More 20th-century music & Copland!
Is 20th-century music so easily defined? Is there a rubric we can follow? In the past when I studied 20th-century music, I thought it was simply atonality and twelve-tone techniques put to music. I would think of pieces from composers like Schoenberg and Berg. Then adjacent to that, my exact line of thought would go: “YUCK! Math in music?!? No, thank you.” But that’s not entirely all there is! That is only a fraction of what 20th-century music has to offer.
So, let’s be honest here, 20th-century music is totally ambiguous! It’s hard to define because there are so many different styles and variations that come out of this era of time. For instance Aaron Copland. One of, if not, the first American composer to create these different sorts of sounds. In my opinion, he did so beautifully! Not just flawless works but works that had a grounding tonal center with elements of distracted chords or notes. They are different, but it’s fun to try and see where he hides his thematic elements. To me, he seems to have been a bridge leading from Debussy to Schoenberg using a little of each technique, like his whole tone step pieces in his Piano Variations. Just below is a picture of one of the pages of Aaron’s Copland Piano Variations sketchbook score. The piece premiered in a concert given in New York in 1931 which was originally supposed to be played by Walter Gieseking, a prominent pianist of the time. According to Howard Pollack's book: Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man, Gieseking didn’t take the gig because of: “the piece’s “crude dissonances” and “severity of style.” So, Copland played the piece himself.
When I say Copland was the bridge between Debussy and Schoenberg I mean that there seems to be an evolution of compositional style. Debussy begins the musical trend of what some consider, “musical impressionism,” Copland writes with whole-tone steps (i.e. his Piano Variations) and eventually Schoenberg with his atonality or twelve-tone step works. There’s an arch of one style morphing into the next, and on the very end of the other side of that arch are mixtures of all of these styles we use today, sometimes put together all at once.
I believe that Aaron Copland was what the world needed to ease into the atonality of the future. His Piano Variations seemed to be an attempt at something new and relevant while also giving us a sense of grounding. The elements of serious dissonance and then the seemingly random individual plunked out notes gives an atonal feel at times, yet he kept up the idea of holding on to a key and creating thematic elements. Is that a Romantic Era idea? Or just a musicality choice that his audiences enjoyed?
I enjoyed learning more about Aaron Copland and the impact he had on the musical community at the time, however, his genius, intuition, and sense of creativity began to fade for many. After World War II in the 1940s, the “youth” craze shifted to the atonality of Schoenberg. Copland's concerts became less attended and fashionable. He did try to create twelve-tone music a little later down the road though. Leonard Berstein wrote an article that was a birthday tribute to Aaron Copland and his experiences with him. Berstein states: “…‘but still I asked him, ‘Of all people, why you — you who are so instinctive, so spontaneous? Why are you bothering with tone rows and with the rules of retrograde and inversion, and all that?’ and he answered me. ‘Because I need more chords. I’ve run out of chords.’* And that lasted for four more pieces and then he didn’t write anymore. How sad for him. How awful for us.”-Library of Congress, Aaron Copland Collection, An Intimate Sketch.
Leonard later implied in the article that Copland never gave up hope of composing again, but he never did. He ended his career conducting the orchestras and lecturing in a classroom, which in my opinion is not a bad way to end a lifetime of work!
Thanks for reading. TTFN (Ta-ta for now)! ❤
