GLST 490: Final Class
Source: Google Images
Agenda for Today
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We will go over the last reading in
the courseware – the one on
European music.
Then we will do a review for the
final exam (Monday, December 13th
at 1 p.m. in Building 355, Room
203).
If there's time, I would like to get
your feedback on the course and
suggestions for changes if it is
offered again.
Maybe we can also listen to
Cheymus' presentation and hear a
couple of songs on Olivia's tape
player.
Source: Google Images
European Music
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As described in the chapter from Bohlman, Vienna –
both past and present – is the quintessential example of a
musical cultural hearth.
This role also may partly have to do with Vienna's
former status as the capital of the Austro-Hungarian
Empire which dominated Central and Eastern Europe and
drew on all of the cultural influences from that far-flung
realm. Its wealth also permitted a rich musical and
cultural infrastructure.
Bohlman notes three possible views of Vienna's music:
that it was the right place for the emergence of a unique
canon; that it drew from the cultural periphery (many of
its 'stars' were outsiders), and that it serves today as the
cultural backdrop for clashing juxtapositions.
European Music
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Using this as a starting point, Bohlman raises the issue of
what constitutes “European” music. Would Andean street
musicians be part of that? Would the music of Islamic
Spain? What about the music of all the immigrant groups
that have arrived in Europe over the past half-century?
What are your thoughts on this issue?
He also notes that, despite continental or nation-state
divisions, music and culture often are often associated with
regional or cultural identities. The examples he gives are
those of the Lake Constance Region, and that of the Roma,
Jewish, and the Saami peoples.
He describes how Roma musicians have influenced and
also absorbed different musical traditions. Like the Jews,
they performed the function at times of being almost a
professional musical caste. Sometimes, this was one of the
few arenas in which they were accepted.
European Music
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While music has long been an 'amateur sport, the enhanced
trade and urbanization of the Middle Ages yielded what
Bohlman describes as “highly skilled music specialists who
traveled to urban centers, courts, and fairs, picking up new
styles and repertories. Eventually, urbanization resulted in
the mass production of instruments and sheet music.
The music of transnational groups (Roma, Saami, and
Celts) continues to cross nation-state boundaries.
Bohlman also discusses how 'classical' composers, such as
Bela Bartók, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Antonín
Dvořák were very interested in and borrowed from folk
forms of music (the same could be said for Chopin). In
some cases, they sought to use these traditions to promote a
nationalist agenda and purported to see in them a greater
'unity' than they probably in fact possessed.
European Music
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Another facet of the role of music in relation to nationalism
is that states – such as Bulgaria under communism – sought
to create a distinct identity for the nation through music,
whereas oppressed nations, such as Estonia under Soviet
rule, used song festivals as a way of asserting national pride
and identity and resisting the Soviet yoke.
Europe has contributed much to the mythology and
actuality of the virtuoso – the super-talented musical being
whose skills seems to defy earthly limits (the same could be
said of Mozart's compositional prowess).
While virtuosity is certainly present in folk and amateur
music, there is less tendency than in 'high art' or elite music
to shine the spotlight on the 'star'. (Chamber orchestras,
though, it should be noted are fairly egalitarian.)
Instruments, such as the piano invented in Italy, have
helped revolutionize music.
European Music
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At other times, instruments have run afoul of religion – both
Islamic and puritanical Christian who banned instruments
from church. We might also remember more recent
criticisms of rhythm and blues and rock n' roll as “the devil's
music.”
Moreover, how they are played has often been subject to
intense control. In a song by Hugh Marsh and Robert
Palmer, Nazi directives and Soviet (Stalinist) denunciations
regarding jazz are set to music. Both of these regimes sought
to stamp out jazz' “cosmopolitan,” “decadent,” “JudeoNegroid” spirit (pick your adjective). (See The Bass
Saxophone by Josef Škvorecký.) Any thoughts as to why
this might be so?
The rest of the chapter deals with the annual Eurovision
Song Contest, how culturally diverse it has become, and how
much a vehicle it has become for politics and nationalism.
Review for Final
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We covered most of the course material on the
delayed mid-term. So what will be on the final?
First of all, what are the top 5 or 6 main learnings
from this course?
Very few of you chose the question from the midterm as to how changes in the blues reflected
changes in Afro-American life, so I may revisit
that one. Maybe also be able to talk about the role
blues played in Afro-American culture, especially
in the past.
Be familiar with the meaning of all the themes/
concepts listed in the course outline and be able to
apply them.
Review for Final
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One could talk about how jazz served as the
'soundtrack' for the first half of the 20th century.
Anything covered today in the discussion of Europe
would be fair game.
We haven't spent a lot of time on Canada, but I
might welcome your observations on how Canada
has been impacted by, but also shaped, popular
music.
Maybe a little bit about the content of Oscar's talk
and the video Cadillac Records; I'm open to
suggestions about other things that you think would
be appropriate for the exam.
The format will be the same as last time: short
answers and longer essay questions.
Your Feedback and Suggestions
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How did you like the course overall?
Any things that you learned that stand out for you?
What is your evaluation of the readings?
Of the lectures? Of the assignments?
Of the two guest speakers we had? Of the films?
Things you would change if the course were to be
offered again relating to any of the above?
Any topics or genres you would like to have seen
covered that weren't?
I've certainly enjoyed teaching this course and
having you all as students... It’s been awesome
experience for me.