Throughout this course I’ve continued to gain new insights into the idea of modernism in Paris in the 1920s. The readings for our very first day of class discussed Taruskin’s assessment of the idea of lifestyle modernism in Paris, a movement away from romanticism towards something more deliberately shallow.1 The new generation of composers and […]
A treasure trove of information exists in historic newspapers regarding the premiere performance of Ravel’s symphonic poem La valse. The findings have been astonishing, as there are a total of 15 different articles between 13 different newspapers spanning the course of two days within the premiere of the piece (December 12 and December 13th, 1920). […]
Check out this performance by the St. Olaf Orchestra and Professor Anderegg! My first attempts at researching Ravel were slightly troubling. You think there would be an abundance of online resources examining such a well-known composer, and his piece, Tzigane, which has become a staple of the violin repertoire. There are many dissertations, concert reviews, […]
The societal changes that drove music during the “Belle Epoque” were really the same changes that drove the reformation of everything else from technology to art. After establishing the Third Republic in France, an optimistic and proud mindset emerged, finally feeling some stability in France. Musicians and composers used that to their advantage, wanting to […]
Understanding musical identity is a fraught conversation between idealized perceptions about shared values, and constructed sonic markers interpreted by the whims of composers, musicians, writers, and the public. For French musical figures and writes between 1870 and 1920, some major forces at play in these conversations were lingering tensions with the German empire, and eventually […]
My initial thoughts on these questions are as eclectic as the plurality of opinions and musics I’ve attempted to digest over the first two weeks of class. Firstly, the horse. I can’t stop thinking about the way the horse moves. However, in all seriousness, I think the horse is a very fitting representation of […]