Wednesday, October 29, 2008
IUPUI Chamber Ensemble
The IUPUI Chamber Ensemble will be performing at the IT building auditorium on November 10th, 7:30 pm. Concert will feature a variety of modern and classical music. Admission is $5 at the door!
A response to blog "Doctor Atomic and Modern Opera" by John Schaefer of WNYC Soundcheck online
So I read this blog entry the other day by a John Schaefer about modern opera, the ‘lack of tunefulness’ in arias today, and Doctor Atomic’s role in all of this. Read it here.
Here is Schaefer's question: "What’s your impression of modern American opera? Do you like being able to follow the story? Or do you want to be able to walk out with a tune stuck in your head?"
Here is my response:
Tunefulness and advancement of the plot are not what is at odds here. Doctor Atomic contains arias which slow the action down just as an aria in a pre-1930's opera would. An aria is a character taking time to express their thoughts. It therefore does not advance a plot no matter how tune-ful or un-tune-ful it is. Oppenheimer’s arias “Batter my heart” and “Long let me inhale” are not tuneful and do not advance the plot. What you are talking about is the difference in formats of songs: tunefulness vs. lack-of-tunefulness.
You should instead ask your audience if they would prefer that modern composers be constrained to the ABA format I mentioned in my previous comment or if they should be encouraged to find a new voice. I think it's obvious which I advocate.
We would not expect modern painters to mimick the Dutch school, nor to imitate the impressionists. We would not expect modern writers to fall into a Shakespearean voice nor modern poets to follow the prose of Byron. In fact, they would be condemned by art critics for not seeking a unique and new voice/style.
Why, then, do you seek to trap composers into the glorious past? The past masters were innovators themselves, breaking from their traditions. History forgets imitators and favors the experimental.
Instead, please change the way you think about what music should be. Open your mind to different sounds and don't condemn modern composers for not holding on to the past.
In response to Schaefer’s blog's question as to why modern opera composers don't write "tuneful memories," claiming that composers are too afraid to do so, I offer this respose:
The reason opera composers aren't writing "tuneful melodies," by which I believe you mean songs that repeat the same phrase over again, is not that they are afraid to do so, but because that is not their goal. Modern opera composers should be searching for a new sound and not be in the business of mimicking the past.
Tunefulness is when a composer takes one phrase or a series of phrases (melody A) and repeats them, usually with a contrasting section (melody B), and then repeat the first melody again [whole scheme is known as ABA scheme]. with different words. It is the same format that pop-songs, rock songs, blues, folk, lots of jazz, and a million other styles of music use and have been using since the dawn of music. Opera-listeners have 400 years of operas filled with arias, duets, choruses, etc. that conform to this definition of "tune-ful-ness."
Opera-goers and opera composers are already familiar with this format, we hear operas written in this format and enjoy them, every season. Look at the season list for any opera company, it will be at very least 75 percent pre-1930 operas, a majority of which contain "tuneful melodies" in the songs.
BUT, when we commission new operas from modern composers, we are not looking for a repeat of the past. We want that composer to give us something new; something that speaks more of our own times and reflects a modern sensibility. We are looking for a sound and an opera that astounds us by identifying our own feelings, concerns, thoughts, fears, hopes, conflicts, in the context of our own time. Not the time of Bach, of Mozart, of Verdi, of Wagner, or Puccini, (though we appreciate how these works remind us that we are not so different from our forefathers), but of OUR time.
That is what Doctor Atomic does.
Here is Schaefer's question: "What’s your impression of modern American opera? Do you like being able to follow the story? Or do you want to be able to walk out with a tune stuck in your head?"
Here is my response:
Tunefulness and advancement of the plot are not what is at odds here. Doctor Atomic contains arias which slow the action down just as an aria in a pre-1930's opera would. An aria is a character taking time to express their thoughts. It therefore does not advance a plot no matter how tune-ful or un-tune-ful it is. Oppenheimer’s arias “Batter my heart” and “Long let me inhale” are not tuneful and do not advance the plot. What you are talking about is the difference in formats of songs: tunefulness vs. lack-of-tunefulness.
You should instead ask your audience if they would prefer that modern composers be constrained to the ABA format I mentioned in my previous comment or if they should be encouraged to find a new voice. I think it's obvious which I advocate.
We would not expect modern painters to mimick the Dutch school, nor to imitate the impressionists. We would not expect modern writers to fall into a Shakespearean voice nor modern poets to follow the prose of Byron. In fact, they would be condemned by art critics for not seeking a unique and new voice/style.
Why, then, do you seek to trap composers into the glorious past? The past masters were innovators themselves, breaking from their traditions. History forgets imitators and favors the experimental.
Instead, please change the way you think about what music should be. Open your mind to different sounds and don't condemn modern composers for not holding on to the past.
In response to Schaefer’s blog's question as to why modern opera composers don't write "tuneful memories," claiming that composers are too afraid to do so, I offer this respose:
The reason opera composers aren't writing "tuneful melodies," by which I believe you mean songs that repeat the same phrase over again, is not that they are afraid to do so, but because that is not their goal. Modern opera composers should be searching for a new sound and not be in the business of mimicking the past.
Tunefulness is when a composer takes one phrase or a series of phrases (melody A) and repeats them, usually with a contrasting section (melody B), and then repeat the first melody again [whole scheme is known as ABA scheme]. with different words. It is the same format that pop-songs, rock songs, blues, folk, lots of jazz, and a million other styles of music use and have been using since the dawn of music. Opera-listeners have 400 years of operas filled with arias, duets, choruses, etc. that conform to this definition of "tune-ful-ness."
Opera-goers and opera composers are already familiar with this format, we hear operas written in this format and enjoy them, every season. Look at the season list for any opera company, it will be at very least 75 percent pre-1930 operas, a majority of which contain "tuneful melodies" in the songs.
BUT, when we commission new operas from modern composers, we are not looking for a repeat of the past. We want that composer to give us something new; something that speaks more of our own times and reflects a modern sensibility. We are looking for a sound and an opera that astounds us by identifying our own feelings, concerns, thoughts, fears, hopes, conflicts, in the context of our own time. Not the time of Bach, of Mozart, of Verdi, of Wagner, or Puccini, (though we appreciate how these works remind us that we are not so different from our forefathers), but of OUR time.
That is what Doctor Atomic does.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
