American Music Composers - Essay Example

Music is a form of art in which sound is the medium. It is the voice of a nation that expresses the people's hopes, passions, and dreams. It is an art deeply rooted in history and culture. Music may also be defined and influenced by an individual's thoughts, education, familial background, community, and personal experiences. In America, the song tradition is fairly young in contrast to that of Europe's (The American Art Song n.d.). Early American music had a uniquely British and European heritage as many American musicians took their music education in Europe and adopted their musical traditions (Sherrane 2007). These learnings were then inculcated in the styles and forms apt to American culture and tradition to be able to compose "American classical music" (Sherrane 2007). This may be so, but the song and music heritage of the United States credits many American composers who have contributed to the musical history of the country. Among these composers is Charles Ives (1874-1954), hailed as the greatest American Composer by Time Magazine and Leonard Bernstein (Gutmann 2002). The History of American Classical Music is very rich and deep in its context. There are many contributors to American Classical music and they have indeed shaped what American music is today. These composers and musicians have worked hand in hand to establish music that has shaped how music is composed, played, performed, and listened to. The great American composers have sought to define music and contradict the form and style to be able to create new music that is apt for American culture and tradition. Born and raised in Danbury, Connecticut, Charles Edward Ives was a democrat who was described as fierce, optimistic, and idealistic in his ways of creating music that unified the voice of the American people with music derived from European classical music form and style (Swafford 1998). What emerged from the genius of Charles Ives was music that surpassed the expectations of man and his imagination. His music was in every essence bursting of American culture yet unique in its every note, tempo, and form. The primary influence and driving force of Charles Ives in his musical pursuit was his father, George, who was then leader of the Danbury Village Band. At five years old, he was found by his father drumming his fists on the piano and was hence given drum lessons (Swafford 1998). It was also his father from whom he received his first lessons in piano and other instruments. Until the maturation of his musical career, Charles Ives was infamous for "requiring a board to play the Concord Sonata" (Swafford 1998). This lead to what is now called the "tone clusters" (Swafford 1998). His interest in bi-tonal forms, polyrhythms and quotations was as well instilled by his father (G. Schirmer Inc. 2006). As his father loved exploring acoustics, dissonance, happenstance, and counterpoint, Ives was raised with an inquiring and transcendental approach to music (Gutmann 2002). As George Ives would always then say to him: "Don't pay too much attention to the sounds--for if you do, you may miss the music. You won't get a wild, heroic ride to heaven on pretty little sounds", Charles Ives sought to capture the emotion, the story, and the spirituality of life using music (Swafford 1998). Ives was thus driven to search for that heroic ride to heaven. What resulted from this was his creation of music so radical and original in its technique and style that it was surprisingly complex and very tricky to perform. In 1893, Ives left Danbury to study in Yale, New Haven. There, he underwent training under the supervision of Horation Parker, who was then famous for his high-Victorian oratorio Hora Novissima (Swafford 1998). It was in Yale that Ives created his First Symphony and First String Quartet, that he later subtitled "From the Salvation Army" in an attempt at a joke (Swafford 1998). It was during these four years in Yale that he got a better grasp of large scale forms, and his works then revealed a developing maturity in musical style (G. Schirmer Inc. 2006). Despite his genius for music, Ives decided to become an insurance salesman. He thrived financially in this business, which then allowed him to "create as he wanted" without the constraints of a conventional musical institution (Swafford 1998). Apparently, Ives was also a multitasker as although he only worked on his music during evenings and weekends, he was able to create a portfolio of far-fetched music with complex rhythms and structures, that which is now considered as the leading edge of 20th century music (Gutmann 2002). In his book Angels of Reality: The Emersonian Unfoldings of Wright, Stevens, and Ives, Hertz mentioned that "each artist in every discipline or medium struggles to be born. All strong personalities struggle to negate the importance of major figures that have gone before them" (1993, p.16). Hence, Ives aimed to compose what could not yet be heard (Hertz 1993). In Yale, Ives wrote Symphony #1 in which he very playfully modified the Tchaikovskian conventions that were held very significant by his professors (Gutmann 2002). Ives loved experimenting and using improvisation techniques. He did not like mediocrity, and as such, strived to compose music that pierces the opacity of what is conventional and like-able to the ears. However, even if this was the case with his music, it was always filled with emotion and is ever so successful in capturing the passion that his music wants to actually relay. This is evident in his emersonian composition Concord Sonata, and Putnam's Camp in which a brass band, a march tune, and an out of tune piano is heard all at the same time at the beginning of the piece (Sherrane 2007). Another such work of Ives, also from Three Places in New England, was his patriotic song "They are There". In this piece, Ives was described to be bellowing or manically ranting instead of singing. However, despite Ives' off-key and crude bellowing of the song in a very unconventional and unmusical way, the message and spirit of the song comes through (Gutmann, 2002). Generally speaking, the work of Ives including those of his symphonies, orchestral pieces, piano, and chamber works were composed of quotations from American hymns, ballads, and war songs, with some modifications that bear his unique and distinctive style (The American Art Song n.d.). Unfortunately, it was only after his retirement that his works were greatly recognized; yet important and talented musician still admired his works and was inspired by his improvisation and musical innovation. There were Henry Cowell, Nicolas Slonimsky, and Lou Harrison who devoted much time to his works; and in 1947, Aaron Copland, Lou Harrison, and John Kirkpatrick performed his music, which resulted to the Pulitzer Prize for Ives' Symphony #3 (Swafford 1998). Another significant influence in the music of Charles Ives was Henry David Thoreau, a transcendentalist who believed that silence is important because by hearing the unspeakable musical qualities of silence, one can foresee the totality of progressive American musical thought (Clarke 1977 p. 108). Ives' improvisation and musical innovation inspired other artists to experiment with atonality, polytonality, and polyrhythms. In a manner of speaking, Ives set the trend for these styles. This goes to show that in American music, composeres develop links with each other, be it consciously or subconsciously. Artists borrow thoughts from people inside or outside their own field, and as such, there is continuous feeding of creative ideas from the works of others (Hertz 1993). There are even times when composers borrow music from each other and adapt each others' styles. Aaron Copland, an admirer and performer of Chalres Ives' music wrote a book entitled "Copland on Music" in 1960. In this book, he cites a young composer, Robert Palmer, whose music went beyond what you would imagine him capable of creating. Copland writes that Palmer's outward appearance "simply did not jibe with the complexities of the metaphysical music he was writing at the time" (1960). Apparently, Palmer admired Ives, and he initially based his music to that of Ives' then added his own stamp of eclecticism and transcendentalism. Europe has also been very influential in the development of music in the United States, and contemporary musicians like Stravinsky, Hindemith, Schonberg, Milhaud, and Martinu were all living and composing in the United States (Copland 1960). Copland himself was educated in Paris France, trained under Nadia Boulanger (Aaron Copland: American Composer n.d.). In effect, Copland was a product of two environments - Paris and America. Copland's music bursts with the chaotic energy of New York and paints pictures of skyscrapers and a busy city. It was his three years in Paris from where he learned how to "say the most with the fewest notes" (Schwartz n.d.). In 1930, he wrote Piano Variations, a piece strongly influenced by Igor Stravinsky and his Neoclassicism (Aaron Copland: American Composer n.d.). It has been said that other composers who were under the same wing of Nadia Boulanger such as Virgil Thomson and Walter Piston have the same abilities as Copland's to merge European music with American culture Schwartz n.d.). Another admirer of both Ives' and Copland's work was Leonard Bernstein. Contrary to the childhood encouragement of Charles Ives' was Leonard Bernstein's. Instead of having his father's support for his talents in music, Bernstein was constantly scolded and yelled at to stop playing the piano (Hurwitz 1993). His father was worried that playing the piano would be a deterrent to his education. Young Leonard, however, could not be reprimanded. His father turned out to be correct. Leonard did not do his homework most of the time. But instead of failing out of his competetive school, the bright young boy excelled as one of the brightest students (Hurwitz 1993). Having noticed his son's exemplary gift, Leonard's father bought a grand piano for his son and took him to a symphony concert. In 1935, Bernstein went to Harvard where he met many other talented musicians. There, he met Aaron Copland who eventually became a good friend of his apart from being an influential aspect in his musical career (Hurwitz 1993). It was in fact, Aaron Copland who encouraged him to become a composer, while another friend, Adolph Green, encouraged him to become a conductor. Years later, Bernstein became both. He loved conducting pieces by his admired musicians like Charles Ives, George Sherwin, and Roy Harris. Bernstein's first symphony, named after his favorite prophet Jeremiah, had very obvious undertones of his Jewish heritage (Hurwitz, 1993). Recognizable in this piece as well are Hebrew prayers and chants. The incorporation of the singing of a chorus into the later part of the musical score was also very much like Beethoven's and Mahler's symphonies (Hurwitz 1993 p.41). Despite taking up music in Harvard and Curtis, Bernstein never took any course in musical composition. However, he would consult his pieces to Aaron Copland. This is just one of his early works. To follow would be a long list of compositions and projects - classical music, musicals, orchestras, and films. Bernstein was certainly the kind of man who wanted to accomplish everything. Just like Ives, he was great at multitasking. In 1960, Copland wrote about Bernstein that "At its best it is music of vibrant rhythmic invention,...irresistible..., often carrying with it a terrific dramatic punch." (Hurwitz 1993 p. 49). Another important composer was Lou Harrison, who was born in Oregon but settled in San Francisco, where he studied music under the pioneer of modernist American music Henry Cowell. It was also in San Francisco where he met and became good friends with John Cage, with whom he instituted the first concert series dedicated to new music for percussion (Alves n.d.). In 1943, he also studied with Arthur Schoenberg in Los Angeles. Afterwhich, he migrated to New York City, where he became friends with Virgil Thomson. It was also at this time when he edited and conducted the premier of Charles Ives' Symphony #3, for whom he won the Pulitzer Prize (Serinus 2002). Apart from this, Harrison also studied Carl Ruggles' atonal music, and eve published a study about this. This, along with Arnold Schoenberg's influence, is apparent in his compositions Symphony on G and his opera Rapunzel. In addition to this, Harrison completed an outstanding set of compositions exploring new tunings and methods toward tonality. An example of this work is Strict Songs for just intonation orchestra and chorus (Alves n.d.). Another fan of improvisation is John Cage. He was another student of Henry Cowell. In the 1950s, he emerged as one of the towering figures of American experimental music (Borgo 2002). Cage constantly sought uniqueness and spontaneity in his compositions. He experimented with tone clusters with a prepared piano (Berger 2002). Yes, this is a piano prepared with nuts, bolts, screws, and rubber. He also had theories in non-music and for this became famous in Europe and Asia. Born in 1912, Cage went to UCLA and studied music with Arthur Schoenberg (John Cage n.d.). During this time, he realized that he wanted to create the kind of music completely different from what is considered acceptable. He then began focusing his talents at "found art". In 1951, Imaginary Landscape No 4 was created (John Cage n.d.). It was composed for a dance performance and uses twelve radios playing at once. This piece depended more on the performance to bring out the actual beauty of the sound. A year later, he composed Water Music, in which he used shells and water to create music that was purely inspired by the desire to recreate the sounds people hear around them everyday (John Cage n.d.). Just as Henry David Thoreau was influential for Ives, John Cage also was affected by his advocacy for silence. In 1952, Cage became notorious for his 4'33" silent piece (Berger 2002). To the audience's surprise, Cage would sit in front of the piano and not play anything. When inquired upon about this piece, Cage claimed that it was the exact reaction he wanted because there are times that he feels that one purpose in his life is to provide a brief period of silence for people (Berger 2002). Cage was, in fact, even considered as the artist who "destroyed music just so other composers could start all over again using a clean slate" (Berger 2002 p. 108). Apparent in the examples of Charles Ives, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Lou Harrison and John Cage how musicians have been able to build a network to be able to establish the music industry with sensational and breath-taking music. It began with the fusing of European music with American culture and history, which was then the advent for American composers to experiment and improvise with the composition, form, and style of music. Charles Ives indeed was a catalyst for this improvisation. He was brilliant and arrogant enough to be able to get away with the mockery of his creations. Instead of it coming off as an insult to American music, his compositions became legendary and historical. Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Lou Harrison and John Cage each sought to make names for themselves in making music. This was not, however, their primary goal. For these artists, fame was not the primary goal. They were just sheer genius at creating music that they couldn't help but be brilliant at what they do. And being the musicians that they were, they sought to even be better at what they do, and continued to pursue their music. Each has made his own stamp in the world of American Classical music. Each had his own style. Yet it was apparent how each had borrowed each other's music and even sometimes edited the other's compositions to be able to further enrich its tone, form, style, and composition. In turn, they have built a family of musicians, each member helping the other at the betterment of his craft. Bibliography Aaron Copland: american composer. 2007. [Online]. Available at http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95nov/copland.html [6 April 2008] Alves, B. Lou Harrison Biography. [Online]. Available at http://www2.hmc.edu/alves/harrisonbio.html [7 April 2008] Berger, A. 2002. Reflections of an American Composer, University of California Press, California. Borgo, D. 'Negotiating Freedom: Values and Practices in contemporary improvised Music', Black Music Research Journal, vol. 22. Issue 2, p. 165. Clarke, G.E. 1977. Essays on American Music, Greenwood Press, Connecticut. Copland, A. 1960. Copland on Music, Doubleday, New York. G. Schirmer, Inc: Charles Ives. 2006. [Online]. Available at http://www.schirmer.com/default.aspxTabId=2419&State_2872=2&ComposerId_2872=764 [4 April 2008]. Gutmann, P. 2002. Classical notes: america's greates composer. [Online]. Available at http://www.classicalnotes.net/columns/ives.html [4 April 2008]. Hertz, D.M. 1993. Angels of Reality: the Emersonian unfoldings of Wright, Stevens, and Ives, Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, Il. Hurwitz, J. 1993. Leonard Bernstein: a Passion for Music, Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia. John Cage. n.d. [Online]. Available at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/cage_j.html [7 April 2008] Schwartz, S. Classical Net: Aaron Copland. [Online]. Available at http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/copland.html [6 April 2008] Serinus, J. 2002. It had to be Lou: at age 84, Lou Harrison remains one of the great american composers. The Advocate, p. 64, March 19. Sherrane, R. 2007. The internet public library: Music history 102. [Online]. Available at http://www.ipl.org/div/mushist/rom/nation.htm#america [4 April 2008] Swafford, J. 1998. Ives the man: his life. [Online]. Available at http://www.charlesives.org/02bio.htm [4 April 2008] 'The american art song: an introduction', The Library of Congress. [Online]. Available at http://www.loc.gov/creativity/hampson/artsong.html [4 April 2008]. Read More