Performing Arts News https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/ News for Music, Dance, and Theater from Temple University Library -- A Temple Libraries' Blog Wed, 14 Feb 2024 19:33:12 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 The Timeless Resonance of the Cello https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/2024/02/14/the-timeless-resonance-of-the-cello/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-timeless-resonance-of-the-cello Wed, 14 Feb 2024 19:33:10 +0000 https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/?p=6758 Beyond the Notes presents Unaccompanied Cello from Bach to the Grateful Dead Wednesday, February 21, 2024, 12:00 PM Charles Library Event Space Light refreshments served. Boyer recital credit given. All programs are free and open to all, and registration is encouraged. The cello, with its rich and varied timbre, has captivated audiences for centuries. Originating […]

The post The Timeless Resonance of the Cello appeared first on Performing Arts News.

]]>
Beyond the Notes Logo on black background with musical notes under the word "the."

Beyond the Notes presents

Unaccompanied Cello from Bach to the Grateful Dead

Wednesday, February 21, 2024, 12:00 PM

Charles Library Event Space

Light refreshments served. Boyer recital credit given.

All programs are free and open to all, and registration is encouraged.


A young Jeffrey Solow with his 
teacher, Gregor Piatigorsky
A young Jeffrey Solow with his
teacher, Gregor Piatigorsky

The cello, with its rich and varied timbre, has captivated audiences for centuries. Originating from the early 16th century, it has evolved to become one of the most versatile and beloved instruments in the musical world. Its enduring popularity transcends classical boundaries, finding its place in diverse genres ranging from jazz to rock, folk to pop. In honor of Boyer Professor of Music Jeffrey Solow‘s upcoming Between the Notes concert celebrating the cello as a solo instrument, we’ll delve into the origins of the cello, its remarkable adaptability across musical styles, and the theories behind its enduring allure.

A Viola de Gamba
Viola de Gamba. source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GambeUilderks.png

The cello, short for violoncello, emerged as a member of the violin family during the late Renaissance period. It evolved from earlier bowed string instruments, such as the viola da gamba, and gained prominence in the Baroque era, particularly in the works of composers like Bach and Vivaldi. With its deep, resonant sound and versatile range, the cello quickly established itself as an essential component of classical orchestras and chamber ensembles.

Beyond Classical: The Cello’s Versatility

Despite its classical roots, the cello has journeyed far beyond the confines of traditional orchestral settings, making its mark in a plethora of non-classical genres. Let’s take a closer look at some specific examples of how the cello has been used in different musical styles:

Jazz: The cello’s warm and resonant tones find a natural home in the world of jazz. Take, for instance, the music of cellist Jacques Morelenbaum. His unique spin on Brazilian Bossa Nova music weaves the cello through the more traditional guitar and bass parts, adding a layer of depth on tunes like “Você e Eu” and “Coração Vagabundo.”

Album cover of Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble's album "Sing Me Home"
Album cover of Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble’s album “Sing Me Home”

Folk and World Music: The cello’s versatility shines in folk and world music traditions, where it adds an earthy depth to traditional tunes. In Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble‘s album “Sing Me Home,” the cello takes center stage alongside a diverse array of instruments from around the globe. Tracks like “Going Home” blend Eastern and Western musical elements, combining an adapted version of Dvorak’s famous American-inspired tune with banjo and traditional Chinese instruments.

Pop and Rock: In the realm of pop and rock music, the cello has been elevated from a supporting role to a featured instrument in its own right. Apocalyptica, a Finnish cello metal band, has garnered international acclaim for their electrifying covers of songs by bands like Metallica and Slayer. “Nothing Else Matters,” from their album “Plays Metallica by Four Cellos” showcases the cello’s versatility in delivering powerful riffs and driving rhythms alongside more melodic and tuneful moments.

Zoe Keating performing with Cello and Electronics.
Zoe Keating performing with Cello and Electronics.
source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zo%C3%AB_Keating_-eTech_2009-_2.jpg

Experimental and Avant-Garde: The cello’s expressive capabilities are further explored in experimental and avant-garde music, where artists push the boundaries of traditional composition and performance. In Zoe Keating‘s album “One Cello x 16: Natoma,” she employs looping and electronic effects to create intricate layers of sound, transforming the cello into a one-woman orchestra. Tracks like “Escape Artist” and “Optimist” demonstrate the instrument’s limitless potential for innovation and experimentation.

Theories Behind the Cello’s Popularity

What is it about the cello that makes it so appealing across such diverse musical landscapes? It is hard to cite one reason, but one common anecdotal sentiment is the cello’s timbre, which is often described as being closest to the human voice. While there is little direct evidence to support this claim, several attempts have been made to analyze the specific reason for this common observation. In her master’s thesis, cellist and singer Kim Worley points to the cello’s ability to emulate the vibrato, portamento, and dynamic changes common in vocal technique. A broader study of the “Voicelikeness” of musical instruments by Emery Schubert and Joe Wolfe found comparisons to the voice with many different instruments, including the flute, trombone, and cello, but concluded that no one instrument is clearly voicelike.

From its origins in the Renaissance to its modern-day prominence across musical genres, the cello continues to captivate listeners with its timeless resonance and emotional depth. Whether performing a stirring concerto or improvising in a jazz club, the cello remains a symbol of artistic expression and musical innovation. Whatever the reason, its enduring popularity serves as a testament to the multitude of expressive possibilities contained within an instrument.


Suggested Reading:

Isserlis, Steven. The Bach Cello Suites: A Companion. London: Faber, 2021. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991038024183603811.

Markevitch, Dimitry. The Solo Cello : A Bibliography of the Unaccompanied Violoncello Literature. Berkeley, California: Fallen Leaf Press, 1989. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991025058359703811.

Piatigorsky, Gregor. Cellist. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1965. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991005589009703811.

Prieto, Carlos. The Adventures of a Cello. Translated by Elena C. Murray. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991013982139703811.

Siblin, Eric. The Cello Suites : J.S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece. New York, N.Y.: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2009. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991000716899703811.

Stowell, Robin, ed. The Cambridge Companion to the Cello. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991011218989703811.

Winold, Allen. Bach’s Cello Suites : Analyses and Explorations. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2007. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991026139089703811.

By Dan Maguire

The post The Timeless Resonance of the Cello appeared first on Performing Arts News.

]]>
Beyond the Notes: A Visual Music Sampler https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/2024/01/25/beyond-the-notes-a-visual-music-sampler/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beyond-the-notes-a-visual-music-sampler Thu, 25 Jan 2024 15:18:52 +0000 https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/?p=6732 Beyond the Notes presents A Visual Music Sampler Wednesday, January 31, 2024, 12:00 PM Charles Library Event Space Light refreshments served. Boyer recital credit given. All programs are free and open to all, and registration is encouraged. Join Boyer Professor of Music and composer Maurice Wright in a presentation of electronic music, live performance, and […]

The post Beyond the Notes: A Visual Music Sampler appeared first on Performing Arts News.

]]>
Beyond the Notes Logo on black background with musical notes under the word "the."

Beyond the Notes presents

A Visual Music Sampler

Wednesday, January 31, 2024, 12:00 PM

Charles Library Event Space

Light refreshments served. Boyer recital credit given.

All programs are free and open to all, and registration is encouraged.


Join Boyer Professor of Music and composer Maurice Wright in a presentation of electronic music, live performance, and the marriage of music and visuals. Professor Wright explains how he first came to create video counterparts for his electronic music, and how his fascination with images began to lead his imagination to grander schemes. Along with compositions for computer sound and projected video, flutist (and Beyond the Notes alum) Chelsea Meynig will perform PHOENIX, a work in which they collaborated via Zoom during the pandemic. In anticipation of this concert, I conducted an interview with Professor Wright to gain some insight into his background and creative approach. The following interview was edited for clarity and length.

Dan Maguire: You have explored a number of different specialties throughout your musical life, including piano, trombone, and many different electronic devices – can you tell us about these different facets of your musical background and how you decided to focus on composition?

Maurice Wright: Well musically there are a lot of things I did because I like making music, but composition has been the thread that runs through them. I took piano lessons and I didn’t like practicing as much as I did just seeing the notes and so forth and so I started skipping the piano lessons and would write music down and play it myself.

Dry Cell Battery Ad (1949)

And so composing is the thread that runs through all of it. I also had a really fun interest in experimenting with electrical things. There were dry cell batteries from old telephones — so you couldn’t really hurt yourself — but they were powerful enough to drive microphones and handsets. The microphones were carbon granule, you know, like a variable resistance. And if you hooked that across the voltage and ran the wire and hooked an earpiece across it and then on the other end, you could make a telephone.

Now the problem as a kid playing on his own was you couldn’t really run outside to see whether it worked. You’d have to find a really busy older relative to listen to the other end. But it was a lot of fun to do that. And it got me interested in circuits and physics and magnets. All that stuff kind of goes together. And then eventually, sometime in elementary school, I guess, experimenting with a tape recorder. And that was fun too, playing sounds forwards and backwards. And in high school computers were just kind of becoming a thing.

DM: Much of your work features visual elements – can you speak on what about visual material you find particularly inspiring or challenging to work with?

MW: I went to Columbia and was really interested in electronic music, and loved doing electronic music, and felt that a shortcoming in our concerts was the visual aspect. You could write a piece with a performer with that posed a whole set of problems that were kind of restrictive in the lab. In the lab, you could deal with the tiniest details of a phasing and reverberation and crazy timings. But once a performer got involved, you were starting to have to approximate everything. You have to fit it to what the performer can do.

Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, c. 1970
source: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/cpemc.html

And it took away an aspect in some ways. So I was thinking about things that would work to make images or to make to make something visually interesting for concerts. And after a series of missteps and other things that came upon the notion of adding graphics to it, video editing software became available. Adobe Premiere was kind of clunky to use, but nevertheless it worked. If you could get a sequence of images, you could make them into a to a movie file and you could synchronize it with sound.

DM: There were a couple other alternative ideas before you arrived at graphics, right, for what the audience could look at?

MW: Yeah, one was the idea of a building in which there no one can see the stage and every seat had an obstructed view, so you would have to imagine what was happening on a stage that you couldn’t see. There might be something Platonic in that. And the other idea was one where the hall is split in half and an audience sits on either side looking — staring — at one another during the concert.

DM: But there’s probably still a project in one of those ideas.

MW: Yes, some audience members might be, uncomfortable with that. It’s fun, the question about doing that. But, you know, I’m not an architect and we’re talking about setting something up for a concert. So really what people do know how to do is to watch a screen and accept pretty much whatever the sound is that comes from that. I read this morning that the Philadelphia Orchestra have even more emphasis on film music next year than this year. And I don’t think that’s because the orchestra isn’t interesting to watch or that the film music is somehow better than the repertoire.

Gene Searchinger on Charlie Rose in 1996

But for some reason, that’s a thing that draws people. And I have worked with a documentary producer in New York, Gene Searchinger. We did one film for the Metropolitan Museum of Art that Caroline Kennedy produced. Another was a three part series about linguistics, about the human language and how it is that we come to speak to each other. And in all of that I learned that movies were not the kind of orderly progression from script to image that I thought they were, but really more of a business of looking through images for connections and starting with a large library of stuff and culling it down. And the way I jumped to do that with music, other than some early kind of cartoonish experiments was to find ways to actually visualize the sound and to use samples on the sound file to make patterns on the screen, not oscilloscopic, but through a technique called Delta encoding, which is used by the researchers that study strange attractors and chaos theory, where you can use the difference between samples to plot X and Y positions. And if it’s periodic, you get some sort of circular thing. If it’s purely random, you get a diagonal line, depending how you’ve mapped it. And if it’s something in between, you get an image in between.

DM: So without spoiling too much for the audience, could you say a little bit about each of the pieces that we’re going to be seeing?

MW: They’re in chronological order, so it starts way back, I think in the 90s, and then works its way through to 2022. And the first and what you might mainly see is how display technology and computers got better: more dots were on the screen. Memory became cheap, hard drives fantastically better and cheaper than they were.

And so the first piece, Seven Cartoons is part of a longer piece that I wrote on commission from Network for New Music, which has four cycles of movements and opens with a duo for piano and saxophone. I then took the same notes from that and realized them using a computer language. I was learning to use Csound at the time and this was sort of an etude to learn how to use Csound. So I programmed those pieces and then created video for them that were pretty much cartoons. Two-dimensional figures that get put together and sliced together, but very flat, kind of some movements very jerky, probably inspired as much by Terry Gilliam’s Monty Python opening sequences as anything. He was really clever at taking cutouts and moving them, slightly — stop action motion with cutouts to make these things. And I kind of just played with that.

The second piece is short. It’s called A Fish’s Tale. It was composed for the International Computer Music Conference, which had a theme for its convention in Copenhagen. And the theme was music underwater. Because they were very proud of all the waterways around Copenhagen. Each one now was clear enough to swim in and to see through. And so the city commissioned a bunch of big statues under the water so you could go to a canal, stand on the bridge and look down and see a statue looking up at you.

Agnete and the Merman by Suste Bonnen, next to the Højbro Bridge in Copenhagen
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Agnete_and_the_Merman_sculptures.JPG

And this was the theme of the conference. And so I thought I would try to do a thematic related piece. It’s about waters rising and everything being under the water. And somehow the fish, because of all the disruption, contract some awful virus that the ones that survive end up with capacity for speech. And consequently, broadcast companies find ways to tailor entertainment for fish to watch.

Then the next piece, Domestic Tranquility, is long. It’s 28 minutes. So that’s almost TV length. It’s done in two parts. And the entire long thing was shown, screened a couple of times at conferences, but too long for most of them. It is based on a theme of the dangers of misinformation. It has to do with a man who believes what he hears on television and ends up destroying his environment and nearly getting killed himself before he sees the truth and is helped by the very things he was trying to destroy.

The last one is short, but the most complicated in some ways in that it has a performer, so this kind of goes full circle to the beginning. This was composed during the pandemic in collaboration with Chelsea Meynig, whom I had met at Temple. Chelsea and I were in contact because she plays always for my orchestration classes. The orchestration classes were on Zoom, and she played the demonstration of the flute remotely. We thought this is really an awful time.

Flutist Chelsea Meynig, featured in “PHOENIX”

So we commiserated. And then a group that I know in New York called Association for Promotion of New Music sponsored a competition for a grant for pieces called The Masked Performer, where you would write a piece for a performer that could be performed solo during COVID so they wouldn’t infect anyone. But Chelsea and I decided we would do it as a piece which would collaborate and she would play the flute and I would do computer sound. Then I would do abstract video and I would also record her.

So there are various versions of the piece, some with her on video edited in to make a sequence, but there’s also a version with just the electronic sounds using the same technique I described as the really oldest one, the Delta encoding, which are projected right onto the flute player, it looks like a little fire burning inside and it turns into bird feathers as the phoenix takes off. The Phoenix, was her idea, it was a storytelling piece.

And so it’s not really the culmination of a sequence, but in terms of the evolution in time, you can see how the graphics became more of a tool that I could add to something as opposed to an end of a project. That’s kind of how it works. They’re very different though.

DM: You’ve been a fixture at Temple for many years. How does your role as an academic impact your approach to composition?

MW: Temple has been a great place. When I was a kid, living in Tampa, my family were not academics. There were five children and I was the only one to finish high school. But as a kid, I loved the university. I could ride my bicycle over to the University of South Florida. And they had practice rooms with grand pianos that the students apparently didn’t need, were great for me. I always got to play the piano. They even had a bookstore that sold music.

I found the library that had untouched volumes of music journals and scoresw. And it just seemed like the greatest place. I thought, you know, when I get older, I want to work in one of these places because it looked just like so much fun. I met astronomers who were setting up a planetarium. And I thought, wow, what do you have to do to do this? For me, it was enough to make me want to try to do well enough that I could go to college. The other thing that really inspired me to go to college was the jobs you get as a high schooler. You get to be a janitor. You get to do kind of anything that no one wants to do, a lot of it with a shovel. You know, it’s enough to make you want to work hard in school. So when I got to Temple, I thought, well, I have arrived, this will be so much fun.

And then I was kind of crushed by the workload. And it took me a long time to adjust to that. But the people, faculty, and students that I met along the way have really been wonderful musical partners. I came to Temple probably because my friend Lambert Orkis was on the search committee. He’s on our piano faculty still today. Lambert and I loved to see each other and to talk about music.

I was really happy to be where he was. And the students at Temple have always been, continue to be today, to be really stimulating and very interesting musicians. Mark-André Hamlin, the famous pianist, was a great composer, a composition student. Will Hudgins, now principal percussionist of the Boston Symphony, could be found in the basement of Presser Hall, practicing Porgy and Bess into the late hours. Linda Reichert, who started Network for New Music, was a composition student of mine for a time. Charles Abramovic, chair of our piano faculty, took some lessons. He’s a great player. And really throughout the time that I was there, it’s been fun. I think the most ambitious and experimental pieces I’ve put on at Temple, I once did an Opera with robots. You could do it there because the risk was so much lower than in any kind of professional setting and there were people who collaborate. So it was as much fun as I thought, but not in the way I thought it would be.

By Dan Maguire


The post Beyond the Notes: A Visual Music Sampler appeared first on Performing Arts News.

]]>
From “Fortunate Son” to “The Ballad of the Green Berets”: The Vietnam War in Song https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/2023/11/09/vietnam-war-in-song/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=vietnam-war-in-song Thu, 09 Nov 2023 18:34:30 +0000 https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/?p=6687 Temple University Libraries presents “Can You Get Anything You Want? The Complicated Story of ‘Alice’s Restaurant’“ A Conversation, Performance, and Singalong Tuesday, November 14, 2023, 3:30 PM Charles Library Event Space Light refreshments served. All programs are free and open to all, and registration is encouraged. The Vietnam War was a tumultuous period in American […]

The post From “Fortunate Son” to “The Ballad of the Green Berets”: The Vietnam War in Song appeared first on Performing Arts News.

]]>
Black and white photograph of a woman holding a guitar in front of various people sitting behind her and signs reading "End of the War in Vietnam" and the words "For Life" surrounded by peace signs.
Folksinger Joan Baez in London, 1965

Temple University Libraries presents

Can You Get Anything You Want?

The Complicated Story of ‘Alice’s Restaurant’

A Conversation, Performance, and Singalong

Tuesday, November 14, 2023, 3:30 PM

Charles Library Event Space

Light refreshments served.

All programs are free and open to all, and registration is encouraged.


Alice's Restaurant Album Cover, featuring a young white man wearing a bowler hat sitting shirtless at a dining room table, his chest covered by a napkin, and flanked by candles.
Alice’s Restaurant Album Cover

The Vietnam War was a tumultuous period in American history, marked by controversy, protests, and significant social change. Music played a pivotal role during this era, providing a voice to those who opposed the war and capturing the experiences of soldiers on the front lines. The war inspired many songs, some critical, and some supportive. A unique example is “Alice’s Restaurant,” by Arlo Guthrie (the son of famous singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie). Nearly 20 minutes long, and predominantly spoken rather than sung, it details his successful dodging of the draft after a fateful Thanksgiving in Massachusetts. The song even inspired an illustrated book of the same name, available through the Charles Library’s Special Collections. Our next Beyond the Notes event will feature a conversation about the song within its historical and social context, followed by a Q&A with the audience, and finally a performance. Here we will explore some other iconic songs about the Vietnam War and how they reflected the sentiments of the time.

1. “Fortunate Son” (1969) by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Billboard Peak #3
“Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival is a powerful protest song that criticizes the draft system and the privileged position of the wealthy in avoiding military service. While not overtly critical of the Vietnam War specifically, its catchy melody and straightforward lyrics detailing the struggles of the lower classes, who were more strongly affected by the draft due to a lack of political and social influence, made it an anthem for the anti-war movement.

Famous black and white image of John Lennon and Yoko Ono in bed. A guitar, flowers, and a tape recorder sit on the bed with them.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono in bed in the Hilton Hotel. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org

2. “Give Peace a Chance” (1969) by John Lennon, Billboard Peak #14
John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance” was recorded during his and Yoko Ono’s “Bed-In” protest for peace in 1969. Featuring Lennon’s characteristic surrealist imagery and wordplay throughout the verses, the clear message of the song’s simple refrain became an anthem for the anti-war movement and promoted the message of peaceful protest and unity.     

3. “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” (1955) by Pete Seeger, Billboard Peak #21
Originally written by Pete Seeger in the 1950s, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” gained renewed popularity during the Vietnam War, thanks to cover versions by The Kingston Trio (1961) and Johnny Rivers (1965), among many others. Seeger began writing the song while traveling to Oberlin College, one of the few venues that would allow him—a former member of the American Communist Party—to perform during the McCarthy era. The song’s lyrics, which lament the cycle of war and its tragic consequences, resonate with the anti-war sentiment of the era.

Image of a record, "War" by Edwin Starr, under the Gordy label.
Side-A label of the single “War” by Edwin Starr. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_%28The_Temptations_song%29#/media/File:War_by_Edwin_Starr_US_single_Side-A_label.png

4. “War” (1970) by Edwin Starr, Billboard Peak #1
“War” is a soulful and passionate song that expressed the anger and frustration felt by many during the Vietnam War. Though the song was originally written for The Temptations, their label did not want them associated with a potentially controversial subject, so it was ultimately re-recorded and released by Edwin Starr. The song’s chorus, “War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing!” became a rallying cry for those opposed to the war.

5. “The Ballad of the Green Berets” (1966) by Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler, Billboard Peak #1
While most songs of the era were anti-war, “The Ballad of the Green Berets” offered a different perspective. Released in 1966, this song celebrated the bravery and sacrifice of the U.S. Special Forces in Vietnam, reflecting the patriotic sentiment of the time. It was co-written by Robin Moore, author of the book The Green Berets, and Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler, who had been wounded in Vietnam. It was one of the most popular songs of its time, staying at the top of the Billboard charts for five weeks, and eventually was recognized as the top Hot 100 Song of the Year.

6. “Black Angels” (1970) by George Crumb

Although it was not a chart-topping hit, “Black Angels” was very influential both in the classical and pop music worlds. Written for what Crumb called “electric string quartet,” it uses amplified acoustic string instruments alongside several auxiliary instruments for each player, including maracas, crystal glasses, thimbles, and a tam-tam. The piece is a lament for the Vietnam War, and the score is marked in tempore belli, in time of war. The 1972 recording by the New York String Quartet was listed by David Bowie as one of his favorite records, and the Kronos Quartet was formed after violinist David Harrington heard the piece on the radio.

Excerpt from the score of Crumb's Black Angels. The score is an example of experimental notation, using non-traditional methods of music notation to indicate unconventional performance practices.
Excerpt from the score of Crumb’s Black Angels. Source: https://www.bowerbird.org/special-projects/zeitgeist-george-crumb-at-90/

These songs not only provided a soundtrack to the Vietnam War but also served as a means of protest, reflection, healing, and in Sadler’s case, of justifying a war many believed to be immoral. They continue to remind us of the enduring impact of that conflict on American society and culture.

We hope you will join us on Tuesday November 14 to hear Dr. Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon and Dr. Elijah Wald discuss the unique position “Alice’s Restaurant” holds in the enduring legacy of Vietnam War and the protest movements of the 1960s.

By Dan Maguire


References/Further Reading:

Atwood, Kathryn. Bad Moon Rising: The Unauthorized History of Creedence Clearwater Revival (Updated Edition). Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2007. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991037805063103811

Carr-Wilcoxson, Amanda. “Protest Music of the Vietnam War: Description and Classification of various Protest Songs.” Order No. 1484797, East Tennessee State University, 2010. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/articles/cdi_proquest_journals_365817287

Deiter, Gerry, Joan Athey, and Paul McGrath. Give Peace a Chance: John & Yoko’s Bed-in for Peace. Mississauga, Ont: Wiley, 2009. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991034216929703811

Eliason, Eric A., and Tuleja, Tad, eds. Warrior Ways: Explorations in Modern Military Folklore. Logan: University Press of Colorado, 2012. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991036731413803811

Kutschke, Beate, and Barley Norton. Music and Protest in 1968. 2013. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991036728184803811

Lynskey, Dorian. 33 Revolutions per Minute: A History of Protest Songs, from Billie Holiday to Green Day. 2011. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991018702839703811

Shupe, Abigail. War and Death in the Music of George Crumb: A Crisis of Collective Memory. 2022. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991038130115403811

The post From “Fortunate Son” to “The Ballad of the Green Berets”: The Vietnam War in Song appeared first on Performing Arts News.

]]>
Beyond the Notes: Folio + Phantasma featuring Relâche Ensemble https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/2023/11/02/folio_phantasma/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=folio_phantasma Thu, 02 Nov 2023 17:52:41 +0000 https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/?p=6646 Beyond the Notes presents Folio + Phantasma featuring Relâche Ensemble Tuesday, November 7, 2023, 12:00 PM Charles Library Event Space Light refreshments served. Boyer recital credit given. All programs are free and open to all, and registration is encouraged. In recognition of National Epilepsy Awareness Month, Beyond the Notes presents a performance by  Relâche Ensemble […]

The post Beyond the Notes: Folio + Phantasma featuring Relâche Ensemble appeared first on Performing Arts News.

]]>
Beyond the Notes Logo on black background with musical notes under the word "the."

Beyond the Notes presents

Folio + Phantasma

featuring Relâche Ensemble

Tuesday, November 7, 2023, 12:00 PM

Charles Library Event Space

Light refreshments served. Boyer recital credit given.

All programs are free and open to all, and registration is encouraged.


Text reads: "November is Epilepsy Awareness Month," surrounded four purple ribbons.
https://www.harbor-ucla.org/national-epilepsy-awareness-month/

In recognition of National Epilepsy Awareness Month, Beyond the Notes presents a performance by  Relâche Ensemble of Cynthia Folio’s When the Spirit Catches You, a work exploring life from the perspective of one who suffers from seizures. Alongside this piece will be two original pieces by the Phantasma Trio in collaboration with student dancers expressing health and healing through dance improvisations. Ahead of the concert, let’s take a closer look at When the Spirit Catches You and what inspired Cynthia Folio to write it.

Cynthia Folio’s daughter Lydia had experienced seizures her whole life and was diagnosed with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex at a very young age, but as a child she was never able to explain what was happening to her. Eventually Dr. Folio, then professor of music studies at Temple, came across a collection of books by Harvard Neurologist Dr. Steven Schachter on the experiences of people living with epilepsy. Finally she had some insight into what her daughter experienced on a regular basis. Reading these books was so inspiring to Dr. Folio that she decided to use her commission from Relâche Ensemble to write a piece that “expresses what it feels like to have a seizure and captures the emotions of epilepsy.”1

What is Epilepsy?

According to the Epilepsy Foundation, epilepsy is the world’s fourth most common neurological disorder, meaning it is caused by a dysfunction in the brain or nervous system. The word “epilepsy” simply means “seizure disorder” and does not describe the cause or severity of the condition. There are many different causes, and it can develop at any time. Lydia’s specific condition, Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC), “is a rare genetic disease that causes non-cancerous (benign) tumors to grow in the brain and several areas of the body.”2 Seizures are one of the most common symptoms of TSC, alongside cognitive difficulties, behavioral problems, and Autism Spectrum Disorder. According to the National Institute of Health, “Some people with TSC are able to lead independent, productive lives, while others have symptoms that can affect everyday life and even be life-threatening.”3 For more information about Epilepsy, you can read more here, here, and here.

Epilepsy in Art and Non-Fiction       

When Dr. Folio reached out to Dr. Schachter to ask permission to use quotes from his books in her new composition, he informed her of an upcoming book of his that featured art and writings by artists with epilepsy. Upon hearing this, she decided to add a visual element to the piece and reworked some of her music to better match the artwork.

Abstract painting featuring a dark background and bright white and copper swirls of color in a messy and beautiful starburst.
Image from Isabelle Delmotte’s Epileptograph, The Internal Journey, installation view, ACCA, 1996. Courtesy ACCA Archive. Taken from https://acca.melbourne/exhibition/isabelle-delmotte-epileptograph-the-internal-journey/

Isabelle Delmotte, the artist who created the above image in a multimedia installation called “Epileptograph,” is one of the artists featured in Dr. Schachter’s book. An artist and researcher from New Zealand, Delmotte’s work intersects with media and epilepsy, including work on representations of people with neurological disorders onscreen and artistic work such as “Epileptograph.” As Delmotte wrote of the work in the book, referencing her own experience with epilepsy, “This particular project will always be in progress as it has helped me to develop a physical awareness and an emotional knowledge of my own physical and emotional condition.”4

The title of Dr. Folio’s work comes from a similarly titled work of non-fiction, The Spirit Catches you and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, Fadiman details the struggles of a Hmong family from Laos trying to get treatment for their daughter’s severe epilepsy as immigrants to California. Born in 1982, Lia Lee started suffering seizures when only a few months old. Her parents took her to the hospital and treatment followed. But the Lee family’s mistrust of western medicine, along with the American doctors’ inability to understand their beliefs about medicine and the severe language barrier, presented barriers to Lia’s treatment. Cultural misunderstandings on both sides resulted in a tragic outcome, leaving the reader to wonder how Lia’s fate might have been different under better circumstances. The New York Times book review described the book thus:

It is a tale of culture clashes, fear and grief in the face of change, parental love, her doctors’ sense of duty, and misperceptions compounded daily until they became colossal misunderstandings. It has no heroes or villains, but it has an abundance of innocent suffering, and it most certainly does have a moral.

Melvin Konner, “Take Only as Directed,” New York Times Book Review, Oct. 19, 1997

When the Spirit Catches You…

Just as the piece centers on Lydia and her subjective experience, so too does her voice feature prominently throughout the piece. The listener hears her recorded voice reading passages from Schachter’s work. The composition is written in three sections: the aura, meaning the period of time when one has the sense a seizure might happen; the seizure itself, when one is nearly unconscious; and the post-ictal period, meaning the recovery period when one is often disoriented. Each section has a distinct musical character to match the feeling of each stage. Dr. Folio has noted that Relâche’s proficiency in improvisation was a factor in her composition, and she included improvised sections in the piece to represent to the unpredictability of seizures.5 Finally, the piece is accompanied visually by projections of artwork by artists living with epilepsy.

Abstract painting featuring textured blues, a blue-purple globe, and a strip of pinkish-purple resembling an outer space landscape with celestial rings, a triangle, and a bronze globe.
Digital Print entitled “Escape”, created by Vincent Buchinsky

We hope you will join us on Tuesday, November 7 to experience this unique multimedia work and honor artists and people living with epilepsy.

By Dan Maguire and Becca Fülöp


References:

Fadiman, Anne. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures. New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012.

Folio, Cynthia. The Inspiration from my Child’s World: An Interview with Cynthia Folio, PhD, n.d. https://www.epilepsy.com/stories/inspiration-my-childs-world-interview-cynthia-folio-phd.

Folio, Cynthia. “AES Hoyer Lecture 2011.” 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed33frlomKc&t=2965s.

Schachter, Steven C. Visions: Artists Living with Epilepsy. Amsterdam: Academic Press, 2003.

  1. https://www.epilepsy.com/stories/inspiration-my-childs-world-interview-cynthia-folio-phd ↩
  2. https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/disorders/tuberous-sclerosis-complex ↩
  3. https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/disorders/tuberous-sclerosis-complex ↩
  4. Steven C. Schachter. 2003. Visions: Artists Living with Epilepsy. San Diego, Calif: Academic Press. ↩
  5. https://www.relache.org/innovationandhope ↩

The post Beyond the Notes: Folio + Phantasma featuring Relâche Ensemble appeared first on Performing Arts News.

]]>
Phillis Wheatley: The First Published African-American Poet https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/2023/04/14/phillis-wheatley/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=phillis-wheatley https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/2023/04/14/phillis-wheatley/#respond Fri, 14 Apr 2023 18:17:18 +0000 https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/?p=6600 Beyond the Notes presents Songs of the People: A Celebration of Women Composers from the African Diaspora Wednesday, April 19, 2023, 12:00 PM Charles Library Event Space Light refreshments served. Boyer recital credit given. All programs are free and open to all, and registration is encouraged. Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Sally Hemings…these names of famous […]

The post Phillis Wheatley: The First Published African-American Poet appeared first on Performing Arts News.

]]>
Beyond the Notes Logo

Beyond the Notes presents

Songs of the People:

A Celebration of Women Composers from the African Diaspora

Wednesday, April 19, 2023, 12:00 PM

Charles Library Event Space

Light refreshments served. Boyer recital credit given.

All programs are free and open to all, and registration is encouraged.


Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Sally Hemings…these names of famous Black women born into slavery in the 18th and 19th centuries are familiar to most Americans. Fewer are familiar with a woman who predated all of these women and who helped open doors to other Black and enslaved peoples as the first published poet of African descent in American history. Phillis Wheatley’s short but inspiring life and work inspired one of the works included in our upcoming program: Rosephanye Powell’s set of three art songs, Miss Wheatley’s Garden. But who was Phillis Wheatley?

Copperplate engraving of a young Black woman in profile, wearing colonial-era garb and sitting at a table. She holds quill to paper and holds her hand up to her face as though thinking of what to write next. Around the image reads, "Phillis Wheatley, Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley, of Boston."
Frontispiece image to Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773) by Phillis Wheatley. This copperplate engraving is probably based on a portrait attributed to Scipio Moorhead, an enslaved Black man and artist to whom Wheatley appears to have dedicated a poem in the collection.

Wheatley (c. 1753–1784) was born in western Africa—possibly in what is now Gambia or Senegal—but was kidnapped and sold into slavery at the age of 7 or 8. Transported to Boston, Massachusetts, she grew up as a domestic slave for the Wheatley family for the remainder of her adolescence through young adulthood. Not long into her time with the Wheatleys, however, the family recognized her extraordinary intellectual gifts and shifted her responsibilities from housework to her own education. With the help of her owners’ daughter, Mary, Wheatley learned to read and write, quickly developing an affinity for classical and religious literature.

The resources provided by the Wheatleys allowed a young Phillis to find her own voice through poetry. Wheatley published her first poem in 1767, making her the first published African-American woman. However, she faced significant challenges in her attempts to publish her works. At this time publishing was often done on a subscription basis, with readers putting up money in the form of a subscription to fund the publication of works they wished to support. The white, literate public refused to believe that an enslaved teenager from Africa was truly the author of her works. Eventually she faced a board of eighteen prominent Bostonian men in order to prove herself. When her poems were eventually published, her master John wrote a testimonial attesting to her talents that was published alongside a list of the men who sat in judgment of Phillis, which included Massachusetts governor Thomas Hutchinson and John Hancock:

Phillis was brought from Africa to America, in the Year 1761, between Seven and Eight Years of Age. Without any Assistance from School Education, and by only what she was taught in the Family, she, in sixteen Months Time from her Arrival, attained the English Language, to which she was an utter Stranger before, to such a Degree, as to read any, the most difficult Parts of the Sacred Writings, to the great Astonishment of all who heard her.

As to her Writing, her own Curiosity led her to it; and this she learnt in so short a Time, that in the Year 1765, she wrote a Letter to the Rev. Mr. Occam, the Indian Minister, while in England.

She has a great Inclination to learn the Latin Tongue, and has made some Progress in it. This Relation is given by her Master who bought her, and with whom she now lives.

JOHN WHEATLEY[1]

Printed title page from an antique book, it reads: "To the PUBLICK. As it has been repeatedly suggested to the Publisher, by Persons, who have seen the Manuscript, that Numbers would be ready to suspect they were not really the Writings of PHILLIS, he has procured the following Attestation, from the most respectable Characters in Boston, that none might have the least Ground for disputing their Original.

WE whose Names are under-written, do assure the World, that the Poems specified in the following Page, [asterisk] were (as we verily believe) written by Phillis, a young Negro Girl, who was but a few Years since, brought an uncultivated Barbarian from Africa, and has ever since been [unreadable], under the Disadvantage of serving as a Slave in a [unreadable] this Town. She has been examined by some of the best judges, and is thought qualified to write them.

His Excellency Thomas Hutchinson, Governor, The Hon. Andrew Oliver, Lieutenant-Governor, The Hon. Thomas Hubbard, The Hon. John Erving, The Hon. James Pitts, The Hon. Harrison Gray, The Hon. James Bowdoin, John Hancock, Esq; Joseph Green, Esq; Richard Carey, Esq; The Rev. Charles Chauncey, D. D., The Rev. Mather Byles, D. D., The Rev. Ed. Pemberton, D. D., The Rev. Andrew Elliot, D. D., The Rev. Samuel Cooper, D. D., The Rev. Mr. Samuel Mather, The Rev. Mr. John Moorhead, Mr. John Wheatley, her master.

N. B. The original Attestation, signed by the above Gentlemen, may be seen by applying to Archibald Bell, Bookseller, No. 8, Aldgate Street.

*The Words "following Page," allude to the Contents of the Manuscript Copy, which are wrote at the Back of the above Attention.
Following John Wheatley’s words in support of Phillis’s qualifications, this page demonstrates to the reader that “As it has been repeatedly suggested to the Publisher, by Persons, who have seen the Manuscript, that Numbers would be ready to suspect they were not really the Writings of PHILLIS, he has procured the following Attestation, from the most respectable Characters in Boston, that none might have the least Ground for disputing their Original.” From Poems, Wheatley.

When this still did not gain her the subscribers she needed, her owner’s wife Susanna found her a potential patroness in the Countess of Huntingdon, who helped publish the book in England and to whom the volume, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, was ultimately dedicated. The Wheatleys actually sent Phillis to London in 1773 with their son to oversee the publication of her poems, and while there she garnered fame and success, and met such prominent individuals as Benjamin Franklin and English abolitionist Granville Sharp. An invitation to meet King George III had to be declined due to Wheatley’s being summoned back to America due to Susanna’s poor health. As a free woman, Wheatley stayed in the United States for the rest of her life, living in poor health and poverty, yet continuing to write. She died in childbirth at around the age of 31, having born no children who survived. While many details of her life remain uncertain, her work continues to be studied and celebrated. A selection of her written works can be accessed here.

Printed title page from an antique book, it reads: "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. By Phillis Wheatley, Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley, of Boston, in New England. London: Printed for A. Bell, Bookseller, Aldgate; and sold by Messrs. Cox and Berry, King Street, Boston, 1773."
On the title page of Poems, Phillis is identified as “Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley, of Boston, in New England.

Powell poses Wheatley as an icon for Black women in poetry in her set of three songs, writing, “I thought it befitting to title the work Miss Wheatley’s Garden in honor of Phyllis [sic] Wheatley whose works are the garden in which many generations of African-American women poets have blossomed.”[2] The poets who blossomed in Wheatley’s garden include Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Angelina Weld Grimké, and Georgia Douglas Johnson, whose words Powell sets to music in this work. The texts of Grimké and Harper, “I Want to Die While You Love Me” and “Songs for the People,” respectively, can be heard in the upcoming concert. 

We hope you will join us on Wednesday, April 19 for an afternoon of celebrating African-American women from Christine Anderson and friends for the final installment of our 2022–2023 Beyond the Notes concert series.

By Kaitlyn Canneto and Becca Fülöp


[1] Wheatley, Phillis. Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. London: A. Bell, 1773.

[2] Powell, Rosephanye. “Miss Wheatley’s Garden.” rosephanyepowerll.com. Accessed April 14, 2023. https://www.rosephanyepowell.com/art-songs/miss-wheatleys-garden/.

References:

Castellanos, Caroline. “Wheatley, Phillis (1753–1784).” In Encyclopedia of Free Blacks and People of Color in the Americas, by Stewart R. King. Facts On File, 2012. Accessed April 12, 2023.

Lynn, Carole. “Wheatley, Phillis (1753 84).” In The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of the American Enlightenment, edited by Mark Spencer. Bloomsbury, 2014. Accessed April 12, 2023.

Smith, Cassander L. “Phillis Wheatley.” In Great Lives From History: American Women. [N.p.]: Salem Press, 2016. Accessed April 12, 2023.

Wheatley, Phillis. Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. London: A. Bell, 1773.

The post Phillis Wheatley: The First Published African-American Poet appeared first on Performing Arts News.

]]>
https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/2023/04/14/phillis-wheatley/feed/ 0
An Interview with Composer Ashley Reneé Seward. https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/2023/03/14/an-interview-with-composer-ashley-renee-seward/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=an-interview-with-composer-ashley-renee-seward Tue, 14 Mar 2023 18:15:51 +0000 https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/?p=6586 Beyond the Notes presents Women Composers of Song from Around the World Presented by A Modern Reveal Wednesday, March 15, 2022, 12:00 PM Charles Library Event Space Featuring Boyer College of Music vocal studies students and collaborative pianist Gabriel Rebolla Light refreshments served. Boyer recital credit given. All programs are free and open to all, […]

The post An Interview with Composer Ashley Reneé Seward. appeared first on Performing Arts News.

]]>
Beyond the Notes presents

Women Composers of Song from Around the World

Presented by A Modern Reveal

Wednesday, March 15, 2022, 12:00 PM

Charles Library Event Space

Featuring Boyer College of Music vocal studies students and collaborative pianist Gabriel Rebolla

Light refreshments served. Boyer recital credit given.

All programs are free and open to all, and registration is encouraged.

Welcome back for the March installment of the Beyond the Notes concert series. This month’s concert, “Women Composers of Song from Around the World,” presented by A Modern Reveal, honors women’s history month. The program of vocal works features composers from Brazil to Australia in eight different languages, highlighting the vast repertoire provided by underrepresented identities.  

In anticipation of this celebratory performance, I conducted an interview with Canadian composer Ashley Reneé Seward (she/they), whose song “Let the Little Birds Sing” opens the program. Seward is a Vancouver-based composer who utilizes post-tonal approaches in their writing to execute creativity and openness in her works. The following interview was edited for clarity and length.

Seward, Image via Ashley Reneé Seward

Kaitlyn Canneto: How do you think your identity or experiences personally have informed your own compositions?

Ashley Reneé Seward: It’s interesting, because the transgender part has really only come into my music very recently, and only in a couple [of] pieces. I’ve had an interest in…experimental vocal music—I’m trying to get across the embodied feeling that, that a lot of cis[gender] people get when they first meet a transgender person or a visibly gender non-conforming person, there’s a gut reaction that tends to happen. Lately, I’ve been interested in figuring out what musically and theatrically evokes that…the piece on the program [“Let the Little Birds Sing”] is definitely not one of those…The thing that I think has more broadly influenced by music is my neurodivergence, which I would call it a big source of my creativity, an out of the box kind of thinking—in that metaphor, I can’t see the box. This song is a good example because…when I was reading [Edna St. Vincent] Millay’s poem, from this two or three poem cycle called “Three Songs of Shattering,” it’s about losing one’s first love, it’s very kind of melodramatic. I thought it would be neat to take that melodrama and twist in an ironic element, because the piece is this very jaunty with lots of [mixed] meters, and it’s…a spring sounding piece in a lot of ways.

Kait: I appreciate your openness to and sharing your own personal experiences and perspective. Either specifically to this piece or anything else from your repertoire, how are the specific parts of your identity, either neurodivergence or being trans[gender], how would you say that they manifest in your works?

Ashley: A lot of it boils down to my influences—the composers that I’m inspired by the most tend to be ones who share one of those identities. Mahler was just absolutely the most autistic person in all the classical canon, and I think for that reason, [his] music really resonates with me…When you think about Bruckner, how strange [his] music is with all the weird pauses in the middle of things and…phrases that go on forever, repeating the same thing, it’s very much alike. I think of it musicologically [as] a very artistic way of writing music—Mahler definitely encompasses that as well; it’s in the way phrases are attenuated. For me, I can really hear a sense of almost non-resolution…And that happens in my music a lot—I don’t like to end…in a very definitive way. This piece, of course, “Let the Little Birds Sing,” is kind of an exception to that because…it’s very clear where the ending is. 

Then the transgender part, it’s kind of similar. A lot of my approach to music involves form—form, first and foremost then harmony, melody, and instrumental color…things that I have developed through training …but the heart of it comes from things like form and rhythm and harmony; and to that end, this piece…formally, it’s quite simple, but rhythmically, it’s very indecisive. It starts in VI [chord] and then goes to vii for a bit and then goes to VI and then goes to V…it switches around a lot—and I do that quite a lot…this aspect of formal nonresolution in meter, a flow of time. Back to Mahler and even Beethoven, it’s a big part of those composers as well, rephrasing where you’re not breaking things up into static chunks, more so creating a whole thing through a phrase.

Kait: Yeah, absolutely. I’m not especially partial to the canon [in my research]. Anything remotely, even slightly outside the canon—or deviating from a perfect authentic cadence (PAC), for example, I appreciate.

Ashley: For sure. And the good thing about new music is that we’ve moved on to new tools. So things like the PAC, the sentence, and the period and all these very classical artifices are, kind of, not in the repertoire anymore…there’s a book by composer Ken Kennan on counterpoint where in the preface he talks about “every musical era is either contrapuntal or harmonic.” He says that, in harmonic eras, there’s a very established convention. And there he’s referring to the Classical and Romantic periods, and in contrapuntal times there’s much more experimental zeitgeist…Obviously, I don’t really think that’s a dichotomy that you can strictly map onto any period of human history, but I think it’s an interesting way of framing. What’s really happening right now, which I think is we have to, we have both harmonic and contrapuntal areas, because on the one hand, you have the mainstream music industry where there are established conventions that are determined by recording studios and their executives—Now, on the other hand, you have pretty much everyone else, where a lot of people have much more freedom to do things than they ever have before.

Speaking of the PAC, one thing that I kind of love about the perfect authentic cadence is that it’s been stripped of its power in a way—it’s this thing that is, dissected and in undergraduate music courses, you’re just—you’re just hammered over and over with…until you can recognize it anywhere. I think there’s something kind of beautiful about how, in an effort to understand the thing, we’ve made it meaningless in a way. I think that’s, I say beautiful, because it really sucks a lot of the magic out of the canon…I think it really opened at least, my mind, and the minds of a lot of composers I know. 

Kait: That’s a really excellent perspective, thank you. Apart from Mahler, for example, who or what other things, people, [or] anything at all, are inspirational for you when it comes to composition?

Ashley: I mean, there’s really so much I take [as] inspiration from the books I read, from the games I play, from movies and shows that I watch, from just things that I see around the world. A lot of it isn’t tangible in my music, because my music tends to be, or at least the way I think about it, very emotionally driven. Whenever I sit down to write, I’m always thinking of adjectives, like how would I describe emotionally the thing I’m about to write…it comes from everywhere. There are some things that I think a lot of composers are very interested in—I think every composer has…a set of sensibilities that they are best at expressing. For me, I love to take it all in—everything that I can. Sometimes it’s hard to remain open to everything that life has to offer. I think that a very important part of being an artist is letting yourself be available to be inspired, because it really can come from anywhere. 

Speaking of more concrete composers, Mahler’s a huge one…since I was in high school, his music has really been a guide for me because…classical harmony even in his contemporaries, it’s just not there—the harmony is so tied in with folk music and all of these other things that it’s really hard to detect…where the classical influence comes from. Besides him, Tchaikovsky’s a big one—Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Brahms, Bach as well [from the canon]. More recently, there’s a couple of living composers whose work I’ve studied a lot: Alex Temple, brin solomon. When I listen to music…I listen to the same things over and over…and it’s a very eclectic mix. In terms of contemporary composers: Sofia Gubaidulia, Benjamin Britten is a big influence, especially in my vocal music—Louis Andriessen, from him, to Julia Wolfe, to Hans Abrahamsen, to Canadian composers like Bekah Simms, my old teachers, Dorothy Chang and Jocelyn Morlock are big influences. There’s a Ukrainian composer whose music I have been getting into a lot lately, who does the most beautiful, ethereal, very, extremely-delicate textures that are just like really, really wonderful—Valentyn Silvestrov…It’s really anything and everything that comes across my way. 

Outside of classical music, there’s so many different kinds of music I listen to—lately I’ve been getting into old time-y…gunfighter ballads, recitations, and Marty Robbins-sort-of stuff. Just looking at my record shelf, I listen to a lot of jazz…Broadway musicals, popular artists: Kate Bush, Alanis Morissette…really anything and everything…I think everything really, in life, has something to teach you…and I think that openness and being available as much as you can to be inspired…that’s really what I tried to do.

Kait: That was a very beautiful and inclusive answer. 

Ashley: Thanks. 

Kait: Going back to the theme of the concert, what are some ways or anything that comes to mind for how women like you can be better represented in the arts?

Ashley: It’s a tough thing…I think there could be more acceptance of our own smallness—I think there could be more humility. I know that’s a big part of a lot of marketing schemes for symphony orchestras and even new music organizations—that’s a much wider problem that in many cases just can’t be the purview of the artistic director of X new music ensemble. I think— more humble listening to our musical relatives will go a long way.

The post An Interview with Composer Ashley Reneé Seward. appeared first on Performing Arts News.

]]>
Notes on Playing Slaves: James Ijames and the Legacy of Blackface Minstrelsy https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/2023/02/16/notes-on-james-ijames/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=notes-on-james-ijames https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/2023/02/16/notes-on-james-ijames/#respond Thu, 16 Feb 2023 15:20:38 +0000 https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/?p=6542 Beyond the Page presents Chat in the Stacks: A Conversation with Temple Alum and Pulitzer Prize Winning Playwright James Ijames All programs are free and open to all, and registration is encouraged. PLEASE NOTE THIS CHANGE IN FORMAT: This program was prerecorded and available to view here: https://library.temple.edu/watchpastprograms/show?id=05e0e010-803b-48fd-9121-afb200ea1983 James Ijames (rhymes with “Grimes”), the Philadelphia-based […]

The post Notes on Playing Slaves: James Ijames and the Legacy of Blackface Minstrelsy appeared first on Performing Arts News.

]]>
Close-up photograph of playwright James Ijames wearing a yellow beanie and black plastic-framed glasses.
Photograph of James Ijames from https://www.jamesijames.com/about-margot

Beyond the Page presents

Chat in the Stacks: A Conversation with Temple Alum and Pulitzer Prize Winning Playwright James Ijames

All programs are free and open to all, and registration is encouraged.

PLEASE NOTE THIS CHANGE IN FORMAT: This program was prerecorded and available to view here: https://library.temple.edu/watchpastprograms/show?id=05e0e010-803b-48fd-9121-afb200ea1983


James Ijames (rhymes with “Grimes”), the Philadelphia-based playwright and Temple alum whose irreverent take on Shakespeare, Fat Ham, won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Drama, does not want to risk being misunderstood. In the opening pages of his earlier play Kill Move Paradise (2019), about four black men stuck in an unending afterlife, Ijames provides a nuanced key to performing his carefully crafted dialogue and, sometimes, his silences:

Forward slash indicates overlapping dialogue. Text marked with a strikethrough should be meant, felt and tonally inform the line but should not be spoken. Don't leave space say they[sic] line as though the word wasn't there but allow the word, inside of that moment, to color it's[sic] delivery. Small words, or words written in a small typeface, are the only words the character can find but are not the right words. Spoken in a small way and almost to themselves. Almost like a stifled weeping sometimes. Not a whisper. More like you're trying to speak through tears. Boldfaced words should be spoken as a whisper. Sotto Voce. Underlined words are non-voiced sounds. Breathing. Light. Please honor the extended vowels as scripted. Please do not shorten them. If they feel weird, GOOD!
Performance notes taken from the screenplay of Kill Move Paradise by James Ijames.

In The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington (published in 2018), Ijames provides no such detailed notes, but his opening pronouncements speak to another concern of his: the representation of enslaved people onstage. The play is an extended nightmarish dream sequence taking place on Christmas Eve in the year 1800. The elderly Martha Washington, close to death and looked after only by her slaves who know that they will be freed after her demise, is confronted with the possibility both that her human property might be just as deserving of freedom as she is, and that they might be planning to murder her. After a lengthier note explaining how the laughter of slaves should be portrayed (“It’s more like showing one’s teeth. Especially in the case of the slaves. Their laughter is hostile. Loud! Laughter is a weapon”), Ijames lays out the argument of the play very simply in a brief “Notes on Playing Slaves”:

“Slaves in the Antebellum American south were whole, complicated and complex people. Just. Like. You. Remember this. Thanks!”

The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial is a play that aims to show the humanity and complexity of an historical people for whom those qualities were denied.

It might therefore be surprising that the shadow of blackface minstrelsy hangs over this play, purposefully and self-consciously, challenging the audience and performers to overcome the specter of received stereotypes. Blackface minstrelsy was a form of popular entertainment that emerged around the 1820s in the United States and, by the 1840s, had developed into a full-blown mode of performance that remained the country’s most popular musical genre for decades to come. And far from being an American peculiarity, minstrelsy was also the country’s first popular music export, achieving great popularity in countries from England to South Africa to Australia.

Although white audiences at the time might have believed blackface minstrelsy to have been an “authentic” style of music and dance created by people of African descent (who at the time mainly would have been enslaved peoples), blackface was created by white performers. Darkening their faces and hands with burnt cork (a process known as “blacking up”) and imitating how they believed Black people spoke, sang, and danced, blackface performers created characters based on negative racial stereotypes, such as the lazy and disheveled Jim Crow, the dandyish buffoon Zip Coon, or widely grinning Mammy. Popular songwriters like Stephen Foster wrote minstrel songs that became sheet music bestsellers, many of them songs that are still well known today such as “Camptown Races,” “Old Folks at Home,” and “Oh! Susannah.” Eventually, and particularly after the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, many Black freed persons did become minstrel performers, as the demand for such performance along with social barriers steeped in racism meant that it was one of the only available career paths for Black musicians.

Black and white illustrated sheet music from the mid-19th century, reading "The Crow Quadrilles" at the top of the page, "arranged for the piano forte by Robert Ashley, Esq." at the bottom of the page. The illustrations feature various caricatured images of African-American stereotypes, including Black man holding a banjo with tattered clothes and the dandified figure of Zip Coon.
This sheet music cover art from the 1840s is one of many examples of stereotypical and racist imagery held in the Blockson Collection’s Stereotypical Images Teaching Collection. The character of Zip Coon can be seen in the lower left-hand corner of the page, a dandified character prone to malapropisms and a highfalutin accent considered ridiculous to one of his race and social class. To see this sheet music, which includes a piano transcription of “Zip Coon,” visit Temple Digital Collections. For more information about the purpose and pedagogical goals of the Stereotypical Images Teaching Collection, click here.

Although other forms of entertainment competed with blackface minstrel shows by the turn of the twentieth century, blackface continued to appear in mainstream entertainment well into the classical era of Hollywood, in films like The Jazz Singer (1927), Swing Time (1936), Babes on Broadway (1941), Holiday Inn (1942), and numerous iterations of Othello. Although the practice of “blacking up,” as well as the similar practices of “yellowface” and “redface,” have long been decried as racist, and although activists have continued to urge filmmakers instead to hire actors of color to portray characters of their own racial background, even into the 21st century we are still seeing the legacy of blackface minstrelsy play out time and again in popular entertainment.

The specter of minstrelsy haunts the early pages of Kill Move Paradise, when the character Isa, who is trying to cope with the isolation and boredom of the afterlife while surrounded by mysterious spectators—us, the audience—decides he will put on a show:

(Silence. Isa looks at us for a while. At first he tries to entertain us.)

ISA

I’ll dance. I’ll sing.

                        (tune of turkey in the straw)

Being black men just ain’t what it used to be.

Ain’t what it used to be.

Ain’t what it used to be.

Being black men just ain’t what it used to be.

Not many years to go.

                        (He fails.)

Better known as the iconic “ice cream truck song,” “Turkey in the Straw” shares its tune with the minstrel song named for the aforementioned “Zip Coon,” making Isa’s performance a self-consciously uncomfortable minstrel show for an audience paying to watch dead black men suffer.

In The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington, however, the blackface minstrelsy reference is both more and less overt, appearing in a stage direction and left up to the skill of the performers to interpret for the audience. After naming blackface minstrelsy explicitly and explaining its origins to the reader and performers, Ijames explains that what follows “should feel like the real thing,” with the “full broadness of vaudeville but be completely steeped in the truth.” Using the language of minstrelsy, which wouldn’t emerge into the American consciousness for at least another 20 years after the events of the play, the house slaves Davy and Sucky Boy proceed to embody stereotypes both familiar and terrifying to Martha, or as Ijames writes in the stage direction: “Imagine if the stereotypes you created suddenly became hyper-real and attacked you? That’s what’s going down here.” In her fever dream, Martha turns her slaves into monstrous caricatures of her racist fears, but Ijames uses this legacy of American popular music history for another reason: minstrelsy gives these same characters the power to terrify their abuser, turning her power over them upside down until finally she declares, “I do believe you darkies are trying to kill me.” Whether she’s right or this is all a product of her own anachronistic white guilt is up to the audience to decide.

If you want to learn more about James Ijames’s fascinating work, we hope you will join us on Thursday, February 23 for our next “Chat in the Stacks!”


Check out works by James Ijames at Temple University Libraries:

Ijames, James. Kill Move Paradise. New York, NY: Dramatists Play Service, 2019. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991037299080403811.

———. Moon Man Walk. New York, NY: Dramatists Play Service Inc., 2018. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991038458550703811.

———. The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington. New York, NY: Dramatists Play Service, Inc., 2018. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991038458550603811.

———. White. New York, NY: Dramatists Play Service Inc., 2018. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991036887905503811.

Suggested reading:

Bean, Annemarie, James V. Hatch, Brooks McNamara, and Mel Watkins, eds. Inside the Minstrel Mask: Readings in Nineteenth-Century Blackface Minstrelsy. Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England [for] Wesleyan University Press, 1996. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991000214689703811.

Brooks, Tim. The Blackface Minstrel Show in Mass Media: 20th Century Performances on Radio, Records, Film and Television. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2020. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991037352278003811.

Johnson, Stephen Burge, ed. Burnt Cork: Traditions and Legacies of Blackface Minstrelsy. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2012. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991030209079703811.

Lott, Eric. Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class. 20th-anniversary ed. ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991036795774203811.

Mahar, William J. Behind the Burnt Cork Mask: Early Blackface Minstrelsy and Antebellum American Popular Culture. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1999.

Nowatzki, Robert. Representing African Americans in Transatlantic Abolitionism and Blackface Minstrelsy. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2010. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991001444349703811.

Smith, Christopher J. The Creolization of American Culture: William Sidney Mount and the Roots of Blackface Minstrelsy. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2013. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991036731716603811.

Thelwell, Chinua. Exporting Jim Crow : Blackface Minstrelsy in South Africa and Beyond. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2020. https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991037859106103811.

The post Notes on Playing Slaves: James Ijames and the Legacy of Blackface Minstrelsy appeared first on Performing Arts News.

]]>
https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/2023/02/16/notes-on-james-ijames/feed/ 0
“The pupil Beethoven was here!”: Salieri’s Other Adversary https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/2023/01/31/salieris-other-adversary/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=salieris-other-adversary Wed, 01 Feb 2023 03:11:18 +0000 https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/?p=6480 Beyond the Notes presentsBeethoven in Vienna Wednesday, February 8, 2023, 12:00 PMCharles Library Event Space Performers: Mădălina-Claudia Dănila, piano Sendi Vartanova, violin Taiysia Losmakova, violin Program: Sonata for piano op. 2 no. 1 in F minor (1795):dedicated to Joseph Haydn Sonata for piano and violin op.12 no. 3 in E flat major (1798):dedicated to Antonio […]

The post “The pupil Beethoven was here!”: Salieri’s Other Adversary appeared first on Performing Arts News.

]]>
"Portrait of Antonio Salieri (1750-1825)" painted by Joseph Willibrord Mähler, dating from 1815. Salieri appears as a distinguished, older gentleman with gray hair, a serious expression, and fine clothes.
“Portrait of Antonio Salieri (1750-1825)” by Joseph Willibrord Mähler, 1815

Beyond the Notes presents
Beethoven in Vienna

Wednesday, February 8, 2023, 12:00 PM
Charles Library Event Space

Performers:

Mădălina-Claudia Dănila, piano

Sendi Vartanova, violin

Taiysia Losmakova, violin

Program:

Sonata for piano op. 2 no. 1 in F minor (1795):
dedicated to Joseph Haydn

Sonata for piano and violin op.12 no. 3 in E flat major (1798):
dedicated to Antonio Salieri:

Sonata for piano and violin op. 30 no. 2 in C minor (1802):
dedicated to Tsar Alexander I of Russia

Light refreshments served. Boyer recital credit given.
All programs are free and open to all, and registration is encouraged.

This program will also be live streamed via Zoom Webinar. Access the live stream here: https://temple.zoom.us/j/94892166610


The Academy-Award winning film Amadeus (1984, dir. Milos Forman) is nearly 40 years old, but even in 2023 its influence on our knowledge and reception of Antonio Salieri is powerful. Portrayed by F. Murray Abraham, who has rocketed back into the public eye through his Golden Globe-nominated performance in season two of The White Lotus, Salieri comes across as bitter, arrogant, spiteful, and ultimately, in his own words, a “champion of mediocrity.”

Screenshot of F. Murray Abraham as Antonio Salieri in Amadeus. Salieri, in a medium close-up, glares malevolently while thinking (possibly) murderous thoughts about Mozart.
Screenshot of F. Murray Abraham as Antonio Salieri in Amadeus

Notwithstanding Abraham’s masterful and entertaining performance in the Oscar-winning role, the real Salieri bore little resemblance to this tragi-comic figure. Scholars agree that while Mozart and Salieri were hardly the best of friends, and Mozart frequently complained of conspiracies against him that may have been real and that may or may not have involved Salieri, the composers maintained a professional relationship until the younger man’s death. While Salieri did not always appreciate his colleague’s work, towards the end he seems to have developed an admiration for Mozart’s music. He was one of the few to attend his funeral, in spite of persistent rumors that he had poisoned Mozart. Nonetheless, these rumors were not taken seriously by those who had known Salieri, including a younger composer who was soon to burst onto the Viennese music scene: Ludwig van Beethoven.

Born in 1750 in the Veneto region of Italy, the young Salieri studied violin and keyboard as a child. Orphaned by the age of 15, he was discovered by the eminent composer Florian Leopold Gassmann, who realized the depth of the boy’s talent and brought him to Vienna. This early kindness from an older composer seems to have instilled in Salieri a desire to foster talent in younger artists, and once established himself he became known for his willingness to take on pupils for little or no pay. Through Gassmann he became acquainted with important composers such as Christoph Willibald Gluck, librettists like Pietro Metastasio, and most importantly, his future patron Emperor Joseph II. He took on several appointments in Vienna, but gained much of his success as an operatic composer abroad, particularly in Italy and France. In 1788 Salieri was appointed Hofkapellmeister, a position he held for the rest of his life.

"Portrait of Emperor Joseph II at the spinet with his sisters Maria Elisabeth and Maria Anna," painted by Joseph Hauzinger, dating from 1778. Joseph, resplendently dressed, sits at a small keyboard instrument and fingers some sheet music while looking up his sisters. They, too, are magnificently dressed, and one of them appears also to be holding some music.
“Portrait of Emperor Joseph II at the spinet with his sisters Maria Elisabeth and Maria Anna” by Joseph Hauzinger, 1778

Some disagreement exists regarding when exactly Beethoven studied under Salieri, with some evidence suggesting that as early as 1793 the young German may have already been taking lessons in vocal writing while still a student of Haydn, his main reason for moving to Vienna. Salieri had recently fallen out of favor in court after the death of Joseph II and had lost all of his posts apart from that of Hofkapellmeister, but he remained a respected and revered composer known particularly for his operas. Beethoven, who lacked training in text setting, turned to Salieri at some point during his time in Vienna, if not in 1793 then certainly within the next few years.

Popular wisdom would have us believe that Beethoven was an obstinate, arrogant student who lacked respect for his teachers–his later student Ferdinand Ries claimed the Beethoven asserted never to have learned anything from Haydn, and others reported that he took lessons behind his famous teacher’s back. But why then would Beethoven have sought out teachers, some of whom he probably had to pay out of pocket, and for such an extended period of time? “Why,” asks Julia Ronge in an article about Beethoven’s apprenticeships, “would Beethoven, as an already established composer, seek instruction from a teacher if the role of student was so disagreeable to him?”[1]

We know little of Beethoven’s relationship with Salieri, but we know that in 1795 Beethoven played at one of his teacher’s benefit concerts, and in 1799 he wrote a set of variations on a duet from Salieri’s most recent opera, Falstaff. It was around this time that he dedicated his Op. 12 violin sonatas to Salieri. But later their relationship appears to have cooled, if it can ever be said to have been warm. Beethoven seems to have believed that Salieri tried to sabotage one of the most important concerts of his career—the 1808 Akademie concert at which he premiered his Fifth and Sixth Symphonies—by scheduling a charity concert on the same date. On the contrary, it is more likely that Beethoven scheduled his concert at the same time as Salieri’s, but nevertheless he called his former teacher “my most active opponent, [who] played me a horrible trick.”[2] Nevertheless, the two composers were still capable of working together as colleagues, as when Salieri conducted the offstage ensemble in an 1813 performance of Wellington’s Victory.

We are left to wonder at the meaning of a note Ignaz Moscheles reportedly found on his teacher’s desk when the up-and-coming composer was studying with Salieri sometime after 1808: “Der Schuler Beethoven war da!”  (“The pupil Beethoven was here!”) Could Salieri possibly have been in awe of his former student? Was his note dripping with sarcasm—Beethoven, after all, had not been Salieri’s “pupil” (Schuler) for some time. Or was this merely a neutral reminder that his former pupil had stopped by? We will never know, but it is tempting to hope that perhaps underneath the animosity between them, that affection that may have once existed when Beethoven dedicated his Op. 12 sonatas to Salieri still remained.


[1] Ronge, “Beethoven’s Apprenticeship: Studies with Haydn, Albrechtsberger, and Salieri,” 78.

[2] Anderson, The Letters of Beethoven: no. 192.


References:

Albrecht, Theodore. “Beethoven’s Tribute to Antonio Salieri in the Rondo of His Fortepiano Concerto in C Major, Opus 15 (and Beethoven’s Hand-Copied Excerpts from Les Danaïdes).” The Beethoven Journal 22, no. 1 (June 2007): 6–16.

Anderson, Emily, ed. The Letters of Beethoven. 3 vols. London: Macmillan, 1961.

Beahrs, Virginia Oakley. “Antonio Salieri: Demon or Demigod?” The Music Review 51, no. 4 (November 1990): 268–79.

Bergquist, Stephen A. “Some Portraits of Beethoven and His Contemporaries.” Music in Art: International Journal for Music Iconography 37, no. 1–2 (2012): 207–31.

Caeyers, Jan. “Salieri’s Opera Lessons.” In Beethoven, A Life, 213–16. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2021.

Gibbs, Christopher H. “Writing Under the Influence? Salieri and Schubert’s Early Opinion of Beethoven.” Current Musicology (March 2003): 117–44.

Hettrick, Jane Schatkin. “Antonio Salieri’s De Profundis: Rediscovering a Gem.” Sacred Music, January 2016.

Hettrick, Jane Schatkin, and John A. Rice. “Salieri, Antonio.” In Grove Music Online. Oxford University Press, 2001.

Ronge, Julia. “Beethoven’s Apprenticeship: Studies with Haydn, Albrechtsberger, and Salieri.” Edited by William Kinderman. Journal of Musicological Research 32 (April 2013): 73–82.

Ross, Alex. “Salieri’s Revenge.” The New Yorker, June 3, 2019.

The post “The pupil Beethoven was here!”: Salieri’s Other Adversary appeared first on Performing Arts News.

]]>
Remembering Holocaust Survivor Composer Herbert Zipper https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/2022/11/04/remembering-herbert-zipper/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=remembering-herbert-zipper Fri, 04 Nov 2022 15:39:05 +0000 https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/?p=6405 Beyond the Notes presentsThe Final Waltz Wednesday, November 9, 2022, 12:00 PMCharles Library Event Space Performers:Daniel Neer, baritoneMarta Zaliznyak ’21, sopranoAriana Grace ’24, sopranoGabriel Rebolla, piano Light refreshments served. Boyer recital credit given.All programs are free and open to all, and registration is encouraged. In remembrance of the 84th anniversary of Kristallnacht–“the night of broken glass” when […]

The post Remembering Holocaust Survivor Composer Herbert Zipper appeared first on Performing Arts News.

]]>
Black and white photograph of Vienna's Praterstern square.

Beyond the Notes presents
The Final Waltz

Wednesday, November 9, 2022, 12:00 PM
Charles Library Event Space

Performers:
Daniel Neer, baritone
Marta Zaliznyak ’21, soprano
Ariana Grace ’24, soprano
Gabriel Rebolla, piano

Light refreshments served. Boyer recital credit given.
All programs are free and open to all, and registration is encouraged.


In remembrance of the 84th anniversary of Kristallnacht–“the night of broken glass” when Nazi military carried out violent, anti-Jewish attacks across Germany, Austria, and the Sutedenland (former region of Czechslovakia) throughout November 9-10, 1938–Boyer College of Music community members will perform a program of Viennese Operetta, a musical tradition that would be devastated by the advent of Nazism. This program includes works, stories, and personal accounts of composers of this time, both Jewish and non-Jewish.  

Among these is Austrian composer and arts activist Herbert Zipper, who spent a year in Dachau concentration camp, and survived. Zipper was born in Austria in 1904 to a Jewish family whose roots ran deep in music and their faith–Herbert was the grandson of both a cantor and a Rabbi. The composer went on to study at the Viennese Academy of Music from 1923 to 1928 (Music and the Holocaust, n.d.), which led to his migration to Germany in 1930 for a teaching appointment during the early rise of the Nazi party. Just three years later, he returned to Austria to escape Nazism only to find antisemitism on the rise on home turf as well. Nevertheless, he continued his career in underground theaters as the Austrian government grew stricter. Upon the Anschluss, the annexation of Austria in March 1938, he and his brother were arrested and sent to Dachau.

During his imprisonment, Zipper wrote “Dachau Song,” intended for secretive performance among fellow musicians at Dachau, including playwright Jura Soyfer, the Lied’s (song’s) lyricist. The song was penned in response to the phrase inscribed at Dachau’s, and many other concentration camps’, gates: “Arbeit Macht Frei” (colloquially translated, “Work makes you free”). Friends and collaborators Zipper and Soyfer viewed the practice of their intellect as a retention of dignity against the Nazi-imposed humiliation. They shared this practice with their peers in challenging them to perform the piece, which was intentionally difficult both rhythmically and melodically, and momentarily escape from their imprisonment.

Shortly after, Soyfer and the Zippers were transferred to Buchenwald due to overcrowding in Dachau, where Soyfer would pass at the age of 26 due to the typhoid epidemic. At the appeal of their family, the Zipper brothers were released from Buchenwald in February 1939. Zipper returned to his hometown of Vienna briefly before fleeing to Paris to reunite with his family, where he would be detained once again. By May, Herbert was invited to direct the Manila Symphony Orchestra, fleeing once again to the Philippines where he would freely lead the ensemble until Japanese forces eventually arrested Zipper on account of his American relations in Manila. Upon his release, Zipper was forced to lead an orchestra for Japanese propagandist purposes, but instead used this time to join an underground resistance in alliance with his American peers, aiding US forces in their allied attack with the Philippines against Japan in the Battle of Manila. Victorious, Zipper worked towards the revival of the Manila Symphony Orchestra, performing Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony, Eroica in May 1945.

After World War II, Zipper once more reunited with his family who had immigrated to the United States, where he stayed until his death in 1997. Zipper spent the next 50 years teaching music in community arts schools across the nation and conducting the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra. The Austrian musician is remembered for his resilient activism in the arts, even in the face of Nazi forces.  

We hope you will join us and remember Herbert Zipper and the music of other Holocaust-era composers in our next concert on Wednesday, November 9 for our Beyond the Notes concert series.

For more information see: 

Colburn School. 2022. “Herbert Zipper, Champion of Community Music.” Last modified August 6, 2022. https://www.colburnschool.edu/herbert-zipper-champion-of-community-music/

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. n.d. “Concentration Camp Songs: Dachau Song (Dachau Lied).” Songs of the ghettos, concentration camps, and World War II partisan outposts. Accessed November 1, 2022. https://www.ushmm.org/collections/the-museums-collections/collections-highlights/music-of-the-holocaust-highlights-from-the-collection/music-of-the-holocaust/dachau-song.

Music and the Holocaust. n.d. “Dachau: Herbert Zipper.” The Early Concentration Camps. Accessed November 1, 2022. https://holocaustmusic.ort.org/places/camps/music-early-camps/dachau/zipperherbert/.

⸻. n.d. “Dachau: Jura Soyfer.” The Early Concentration Camps. Accessed November 1, 2022. http://holocaustmusic.ort.org/places/camps/music-early-camps/dachau/soyferjura/.


Kaitlyn Canneto is a first-year masters student in Music History at Boyer College of Music and Dance. She recently received her B.A. in Music (saxophone concentration, minors in Spanish and Political Science) from The College of New Jersey in May 2022. Her research interests include Latin American contemporary studies, gender and sexuality, jazz, and popular music.

The post Remembering Holocaust Survivor Composer Herbert Zipper appeared first on Performing Arts News.

]]>
Piano Music of Protest https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/2022/10/11/piano-music-of-protest/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=piano-music-of-protest Tue, 11 Oct 2022 23:27:50 +0000 https://sites.temple.edu/performingartsnews/?p=6376 Presenting a program of seven works from as early as 1831, Charles Abramovic and his students will be performing compositions for solo piano inspired by protest or directed toward oppressive forces across the globe.  Whether remembering the causes classical composers brought awareness to, or a continuing matter to bring attention to, performing these pieces not only informs listeners of these events, but invites them to a sonic experience to associate this information with, and remember, for example, the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 (Eckhardt 2001) when hearing solo piano music.

The post Piano Music of Protest appeared first on Performing Arts News.

]]>

Beyond the Notes

Wednesday, October 19, 2022, 12:00 PM

Charles Library Event Space

Pianists: Dr. Charles Abramovic, Dominic D’Alessandro, Daniel Farah, Rachel Lee, and Sarah Lee

Light refreshments served. Boyer recital credit given.

All programs are free and open to all, and registration is encouraged.


Image by Mkimpo via The Revolution Will be Televised by Noriko Manabe.

Literature, either written word or musical composition, may serve one or more of three purposes: art for art’s sake, art teaching a purpose, or art with a commitment (Virgillo et. al 1999, 3).  The latter may commit itself to social change, standing for a political cause, or protest.  Protest in music can take many shapes–booming speakers through a city as a parade of demonstrators makes itself heard; a song on the radio addressing an act of oppression and expressing anti-war sentiments; or even music heard in a concert hall.

A common obstacle of protest music is censorship from publishers or the media, and the subsequent need to avoid association with protest and appear to remain “neutral.” Under the guise of a “sonata,” classical music with a commitment is further accessible for protest music as its statements are found between the lines–and spaces.  Many of the works of the composers in this program are widely performed and studied in classical repertoire, so much so that their significance can be overlooked, or inadvertently censored.  It is important for performers and scholars to emphasize and educate themselves and others about these statements made on manuscript, to be agents of change through art.

Presenting a program of seven works from as early as 1831, Charles Abramovic and his students will be performing compositions for solo piano inspired by protest or directed toward oppressive forces across the globe.  Whether remembering the causes classical composers brought awareness to, or a continuing matter to bring attention to, performing these pieces not only informs listeners of these events, but invites them to a sonic experience to associate this information with, and remember, for example, the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 (Eckhardt 2001) when hearing solo piano music.

The upcoming program includes Etude in C minor, Op. 10, No. 12 by Frederic Chopin, inspired by the November uprising of the Polish-Russian War in 1831.  Native to Poland, Chopin composed the etude as an outlet for the agony induced by Russian forces. This is followed by Funérailles by Franz Liszt.  The Hungarian composer was renowned throughout Europe as a performer and composer, and was widely celebrated in his home nation.  Always a patriot, Liszt dedicated Funérailles to the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.  The last work from the European Union comes from Czech composer Leos Janáčeck, who dedicated Piano Sonata (1.X.1905) to the killing of František Pavlík by anti-Czech German forces in Austria.  

Image by Martin Laird via The Orkney News

The program moves across the pond to Farewell to Stromness by Peter Maxwell Davies.  The English composer attributed most of his works to the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland.  This piece, written in 1980, comes from a collection Davies composed in a campaign to prevent uranium mining of the Islands.  Next is the first movement of Frederic Rzewski’s North American Ballads from 1979.  “Dreadful Memories (After Aunt Molly Jackson)” is inspired by “Aunt Molly Jackson,” the nickname of union activist and folk singer Mary Magdalene Garland Stewart Jackson Stamos, and the tragic Kentucky mine strikes of 1931 that resulted in the deaths of several children. Rzewski based this movement on the hymn “Dreadful Memories,” by Jackson’s half sister, Sarah Ogan Gunning, rooting the composition in Appalachian traditions.  Moving south, Costa Rican composer Alejandro Cardona channels rebellion on manuscript in his recent work, Cantos de resistencia (Songs of Resistance) in 2021.  The concert will close with Old Petitions by composer and theorist Curt Cacioppo, about the injustice for indigenous people of North America.

We hope you will join us on Wednesday, October 19 for an afternoon of art with commitment from Charles Abramovic and his students for our Beyond the Notes concert series.

For more information see:

Eckhardt, Maria, Rena Charnin Mueller, and Alan Walker. 2001. “Liszt, Franz.” Grove Music Online. Accessed 6 Oct. 2022. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000048265

Kim, Sujin. 2009. “Understanding Rwzeski’s North American Ballads: From the Composer to the Work.” DMA doc., The Ohio State University.

Lin, Tony Chen. 2019. “Janáček’s Piano Sonata “1. X. 1905”.” Writings. Accessed October 5, 2022. https://www.tonychenlin.com/janaceks-piano-sonata-1-x-1905/#:~:text=On%20the%20day%20of%20the,right%20before%20the%20pianist’s%20eyes

Manabe, Noriko. 2015. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Protest Music After Fukushima. New York: Oxford University Press.

Pen, Ron. “Gunning, Sarah Ogan.” Grove Music Online. 1 Jul. 2014; Accessed 10 Oct. 2022. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002262389

Safran, Benjamin. 2019. “Sounding Strategy: Composers’ Uses of Social Justice and Political Themes in Contemporary Classical Concert Music.” PhD diss., Temple University.

Samson, Jim. 2001. “Chopin, Fryderyk Franciszek.” Grove Music Online. Accessed 6 Oct. 2022. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000051099.

Virgillo, Carmello, L. Teresa Valdivieso, and Edward H. Friedman. 1999. “Aproximaciones: al estudio de la literatura hispánica.” New York: McGraw-Hill.

Warnaby, John, and Nicholas Jones. 2001. “Davies, Peter Maxwell.” Accessed 6 Oct. 2022. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000007299


Kaitlyn Canneto is a first-year masters student in Music History at Boyer College of Music and Dance.  She recently received her B.A. in Music (saxophone concentration, minors in Spanish and Political Science) from The College of New Jersey in May 2022.  Her research interests include Latin American contemporary studies, gender and sexuality, jazz, and popular music.

The post Piano Music of Protest appeared first on Performing Arts News.

]]>