Short answer questions:

1. As discussed in chapter two of The Rest is Noise, the third movement of Arnold
Shoenberg’s Five Pieces for Orchestra, titled “Farben,” or color, introduces a technique
called Klangfarbenmelodie. Meaning “tone color painting,” Klangfarbenmelodie involves
spreading out melodic lines of music throughout multiple voices, so as to create shifting
timbres instead of a consistent one.

2. New Objectivity evolved in the arts as a reaction against late-Romanticism and

3. Kurt Weill composed his short song-play Mahagonny in pre-Nazi Germany. Bertold
Brecht was the librettist for the work. A satirical and irreverent commentary on the cycle
of decadence to ruin in society, the play is set in the “wild west” of America and blends
the sounds of high-brow opera with jazz and pop, as can be readily heard in the opening
scene. Mahagonny was well-liked by audiences at its premiere in 1927, and Weill and
Brecht went on to compose a longer version of the work, titled “The Rise and Fall of the
City of Mahagonny.”

4. The Society for Private Music was a group founded in Vienna in 1918 by Arnold
Shoenberg. As detailed in the Statement of Aims written by Alban Berg, the society
wanted to support young or new avante-garde composers (including Schoenberg’s
pupils) by giving them a safe space to have their works performed well and for a
receptive audience. The goal was for the music to be experienced in its pure,
unadulterated form, without distractions like applause or commentary. The group
operated with a closed membership and was not open to the public.

5. The Cotton Club was a New York City nightclub where many popular and famous Black
musicians performed, despite the club’s rules for white-only patronage. Duke Ellington
and his orchestra played at the Cotton Club during the beginning of his career. The club
capitalized on the “exotic stereotypes” about Black people that were popular during the
20s, as is exemplified by Ellington’s work being described as “jungle music” by the club
announcer in the PBS documentary “Duke Ellington - in Performance.”

6. Gebrauchsmusik, “music for use,” is a term associated with composers such as Paul
Hindemith. The concept of music for use, or music that was both approachable and of
interest to everyday people, became popular following the grandiosity of the Romantic
era and the elitism of the Schoenbergian crowd. It was music to be enjoyed in the
moment, not intended to live on as a masterpiece. This idea became popular in 1920s
Weimar, Germany, as discussed in The Rest is Noise.
 7. In the reading “What’s Modern” the author discusses Erik Satie’s reaction against
Wagnerian excess and grandiosity. Satie’s humorous and specific indications to the
performer poke fun and invite us not to take ourselves or the music too seriously. His
music can be characterized by a meandering, aimless feel. The author describes this as
“dogged purposelessness.” In Satie’s own words, he composed “music d’ameublement,”
or furniture music, which was meant to be part of the background. In the reading “Notes
Without Music” by Milhaud, he likens the “music d’ameublement” to everyday objects in
the home, such as wallpaper, that we see but don’t actively notice.

8. As discussed in the chapter “The Art of Fear” from The Rest is Noise, formalism as it
relates to communist Russia was a term applied to art that did not align with their
prescribed cultural doctrine, usually displaying too much modern Western influence in
social/moral themes or atonality. The party denounced composers like Shostakovich and
accused him of being a formalist because his music did not always fit their code of what
music should be: in exaltation of the party, heroic, and numbingly tonal.

Short essay: Nationalism in music

Igor Stravinsky and Percy Grainger each composed “nationalist” music, or music that
features elements such as folk tunes, dance forms, or rhythms from a specific country or region.
Stravinsky, a Russian composer, was inspired by his country’s folklore and ancient roots. His
work The Rite of Spring is one of his most famous works, and showcases his particular brand of
nationalism. Grainger, an Australian, traveled to the English countryside with a phonograph and
recorded local townspeople singing folk melodies, which he transcribed and rewrote with
modern settings. His piece based on the sea shanty “Shallow Brown” is an example of his more
literal style of nationalist music.

In the preface to Ralph Vaughan William’s essay “Should Music Be National,” the editor
explains the context for the nationalist movement in music. Essentially a reaction to the
dominance of Germanic musical tradition during the late Romantic period, there were certain
political undertones to the term nationalism that implied an “anti modern” attitude and tendency
toward right wing ideology. Vaughan Williams argues against this perspective, instead
advocating for nationalism as a way to celebrate a country’s culture, history, and sense of place.
In his perspective, nationalism was a mark of authenticity; a composer true to their roots could
compose more genuinely than one who adopted the designs of another culture.

For Stravinsky, a composer who followed some of the Russian Romantic greats like
Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, nationalism was a way for him to hone in on the traditions,
folklore, and history of Russia. The Rite of Spring presents a story inspired by Russia’s primeval
past, where life and ancient rituals were dominated by the natural cycles of the earth. The music
(and accompanying choreography in the ballet) has a primal feel to it, with jarring irregular
rhythms derived from Russian folk music. In his research for the work, Stravinsky explored
previous arrangements of folk music, his own memories and experiences in rural Russia, and
ancient pagan customs. The source material is not present in the Rite in anything so blatant as
a direct quote, but instead, the rhythms and motives are “pulverized” (Ross, 98) into shards that
Stravinsky reconstructed and layered.

In contrast, Grainger’s nationalist compositions are pulled directly from the source
material. Though not an Englishman by birth, he came to be an important figure in the revival of
English music in the 20th century. In 1906 he traveled the English countryside and recorded a
range of folk songs, which he transcribed and analyzed before reshaping them into larger
works. He tried to imitate the “freedom” (Ross, 85) that could be felt in the folk singers’ intimate
but informal renditions. An example is his work based on the sea shanty “Shallow Brown,” in
which he uses soprano voice, chorus and chamber orchestra with the unusual addition of
guitars, ukuleles and mandolins. In the swelling tremolos and lilting melody buoyed by the
chorus one can hear the evocation of the rolling sea and sailors singing. Grainger’s tribute to the
folk music of England was to take the everyday songs of common people and shine a light on
the beauty and value he saw there; Stravinsky delved into the roots of Russian musical
traditions and brought them into the 20th century.