Exploring the 20th Century Music

After reading books about ballet and cinema, it seems only plausible for me to continue reading a subject of my interest - music. I found this book through New York Times Notable Books of the Year list. The book has apparently achieved critical acclaim worldwide since its publication. I find this book one of the best non-fictions (not limited to music) I've read my entire life - the contents are personal yet insightful. It's about the history of classical music in the twentieth century although it does touches the issues of Jazz and Rock & Roll. Colin Greenwood of Radiohead praised the book for providing an accessible way to learn about a subject often closed off as too difficult. This is very true - when I was a music student, I often found classical music of 20th century hard to listen to and understand. All my life, my most favourite period of classical music is the Romantic period, often characterised by emotional type of music performed in a dramatic manner. This explains my long term admiration for Tchaikovsky's works, particularly his ballets. Do you see the connection? I love ballets, so naturally I would research about other composers who did works for ballets. Yes, that's exactly how I discovered Stravinsky, who was arguably the most important figure of 20th century classical music. His works for Diaghilev's Ballet Russes are astonishing, especially The Rite of Spring. Until now, the complexity and anti-Romantic patterns of the scores are unforgettable. 

This book basically gives a really good description of several prominent European classical music composers over the period, namely Mahler, Strauss, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Debussy, Sibelius, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, before moving to American ones, including Gershwin, Bernstein, and so on. I learnt a lot about the general public's reactions when certain unconventional works by these composers were premiered. The influence of Jazz on music of this period was unavoidable. Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin is an example of a crossover of Jazz and Classical music. Duke Ellington's Creole Rhapsody (link below) is another. I got pretty nostalgic about Nodame Cantabile while listening to Rhapsody in Blue.

 

I had great fun exploring different works mentioned in the books. For those I've listened to before, I listened again for further clarity and for those I've never come across before, I managed to learn new music. I have to admit I was biased towards the first and second parts of the book while reading because those are my main interest. Nevertheless, I'm sure I'll re-read this book again in the future when I wish to understand more contemporary composers including Glass, Adams and so on. I also learnt that Korngold was the prince of Hollywood film music composer although Herrmann made the most original composition (I mentioned him previously). Even Schoenberg and Stravinsky wanted to compose music for films in Hollywood, they were big fans of cinemas too! Of course, not being a serious student of music, I found some parts difficult to absorb, but the gripping presentation of the subject did not deter my enthusiasm to read. I thoroughly enjoyed my reading period, which only took about 2 days for a 624-page book. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who's interested in learning more about the more recent period of classical music. Classical music isn't always about Bach, Mozard and Beethoven! 

Film Score - A Forgotten Art Form?

As many people have probably known, I'm a huge fan of both movies and music. I often feel that it's a pity that people my generation no longer appreciate art. I'm referring to all kinds of art, from paintings, sculptures, ballets, operas, classical music, etc. The list will go on forever. Of course, the definition of art is a rather subjective one; I consider many things artistic, even film scores. A film score has been seen as music that accompanies a film, when in fact, it could mean more than that. The link above shows John Williams' performance in conducting the film score medley during the 2002 Academy Awards. How many of these scores have you ever listened to? Some of them are pretty recent ones (e.g. My Heart Will Go On - Theme from Titanic) , while some others are now considered classic (e.g. As Time Goes By - Theme from Casablanca). The sad thing is when people are talking about film music, the most famous theme everyone knows is My Heart Will Go On. Many people have forgotten or are not actually aware of loads of other film scores that used to be really famous, some of which can even be included in the classical music repertoire of the 20th century. Below are a few music scores that I have come to love and cherish. 

I fell in love with film scores when I first heard  John Williams' Theme from Schindler's List (link above - I cried many times whenever I listened to this emotional performance by Itzhak Perlman - one of the greatest living violinists of all time). It affected me emotionally, not only because the movie itself was so touching, but also because the score is something I have been listening forever (I'm a big fan of strings - violin and cello, in particular). Since then, I have been buying and downloading many film scores, some of those are really old ones from classic movies. I started off with the violin-rich scores from The Red Violin, Ladies in Lavender, before moving to explore older movie themes. I have to admit that I'm mostly attracted to film scores that are heavily orchestrated. 

My next self-educating adventure with film scores occurred when I encountered classic movie themes from Gone with the Wind, Casablanca and Doctor Zhivago. They are as classic as they can get and you can easily find them in any music stores. Many older people would probably know them when they listen to the tunes. Personally, I find Max Steiner's Tara's Theme from Gone with the Wind (link above) unforgettable - beautiful scores that are perfectly orchestrated. It still reminds me of certain scenes from the movie whenever I listen to this. Max Steiner is an excellent composer when it comes to composing scores for epic films. In fact, I think I purchased the scores first before watching the movie. Yes, that's how much I love film scores.

The last film score I wanna briefly discuss here is Bernard Herrmann's Theme from Psycho (link above). I see this one as a different type of film score - it's almost too masterful and horrifying to listen to. I personally think that audience's perception of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho wouldn't be the same without this theme. In a way, this theme reminds me of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring - very experimental and haunting. Herrmann's long collaboration with Hitchcock is very similar to Stravinsky's collaboration with Diaghilev in staging ballets. This is a kind of music piece that would stand on its own, regardless of its purpose as an accompaniment for a movie. Although people working in relevant fields and film buffs might know of the theme, people in general are probably no longer aware of this theme or the composer himself. It's sad, isn't it? A film score is a type of music that deserves a better recognition both as a music form and as an art form. I wanna explore the history of film music more. I'm looking forward to finding a suitable book and learning more.