RE: Northeast activities

[Janet . PAPE <Janet.PAPE...>]

I think it's Fuchs, not Fux.  I think you should be careful in your
labelling.  Perhaps saying that they sing classical vs. folk, or
something like that, but "high German style" lumps a wide range of
composed music and arrangements into a 19th century standard not only of
composition but also of performance practice.  Perhaps you were
referring to the latter?  Oh - I really must take exception to your
statement of the avant-garde coming from Germany (Schoenberg was
Austrian) -- in this century that is really untrue  There have been
innovators and composers who composed stylistically way ahead of their
time from many other western nations, including the United States.  (If
you want examples, I'll list them.)  

Janet Pape

> As far as composers are concerned, there is a generalization in
> musicology
> that from Bach's time on, the avant garde of composition (and thus the
> styles of art music) came almost consistently from Germany (Beethoven,
> Schubert, Brahms, Wagner, Weill, Schoenberg, etc.); this tradition is
> frequently connected with today's "classical music" composition
> schools
> (now frequently known as "Art Music").  Note that nearly every music
> student still must study the harmony of Bach and the counterpoint of
> Fux.
> This "composed art music" tradition (which, of course, includes Sulzer
> and
> Lewandowski) is continued in Israel by Ben-Haim (who was educated in
> Munich) and others (there's a great book by Philip Bohlman ["The Land
> Where
> Two Streams Flow"] which explains this connection in much greater
> detail);
> in America by Copland (who studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger),
> Bernstein, and Berger.  Again, this does not mean that the music all
> comes
> from one style (i.e., compositions don't all have to sound like Bach),
> but
> rather compositions tend to exhibit several similar idiosyncratic
> approaches to the creation and performance venue of the music.
> (Including
> specific systematic background methods of harmony and counterpoint,
> frequent use and embellishment of "folk" tunes, and a tendency to use
> a
> document [i.e., notation] as the primary form of information storage).
> 
> Please excuse me if I'm wordy.  I'm studying for general exams right
> now,
> and if nothing else, this helping me to organize my own thoughts for
> September.  I've got my own thoughts on Rossi too (and his connection
> with
> German art music--don't think I forgot him), but I'll wait on that.
> 
> Be well.
> 
> Judah.
> 
> Judah Cohen
> Music Department
> Harvard University
> Cambridge, MA  02138
> jcohen (at) fas(dot)harvard(dot)edu
> (617) 628-4783
> 
> "...I do not feel that my research suffered unduly from the fact that
> I
> enjoyed it." -- Daniel Miller, "Modernity--an Ethnographic Approach"
> (p. 6)
>