I have my musical rants that maybe annoy people. But they are for myself mostly. It is a way for me to, let's say, arrange my "opinions" on something, in a somewhat "coherent" way. And I post them, in case, someone wishes to convert me to another view, or correct me, or whatever. In fact, most of the time I am not sure of anything, so writing things down, makes me ... decide.
But I think now, for a while, these rants will be focused mostly on relatively, new, modern, and contemporary music. Because I want to catch up, and explore and learn all I can about it.
I posted previously about Cherubini, and his "friendly" discussions with Napoleon! But Cherubini was not insulting Napoleon because he (Cherubini) was very politically opinionated. He didn't "tore off" dedications to Napoleon, like Beethoven! He was just irritated with Napoleon's love and support for Italian music and musicians, to the detriment of the French musicians. The XX-th century by contrast was, a century of many politically "opinionated" musicians - some very aggressively so. But few had such strong political convictions, pursued with such ardor like Luigi Nono. Most of his music is somehow a political manifest, or inspired by it. I think he even joined the communist party at some point. His political views brought him occasionally in disputes with his "Darmstadt School" companions: Boulez and Stockhausen. But personally, I find his music the most expressive - from the group. To my surprise actually I can't think of any piece of his that I heard (and I listened to pretty much everything that I could find) that hasn't impressed me somehow. I haven't heard Canto Sospeso yet (a piece that ultimately indirectly caused a break in friendship between him and Stockhausen!) - and I'd really like to. My favorite piece of his is the quartet "Fragmente Stille". It is a late piece, mostly quiet and reflective.
Someone said that the music of his last phase, is a lot more "perceptible" for the listeners through the inclusion of silences and prolongation of sounds.
"The listener is not overwhelmed by information, but has the opportunity to reflect upon each sound or
constellation of sounds." (Havard Enge). I think that is certainly one of the problems with a lot of the total serialism of the 50s and 60s.
This quartet is the second piece written as a homage to Bruno Maderna that I like. (The other one being - and it surprised me! - "Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna" by Boulez). And that makes me a lot more curious about Bruno Maderna's music too. I guess that is my next "stop".
I heard Ligeti say, in an interview (and I'll mention that interview on other occasions, I'm sure) that "everybody liked Bruno Maderna", no matter how different their opinions were on pretty much everything else, they all liked Maderna! That apparently he was an amazing man or something!
But to conclude, as otherwise this could go on and on and on, what I like about Nono's music the most, is that it has a lyrical quality it seems to me, in every piece, that I can't find in similar music. At least not yet. I think his music is impressive and everything I read seems to indicate he was a fascinating person. (though maybe sometimes too "aggresive" in his views).
But I think now, for a while, these rants will be focused mostly on relatively, new, modern, and contemporary music. Because I want to catch up, and explore and learn all I can about it.
I posted previously about Cherubini, and his "friendly" discussions with Napoleon! But Cherubini was not insulting Napoleon because he (Cherubini) was very politically opinionated. He didn't "tore off" dedications to Napoleon, like Beethoven! He was just irritated with Napoleon's love and support for Italian music and musicians, to the detriment of the French musicians. The XX-th century by contrast was, a century of many politically "opinionated" musicians - some very aggressively so. But few had such strong political convictions, pursued with such ardor like Luigi Nono. Most of his music is somehow a political manifest, or inspired by it. I think he even joined the communist party at some point. His political views brought him occasionally in disputes with his "Darmstadt School" companions: Boulez and Stockhausen. But personally, I find his music the most expressive - from the group. To my surprise actually I can't think of any piece of his that I heard (and I listened to pretty much everything that I could find) that hasn't impressed me somehow. I haven't heard Canto Sospeso yet (a piece that ultimately indirectly caused a break in friendship between him and Stockhausen!) - and I'd really like to. My favorite piece of his is the quartet "Fragmente Stille". It is a late piece, mostly quiet and reflective.
Someone said that the music of his last phase, is a lot more "perceptible" for the listeners through the inclusion of silences and prolongation of sounds.
"The listener is not overwhelmed by information, but has the opportunity to reflect upon each sound or
constellation of sounds." (Havard Enge). I think that is certainly one of the problems with a lot of the total serialism of the 50s and 60s.
This quartet is the second piece written as a homage to Bruno Maderna that I like. (The other one being - and it surprised me! - "Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna" by Boulez). And that makes me a lot more curious about Bruno Maderna's music too. I guess that is my next "stop".
I heard Ligeti say, in an interview (and I'll mention that interview on other occasions, I'm sure) that "everybody liked Bruno Maderna", no matter how different their opinions were on pretty much everything else, they all liked Maderna! That apparently he was an amazing man or something!
But to conclude, as otherwise this could go on and on and on, what I like about Nono's music the most, is that it has a lyrical quality it seems to me, in every piece, that I can't find in similar music. At least not yet. I think his music is impressive and everything I read seems to indicate he was a fascinating person. (though maybe sometimes too "aggresive" in his views).
No comments:
Post a Comment