For my blogpost this week I am revisiting a primary source I encountered when researching composer Arthur Honegger. I have previously written about how Honegger was always considered a German composer, due to his Swiss upbringing and partially Swiss music education. This being even though he spent most of his life in France amongst French composers and influences such as his wife Andree Vaurabourg and being part of the infamous Les Six. French primary sources tend to follow this narrative, driven by the post-World War One search for both a French narrative, set apart from German influence, and for a French musical aesthetic, diverging from that of late romanticism. To find a less biased primary source proved a challenge.
Now when researching Le Roi David(King David), Honegger’s incidental music for René Morax’ biblical play turned into oratorio, I revisited the critical essay by one A. G. Brown for the British journal (currently branded as an international journal) Music and Letters. The essay titled “A Study of Arthur Honegger”, published in 1929, is an analysis and criticism of Honegger’s works and his developing style. The reason I find this source so interesting is the fact that Brown rejects the notion of Honegger’s nationality being an influence on his musical aesthetics:
(Brown 2019: p. 372)
Brown goes on to write about two distinct developments in Honegger’s style. The first one consists of his successful works such as Pacific 231 and Rugby, of which Brown endow their popularity mostly due to Honegger’s “bold and effective” (ibid.) use of counterpoint. The other development is that of the string quartet and Le Roi David, which Brown deems “to be of more permanent worth”. Some things never change, especially musicologists and musicians’ sense of elitism when it comes to composer’s body of work.
To round off I want to share his enjoyable tone when he writes about Le Roi David:
(ibid p. 377)
WORK CITED
Browne, A. G. “A Study of Arthur Honegger.” Music & Letters 10, no. 4 (1929): 372-77. www.jstor.org/stable/726129 . [Accessed March 4th, 2020