Igor Stravinskys In Memoriam Dylan Thomas as an Avant-garde Music - Essay Example

Igor Stravinsky’s “In Memoriam Dylan Thomas” as an Avant-garde Music Introduction Igor Stravinsky is a 20th century musician renowned for diverting from the classical music genre of the time towards the avant-garde music style. Stravinsky became a famous musician in the early and mid-20th century by adopting a unique label on the traditional styles that existed during his time. The shifting from the traditional to neo-classical style towards the end of his musical career gave rise to serial compositions which were characterized by their simplistic and moderate nature. Though some of Stravinsky’s compositions were critically regarded by the public, their failure to appeal to a large audience qualifies them to be classified as avant-garde. With his 1953-1954 popular composition, In Memoriam Dylan Thomas among other famous compositions, Stravinsky’s musical philosophy was that music was nothing more than notes while music composition is more of an expression of logic than one’s passion. Despite his lack of appeal to the audience, Stravinsky was highly regarded by his fellow musicians as one of the leading musical composers of his time. This paper seeks to demonstrate that Igor Stravinsky’s In Memoriam Dylan Thomas qualifies to be categorized as avant-garde music rather than “old guard”/traditional music. Characteristic features of avant-garde music Avant-garde music is not easily definable since the rules applied in its composition, arrangement and performance are required to differentiate it from the classical music. It is generally believed that avant-garde music exhibits a deviation from the mainstream music. As indicated by Pinson, avant-garde musicians can be distinguished by their freedom to choose a musical style that is different from the mainstream, as well as their ability and vision to create and organize music outside the limits of the traditional style (146). Avant-garde music is also defined by its originality and innovativeness as opposed to its popularity and appeal to the audience (Pinson 146). Additionally, avant-garde musicians are believed to have a different identity from that of the traditional musicians, which enables them to incorporate the metaphysical into their style of composition to generate an innovative piece (Pinson 146). The musical composition of avant-garde is often linked to the musician’s identity or other non-musical aspects such as the musician’s philosophies, political ideologies and religion. Despite its linkage with other non-music aspects, avant-garde music does not enjoy massive public acceptance since such music may not be accessed by a large audience. Examining Igor Stravinsky’s musical life and his late works Despite his popularity as a musician in the early 20th century, Stravinsky’s late compositions were relatively ambiguous. As opposed to his earlier compositions, Stravinsky’s late works were rarely performed on stage, poorly recorded, regularly criticized and poorly comprehended by the audience. The poor reception of Stravinsky’s late works such as “In Memoriam Dylan Thomas” is quite ironical to the musician’s growing popularity as a musician. It is apparent that few, if any, contemporary musicians could parallel Igor Stravinsky in terms of stage performances, influence and music recordings as well as popularity mostly in reference to his early Russian cabarets and neoclassical compositions. The poor reception accorded to Stravinsky’s late works is an unusual deviation from the musician’s international popularity. Some aspects about Igor Stravinsky’s musical and life experiences remain mysterious. Over the years, scholars have struggled, albeit with little success, to understand Stravinsky’s works due to its language use, style and transformation from one genre to another. Further ambiguity can be derived from the musician’s personal statements regarding his life, music and the works of his fellow musicians. Though initially believed to be religiously oriented, Stravinsky’s statements can be regarded as contradictory, confusing and self-seeking. This can be illustrated by Stravinsky’s critique of the late Giuseppe Verdi’s music during his pro-neoclassicism Harvard University lectures in which he observes: Think how subtle and clinging the poison of the music drama was to have insinuated itself even into the veins of the colossus Verdi. How can we help regretting that this master of traditional opera, at the end of a long life studded with so many authentic masterpieces, climaxed his career with Falstaff which, if it is not Wagner’s best work is not Verdi’s best opera either? (Stravinsky 63) Stravinsky’s ironical critique of Verdi’s musical transformation has been proved by his late compositions by adopting the twelve-tone serialism music associated with his musical colleague and opponent Arnold Schoenberg. Stravinsky’s move from neoclassicism towards serialism during the 1950s was a major surprise to contemporary music as he has been popularly known throughout Europe for his neoclassicism compositions. The adoption of Schoenberg’s serialism by Stravinsky was not embraced by the majority of his audience – a phenomenon that can be explained by the fact that his loyal fans had been deeply attached to his neoclassical style. The understanding and reception of Stravinsky’s late works was greatly shaped by critics. During the mid-20th century, critics acted as intermediaries between the innovative compositions and the confused listeners since Stravinsky had become a leading innovator in music techniques and language. Owing to their inability to cope with the rapid developments in Stravinsky’s compositions, the audience relied on critics to help in comprehending the difficult emerging avant-garde music. In his critique, Walsh described Stravinsky’s 1950’s and 60’s works as “an odd bunch of works, dislikable to many, to others evidence of failing powers and technical epigonism: the works of a master, no doubt, but masterworks hardly.” (Walsh 523). An analysis of Stravinsky’s piece “In Memoriam Dylan Thomas” in relation to avant-garde music Stravinsky composed the piece “In Memoriam Dylan Thomas” between 1953 and 1954 following the demise of his friend Dylan Thomas with whom he looked forward to work on a project. The piece is significant since it was Stravinsky’s first complete serial work. The piece was inspired by Stravinsky’s deep affection for Dylan Thomas and the loss he felt after his sudden death while on his way to meet him. In memory of the poet, Stravinsky used some lines from one of Thomas’ poem dedicated to his father’s memory to generate a canonic music piece. The piece is characterized by a tenor tone combined with a string quartet with a completely instrumental prelude and postlude juxtaposed between the string quartet and a trombone quartet. A further insight can be provided by listening to the piece. At the start, the piece is presented in a textural form indicating a significant deviation from the often fragmented serialist style. The unified presentation depicted in the piece is usually amplified by the musician’s choice of harmonized instrumentation. Despite the series of jumps, the smooth manner in which the piece is presented creates an impression of motion and line often associated with tonality. The inclusion of a semitone and consonance does not appear to entirely exclude the traditional taste of the piece while the vocal lines seem like a contrast of the preceding textural form. Additionally, the syllable setting is outstanding, which is contrary to the intonation set by the musician. There are apparent instances of word painting with the music dying away especially at the points where the text addresses the issue of dying. There are clear and definite phrase breaks and a recurrence of ideas and intentions, which gives the music a rather structured feel. Though the piece may appear as a song derived from a text, the dirge prelude and postludes convert it to a more sanctified form making it appear as a ritual as opposed to a recital piece. This sets the listener’s mind towards the piece while opening room for meditation on the contents of the song. The unique manner in which the piece is presented illustrates the composer’s characteristic mystery and innovativeness as an avant-garde composer. Another interesting perspective in characterizing the false tonal impression in the piece is exemplified by Stravinsky’s perceptions on tonality. In his Harvard lecture series, Stravinsky describes dissonance as “an element of transition; a complex or interval of tones which is not complete in itself and which must be resolved to the ear’s satisfaction” (Stravinsky 34). The traditional tonality and dissonance in Stravinsky’s piece is the ability to embrace diversity. The new perception is demonstrated by Stravinsky’s opinion about composing where he views composing as a means of putting into order a certain number of sounds into specific interval-relationships (Stravinsky 37). “In Memoriam Dylan Thomas,” deviation from his past composition is illustrated by the critics of the piece. In his critique in The Musical Times, Colin Mason views the piece as a continuation of the trend in Stravinsky’s musical transformation towards serialization while adding that the piece would sanctify him amidst the serialists (Colin 24-26). Mason adds that Stravinsky “attempts no compromise with tonality” and in depicting himself as a serialist “does not try to use it simply as another vehicle for a fundamentally conservative or traditional conception of music” (Colin 25). While Mason’s critique illustrates that Stravinsky had deviated from his musical past, he also seems to imply that despite its unique technique, it does not demonstrate a major deviation from his earlier works. Conclusion After a critical examination of the musical life of Igor Stravinsky and the piece “In Memoriam Dylan Thomas,” it is apparent that the piece qualifies as avant-garde music. The use of false tonality and the musician’s transformation from neoclassicism towards serialism shows innovativeness displaying the composer’s creativity. The use of harmonious textural form in a serialist composition characterized by fragmented style also exemplifies the piece as an innovative composition. Despite its inclusion of new techniques, some critics of the piece attempt to assert that the composition does not clearly show a major deviation from Stravinsky’s earlier works. Stravinsky’s mysterious life and philosophies as well as his ironical views about other musicians are reflected in the complexity surrounding the piece “In Memoriam Dylan Thomas.” Works Cited Colin, Mason. “News Music.” The Musical Times LXXXXVII/1355 Jan. 1956. Print. Pinson, Heather. The Jazz Image: Seeing Music through Herman Leonard's Photography. Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2010. Print. Stravinsky, Igor. Poetics of Music in the form of six lessons: A Harvard Paperback. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1970. Print. Stravinsky, Igor. Poetics of Music. Trans. Arthur Knodel and Ingolf Dahl. New York: Vintage Books, 1947. Print. Walsh, Stephen. Stravinsky: The Second Exile, France and America, 1934-1971. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Print. Read More