etudes4violin&electronix
Daniel Bernard Roumain
Daniel Bernard Roumain
Dominique-René de Lerma:
IDEALIZATION OF THE POPULAR
The separation of peoples' music from that designed for critical
listening became particularly obvious with the rise of the middle class
in the 19th century. Not that ordinary citizens lacked music before,
but most of their music we know from that time was not that much
different from the "art" music. Haydn had idealized folk music in his
symphonies, the menuets of a Mozart symphony differed from that designed
for dancing with the presence of the viola, and Beethoven was not above
composing music for dancing (even briefly attempting to dance). But
with him, if not earlier, there were erudite works that obligated full
attention. The distance became profound with Wagner, who expected the
Bayreuth patrons to spend the first part of the day studying scores and
debating philosophical implications of his music dramas. That rather
well left a less inclined public by the wayside. Those in Bohemia found
comfort in the ethnically oriented works of their composers, and opera
in Italy won the hearts and minds of a general public -- Verdi was the
people's composer. All the people.
The invading French were a bit shocked to find Viennese couples embraced as they waltzed; dancers no longer maintained the decorum of only touching their hands.
Those
who danced to the jazz of the days before the Second World War were now
required not only to remain seated, not even jiggling the ice in their
drinks when music of Monk, Parker, and Coltrane was being performed or
when Billie Holiday was singing. Hardly the medium for the jitterbug.
The
popular language of R&B reached greater sophistication with the
Beatles, although the screaming mobs of youth were not mindful of the
introduction of modes and Neapolitan sixths into the music they only
thought was theirs.
In
the past few decades hip-hop has become part of globalization. In my
current work on dissertations, I find the matter of rap and break
dancing attracting the scholarly attention of many graduate students,
even from Asia and South America.
This
had previously raised some questions in my mind. Even now, several
decades after rappers have proliferated internationally, I have been
hard pressed to find any real music. The existence of the spoken word
with music is not an innovation. Opera itself was originally a
musically nuanced drama. We have monodramas and moments already with
Mozart, and very effective use in Beethoven's Fidelio. To a lesser extent, we could include the recitativo, whereby we can deal with dialogue and then get to the aria. But would we be interested in a CD that was dedicated to recitativo secco hits of Rossini? Then there is Schönberg's Pierrot lunaire and Walton's Façade, perhaps even Peter and the wolf.
Now,
how to deal with rap? Is this music or only another instance of oral
tradition, such as the performer who improvised a commentary on me at a
club in the Virgin Islands?
The
hip-hop culture already is manifest in the works of Dr. Daniel Bernard
Roumain, an exceptional talent I have ardently watched since his
undergraduate days in Nashville. Some years ago I brought him to
Lawrence University within the Ben Holt series, not without a degree of
apprehension. Such had not been traditional fare for the Lawrentians.
But today's embryonic professionals have not renounced their earlier
contacts with the popular of their younger days, and the reception was
extraordinarily enthusiastic -- even from the faculty. One professor
collaborated in the program, belting out like a blues singer.
I
had begun to feel my age when a violin virtuoso (our own Rachel Barton
Pine) expressed more than a mild interest in bluegrass and heavy metal,
and even recorded with Joy Elane and Mark Weiner (vocals), Tony Spillman (guitar), Jason Muxlow (guitar), Ron Holzner (bass, vocals), Scott Davidson (drums) and guest vocalist Kristin Joy Elane – (Earthen Grave on Claude and Elmo Music, CECD001, 2012.
I
have yet to hear any music by violinist-composer Dr. Gregory Walker, by
reputation very in tune with recent trends, and I expect that my
"mouldy-fig" bubble has not provided me with a chance to hear the work
of other innovators. Stravinsky always managed to be in the vanguard. I
wonder, had he lived, if he would have written for Snoop Dogg.
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Dominique-René de Lerma
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