A lesson for all... "War Requiem" and "Symphony of Psalms"

When I was a child, a teacher told me that Stravinsky wrote a 'Symphony of Psalms' because he was jealous of Benjamin Britten's 'War Requiem'. It wasn't until I became an adult that I found out the whole truth... Stravinsky did genuinely dislike Britten's "War Requiem'. He

mocked the “Battle of Britten” sentiment which surrounded the premiere of the composer’s most public and popular work

I think he was not keen on a return to an emphasis 'on subjectivism'. He hated the sentimental aspect of the work.

Stravinsky:

"Kleenex at the ready… one goes from the critics to the music, knowing that if one should dare to disagree with ‘practically everyone’, one will be made to feel as if one had failed to stand up for ‘God Save the Queen’.”

He did write a 'Symphony of Psalms' in response to Britten's work but not out of jealousy but to show how the creative process could be both respectful but still retain a degree of 'objectivity' appropriate for the subject matter.

The teacher in question and anybody who would describe themselves as a follower of Britten's music should not have felt offended by Stravinsky's comments; his vision of music was unique.

There is a certain degree of irony. While Britten's 'War Requiem' , in my opinion, is an exercise in sentimental tedium, Stravinsky's 'Symphony of Psalms' isn't a great visionary masterpiece either. The only crumb of comfort for Stravinsky is that his work falls well below par; but Britten's work as it was stated before is his

most public and popular work.

What is Stockhausen's legacy?

Karlheinz Stockhausen is one of the most important composers of the post war era. He is partially responsible for the creation of the post war modernist music. But what is his true legacy? Was he the leading composer in his field? Did he invent the 'timbralist' idea of generating music from a single sound? Well, he did accomplish that concept with "Stimmung'' (Voice) which is completely designed around the single chord of a B flat ninth . But he wasn't the first. Giacinto Scelsi wrote "Quatro pezzi per orchestre" which is based a single note per movement and that work was written in 1959. Quatro pezzi per orchestre - Scelsi I seriously doubt whether Stockhausen knew about Scelsi's achievement when he wrote Stimmung in 1977. Perhaps one of his greatest works is " Gruppen'' (Groups) composed for three orchestras. Did it change the way we use the orchestra? He was a pioneer, especially in the early stages of hi...

In the shadow of a genius.

Recently, I have discovered a fascinating revelation about the composers we admire so much. That behind many geniuses, there usually is a predecessor lurking in the background. It reminds of that often quoted phrase by Picasso A good artist borrows and great artist steals Now, I am not suggesting that the composers who I mention are stealing peoples' ideas - there is no evidence to support that fact. However, I am suggesting that the idea of a genius who came from nowhere may not be accurate. Let's take the case of Ernest Fanelli. Who? You might ask. He is a significant but unknown person in the development of impressionism. He is an Italian born composer living in Paris. He composed a good deal of 'new' music at the end of the nineteenth century. His ideas were quite radical; his instrumentation included harmonics, sul pont., he used wordless choruses. Unfortunately, he wasn't as talen...

Helmut Lachenmann

H elmut Lachen mann is relatively unknown outside of Germany. Nevertheless , h e is a figure wh o is growing in significan ce in modern music circles. Despite his wide experience, h is lack of broad appeal is, in my opinion, largely d ue to the individuality o f his music. He is not easy to categori se in an era which is dominated by trends and cliches. A simple way of describing his music is... *"musique concrète instrumentale". The notion is the creation of a subtlety of transformation of timbre, a manipulation of a continuum from sound to noise, from pitched notes to pitchless textural exploration, and all that in the sphere of (mostly) purely instrumental music. That means that in Lachenmann's music, there's a world of sound that rivals and even surpasses what electronic and electro-acoustic composers can achieve. -Guardian. Essentially , he is a acoustic composer writing electronic sounding music. He is somewhere...

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