Mid-term Essays Assignment. Visual & Performing Arts Essay

Mid-term Essays Assignment
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Question 2: Describe Duke Ellington’s career in the context of the Harlem Renaissance and then explain the influence of Jazz on Gershwin, Ravel, and Milhaud. Use specific musical examples.
The Harlem Renaissance is regarded as one of the most notable intellectual and artistic trends of the twentieth century. It was a 1920s movement where the African-Americans scribes, musicians, artists and thinkers were on a mission to embrace black heritage and culture. Duke Ellington, one of the greatest composers of Jazz lived in this era and made a cosmic impact in the popular music towards the end of the twentieth century.
He was born Edward Kennedy Ellington but would later be known better as “Duke”. He started playing the piano as a child and by the time he turned seventeen he played professionally securing a spot for his name in Washington. Duke Ellington began composing his own music in 1923 which saw him settle in New York and formed a band of his own – the Washingtonians. Garnering a following of its own, the band got a rendezvous at the Harlem’s famous Cotton Club. This provided a platform to reach a wider fan- base through radio and recordings.
Even though Duke Ellington was majorly considered as the key personality in the history of Jazz, he often referred to his music as ‘beyond category’ and as part of the broader genre of American music. He helped nurture the soloist style and melded the different artistic skills of members of his band including Johnny Hodges, Jimmy Blanton, Billy Strayhorn; Cootie Williams and Harry Carney into the best ever orchestra since the advent of Jazz.
Duke Ellington is highly regarded for his contributions in shaping the contemporary Jazz music industry and revolutionizing the traditional modes of Jazz. He had more than fifty years in professional music within which he was nominee in the Pulitzer Prize, elected to the National Institute of Arts and letters, awarded a Ph. D of Music at the Yale University and awarded the presidential medal of freedom by President Nixon in 1969. He was, fundamentally, renowned for the strong foundations that he built, giving rise to majority of the best American music.
George Gershwin was among the first to draw influence from and incorporate the rhythm of Jazz with his piece “ Rhapsody in Blue” which is arguably the best piece to ever do so. He primarily wrote for Broadway musical theatre shows but is also quite renowned for his orchestra and piano compositions Just like Ellington. One of his best works was published by his sister Ira Gershwin after his death. “Lullaby” was delicate and its beauty transcends time. It has since become a favourite against which symphony orchestras and string quartets are benchmarked against.
In the early twentieth century many French composers were fascinated by American Jazz and included some elements of the genre in their compositions. Maurice Ravel was one such composer who found great inspiration in Jazz and in particular, through George Gershwin’s well blended music. He was a great pianist, composer and conductor who preferred to think of himself as more of a traditional classic but was captivated by the Jazz practice of quickly shifting between the major and minor modes. He would later incorporate this in his 1932 premier piano concerto in Paris and with an audience that already loved Jazz, his was received with quite the thrill.
Darius Milhaud, like Ravel, was another French composer to be captivated by the American Jazz. His individual style was more prominent in ballets and the development of his style of playing multiple piano keys at once. His American tour in Jazz clubs in Harlem inspired the music for his October 1923 ballet “La Création du monde” (The Creation of the World). Even though it predates Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue by one year, it has been popularly compared to it owing to the fact that it was not so well received on its premier. It has since become one of Milhaud’s most popular pieces for its unique incorporation of Jazz elements and polytonality.
Question 3: Define neoclassicism in the 20th century. What are the early examples of neoclassicism? What was the point of (or reason for) neoclassicism? Which composer wrote the largest number of neoclassical works? Use specific musical examples.
Neoclassicism is the classical revival movement in the arts that derived its ingenuity from the ‘classical’ art and culture of ancient Greece and Rome. Even though neoclassicism was strongly in architecture, decorative arts and sculpture, in the 20th century it evolved to consolidate all of the arts, including painting, theatre, literature and music. Neoclassical music came about at a time when the general masses sought to return to rational arts models veering away from the scaring of the World War I. In its most simplified form, neoclassical music is defined as borrowing from both the classical and Baroque styles of music of the 18th and 19th century.
By the end of the World War II, there was a large influence on music by Jazz and stage works. There was less focus on depictive music and composers and symphonies sought to be subtle and personal as a way of expressing themselves. Sounds such as rippling waters and delicate twinkling were incorporated in musical pieces and non-directional harmonies created out of items such as chords which were not only functional for their tonal qualities but for the different colours as an expressive quality. Even though composers were trying ...