The Rise of Soviet Censures
Soviet music in the 1920s would go through an amazing rollercoaster of changes. Black artists would find wonderful receptions marred later with state-sponsored criticisms of populist authors and officials. Jazz would transform from a beloved expression of dance and class revolution to a politicized corruption of western decadence and the bourgeois. Artists like Garvin Bushell and Paul Robeson would experience welcomed arms from the Soviet Union, and later be horrified by the reign of terror brought about by Stalin and the Communist Party. Come experience this wild ride of early post-revolutionary Soviet music history, and enjoy the listening example of Paul Robeson singing about another figure in the fight for the working class, Joe Hill.
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Fox-trot in the USSR
Early jazz influences in the Soviet Union secured the notions that music connects us deeply through expression, and those connections are never easily contrived through planned means. While composers struggled to find a genre and style that embraced the ideals of the new nation, jazz had already captured the attention and hearts of the populace. Come foxtrot with me as we shimmy our way through some stories of early Soviet music. Thanks for reading, and enjoy Alexander Tsfasman’s 1930’s “Joseph Joseph” music clip as a premonition for what’s to come if this important music style.
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Hard to Define: The Music of the Proletarian
Early Soviet music would endure one of the most challenging aspects of categorizing expressions. As literature and other artistic models proved easier to mold, music, under criticism proved harder and harder to pin down. As many musicologists would later observe, music was much closer tied to the emotional, therefore difficult to blend into a class doctrine. In the early stages of Soviet cultural reforms, musical expression enjoyed tremendous freedom, and a multitude of styles were experimented with as the party attempted to develop the music of the proletariat. Join me today as I explore some of this complicated history of the early 1900s in the Soviet Union, and enjoy this jazz rendition of the traditional gypsy song, Bublitchki, as performed by the Barry Sisters.
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Power Chord, the Song of Soviet Music
While America was building a musical identity with jazz in New Orleans, Chicago, and New York, Russia was stripping its old ways of thinking and championing a fight for the working class. The Soviet Union would emerge and start a long road to establishing a national identity. The music of this time period, it’s challenges, and players is an incredible tale of expression during duress, and some fascinating figures come forward in the narrative. Join me today as I explore post-revolutionary Soviet music and enjoy the video production of Dmitri Shostakovich’s 13th Symphony.
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Where Worlds Collide, So Do We All
This week’s postings have told a narrative about how cultural collisions build new and important musical modes of expression. Our journey from Modernism to the Electronic Age is just one of many examples of the interesting weave that follows the thread of sonic mixings. Today’s posting helps set the stage for one of my favorite topics: New Orleans. Read about interesting questions to ask ourselves concerning the big turning points in the evolutions of genre that we can look back on today as the growing story we experience in our current cultural trends. Enjoy the musical example from Soul Coughing, and thanks for reading!
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The Electronic Railroad: Station Dubstep
Modern electronic music has a wild path behind it. When we trace one of the genres, its easy to collide with a multitude of other contributors. It is not hard to see why the current youth culture has such a fascination with mixing, dubbing, sampling, and blending styles. Dubstep is my focus today, and its incredible history from the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Jamaican roots, immigration to the UK, and American sound manipulation can be found once we take a peek behind the curtain. Enjoy Sister Nancy’s Bam Bam in todays listening example, and thanks for reading!
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New Life, Familiar Songs
Robert Moog, Donald Bulcha, Boss Pedals, Roland Keyboards, and Depeche Mode all blended into today’s tale about the innovations in electronic music. Built out of pathways from early 1900s modernism, futuristic sounds from the scientific acheivements of the post WWII era developed modules and mixers capable of creating noises never before heard, and soon to be explored. Read about how all these elements come together and shape the forward ideas of EDM, Dubstep, and Dance music and incorperate into the sound effects on studios of every type of genre. The music clip today is Depeche Mode’s “New Life”, and their 1981 album “Speak and Spell”.
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Rage Towards the Machines
Luigi Rossolo created facinating music of Futurism, a branch of genre germinating out of Radical Modernism in the early 1900s. His path is part of a winding road to many innovations in the Avante-Garde, and one of those travels lead me to learning more about electronic music. A concert in San Francisco in 2013 reveals what Russolo’s “Intonarumori” sounded like, and his presentation of Gran Concerto Futuristico in Paris, 1913, caused riots upon its arrival. Enjoy today’s musical excerpt from this performance.
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Eat, Cook, Sing
From the dinner table of 16th century England, to the noble courts of 18th century Germany, to the humble shops of 21st century Ojai, CA, music holds powerful connections to our creativity, social engagement, and inspiration. That favorite restaurant may not be your favorite place to eat just because of the food, and the food you’re eating may not be just a result of the recipe. If you listen closely, you might just hear a singing in the mix. Enjoy this article about Shakespeare, Mannheim, and Michelle Garrard from http://michellenicolegerrard.com/ and Aubrey Thompson’s favorite Alabama Shakes song to mix pesto to.
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Principles of Inclusion: Disabled Artists
Music is an expressive tool vital to the hearts and minds of all persons, of all ability. Building paths that create accessibility, inclusion, and compassion is an important part opening channels of expression that connect a broader range of people. What affects the individual links to us globally, and those who seek to open doors, help us all. Read today’s post about a few pioneers in the field of Disability Studies., and enjoy my good friend Josh Bergmann playing some bluegrass by Charlie Poole.
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Sing It.
Words matter, and lyrics can connect us to knowledge that is otherwise locked away through the individual interpretation of the written idea.
One of music’s primary beneficial properties to early churches in medieval Europe was its ability to help the peasantry remember scripture. In early America, it was more common to hear information through popular folk songs then from a pamphlet, especially considering literacy rates among common citizens. The poetry of song lyrics hold and interesting deviation from their literary origins, and ideas that can be complicated to get across with a carefully crafted Facebook post may sometimes connect more effectively through a song.
Nina said it best in her singing of the popular message of the American people then, and now. Enjoy her rendition of “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to be Free” in today’s blog.
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Listening to the Connections
While it is sometimes hard to hear how connected we are through cultural, religious, or political debates, when we do a little bit of digging into our musical pasts, its amazing to find out how much of this journey through human history we share. Mohamed Abdel Wahab is commonly attributed as the Arabic composer whose contributions incorporated many Western stylings, and his innovative compositions helped Egyptian and Arabic music’s emergence into world prominence. Enjoy “Inta Omri”, performed by the amazing voice and orchestra of Umm Kulthum, as it was presented in Paris, 1967. Of the many merging’s of styles, it is notable for its use of the electric guitar in the opening phrases.
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Mix Tapes are so B.C.
It is interesting to see how modern Western tonality centers around Aeolian and Ionian modal features, while Eastern popular music seems to adhere with Dorian and Phrygian influences. While by no means is this concrete, the tetrachords that make these modes have a common ancestor. While language distinctions are also a part of this story, breaking into the tonal references allows us to see a common feature where words may fail us. As globalization continues to evolve through the internet age, we see more and more, our music blends and bears new songs of partnering harmonies. The song today is from a mix tape I found in my own collection, and it is an interesting mix of Eastern and Western styles. I couldn’t for the life of me remember the band name, and for the first time in a while, the internet was no help. Leave a comment if you can name the group.
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Decolonizing the Ear
The unifying nature of recorded sounds and their popularity explosion through the commodity and “social use value” established by music opened the world view to an ever-evolving consciousness of unity through the transmission of harmony. It may all be accessible on a microchip in your pocket today, but let us never forget that the world of progress to equality that we fight so hard for today, is largely driven by the power of transmitting music through the magic of recorded sound. Read more about breaking the bonds of the colonial era through the advent of music in today’s post. Enjoy Clarence Williams and his jazz group from 1925, and thanks for reading!
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Genesis of a Music
Harry Partch was a fascinating figure in music. His experimental compositions broke down traditional views on harmonic function and expanded our perceptions on how music conveys expression. Explore his work and enjoy this quick take on his contributions. As the Greeks understood music’s complicated connection to how we create harmony in human discourse, Harry understood that its greatest deviations could capture emotions that were yet discovered in the human heart. Hopefully, he can help you discover some of your own.
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There's a Million Ways to Be
Play louder, sing out, dance. Participating in your own creative expression doesn’t require any prior permission or permits. You don't need expectations, and your voice is worth it. Whether it be for the call to public discourse, the need to express your feelings, or the desire to give a voice to those who have none, your input makes the world’s output better. Keep creating, and thanks for reading!
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Students of Vivaldi
The 1700s is a profound period in history, where revolutions took place in several large nations, where composers were captivated by the notions of democracy and freedom, and where many groups that experienced tyranny at the hands of oppressive forces wrote, and artists performed volumes of compositions dedicated to their struggles. Of the Black, Native American, and even colonial perspectives, some of the most glorious voices came from the forgotten children of nobles in an orphanage in Italy. The students of Vivaldi and his contemporaries played some of the most impressive performances of their time, and the women of the Ospedale della Pieta should not be forgotten. Read about them in today’s blog, and enjoy the violin concerto link at the bottom.
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First Songs
Yesterday, I wrote about some of the first songs of the United States. Today I wanted to make sure to follow up with the first music from North America. Recorded sound brought us a new ability to share traditions, but live performance proves how meaning can be preserved through their telling. Read about Native American music cultures in today’s blog, and enjoy the clip from the 2019 Gathering of Nation’s Pow Wow at the end.
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Freedom Songs from Different Perpectives
While Francis Hopkinson was writing about freedom for the American colonies, Fredrick Douglass was singing still, a hundred years later, about freedom from bondage. Today, the song of racial disparity and hope for change still rings out. Francis may not have been meaning any harm, but it’s well past the time for the United States to abandon its deaf ear to the music of its first composers. Read about it today in this telling of music in the 1700s.
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Re-Fund the Music Education
I don’t know how I ended up on a soapbox this morning, but I did. We are all very charged with opinions and ideas
on how to make things better for everyone, and we are all immensely grateful for the opportunity to do so. If there
is one thing that the tragedy of racism has brought us, it is a compelling reason to make the world a better place by replacing it with love and song. Knowing my place in the contribution to is advocating for music, history, and finding your voice. I hope that in all of this, you can find yours.
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