In an similar vein, Stockhausen's conversion from serial to
aleatory procedures in the late 50's is, therefore, essentially a continuum
of the negation of the traditional use of recursive musical structural elements.
One could select a very different list of important composers from this
century, and a very different view of the panoply of important influences
emerges. Without the driving progressive force of innovation (novelty
and opposed to invention) many composers like Holst, Bloch,
Prokofiev, or Kodaly produced incomparable masterpieces, equal to the hallowed
and approved works (Rite of Spring and Wozzeck are good examples).
Quick acquaintence with Bloch's Piano Sonata or Kodaly's Duo for
Violin and Violoncello easily demonstrates this point.
Both Bloch and Kodaly wrote music on their own terms and carved out musically challenging and distinctive styles, but the music never threw away the great traditions of the past. We see a similar embrace of the past in the work of Picasso after World War I with a return to more rounded organic forms (such as in the "Yellow Christ") after a detour through the severe, ritualized depersonalization of form in his cubist works. If what I am saying about the most of the new music of the past generation makes any sense, how, then did things go so wrong? I would say that a number of factors contributed to the muddled state of classical art music 1) the partial or complete rejection of the musical elements described above by major composers, 2) the simultaneous decision or orchestras, soloists, and other groups to concentrate on standard repertoire rather than the new pieces as the bulk of concert fare, (as in the last century), and 3) the mass exodus of would-be composers to universities wher they were immune from the normal processes of cultural attrition. This move freed composers to pursue experimental music [not a bad thing in itself, but not a solid base for a repertoire], a purpuit which subsequently became equated with scientific research, an illogical step given my earlier observations..
In universities the teaching of Music History (particularly the 20th century) was tailored to promote the avant-garde scenario, and composers who did not "fit" (like Holst, Bloch, etc.) were ignored. The musical mainstream, which has always embraced some tradition, was pushed aside for a discussion of the pseudo novelty of musical experimentation. Also, academicians quickly discovered the easy slickness in the rational explanation of serial or twelve-tone, or soundmass processes. There was plenty to talk about, because processes like these were relentlessly obvious in execution. They also gave a whole generation of no-talent academics a new "creative" lease on life.
In the four years since I first penned the early version of this material
for the booklet of Music & Arts CD-757, I have seen a greater corrective
trend in the parvenu work of my students. The boundaries between concert
and film music, popular and "high" art, pure and impure cultural
identities have been further obscured with beneficial results. Serious concert
music as a large-scale cultural force will probably not regain the kind
of visibility that it had in the last century. We should remember, however,
that this kind of music often resided in remote monasteries and private
palaces: most people never heard the stuff. A single copy of the Florence
ms. Was enough to change the history of music, and the 300 million dollar
boxoffice success of a cinematic anachronism does not guarantee it immortality.
PR October, 1996.