Absolute and Program Music in the 21st Century

In the 19th century, the critic Eduard Hanslick believed that program music would destroy the, “nature of beauty in a musical composition,” for the reason that it subtracts from music as being, “specifically musical” (Bonds, 269). Hanslick would not be pleased with the state of concert music in the 21st century. Proponents of program music such as Liszt and Wagner, who called their music, “The music of the future,” were correct (Bonds 268). Since the 19th century, audiences have found preference in music with identified meaning, and current musical practice in the western tradition reflects this demand. Concert music has taken a back seat to popular music throughout the last century, and since Jazz lost its place in the spotlight, the vocalist has taken center stage. Art music has met the demand for meaning from modern day listeners through program music. The focus on programmatic music can be seen in movie scores, modern composition, and concert programming by major professional orchestras.
One of the most lucrative jobs for a composer today is composition for film soundtracks. Modern movie music was shaped by program composers of the romantic era. John Williams is one of the most popular and in demand composers of our day. When he began composing for film, he looked upon music of the 19th century. While composing for the first Star Wars film, Williams chose to make music that would be emotionally familiar, rather than meet the futuristic tone of the movie. For Williams, “[this] translated into the use of a 19th century operatic idiom, if you like, Wagner and this sort of thing. These sorts of influences would put us in touch with remembered theatrical experiences as well—all western experiences to be sure” (Byrd). In Star Wars, Williams created different musical themes or motifs for the characters that could musically transform based upon situations that the characters encountered. The soundtrack album made it to Billboards top 20, which was unheard of for a non-pop score (Byrd).The 19th century program aesthetic created a musical rhetoric perfect for modern film.
Twenty-first century composers are reaching back to 19th century program music in order to appeal to their personal tastes, and those of their audience. The University of St. Thomas bands have commissioned and premiered many pieces, and worked with many composers in recent years. Few of these works have been non-programmatic. Ralph Hultgren worked with the St. Thomas symphonic band on a non-programmatic piece called, “Of Questions and Answers.” In the program notes, Hultgren explained that this piece was not programmatic, but rather was an expression of current events in his life, and went on to explain the questions and answers he received (George). Hultgren sought to engage a modern audience, by giving explanation or meaning. This is a far stretch from Beethoven’s “Eroica,” Symphony, where the audience could only speculate on the meaning through the musical architecture. Perhaps, Hultgren needed extra-musical meaning for himself in order to compose, but it is an important peculiarity of our current musical culture that the composer chose to share his personal feelings and perspective on the piece rather than allowing the audience to find their own meaning. This is not to suggest that 21st century listeners are less intelligent than those of the past, it is simply not in the current western aesthetic to listen to music solely to hear the different tones unfold.
Concert program organization by major orchestras in the Unites States further exemplifies the demand of 21st century audiences toward programmatic music and portrays how the absolute vs. program musical dichotomy of the 19th century has played out. Examining the repertoire of major orchestras in the United States displays a prominence of 19th century and modern music. Music before the 19th century is either portrayed as educational, or as a pre-curser to music with meaning, and the only early music that is given its own bill is vocal music. Programming by both the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra illustrate that a night of solely Bach would not likely occur unless it was a performance of “St. Matthew’s Passion,” or a night of Handel’s if not, “Messiah.” If an instrumental work by Bach is performed, it is likely to be followed by music of programmatic composers that were directly influenced by him. The Minnesota Orchestra currently has a concert scheduled of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven to show how each composer progressed music. Bach and Mozart are respectively represented as stepping stones on the path to developing a more emotionally expressive musical idiom and rhetoric.
A more radical portrayal of programmatic influence in the concert hall is seen in the performance of Movie soundtracks, and orchestral renditions or arrangements of pop songs. In 2007, the Minnesota Orchestra played a slue of sold out concerts of the soundtrack from the movie series The Lord of the Rings. Often a soundtrack composer or a conductor will travel to different professional performing groups and arrange these successful and highly profitable performances. Orchestras have also found it advantageous to include pop music in their repertoire epitomized by the night of music of Led Zeppelin performed by the Minnesota Orchestra.
It is impossible to portray the progression of musical interest to programmatic themes in a positive or negative light. Musical practices reflect artistic interests of society that change based upon extra-musical ideologies and historical events. The popularity of more concrete musical art is seen in film music, modern composition, and programming of concert music. This 21st century interest represents ideals radically different from 19th century proponents of absolute music that believed, as Hanslick said, “The sole and exclusive content and object of music are forms animated through sound” (Bonds).


Sources:

Bonds, Mark Evan. A Brief History of Music in Western Culture. Pearson Prentice Hall,
2004.
Byrd, Craig L. John William Interview.
http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/features/williams.asp [accessed March 10, 2008].
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Website. www.sco.org [accessed March 12, 2008].
George, Matthew. Road to the Stars. http://innova.mu/notes/651.htm [accessed March 12,
2008].
Minnesota Orchestra Website. www.minnesotaorchestra.com [accessed March 12, 2008].

Ramblings of an Introvert: Welcome!

I should be writing essays, practicing guitar or doing other school related things right now, but instead I’m indulging in a more independent form of academic bliss. I started this blog in hopes of communicating my thoughts and ideas better (hence, URL: ramblings of an introvert). I really enjoy reading other people’s blogs, but the ones I truly enjoy are usually by professional or amateur writers. I on the other hand am a musician that loves to read, but I haven’t necessarily developed my elementary school dream of being a writer. I will spell check my writings, but I cannot guarantee perfect grammar (which is another thing I hope to work on as I write here!). The rather artsy title of my blog is from the end of one of my favorite books, "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
I recently finished reading “The Garden of Eden,” by Earnest Hemmingway. I found the book extremely enjoyable despite its rather scandalous nature. It was Hemmingway’s last book that was written fully by him, though his son put the manuscripts together. I recommend it to everybody, and it is a relatively quick read.
On a musical note, I’ve gotten into really nerdy musician self-help books. The first one I read was, “The Art of Practicing,” by Madeline Bruser. You know music school is getting tough when you start seeking out self help books! This book really has changed my life though. I found that I was putting a lot of unnecessary tension and psychological frustration into my playing. I then started reading “The Mastery of Music,” by Barry Green. This book is also really good, and filled with interesting stories about concert musicians. He wrote another book called “The Inner Game of Music” and I hope to read that soon too. Maybe I’ll write more about these later because they have a lot of interesting ideas that would be good to both share and process.
I’m working on learning some really cool repertoire right now. I’ve been working on the Duarte edition of J.S. Bach’s 3rd cello suite since last summer, and I’m just starting to get the feel for it. If you are interested in a recording of this, Segovia recorded it and it is on his Bach CD from the “Segovia the Great Master” collection. I almost feel like I’m doing product placement on this blog. I am also learning “Theme and Variations” by Lennox Berkeley and there is a great recording of it by Craig Ogden (who I hope to study with in England for my masters degree). Lastly, I am working on Villa-Lobos’ guitar concerto. It is ridiculously difficult and fast, but I have a feeling it won’t be as hard as it seems once I get the feel for it… still way easier than Bach.
If you would like some musical education, seek out Alex Ross’ blog, “The Rest is Noise.” It is awesome. He also wrote a book under the same title that I hope to read this summer. He is the music critic for the New York Times, and offers infectious insight into classical music.

Thanks for reading!
Chris