Author Archives: Aiden Kocian

“American Jazz “Not So Bad” Says Soviet”: Two Tales of Popular Music

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In the late 1950s a turn was happening among the American populous. Suddenly, Jazz was starting to catch on as popular music and was recognized as one of the true, if not THE truest form of American music. However, it wasn’t just in America where Jazz was getting recognition. In 1958, the Chicago Defender1 released an article detailing a Soviet author’s opinion on American Jazz as “not so bad”. The author certainly made their opinions on how Jazz serves the bourgeoise and ultimately hurts the proletariate as a result, there was praise and more importantly in my opinion, recognition, of the early roots of Jazz being stemmed in folk music traditions.

The Soviet author then goes on to explain that there is almost no popular music in the USSR- and that they wish they could create a sense of national identity within their musical culture. This notion comes specifically from this author not even two decades on since Shostakovich wrote his Symphony no. 5 which is shrouded in mystery as to its origins and message. What we do know about this symphony is that it was the saving hail-mary for Shostakovich’s career- and he was already being pressured by the Soviet government to begin planting the seeds of a national musical identity.

Through many mirrors, dimly: 100 years of Shostakovich | MPR News

Shostakovich in the late 1950s.

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This contrasts heavily against American popular music’s development because of the former’s rather natural progression by the people with little government involvement. This progression, however, took almost 200 years to lead to Jazz. The Soviet government wanted this progression to happen faster, they were in an arms race, space race, and even… a music race concerning culture against the Americans. Did Soviet music ever take off? In the classical- surely as modern Russian composers have a clear place in the instrumental canon, but it seems that only today due to the internet and streaming services is Russian popular music finding its footing within its own Eastern European roots.

 

https://www.proquest.com/hnpchicagodefender/docview/493699491/CA623B654A3F41B8PQ/4?accountid=351

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2006/09/25/shostakovich

Leonard Bernstein & An American Introduction to The Gay Arts

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Leonard Bernstein’s life and dreams of music direction were supported by his talent, utter extroversion, and thoughtfulness. Bernstein however faced three points of potential controversy against himself, being a Jewish-American homosexual. While Bernstein couldn’t hide his Jewish-American heritage in a widely European and at times anti-semitic music scene, he did certainly try to hide his homosexuality. Bernstein didn’t want anything getting in the way of him and his dreams of musical direction, not even himself. And so, Bernstein went onto marry Felicia Montealegre on September 9, 19513, despite having relations to varying degrees with other composers of the time from Ned Rorem to Aaron Copland2. On the topic of his sexuality, known by his wife, she wrote thus:

“First: we are not committed to a life sentence — nothing is really irrevocable, not even marriage (though I used to think so).

Second: you are a homosexual and may never change — you don’t admit to the possibility of a double life, but if your peace of mind, your health, your whole nervous system depend on a certain sexual pattern what can you do?

Third: I am willing to accept you as you are, without being a martyr or sacrificing myself on the L.B. altar.”1

Bernstein makes less discrete nods to his sexuality in his compositions. Junior from A Quiet Place (1983) is engaged in a same-sex relationship with Francois, as is Maximillian with several partners in Candide (1956).

9780634056093: Glitter and Be Gay from Candide: Scottish Opera Edition (Scottish Opera Editions)

Bernstein’s “Glitter And Be Gay” from Candide

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Bernstein, although shaded in many respects, made the first few modern attempts at incorporating the LGBTQ’s voice into music. As a member of the LGBTQ community, I am grateful that I feel I can express myself freely in the musical culture I am surrounded in- and part of that is because of the path that Bernstein paved. Since Bernstein we have had LGBTQ conductors and composers such as Pauline Oliveros, Marin Alsop, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. It is not an understatement to stay that in the modern culture of classical music Bernstein has solidified a place in the academy for openly LGBTQ musicians in spite of his reserved legacy concerning his sexuality.

Bernstein, Leonard. Leonard Bernstein Letters. Yale University Press, 2014.

Brandon Visetchaisri IU Southeast Student Conference April 22, 2021 …, scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2022/26363/Visetchaisri%202021%20Student%20Conference%20Presentation.pdf?sequence=1. Accessed 4 Nov. 2023.

“Felicia Montealegre Bernstein.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Nov. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicia_Montealegre_Bernstein.

 

Did Ethnomusicologists Know Other Forms of Notation? And Other Thoughts That Keep Me Up at Night

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Among the greatest blunders committed by ethnomusicologists when interacting with indigenous cultures is their notation of that culture’s music. The process that comes with this endeavor ends up having a pretty standard formula. A musicologist will learn their notation skills in higher education, become convinced that theirs is the best (typically the standard European notation practice), and then go on to apply it when “capturing” the music of other cultures. We of course all know the tales of Densmore and her blunders, but unfortunately her story is not very unique. Take for example this French Ethnomusicologist’s transcription of indigenous American “chants”.

French Musicologist’s transcription of “Chants indiens du Canada Nord-Ouest [manuscript]”

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Similar to Densmore, very strange notation that we can only assume is a mere approximation of what was heard. This begs the question- if western notation is restrictive, why not employ other notation styles? Why not unmetered bars of music? Why not employ a number system for microtonal music? WHY DON’T OUR TAX DOLLARS GO TOWARDS MORE PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE? But seriously- did these musicologists have ideas of other forms of notation? I believe that there are many answers to why western notation was forced to merge with other cultures in violent ways. For one, a precedent was set by Densmore to use western notation and to not deviate so that it was easier for western scholars to consume. Secondly, I do believe that many scholars of the late 19th and early 20th century were certainly unaware of other forms of notation. They lived in a far less globalized and more isolated society, even in the most diverse and rich academic institutions of the time.

But our time is different. We must teach at least basic introductions into other forms of notation. If not just to spread music from different cultures in less violent and in more reliable ways, but to expand our own worldview and thought processes when listening and interacting with music from varying cultures in all situations we may encounter it. To fail to learn other systems of notation, is to fail other cultures in an increasingly global society.

 

Works Cited:

https://www.aihc.amdigital.co.uk/Documents/Images/Ayer_MS_715/2

Notation Limitation: The Influence of Written Notation on Musical Expression

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What is a canvas, a lump of clay, or a hammer and chisel to the visual artist? They are the means- and therefore limitations by which the artist turns an idea into a product to be consumed by the masses. But while visual artists have an almost infinite amount of materials to use to express emotions, ideas, or stories- there are far less tools in music.

Notation is by many means, a prison that composers, arrangers, and other sonic explorers  are trapped in when they go to document an idea or sound. Take for example, Frances Densmore’s controversial use of western notation to document traditional Indigenous ceremonial music. “Densmore used traditional Western notation for her transcriptions and at one point experimented with using graphic representations, which she intended to be used as an analysis of melody concurrently with Western notation.”1 This case all the way back in 1907 was one of the first clashes between cultures in notation versus practice. Densmore’s use of a limited notation style, which she even recognized as limited for the setting, led to the erasure of several defining characteristics of the music she did her field study on- ultimately doing the culture a disservice and misrepresenting the music.

But what happens when western musical expression is applied to Indigenous music alongside western notation? …Well you get this:

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This is Louis Wallis’ “Sioux Waltz”. It is not a traditional waltz, it just has the extra musical connotation of some form of Sioux influence mashed together with the 3/4 pattern characteristic of a traditional western waltz. Again, notation (and the assumed connotations surrounding it) influence and make an odd sort of amalgamation of itself and the culture it is bisecting.

There is hope yet for western notation in our increasingly socially conscious society, however. Elaine Gould’s book “Behind Bars”3 explores the limits of western notation and how it can be manipulated to better record and represent ideas, cultures, and stories. Resources such as Gould’s are becoming more and more available, with communities surrounding engraving issues and how to respectfully fix them becoming more commonplace as notation software has brought many new composers- and therefore ideas into the fold of modern music. Wester notation may never be perfect, but it is important to continue improving upon it until it can be a properly helpful and respectful tool for the facilitation of art-making.

 

“Libguides: Indigenous Music Resources: Frances Densmore Smithsonian Collection.” Frances Densmore Smithsonian Collection – Indigenous Music Resources – LibGuides at Brandon University, libguides.brandonu.ca/indigenousmusic/francesdensmore#:~:text=Densmore%20used%20traditional%20Western%20notation,melody%20concurrently%20with%20Western%20notation. Accessed 12 Oct. 2023.

The American Music Family Tree

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Pop punk, roll-the-dice improvisation, break core, and hyper pop are just a few of the niche genres of music that are taking American youth by storm. However, few stop to think about how we got to this age of new genres being synthesized on an annual basis- where did this music truly come from?

The answer is ultimately pretty cut and dry- black people have created, either directly or indirectly, every single genre of American music. The American Music Family Tree1 starts with music of African American origin in its roots and extends out to more modern genres at its branches, all derived from its roots.

The evolution of African American Music (#infographic) | bluesyemre

This is not a new notion, however. All the way back in 1893, African American people all over the nation were waking up to the notion that the music around them had been co-opted and repackaged into something “new” by white people. In the Cleaveland Gazette’s 18932 article “Dr. Dvorak On The Right Track” the editor cites that “about all the American Music we have is furnished by in these same “Negro” melodies.” In tandem with this claim, the author mentions Dvorak’s prophecy before it was actually called Dvorak’s prophecy. Dvorak claimed, in essence, that the experiment of American music (which he was tasked as a white person coming all the way from Europe to create) would not succeed unless it incorporated and gave due regard to the musical traditions around itself.

Unfortunately, today music is still being co-opted and not being given due regard by white musicians and listeners alike. In Vince Dixon’s 20113 article concerning this topic, tragic ironies are outlined like slave owners learning banjo from their slaves, or ragtime being considered offensive by white people before it was co-opted and turned repackaged into more popular and palatable genres for white people. We have this information now of a pattern of abuse in our American musical canon- and we have the means by which to recognize and change our patterns of behavior. As Dvorak said, the ongoing experiment of American music will fail if we don’t- whether or not we’re 130 years on from his prophecy.

 

Bluesyemre, 9 June 2020, bluesyemre.com/2020/06/09/the-evolution-of-african-american-music-infographic/.US/se/ID_No/429107/Product.aspx4

Differentiating Types of Cultural Appropriation: White Choirs & African American Spirituals

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It was on April 23rd, 1929 that for the first time in New York African American spirituals were performed by a white choir at Mother Zion A.M.E church- an all black congregation. This performance was a landmark for the American choral tradition where the practice of spirituals in mostly or all white choirs is still a hotly debated topic. The performance on this fated Friday in the early 1900s was documented as well received1, despite the interpretation of H.T. Burleigh’s arrangements (of which the concert was entirely programmed) by a white conductor and choir.

Little Known Black History Facts: Harry T. Burleigh

H.T. Burleigh, b. 1866 was an African-American composer, baritone, and arranger of spirituals that are still performed to this day.2

Dr. Carl Reiland, the rector of St. George, spoke to how important Burleigh was as an American composer and a preserver of African American music in an appearance after the performance. In the current day, almost a century after the performance cited in this post, I was in my own choir rehearsal discussing proper performance practice for spirituals. My choir director, Anton Armstrong, is currently heralded as one of the leading voices on authentic performances of spirituals by mostly white choirs.

He says that choosing to program spirituals for the St. Olaf Choir is how he brought a part of himself to the predominately white lutheran choral tradition on campus. His colleague in this specific field, Andre J. Thomas, speaks to how choirs can perform spirituals authentically and respectfully regardless of the predominant race of the choir. Citing an article by famed black choral composer and spiritual arranger Rollo Dilworth, Thomas speaks to the difference between acceptable and objectionable cultural appropriation.3

Give Me Jesus (arr. Rollo Dilworth) Sheet Music | Traditional Spiritual | SATB Choir

The first page of Rollo Dilworth’s arrangement of traditional spiritual “Give Me Jesus”4
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Here is an excerpt from Dilworth’s aforementioned article- I include this entire paragraph because I feel his idea here is explained perfectly and to interpret it in any way other than how he himself has worded it would be disrespectful.

When does cultural appropriation become objectionable? Dilworth points to three more definitions from Young. When an outsider takes, without permission, property that belongs to another culture, that’s “cultural appropriation as theft.” If, for example, he were to incorporate a digeridoo part into a piece of music without permission from the indigenous Australian community that developed the instrument, Dilworth says he would be committing theft, even if his intent were respectful. If he published the piece and made money from it, the offense level would rise to “cultural appropriation as assault,” because the act would cause harm to the insider culture or its members. Cultural appropriation becomes a “profound offense” when the act offends a person’s moral sensibilities, provoking a gut reaction.5

 

Looking upon the modern choral scene and the place that spirituals have in it- I can now look back upon my experiences with singing spirituals in the St. Olaf Choir. Anytime we sing spirituals, Dr. Armstrong will typically ask us to change our pronunciations of certain words and will often say “you don’t have to pronounce it like an all black choir, but I don’t want you pronouncing it like an all white choir- because the fact of the matter it that you aren’t an all white choir.”

I would personally encourage more performers, musicologists, composers, and conductors to incorporate Dilworth’s ideas of objectionable and acceptable cultural appropriation. Especially in the cultural climate of today, race and identity in art are topics that we need to address- and more importantly have tools to address that draw clear lines between what is right and what is wrong. I for one hope that a more unified idea of what is authentic and proper performance practice for certain kinds of choral music reveals itself to academia in the future so that music can continue to be preserved and performed in culturally and historically enriching ways.

 

Works Cited:

https://www.proquest.com/docview/226345003/B446A6DFB26F46E8PQ/1?accountid=3511

https://blackamericaweb.com/2018/09/12/little-known-black-history-facts-harry-t-burleigh/2

http://youtube.co/watch?v=0yeiGNRnpMM3

https://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/en-US/se/ID_No/429107/Product.aspx4

https://chorusamerica.org/article/cultural-appropriation-culture-stealing-culture-sharing#:~:text=When%20an%20outsider%20takes%2C%20without,instrument%2C%20Dilworth%20says%20he%20would5

Post-War Reconstruction to Post-War Redefinitions of American Music

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American idealism and the ever-changing concept of the “American Dream” seem to be well accompanied by the arts. The idea of setting music or text to American fantasies-which typically involve gaining large amounts of wealth, owning a huge plot of land, and/or embracing patriotism- is typically enjoyed by those that the American Dream has been realized within or sold to as an idea.

In the post-Civil War reconstruction era United States, the American Dream was changing alongside the rapid industrialization of the country. People were getting richer faster, and a drab new landscape of factories and mills replaced expansive picturesque farms. The American Dream of creating wealth off of plantations (and subsequently slaves) was shifting towards making money off of factory labor and its exports. This was changing how music accompanied the idea of the American Dream during the late 1800s.

The Industrial Revolution Pt. 2: By Land and River

4 /> Steamboats at a Nashville Dock in 1863

The simultaneous need to hold onto the musical trends and racial injustices of yesteryear turned many musicians sour to a new wave of music that continued selling American idealism. Boston Conservatory music scholar and lecturer Dr. Louis Elson stated in periodical The Christian Observer as part of an interview in 1898 that “I am a firm believer that American Music is just Southern Music. I have often said that the reason “Dixie” is the most characteristic outcome of the War is because you can’t set a calico factory or flour mill to music, but that Southern plantation life is characteristic and poetic…”2

Elson then goes on to name Dvorak’s New World Symphony2 expressing his hope that someone will provide an equivalent for Southern music- reinforcing his belief that Southern music is true American music- and that the slave economy is easier to romanticize than an industrial economy. This is laughable considering Dvorak’s New World Symphony
was based heavily off of themes of immigration, diversity,3
and shared culture- the antithesis of the kind of music Elson advocates for while simultaneously calling Native American the music of “savages”.

Dvorak's New World Symphony Manuscript1

The redefining of American music has happened several times over, but a pattern has certainly emerged. American music favors diversity, adaptation (following the nature of American music itself), and justice. As diversity, justice, and social consciousness evolve as principles in America, so too will American music, and the American dream that accompanies that music.


http://www.classicalmusictoday.net/blog/new-world-symphony-manuscript-comes-to-the-new-world


https://www.proquest.com/americanperiodicals/docview/136125214/F1B647EEFC6D4BADPQ/24?accountid=351


https://www.youtube.com/watch?vbVTIlMc5Fuo


https://tnmuseum.org/junior-curators/posts/the-industrial-revolution-pt-2-by-land-and-river?locale=en