labrys,
études féministes/ estudos feministas
juillet /décembre / 2014 -julho/dezembro 2014
CHARACTER IS EVERYTHING
National characteristics, as expressed in music by women
Diana Ambache
Abstract
CHARACTER IS EVERYTHING, Typical National traits heard in music.This is a light-hearted look at national differences, with particular reference to women’s music. It addresses questions like - how true are descriptions of National traits, such as the English stiff-upper-lip? And can these qualities be heard in music? The thesis proposed here is that each Nation has its own characteristics and that they are audible in the music of those countries. So - Jacquet de la Guerre, Mel Bonis and the Boulangers illustrate the French values of clarity and formal balance. We think of the Germans as having a strong work ethic and mixing grand romanticism with a strong sense of order; the lives and music of Hildegard of Bingen, Clara Schumann and others corroborate that. The tremendous energy and optimism of Americans can be heard in composers such as Libby Larsen, their extraordinary cultural mix is conveyed in the music of Tania Leon, and Amy Beach demonstrates something of the American ‘can do’ outlook. The article describes the ways in which music exemplifies various national traits, including English eccentricity, efficient Germans and go-getting Americans
Key words: music, character, national traits
‘The world is a book and those who do not travel only read one page’ according to St Augustine. I agree; I think that travel not only broadens the mind (and evidently many others do too), it is also enjoyable, stimulating and restores my faith in the human race. Our spirits are fed by the variety of lives, ideas and expression that have developed in the world. Indeed I have a favourite phrase when exploring a new place: “the human imagination is alive and well and living in….”
Are there some truths in the ideas that Germans are efficient, Americans are noisy, Britons have a stiff-upper-lip and Russians love drinking? The purpose of this article is to provide a musical description of some of the national characteristics which make exploring different cultures so enriching. Within any one country, there are shared assumptions, attitudes, languages and societal habits. My intention is to demonstrate the concepts of linguistic, ethnic and cultural identity that bind together fellow citizens, because I think these things are expressed in each country’s music. Social cohesion usually happens through shared beliefs and symbols; they marry together in a way which explains that particular world. In this account, I am aware that I shall be making crudely stereotypical statements. Please accept my generalisations, not as reductions, but rather as ventures in articulation.
In addition, my examples here are female; which means that I’m stepping into another debatable area - categorisation by gender. I don’t go for the broad-brush attitudes that women are generally more modest and tender, while men are seen as more assertive and competitive. In our different ways, it seems to me we are all concerned with the quality of life. I simply draw attention here to the music by women that I wish more people knew about. As Mary Wollstonecraft said “I have flung down the gauntlet. It is time to re-establish women’s lost dignity and to make them part of humanity.”
Although I love to travel, I shall start with the most familiar place: home - Britain. From our proverbial reserve, to relishing eccentricity, the English have several noticeable traits. Incidentally, even though I am the daughter of a Middle-Eastern immigrant, I consider myself English. Our many qualities include a sense of humour and of fair play (‘it’s just not cricket’), being literate, inventive (‘the primrose path’), polite and tolerant (‘discretion is the better part of valour’). I’m going to search out some of these traits in music by British women.
‘This precious stone set in the silver sea’ - we are a small island off the northern coast of Europe; as a nation, we have given ourselves stature through a wide cultural history and a large imperial legacy. For example, in the 18th century, London was a major musical centre, with composers like Haydn among the visiting musicians. Part of that scene was Sophia Dussek (1775-1847), singer, pianist and composer. Her music has an openness, elegance and energy that voices the dignity and stylish bearing of that era. I could widen that to say it expresses our sense of value.
Similarly with relations in the London musical scene, Maria Parke-Beardmore (1775-1822) appeared as singer and pianist in concerts given by the Academy of Ancient Music and wrote sonatas and songs. She could easily be confused with Maria Hester Reynolds-Park (1760-1813), who also published sonatas and a fine keyboard concerto; this music had a social role – its purpose was to be entertaining, both as a pleasurable diversion and to provide an opportunity for convivial hosting.
The English are not regularly described as passionate. However, moving into the 19th century, we find Maude Valerie White (1855-1937), a songwriter who conveys her love of life and beauty, in exquisitely crafted songs. The Grove Dictionary described her setting of Shelley’s My Soul is an enchanted boat as ‘one of the best songs in our language’. This spirit, her creative endeavour, and enthusiasm for our some of our major Romantic poetry seem utterly British.
Our love of the quirky can be seen in our (sometimes amused) appreciation of Dame Ethel Smyth (1858-1944). Now notorious for her suffragette activity, she made her name from the writing of her colourful operas. Illustrating our living environment, The Wreckers is one of her most successful operas, evoking the sea and a Cornish fishing community. Although her music is sometimes associated with Brahms, there’s a muscular quality, that is all her own. A rare determination (met again in deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie) led her to attain international recognition at a time when women were generally considered amateurs. In addition she wrote a monumental Mass in D, some very fine romantic sonatas and other chamber music.
Alice Mary Smith (1839-84) was also a composer of large-scale works. The many choral societies around the UK gave her opportunities to compose sizeable vocal works. Her music combines elegance and grace with substantial power and energy. She also touches on nature in her cantata Ode to the North-East Wind.
Another choral composer, Rosalind Ellicott (1857-1924) was versatile in writing songs, duets and trios, in addition to big works for orchestra. Her cantata Radiant Sister of the Dawn is about first light, while the world turns. These last two composers might not have been rumbustious in the Smyth manner, but they do illustrate a steady determination to get on with what they loved, achieving against the odds.
Reflecting both our fixation with the weather and our island situation, Grace Williams (1906-77) wrote Sea Sketches in 1944, drawing on her life on the Glamorganshire coast. She also explored her Welsh heritage to singular effect in the Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes. Her use of traditional melodies has another echo in our psyche – children’s literature and rhymes are a fertile vein in our heritage.
More children’s songs can be heard in Dora Bright’s (1862-1951) The Orchard Rhymes and Six Songs from the Jungle Book. In addition, she composed richly expressive symphonic and ballet music, including the boldly scored Concertstück for six drums and orchestra. The Dancers (1951) is an admirable collection of mostly British poems with dancing as its central theme.
Can we count Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979) as English or American? Was she a violist or composer? She was a pupil of Lionel Tertis and as an exceptional player, she played with people such as Casals and Heifetz. Stranded in the States at the outbreak of WWII, she stayed and lived half her life there. So it’s not either/or: she absorbed many 20th century trends, won various Prizes and became well-respected both as a composer and a violist. The richly dark Viola Sonata (1919) was runner-up in the Sprague-Coolidge composition competition and is now a staple in the viola repertoire. Passacaglia on an Old English Tune (attributed to Tallis) reflects her English origins but was actually written while she was in America.
D. H. Lawrence’s poem The English are so Nice finishes with the line ‘they're not quite as nice as they might be’. The poem seems to raise the question of how nice we really are, and whether we can be challenging without offending people. Likely in this vein, Dorothy Gow (1893-1982) was criticized for her experiments with serial techniques. However, her colleague Alan Rawsthorne described her Three Songs for Tenor and String Quartet as ‘… beautiful; they seem entirely free from that wooliness which characterises most English modern music’. She suffered from that particularly English version of modesty - being self-deprecating.
The life of Imogen Holst (1907-84) suggests a similar trait. She devoted much of her time to supporting the work of Benjamin Britten and was Artistic Director of the Aldeburgh Festival from 1956 to 1964. In addition to conducting, teaching and preserving the legacy of her father Gustav, Holst organised the English Folk Dance and Song Society and did a bit of composing. Her compositions included vocal and chamber music; her choral music has been described as ‘a pioneering voice’. Nature, or rather the cosmos, turns up again in her cantata The Sun’s Journey.
A great many English artists fully express their emotions in ways which defy the ‘stiff-upper-lip’ cliché. Performers would include Jacqueline du Pré and there were several intensely committed composers too. Elizabeth Maconchy (1907-94) studied with Vaughan Williams and then in Prague - she was attracted by Bartók and Janáček’s central European modernism. Her studies led to a style of impressively direct expression, sometimes criticized because it was considered unladylike! The music is powerful and deeply lyrical and the ‘impassioned argument’ of her 13 String Quartets put her on a level with the great quartet composers. Her overture Proud Thames evokes the national waterway from its trickling source to London’s great river and her operatic works include The Birds and The Jesse Tree.
Elizabeth Lutyens (1906-83) was an uncompromising composer, who was credited with bringing a personal version of Schoenberg’s serialism to Britain. Described as having a combative and idiosyncratic character, she was the daughter of Sir Edwin Lutyens, who was known for designing and building New Delhi. With this thoroughly upper class background, she exemplifies the élite within our class-aware society. She had a broad education that is reflected in titles that include English, French and Japanese topics, and she chose an Egyptian subject for her opera Isis and Osiris. While her music was demandingly radical, she viewed her life with a wry sense of humour and described it as “innumerable compositions, two husbands, three lovers, one abortion, and nobody knew.”
Doughty old ladies are a striking strand in English life – Judi Dench and Vanessa Redgrave illustrate resilience and blossoming in maturity. Minna Keal (1909-99) received a standing ovation for her Symphony performed at the Albert Hall when she was aged 80. Such ‘late’ success meant that in continuing to compose, she was treating her state pension as the equivalent of a student grant!
Sadly less long-lived was Madeleine Dring (1923-1977), who used her natural flair as an entertainer to amuse, divert and enchant people through her music. As a result of her enthusiasm for taking the mickey out of life, a colleague described her as “a wicked delight”. Married to the principal oboist in the LSO, she naturally wrote several works featuring the oboe, such as her exuberant Trio for Flute, Oboe and Piano. Her theatrical talents led to writing a variety of dramatic works and amusing songs, and her wittiness might be compared with the comedienne Joyce Grenfell. Another example of her humour can be seen in the musical revue Airs on a Shoestring.
Later in the 1900s, there was a rich crop of younger composers, who expressed themselves in a wide range of styles. Thanks to Judith Weir’s (b1954) Scottish family, she has taken an interest in traditional Scottish culture and music. Her operas have been particularly successful; The Vanishing Bridegroom (1990) weaves together Scottish folk tales, and she often draws on medieval sources, such as Border Ballads in Scotch Minstrelsy (1982). The big news of 2014 is that she’s been appointed as the next Master of the Queen’s Music. After some debate over the name, the unfortunate connotations of being called Mistress has caused that to be dropped.
Composer and violist Sally Beamish (b1954) wrote The Knotgrass Elegy in 2001 (as a commission for the BBC Proms). The composition combines ecological concerns with further Scottish interests, while Songs and Blessings was inspired by the songs and blessings of the Outer Hebrides. With her compositions, she illustrates a warm Scottish patriotism, alongside the intelligent industry of doing an honest day’s work.
Other extra-musical influences regularly engage the imagination of Cecilia McDowall (b1951); Anne Boleyn’s death stimulated her to write Le Temps Viendra. We meet the forces of nature again, in her choral work Shipping Forecast and the sextet Arctic Circle. The cantata Seventy Degrees Below Zero was commissioned for the Scott centenary in 2012, and the 100th anniversary of WW1 was the inspiration for her opera Airborne.
The term Renaissance (wo)man might be suggested by the wide span of Jocelyn Pook’s (b1960) activity, ranging from a Prom commission for the Kings Singers to film music, such as for Stanley Kubrik’s Eyes Wide Shut, to her 2014 ballet Dust for the English National Ballet. Her music’s atmospheric expression has attracted both audience appreciation and numerous awards.
Many of these people seem typically English to me. They are frequently resolute and stoical, as seen in the intrepid travellers Freya Stark and Isabella Bird. Another cliché about the English includes the phrase about a party of old maids, and I haven’t had a nice cup of tea. With our notoriously unpredictable climate we continually discuss the weather, which has appeared briefly. So I shall resort to another phrase: this assorted collection of composers has done it with bells on.
Our relationship with the nearest European country is sometimes described as entente cordiale; France is a mere 20 miles across the water, but naturally, it has its own psychology and unique set of attributes. From chic women to the Gallic shrug, the French manage to combine elegance with devil-may-care attitudes. A while ago I put together some ideas for starting a CD label of music by women; half the ideas were French. This strength and independence looked like a somewhat anarchic strand in their culture. There’s the famous French Non! Not far off that was Debussy’s reply to “What rule do you follow?” - “My own pleasure” - this points to their emphasis on pleasing the senses, as well as the intellect.
France is admired for its varied creative ideas: Camus and Cocteau, Molière and Monet; the Arc de Triomphe, expositions at the Louvre, and strong women from Jeanne d'Arc to Jeanne Moreau. It is said that the French care more about being cultured than being artistic. They view Napoleon as a worldwide cultural icon while others might describe him as a brutish philistine. French art is famous for clarity, moderation and balance. Chacun á son goût expresses their sense of individualism and bon vivants, the pleasure they take in life.
Independence of mind is a recurring theme among the French and Élizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre (1665-1729) achieved a notable string of firsts. As a prodigy aged 5, she played the harpsichord for King Louis XIV; her Pièces de clavecin (1687) were one of the few collections of harpsichord pieces published in 17th century France. The pieces show a simple lightness in the suites of dance movements that is typical of the French Baroque. In addition Céphale et Procris (1694) was one of the first operas written by a woman in France. This allegorical tragedy has the original idea of a quiet conclusion, reflecting the grief around the heroine’s death.
The multi-talented Julie Candeille (1767-1834) was a composer, librettist, writer, singer, actress, comedienne and instrumentalist. Her greatest production was a series of 154 performances of her comedy Catherine ou la belle fermière, at the Paris Théâtre de la Républic (1792). An acclaimed success, this was said to be the longest running opera by any standards. In addition to her flair for performance, could the opera have been a great diversion from the surrounding political and social turmoil?
Louise Farrenc (1804-75) was another successful multi-tasker: she performed, composed, taught, campaigned for equal pay and conducted research well before the ‘modern’ idea that women could juggle several careers simultaneously, and was a mother. Indeed, her life was something of a tour de force. Her version of self-determination included being an excellent pianist with a love of playing with others, which resulted in her composing many fine chamber works. She avoided the then fashionable world of opera, and partly with the clever move of marrying a publisher, got much of her music into the public domain; hence it is still played now. Led by the young virtuoso Joseph Joachim, her Nonet catapulted her to fame in Paris in 1849. A century before our 20th century historical revivals, she and her husband produced Le Trésor de Pianistes, a 23 volume anthology of keyboard music from the previous 300 years.
A woman who did write opera was Louise Bertin (1805-77). The only opera libretto Victor Hugo wrote was for her: it was based on his Hunchback of Notre Dame, and featured the beautiful gypsy dancer - La Esmeralda. Some people thought the opera was written by Berlioz. However, he only helped Bertin with its production at the Paris Opera.
The Paris salon may have started in art patronage. Now we think of that kind of gathering as part of the capital’s musical scene, where people met for artistic appreciation, education and enjoyment. Pauline Viardot (1821-1910) wrote many songs, which might have been part of that world; however she transcended this sphere through her supreme artistry as a singer, the summit of which was 150 performances of Orfeo et Euridice in 1862. She wrote four operettas, with libretti by Turgenev (who was virtually in a ménage a trois with the Viardots) collected French folksongs, and inspired George Sand to immortalise her as the heroine in the novel Consuelo.
The first female composer to be awarded the Chevalière de la Legion d’Honneure was Cecile Chaminade (1857-1944). Now her most popular piece is the Flute Concertino; it was composed for the Paris Conservatoire Concour of 1902. She was a prolific composer of orchestral works, songs, chamber and piano works, written in a tuneful and highly accessible style, that was part of the late-Romantic French manner.
The pictorial element has long been a feature of French music, and similarly, painters and poets inspired musical Impressionism. Mélanie Bonis (1858-1937) used some of their descriptive ideas in Scènes de la forêt, musically painting nature through atmospheres of the night and dawn. Her wide span of works encompasses music for children, piano pieces, and orchestral music, including Trois Femmes de Légende.
Not least for being the first woman to win the Prix de Rome, Lili Boulanger (1893-1918) has achieved more prominence than other French woman composer, despite her unfortunately short life. Her use of colourful harmony and instrumentation was notably French. The solemn and grand Du fond de l’abîme came from her Catholicism. Her Nocturne (1918) has a quiet, understated, haunting beauty. She also wrote imaginative songs, including skilful settings of poetic texts by Maeterlinck. An interest in things oriental was also fashionable at that time and she incorporates some exoticism in her Vielle prière bouddhique. At times she seems to anticipate Messiaen by about 25 years.
"Les Années Folles” were characteristically full of post-war effervescence and fun. Led by the singular figures of Jean Cocteau and Coco Chanel, artistic Paris in the 1920s had a special atmosphere, stressing personal freedom and feminine emancipation. The song ‘Non, je ne regrette rien’, sung by ‘the little sparrow’ Edith Piaf (1915-63), is typical of the freethinking French way. Rather more belle époque, the Cancan was another expression of the bubbly impertinence of that time, made famous by Toulouse-Lautrec’s painting of Jane Avril. Piaf’s speciality with chansons and ballads was part of the growing interest in folk and popular music, which also affected the rise of cabaret style.
Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983) wrote many of her most important works in Paris in the twenties, not surprisingly in the then popular neo-classical style, with an easy-going joie de vivre. A member of Les Six, she was associated with the creative crowd around Montmartre, was a friend of Chanel, and described by Cocteau as ‘the Marie Laurencin for the ear’. She was frequently commissioned by the Princess de Polignac, perhaps thanks to the unassuming accessibility of her music. In it we recognise the popular French ideas of finesse and façade.
Dating from 1789, the French national motto is about the rights of man and the citizen: ‘liberté, eqalité, fraternité’ (I might substitute sororité). As the founder of modern women’s movement Simone de Beauvoir (1908-86) was connected to this; indeed, the adjective feminine is derived from the old French word feminine.
Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979) wasn’t particularly concerned with feminism, but could be described as an idealist. She looked after her fragile sister Lili, and continued to suppress her own composing in order to advise others. Her list of pupils reads like a Who’s Who in 20th century music. Virgil Thompson once said that every town in the United States has a post office and a Boulanger pupil, and Ned Rorem described her as the most influential teacher since Socrates. In this context, her method seems singularly French: "You need an established language and then, within that established language, the liberty to be yourself. It's always necessary to be yourself - that is a mark of genius in itself."
She was known as Mademoiselle, perhaps, respecting her clear intelligence. Her very high standards for her own compositions meant endless revisions and a reluctance to allow performance. Also, there’s something rather Gallic in her witty response to a question on how it felt being a woman conductor: “I've been a woman for a little more than fifty years, and I've got over my original astonishment”.
Ease, elegance and vivacity are the French qualities displayed by Claude Arrieu (1903-90). The cantata À la Libération is part of a notable body of vocal work, which includes settings of writings by Jean Cocteau, Stéphane Mallarmé and Voltaire. Her wide range of works, including music for theatre, film, radio and music hall, always balanced emotion and technique. The popular French clichés that come to mind are savoir faire and eau de vie.
With its interest in intellectual concerns, it not surprising that France has engaged with serialism, led by Pierre Boulez. But being à la mode was not for Betsy Jolas (b1926); she eschewed the abstraction around her, to follow her interest in beauty, lyricism and poetry. Her use of counterpoint shows a form of intellectual rigour. Combined with experimenting with different timbres, her music illustrates French precision and interest in the senses. With a wide frame of reference, she has a predilection for vocal writing, and is especially concerned with relationships between words and music. Lassus ricercare shows her indebtedness to Orlando Lassus (c1530-1594); while Le pavillon au bord de la rivière sounds like an Impressionist painting, but is actually written on a 13th century Chinese text.
In what is generally called chauvinism, the French say say Vive la France and Vive la difference. I wonder if they are any more convinced of their own superiority than other nations? Personally I think not.
Current consciousness regarding Germany is wide ranging, from the 16th century reformer Martin Luther, to the crimes of the Nazi period via several giants of musical history: Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. Artistically, their creativity is renowned and popular, including some immense romantic musical talent.
Of course there were strong women too, starting with the Abbess Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179). A visionary, author and composer, she had a substantial and significant life. Her music was deeply inspired by the Virgin Mary and the saints. Her wide range of activity suggests that the Germans have always been a hard-working people. It’s an anomaly in the world of music by women that the Hyperion Records CD of her music A Feather on the Breath of God was so successful that the company has subsidised other CDs from its sales income.
Continuing the religious theme, Elisabeth Sophie of Mecklenburg, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1613-76), wrote hymns and devotional arias; one printed in 1651, Vinetum evangelicum, Evangelischer Weinberg, is believed to have been the first music published by a woman in Germany. Schütz was her Kapellmeister at the Kassel court, and at times she worked with him.
Next we meet a collection of creative Royals. Thanks to the ideal of courtly education in Prussia, several women in the family of Frederick the Great were both important artistic supporters and composers. His older sister, Wilhelmine von Bayreuth (1709-58), made Bayreuth one of the chief intellectual centres of the Holy Roman Empire. She surrounded herself with a court of wits and artists. Among her works are a stylish harpsichord concerto and the opera Argenore, that was performed for her husband’s birthday in 1740.
Two more court musicians had the name Anna Amalia: firstly Frederick’s youngest sister (1723-87) was a musical patron as well as composer. A combination of her love of the music of J.S.Bach, and a German sense of thoroughness in organisation led her to collect a music library of some 600 volumes, now housed in the Staatsbibliotek zu Berlin.
The second Anna Amalia (1739-1807) was Frederick’s niece and she became duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach by marriage. Her Symphony of 1765 was among the first in that form. As a champion of the arts, she attracted various eminent literary men to the Weimar court, including Schiller and Goethe. Her Singspiele Erwin und Elmire is based on a text by Goethe.
Another cultured aristocrat-musician was Maria Antonia Walpurgis, Electress of Saxony (1724-80), who studied with Hasse and Porpora. She took leading roles in her own operas; Charles Burney heard her sing a scene from Talestri, Queen of the Amazons and was exceptionally impressed.
Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (1797-1848) wrote fragments of lieder and left four operas incomplete. Her poetry combined imaginative vision with close observation; she is acknowledged as one of Germany’s chief poets of the 19th century. However, when Clara Schumann requested a libretto for her husband Robert, it was not supplied. A more successful musical contribution was collecting old volksliede, illustrating her pride in her heritage.
Although she was a child prodigy pianist and a surprisingly prolific composer, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-47) was unfortunately limited in her opportunities, because her family believed that women of her class should not be professional musicians. Nevertheless, the music she wrote for the Sonntagskonzertes at their Berlin home shows her as passionate, imaginative and bold; indeed, I find her music more intense than that of Felix. An account of her Italian tour 1839-40, her cycle of 12 piano pieces Das Jahr was like a musical diary and one of the first descriptive cycles in music. Her Piano Trio in D minor cascades with notes and emotion and is brilliantly effective. Mendelssohn-Hensel illustrates the strong work ethic. Although she was denied public opportunities, her music combines what we now think of as Germanic Romanticism with well-ordered form.
Thanks to the enthusiasm of her brother Felix Mendelssohn, the songs of Josephine Lang (1815-80) spread quickly. Lang’s lieder are a particularly characteristic genre and, like Fanny, she often used them as a diary. Clara Schumann helped arrange their publication, resulting in Lang being one of the most published composers of the period.
Emilie Mayer (1812-83) was more successful in the public world, and indeed is sometimes referred to as the female Beethoven. She composed eight symphonies, 15 overtures, numerous chamber works and lieder, to both critical and popular acclaim. This prolific output came from being ambitious as well as very industrious.
The name most known of these composers is Clara Wieck-Schumann (1819-96), because of her magnificent performing career. She was another juggler of many jobs, from muse to, and ambassador for, her husband and Brahms, to teacher, mother, and finally, composer. All her activities implied great direction and strength. Despite not seeing herself as a composer, in her diary she wrote about the pleasure it gave her: “there is nothing better than creating something oneself”. Her music communicates an eloquent, noble melancholy; this is not unusual in German music, but her voice has qualities quite personal to her.
Possibly the first German woman for whom writing music was her entire existence was Luise Adolpha Le Beau (1850-1927), who wrote a broad collection of chamber, orchestral and vocal music. Despite wrestling with the regular prejudices about women’s lack of talent, she gained considerable acknowledgement for her mastery of form and her impressive endeavours in large-scale pieces. Her themes were well characterised, she showed power, energy and spirit, and she was sometimes referred to as ‘männlich’. (I think that’s a German compliment!)
Another composer showing ambition was Johanna Senfter (1879-1961), with works numbering up to opus 134. This list includes a good deal of chamber music, nine symphonies, two symphonic poems, and many choral works and lieder. The discipline in this is underlined by her being a masterful composer of fugue.
As a pianist, Barbara Heller’s (b1936) music has a strong emphasis on piano and chamber music, but her oeuvre is highly diverse. She has also worked with visual artists on sound-installations and has experimented with tape and environmental noises. By contrast with Clara Schumann’s lack of self-confidence, she expresses an impressive certainty about developing her own ways of working.
The politics of the current leader, Angela Merkel, come in part from a somewhat austere Protestantism, while being charitable and fair. Many of these composers also demonstrate comparable Germanic traits – they were skilful producers, thorough and well-ordered, with a strong work ethic. They are an interesting mixture of strong-willed and creative.
Moving further East to Russia, and starting with an overview of their memorable representations, these range from Catherine the Great (expanding the Russian Empire and patron of the arts, whose personal collection was the beginning of the Hermitage), via Imperial Russia, Tolstoy, icon paintings, Russian dolls, the great romantic ballerina Anna Pavlova (with a dessert created in her memory), and come on through the Soviet Russia to Putin, with his bold expression of power.
While I can’t report on the relationship of these Russians with alcohol, here is a brief account of early Russian composers. One of Catherine’s contemporaries was Mariya Zubova (1749-99), who celebrated national culture through her folk songs. Yuliya Veysberg (1880-1942) wrote for voices, and orchestra, and was married to the son of Rimsky-Korsakov. The opera Spartak was written by Irina Elcheva (b1926) and was about oppressed people fighting for their freedom. Perhaps tough subjects are not surprising: Russia suffers harsh winters, life is cruel, and the government is not on the people’s side.
Familiar features in Russian music would include colourful Slavonic folk songs, the balalaika, resonant singing voices and a tendency to deep melancholy. Married to Aram Khachaturian, Nina Makharova (1908-76) had a great interest in Russian folk songs. Adrianovna Gaigerova (1903-44) took particular note of the musical heritage of minority peoples of the Soviet Union. Though born in Russia, Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté (1899-74) studied in Paris and Berlin and lived in Vienna and, later, Winnipeg. Her fiery spirit and head-strong qualities led her to compose over 175 works. Zara Levina (1906-76) wrote a lot of vocal music, notably Poem of Lenin (1930). The music of Elena Firsova (b1950) is described as having the qualities of lyric verse and much of her music is connected to the poetry of Osip Mandelstam. Frangiz Ali-Zadeh (b1947) combines avant-garde composition techniques with the traditional music of Azerbaijan. Estonian Lydia Auster (1912-93) wrote Four Russian Folk Songs for Symphony Orchestra in 1940 and other national-minded pieces.
Western views on life under the rigours of communism have occasionally considered these aspects of tyranny and lack of reason as grounds for a sense of fatalism and futility, or for turning to religion. The profoundly spiritual Sofia Gubaidulina (b1931) used music as an escape from the socio-political atmosphere in Soviet Russia; this means she searched to transcend the challenges of her society through mysticism and devotion. Gubaidulina uses novel instrumental combinations that include traditional Russian folk instruments to colour her music. Her violin concerto, Offertorium, was championed by Gidon Kremer and it brought her fame in the West in the 1980s, where she has received many awards. It does what it says on the tin: the work is an offering, a sacrifice, and is centred round the theme in J S Bach’s Musical Offering, using a Webern technique of sharing the theme among different instruments. The Canticle of the Sun is a cello concerto/vocal hybrid, dedicated to Rostropovich. Every element of her compositions has symbolic meaning. Despite support from Shostakovich, she was blacklisted in 1979, and moved to Germany.
“My works are not religious in a liturgical sense, but they are infused with a religious spirit” said Galina Ustvolskaya (1919-2006). Shostakovich taught her, admired her music, and incorporated some of her ideas into his works. All her symphonies have parts for solo voices, the latter four having religious texts. Her music is not avant-garde in the accepted sense, and she has been accused of obstinacy and narrowness; however, extreme dynamics, unusual groups of instruments and tone clusters give her music a highly individual expression. She could be stubbornly determined and her hair-shirt integrity strained her relationship with Soviet life. Musically she drew on a wider variety of sources of inspiration. What seems Russian is her use of her art for spiritual purposes, even if it is without specifically religious associations.
With the same surname as the ballerina, Alla Pavlova (b1952) is known for her symphonic work; the first of eight symphonies, named Farewell Russia, signifies her move away from her home country. Although particularly known for her large scale orchestral works, she has also set words by Anna Akhmatova that feature economy and emotional restraint. These symbolic communications seem to transmit local assumptions. The Mighty Five may have embraced the Russian national identity, but I think these women have taken on the stirring melodies and harmonies in their own way. They illustrate a mixed bag of revolutionaries, people aware of collectivism, and generous in ideas.
At the end of my discussion of French composers, I alluded to countries who like to think that they are ‘top nation’. Of all nations, it could be said that America gives off that vibe the most. In thinking about shared cultural values, I’ve been assuming a common language; however the United States is populated by a collection of exiles, from all over the world. Even so, somehow the concepts of ethnic and cultural identity have married together to produce a country which believes in individual freedom, notable productivity and a ‘can do’ society. The country is a mishmash of liberty, opportunity, wealth and glamour. As you would expect in a society based on freedom, there is a wide variety of idea and expression. Theodore Roosevelt put it this way: “Americanism is a question of principal, of purpose, of idealism, of character.”
The Cohen Encyclopaedia lists one American 18th century composer: Marthesie Demilliere. Given America’s relatively short cultural history, even one composer is striking. The 19th century list is a lot longer and while the names are still not familiar, their ethnic variety indicates the range of countries of origin. The Pandora Guide’s first mentioned American is Augusta Brown (1821-82), who resisted the popular music-hall style and focused on keyboard music, songs and choral works. The Indignant Spinster is the most striking title by Faustina Hasse Hodges (1822-95), and among her most famous commercial successes was the song Dreams – American, or what! Without belittling their achievements, the industrious use of scraps in the mid-19th century music written by women (songs, dances and variations) has parallels with quilt-making.
In the realm of performers, Maud Powell (1867-1920) made an exceptional contribution to bringing music to the world. Her artistic skill and passion has recently been recognised by the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award 2014. By embracing new recording technology, the one hundred cylinders she recorded for the Victor Red Seal label brought music to millions of people. This was music including works by women and by African-Americans. She was a true pioneer.
There are several parallels between Edith Wharton’s life and novels and the works of Amy Beach (1867-1944). At the time, there was a heated debate about whether women could be composers and achieve greatness. Both Wharton and Beach were prize winners, married to older men, and extremely creative. Beach was a member of the Second ‘New England School’, and part of the development of an American classical idiom that was separate from its European ancestors. Following the successful première of her Gaelic Symphony, the composer George Chadwick described her as “one of the boys”. She was a remarkable child prodigy and brilliant pianist who seemed poised for an international career before her marriage. However, when she married Dr Beach (a man her Father’s age), she bowed to the Victorian custom of wives avoiding the public sphere, and allowed him to severely limit her performing.
Ironically, we benefit from him diverting her towards composing. She wrote in a late romantic manner - her music was gorgeously sensual. Beach became the first successful American woman composer of large scale art music; indeed, her considerable fame meant that there were several Beach Clubs across the United States.
Her works include a Mass, the Gaelic Symphony, a Piano Concerto, and a Piano Quintet, along with many very popular songs. A national distinction was that she drew on Native American melodies in her String Quartet and some of her piano pieces. She is reputed to have bought a summer house in Cape Cod from the royalties of her three songs on texts by Robert Browning, including Ecstasy. Also significant was her being the first internationally recognized U.S. composer (male or female) to succeed without the benefit of European training. Of the 88 composers whose names decorate the Hatch Memorial Shell in Boston, she is the only woman to be included.
Women began to show an increased confidence about entering the field of composition, pursuing composing alone, rather than as an adjunct to performing. This led to the formation of the Society of American Women Composers. My soft spot for American women comes from a concert series I did, some years ago: Old Masters, New Mistresses. The next mistress had several facets, like many Americans: composer, teacher, writer and critic. Marion Bauer (1882-1955) combined her late romanticism with some impressionism. We recorded a collection of her work for Naxos American Classics, including A Lament on an African Theme (1927) and her American Youth Concerto (1943), using popular American idioms.
By contrast, neoclassical Louise Talma (1906-96) is all about focused clarity and precision. She was among Nadia Boulanger’s many American pupils and worked at the MacDowell Colony. She certainly transcended the ‘jobs for the boys’ attitudes and won many awards, including two Guggenheim fellowships. Her opera The Alcestiad (on a Thornton Wilder libretto) received a 20 minute standing ovation when premièred in Frankfurt in 1963. She continued to write energetically into her eighties. Full Circle for orchestra, has, of course, a circular structure. Seven Episodes for flute, viola and piano grows from a doleful theme to a playful and witty end. Talma’s philosophical qualities seem well suited to the zen-like words by Wallace Stevens’ Variations on 13 ways of Looking at a Blackbird.
Not quite the same period as Aretha Franklin, but also celebrating her racial roots, Florence Price (1887-1953) didn’t only survive the black/woman double whammy, but was the first black woman in the United States recognised as a symphonic composer. She is best known for her songs and spiritual arrangements. Marian Anderson made Price’s Songs to the Dark Virgin famous in 1941. She rarely quoted African-American folk music directly in her works, but used aspects of its rhythms and melodies, as in the Juba, the third movement of her Symphony No 3 in C minor. John Barbirolli commissioned her in 1932 to write a string suite based on spirituals, resulting in the Chicago Suite.
It’s the way of the world that Peggy and Pete Seeger became more famous than their mother/step-mother, even though they got their folk interests from their parents. Their Mother was a keen family person, and as the popular phrase goes, she didn’t quite do ‘everything but the kitchen sink’. Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901-53) composed some of the most innovative and experimental American music of the 1920s and ‘30s. However, she became better known later in her short life for arrangements and transcriptions of American folk songs. Here is Charles Seeger’s (her husband) description “Ruth was very much a woman, not an imitation man, and an ardent feminist.” The poet Carl Sandburg was a friend, and this led to radical settings such as Rat Riddles. In the art world, Georgia O’Keeffe has been called the Mother of American Modernism; in like manner, Crawford Seeger’s influence was such that a conference called Modernity, Tradition and the Making of American Music was organised in 2001, the 100th anniversary of her birth. She can be seen as part of the forward-thinking American way.
Not surprisingly there are a number of Jewish composers among the Americans. Miriam Gideon (1906-96) was the first woman to be commissioned to compose a Jewish service. In both Sacred Service and Shirat Miriam, she used elements of traditional Jewish musical material together with her own personal voice. But she did more than refer to her Jewish heritage: Voices from Elysium used ancient Greek poetry, while The Resounding Lyre was based on German texts.
Also strongly cross-cultural, Tania León (b1943) was born in Havana, Cuba and moved to New York in 1967, taking up the trombone and bassoon; she made a living as an accountant and the Dance Theatre of Harlem started her off on her conducting career. She has incorporated some of the varied sounds and rhythms of her country’s music into her own highly personal musical language, such as in her Concerto Criolio (1980, piano & orchestra). She celebrates the African god Chango with lively rhythms and jazzy harmonies in her Kabiosile (1988), which she described as ‘a salute to my ancestors’. Although frequently patriotic, Americans often have another layer of pride in their origins too; this expression of plural roots has been part of the development of their music.
As a committed pianist and chamber musician, Joan Tower (b1938) was a member of the Da Capo Players until 1984 and wrote with the performer in mind. Her compositions are bold, energetic and daring. Inspired by Copland, she wrote Fanfare for the Common Woman in 1986, to ‘adventurous women who take risks’. Recalling her South American childhood, Island Prelude (1989) conjures up a brightly coloured bird, swooping over the lush tropics; while her biggest orchestral work Concerto for Orchestra (1991) balances quiet, still moments with powerful climaxes.
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (b1939) settled the score by becoming the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in composition and it thrust her into the limelight. She built the entire Symphony No 1 (1982) from her ‘obsession’ with the interval of a minor third; among the rich orchestral colours is a tuba solo in the slow movement. ‘Her music pleases the ear and yet has spine’ said the New York Times. Symbolom (1988) was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for their tour of the Soviet Union and is considered by some people to be her best work. The title refers to an ancient Greek practice whereby two people broke a piece of poetry in half and each kept one half as a symbol of friendship. Basically tonal, her music has great structural clarity and lively rhythms; she embodies American hard work, and an interest in equality tempered with a sense of individualism.
Here’s another free spirit, dedicated to furthering the cause of women in music: Judith Lang Zaimont (b1945). Her compositions are often recognisable structures, in a broadly tonal language, drawing on wide sources of inspiration. Her vocal-chamber work From the Great Land: Women’s Songs (1982) is based on Eskimo songs. She writes that rhythm gives music cohesion. Sudden meter changes, dance rhythms and complex rhythms feature prominently. Jazz and Gershwin have made world-wide impact; their influences can be heard in her early works and her love of French music means she incorporates romanticism and impressionism. Like many Americans, she is also a keen educator. She said, “I like to mess around with the notes”, relating back to the idea of freedom to do anything.
The words frequently used to describe the music of Libby Larson (b1950) have a distinctly American flavour: energy and optimism, expressed through rhythmic diversity with colourful orchestration. It’s no mean feat to do all this, with liberated tonality and pervading lyricism without harsh dissonance. Her exuberantly tuneful and excitingly rhythmic music draws on decidedly American roots: jazz and popular song. She wrote Three Cowboy Songs in 1978, and The Settling Years (1987) comes from being attracted to the history of the pioneers. But it’s not all singing, all dancing. Perhaps her most successful work is her seventh opera Frankenstein, the Modern Prometheus (1990).
Another winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music is Jennifer Higdon (b1962), who received the award for her Violin Concerto, which premièred in 2009 in Indianapolis. The Pulitzer citation called it "a deeply engaging piece that combines flowing lyricism with dazzling virtuosity.” Her music is vivid, lithe, attractive and neoromantic, using dense textures, extreme dynamics, and freedom of form. Flamboyant panache fits our cliché expectations of expressions of American life.
Influences from Berio to jazz inform the music of Augusta Read Thomas (b1964). Including orchestral, choral and chamber music, her wide range of compositions show colourful harmonies and improvisatory rhythms. Her stated aim is “to compose a work in which every musical parameter is allied in one holistic gestalt”. Her success is illustrated by the number and standing of the orchestras and conductors who have performed her music. In addition, she is not ‘off the record’, as the number of her CD recordings show.
A Lithuanian-Jewish father and a Chinese-Peruvian mother give Gabriela Lena Frank (b1972) a rich multi-cultural background. Exploring her unique balance of latina and gringa leads her to evoke Peruvian pan-pipes, even in works for western classical ensembles. Her titles range from Latin-American Dances to tone poems for soloist and orchestra. In addition she is a virtuoso pianist.
Now beginning to look to the East, the eclectic American Jodi Diamond (b1953) specialises in new music for Indonesian gamelan. With a foot in both camps, Chen Yi (b1953) seems to transcend cultural boundaries: she was born in China, lived as a teenager through the Cultural Revolution, and then moved to the USA. Chen Yi blends Chinese and Western traditions; she has made many contributions to the choral and the chamber music repertoire, including works written for traditional Chinese instruments.
Among the stereotyped attitudes to Asia are that the people are inscrutable, and with an emphasis on the family, their social organisation is patriarchal. Many Asians are Buddhist in religion and Confucian in deference to authority. At this point I feel less-than-equipped to interpret their music. I offer a few crude thoughts here, starting with the Chinese.
Along with the importance of respect for tradition, Chinese music seems connected to many other aspects of their culture. Their music and their philosophy show close links; musical theory and form are frequently symbolic in nature and have been stable through the ages. The Chinese have applied Western concepts of harmony particularly to their vocal genres, such as cantatas and music drama. This is exemplified by the choral work River of Fortune, composed by Wang Qiang in 1959. Many new works have been produced by the Beijing Opera since 1949, often on political topics. Set in the height of the Cultural Revolution, Liu Sola’s Fantasy of the Red Queen (2006) is about the imaginary world of Mao Zedong’s fourth wife Jiang Qing. However, Wu Fei incorporates elements from Western studies with traditional Chinese themes in her guzheng solos on the CD A Distant Youth (2007).
The fact of the Chinese language having tonality result in similarities with their music – each sound has its own life and meaning, depending on the context. The use of lyrical and philosophical titles in music also makes a connection to Chinese poetry. Other relatives include Chinese painting and calligraphy that share with music a corresponding energy, feeling and breath. From the mainland Chinese avant garde, Jing Jing Luo escaped from labour camp in the Gobi desert, went on to study at Shanghai Conservatoire, and won many prizes. Her Cercle de la Lune was written for her art and calligraphy exhibition in 2013. Again, environmental conditions appear to affect local creativity. The hardships of the cold and windy North produce tense and agitated folk songs, while in the milder, rainy South, they are more gentle and lyrical.
If Chinese music sometimes seems more formalized and restrained, then the people of the Philippines join in together more easily. Perhaps Alicia Doria-Gamilla (b1931) illustrates this resonant communality with her song A Million Thanks To You; it was the first Philippine recording to sell a million copies, and was recorded in seven different languages.
As with many Asian countries, Korean music balances traditional and Western influences. Hyo-shin Na’s Rain Study for (kayageum, cello and double bass) develops with organic pacing. Koreans are said to be energetic and diligent. Evidently in this tradition, Unsuk Chin (b1961) is among Korea’s most successful musical creators; she has been composer-in-residence in Seoul, Korea and in Berlin, Germany. Reflecting her interest in story-telling, and bridging her Eastern and Western experience, her playful setting of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is preoccupied with Balinese gamelan and fascinated with virtuosity. “My music is a reflection of my dreams. I try to render into music the visions of immense light and of an incredible magnificence of colours that I see in all my dreams, a play of light and colours floating through the room and at the same time forming a fluid sound sculpture”.
This article has been an attempt at noticing and commenting on our interesting national differences. I do believe that shared cultural values make each country unique in its expression, and there is something about the way society organises itself which bring out these shared beliefs and symbols, and explain their world. I haven’t touched on the Latin lovers of Italy or the castanets and flamenco of Spain - more pleasures to be explored on another occasion. But all the nationalities I’ve covered are endearingly patriotic and naturally proud of the country they are part of. Indeed, perhaps we all think we’re ‘top nation’.
In my travels I have often noticed the West’s pervasive influence, which I sometimes call the ‘blandification’ of the world. However, partly through writing this, it now looks to me like the web of culture continues to distinguish individual nations; it is woven like a fabric, is shared, learned, symbolic, and transmitted across generations. Simple colour contrasts epitomise our different expressions: in the West, brides wear white for purity; while in China they wear red for happiness. Hooray for these variations; these distinctions of character are meaningful.
Oscar Wilde said ‘everything in moderation’. Hmm – I’m not sure. Since I’m so hungry to taste all these different cultures, perhaps I’m not as English as I thought. And, wishing to keep in touch with some of this variety, I often listen to the BBC World Service radio. Of course it’s mostly ‘political’ news, but it means I get a sense of the different ways of the world, which I love. I think there’s a kernel of truth in the notion of loud Americans, efficient Germans, impertinent French, juiced Russians, and the whole place should be run by the Swiss.
And the gender agenda: is the “fairer sex” fairer? As I see it, the fairer sex is neither gentle, nor free from prejudice; but then I am biased – I believe that music by women composers can hold its own in general company. The dictionary definition of fair is ‘legitimate, honest and straight’. What more can we want? The answer, I believe is not to be measured for delicacy, grace and refinement, but to be acknowledged for powerful, well-crafted and complex creations
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BIOGRAPHY
DIANA AMBACHE is a pianist, orchestra director, researcher, musicologist, broadcaster and teacher. For 24 years, she ran the Ambache Chamber Orchestra, playing concerto solos, directing the group and programming their events. Together they gave over 40 premières, and made several original CD recordings of music by women, for the BBC, Chandos Records and Naxos.
She has given concerts and masterclasses in 34 different
countries on five continents. Her broadcasts on the BBC and Classic fm
have featured the work of music by women. She was short-listed for the
2002 European Women of Achievement Awards for her research into music
by women composers and her discoveries are displayed on
www.womenofnote.co.uk. Continuing her life’s work to raise the profile
of music by women composers, she set up the Ambache Charitable Trust in
2013, making grants to projects performing, creating, and furthering the
work of women. As a TEFL teacher she has taught English in London, India
and Peru.
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References:
The New Grove Dictionary of Women Composers: Sadie & Samuel
The Pandora Guide to Women Composers: Fuller
Women Composers in Germany: Sperber
International Encyclopedia of Women Composers: Aaron Cohen
http://www.kapralova.org/DATABASE.htm - women composers list
http://flashofsteel.com/index.php/2011/03/16/the-french-national-character/
http://www.russia-ic.com/culture_art/traditions/336/#.U90L5mNeKrA
http://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1702951.html - on American traits
http://steamcommunity.com/app/236390/discussions/0/810938810537597161/ - War Thunder
http://emsc32.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/grade3/whatisa.html - on what people think
labrys,
études féministes/ estudos feministas
juillet /décembre / 2014 -julho/dezembro 2014