Jazz in the Concert Hall

Jazzing the classics

classical composers incorporating jazz style in art music

Classicizing jazz

jazz composers incorporating classical techniques in jazz

Claude Debussy

incorporated Javanese elements into his compositions

369th Infantry Regiment Band

aka the Hellfighters; all-black ensemble that introduced ragtime, blues, and jazz to French listeners

James Reese Europe

leader of the Hellfighters and a notable orchestra in New York, also a musical director for the Castles; first African-American officer to lead his troops into combat during WWI

Vernon and Irene Castle

the society dancers credited with being the first to popularize the foxtrot

La creation du monde

1923 ballet composed by Darius Milhaud, one of the earliest examples of jazzing the classics; premiered in Paris on October 25, 1923

Darius Milhaud

French composer who loved to travel

Le globe trotter

piano suite composed by Milhaud

Milhaud’s war contributions

assisted Belgian refugees, worked in the foreign ministry’s propaganda department

Paul Claudel

poet and diplomat, friend of Milhaud, became French ambassador to Brazil in 1917, later sent to the US

Les Six

group of French composers who met at the Paris Conservatory; Darius Milhaud, Georges Auric, Louis Durey, Arthur Honegger, Francis Poulenc, Germaine Tailleferre

Milhaud’s US performance tour

arranged by an American who had studied with Debussy; Milhaud was interested in Black jazz music, watched Shuffle Along, and brought Black Swan recordings back to France

Ballet Suedois

influential ballet company, commissioned a score from Milhaud

Scenario of La creation du monde

based on an African creation myth, divided into six sections (overture and five tableux)

Reaction to La creation du monde

at first critics didn’t take it seriously, but later they said it was Milhaud’s finest work

Leonard Bernstein

conductor and composer, strong advocate for La creation du monde

Liza (1922)

musical comedy, sequel to Shuffle Along; Milhaud’s inspiration for the instrumentation of La creation du monde

Mixture of classical and jazz music in La creation du monde

alto sax plays a serene melody, trumpets interject with short, syncopated, and riff-like second theme, trombone plays glissandos

Polytonality in La creation du monde

bitonality; sax, right hand piano, violins, cello play in D minor while left hand piano, string bass, and timpani play in D major

Ostinato in La creation du monde

create a heterophonic effect, works against meter in a hemiola fashion

First tableau of La creation du monde

divided into three sections (ABC)

Fugue in La creation du monde

started by string bass, followed by trombone, saxophone, and trumpet; after playing the subject, each instrument plays a countersubject; moves through circle of fifths key changes

B section of Tableau I

features woodblock and bitonal layering (right hand piano in D major, left hand in C major), moves through circle of fifths and includes trombone glissandos

C section of Tableau I

uses less polyphony and returns to earlier melodies, uses Phrygian mode, brings back the fugue subject

Phrygian mode

used in the Middle Ages before common-practice harmony was adopted; scales follow a H-W-W-W-H-W-W pattern

Rhapsody in Blue

composed by George Gershwin, blends jazz elements, blues notes, and a classical orchestra; legitimized jazz for many listeners

Gershwin’s Inspiration

wanted to learn how to write music like Jerome Kern after hearing his music at a wedding

Gershwin’s Early Career

song-plugger for Remick in Tin Pan Alley, composed for Broadway (including George White’s revues)

Swanee

Gershwin’s Tin Pan Alley song, boosted his reputation after Al Jolson recorded the song in 1920

Paul Whiteman

popular bandleader, dreamed of a concert that would demonstrate the evolution of American popular music

An Experiment in Modern Music

Whiteman’s concert, performed on February 12, 1924 at Aeolian Hall

The icebreaker

clarinet glissando that opens Rhapsody in Blue, originally added as a joke; bends the pitches of a scale that spans 2.5 octaves, fairly common novelty effect at the time

Ross Gorman

Whiteman’s clarinetist

Classicizing jazz

Whiteman wanted to make art music more accessible to the masses by adding classical elements to jazz

Success of Rhapsody in Blue

well received by critics, program repeated twice, performed at Carnegie Hall, performed on a national tour (program consistently sold out)

Carnegie Hall

New York’s most prestigious concert-music venue

Initial Format of Rhapsody in Blue

two piano work

Ferde Grofe

Whiteman’s orchestrator, arranged Rhapsody in Blue for 23 players, did not always completely notate piano part

Grofe’s Orchestration

arranged for solo piano plus orchestra, turning Rhapsody in Blue into a piano concerto

Cadenza

part where orchestra stops playing and lets the soloist perform inventively without accompaniment; Rhapsody’s cadenza is fully notated, making some say that it is not real jazz

Musical style of Rhapsody and Blue

jazzy harmonies and syncopated rhythms

Division of Rhapsody in Blue

one movement with distinct sections

Sonata Cycle sections

I-Molto moderato, II-Scherzo, III-Andante moderato, IV-Finale (with a Coda)

Ritornello

returning material; syncopated tune opens both the piece and the coda; begins in Bb major, has flattened pitches (Ab, Gb, Db) which imitates blues scale

Train

melody inspired by a train ride

Stride/Shuffle

inspired by popular musical/dance styles of the time period

Love Theme

similar to melody that Tchaikovsky wrote for Romeo and Juliet

Tag

derived from the first 3 notes of The Man I Love, features a Db (blue note), serves as a tool for transitions

Arpeggios

notes of a chord are played in succession; in Rhapsody they are played when orchestra is performing a primary melody

Block Chord

chords pitches are sounded simultaneously

Impact of Rhapsody in Blue

showed that art music could absorb elements of different styles without losing its integrity

Aaron Copland

American composer who traveled to Paris in 1921 to study music

Nadia Boulanger

Copland’s teacher, encouraged him to explore popular music and jazz

Organ Symphony

organ concerto written by Copland, performed in 1925 by the New York Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Serge Koussevitzky

conductor, close acquaintance of Copland; aka The Maestro

Alma Wertheim

gave Copland a $1k grant

Guggenheim Foundation

gave a prize for music for the first time in 1925; Copland won it and received $2.5k

League of Composers

commissioned Copland to write a piece for chamber orchestra after inviting him to present some of his compositions

International Composers’ Guild

rival organization to the LoC

Leopold Stokowski

celebrated conductor who was hired to conduct two of the ICG’s concerts

MacDowell Colony

summer retreat in Peterborough, NY for artists to devote themselves to their projects

Clarence Adler

Copland’s former piano teacher, owned property on Lake Placid, had a shack built for Copland

The Clouds

the shack that Adler had built for Copland

Music for the Threatre

premiered in Boston on November 20, 1925; not tied to any specific play

Movements of Music for the Theatre

I-Prologue, II-Dance, III-Interlude, IV-Burlesque, V-Epilogue

Critical response to Music for the Theatre

Boston critics were cautiously complimentary, New York critics were more unsympathetic

Burlesque

4th movement of Music for the Theatre, resembles old-time jazz from NOLA’s red-light district, uses harmonic dissonance to emphasize grotesquerie

Fanny Brice

actress and comedienne, known for her satire of the status quo and for singing in a Yiddish accent

Funny Girl

musical inspired by Fanny Brice’s life

Grotesquerie in Burlesque

abrupt changes in tempo and dynamics, energy shifts from busy syncopation and heavy ponderosity

Solo grotesco

grotesque solo, featured in the 4th theme of Burlesque, includes a muted trumpet and a blues melody

Structure of Burlesque

rondo-like alternation between a refrain and several episodes

Refrain of Burlesque

Theme 1 in Allegro vivo, ponderous thuds, syncopated Theme 2

First episode of Burlesque

B, Theme 3 is highly syncopated and has the same rhythm as Theme 2 in the first two bars, features woodblock, trombone, and low strings

Second episode of Burlesque

C, bluesy Theme 4, launches into solo grotesco, played by full ensemble at fortissimo level

Shout chorus

climactic, high-energy section in a jazz piece where the full ensemble plays loudly

Elements of Popular Music in Burlesque

syncopated rhythms, blue notes, tone colors

Maurice Ravel

French composer, had progressive views regarding the value of popular music

Violin Sonata

Ravel’s second sonata for violin and piano and his last completed chamber work

Societe Musicale Independante

organization that Ravel helped to found, helped promote the music of innovative musicians

Ravel’s US concert tour

seen as an opportunity to promote Ravel as a representation of French achievement; lasted four months and went through 25 cities, an enormous success

Helene Jourdan-Morhange

gave Ravel technical violin advice, had the Violin Sonata dedicated to her

George Enescu

celebrated violinist who premiered Ravel’s Violin Sonata

Movements of Violin Sonata

Allegretto, Blues, Perpetuum Mobile

Pro Musica Society

one of the agencies sponsoring his American tour

Ravel’s ambitions for Violin Sonata

wanted to demonstrate independent part-writing

Violin in Violin Sonata

plays pizzicato block chords, mimics the strumming of a guitar/piano, sounds like country blues style

Chords in Violin Sonata

do not conform to twelve-bar blues pattern but uses I, IV, V harmonies; create an ostinato effect

Polytonality

sustained Ab and Eb pitches (not in G major), piano is in Ab major

Nostalgico

playing style of violin after key change, evokes the blues singing style

A refrain in Violin Sonata

nostalgico at first, returns in a ragtime style, returns again with call-and-response

B episode of Violin Sonata

interrupts A, features busy ostinato patterns in piano and simple violin melody

C episode of Violin Sonata

violin plays pizzicato pulses again, piano plays bluesy melody; when it returns violin plays short pairs of sixteenth notes in a banjo-like accompaniment

D episode of Violin Sonata

violin takes over and plays a rhythmically independent bluesy line, piano performs ostinatos

Ending of Violin Sonata

piano arpeggiates through an Ab major chord, violin glissandos up to Gb, ending the piece on a jazz-like seventh chord

Marie-Desiree Taillefesse

Germaine Tailleferre’s mother who was in love with a notary’s son, but was forced to marry Arthur Taillefesse

Arthur Taillefesse

Germaine Tailleferre’s father, set up to marry Mary-Desiree by her father, who wanted his daughter to have the same last name after marriage

Tailleferre’s music education

accepted to the Paris Conservatory at age twelve, had to attend secretly due to her father’s disapproval; won several prizes