Centre and Periphery, Roots and Exile

Robin Elliott, Friedemann Sallis, And Kenneth Delong, Editors

Description

This book examines the impact place and displacement can have on the composition and interpretation of Western art music, using as its primary objects of study the work of István Anhalt (1919–2012) György Kurtág (1926–) and Sándor Veress (1907–92). Although all three composers are of Hungarian origin, their careers followed radically different paths. Whereas, Kurtág remained in Budapest for most of his career, Anhalt and Veress left: the former in 1946 and immigrated to Canada and the latter in 1948 and settled in Switzerland. All three composers have had an extraordinary impact in the cultural environments within which their work took place.

In the first section, “Place and Displacement,” contributors examine what happens when composers and their music migrate in the culturally complex world of the late twentieth century. The past one hundred years produced record numbers of refugees, and this fact is now beginning to resonate in the study of music. As Anhalt himself forcefully asserts, however, not all composers who emigrate should be understood as exiles. The first chapters of this book explore some of the problems and questions surrounding this issue.

Essays in the second section, “Perspectives on Reception, Analysis, and Interpretation,” look at how performing acts of interpretation on music implies bringing the time, place, and identity of the musician, the analyst, and the teacher to bear on the object of study. Like Kodály, Kurtág considers his work to be “naturally” embedded in Hungarian culture, but he is also a quintessentially European artist. Much of his production—he is one of the twentieth century’s most prolific composers of vocal music—involves the setting of Hungarian texts, but in the late 1970s his cultural horizons expanded to include texts in Russian, German, French, English, and ancient Greek. The book explores how musicologists’ divergent cultural perspectives impinge on the interpretation of this work.

The final section, “The Presence of the Past and Memory in Contemporary Music,” examines the impact time and memory can have on notions of place and identity in music. All living art taps into the personal and collective past in one way or another. The final four chapters look at various aspects of this relationship.

Sujets

• Cultural studies
• History
• Music

Informations

• Publié par: Wilfrid Laurier University Press
• Date de parution: 15 septembre 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781554581726
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 10 Mo

Extrait

Centre and Periphery, Roots and Exile

C e n t r e a n d P e r i p h e ry, R o o t s a n d E x i l e

Interpreting the Music of István Anhalt, György Kurtág, and Sándor Veress

Friedemann Sallis, Robin Elliott, and Kenneth DeLong, editors with assistance from Aaron Dalton

WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY PRESS

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Centre and periphery, roots and exile : interpreting the music of István Anhalt, György Kurtág, and Sándor Veress / Friedemann Sallis, Robin Elliott, and Kenneth DeLong, editors.

Majority of essays initially presented at the symposium Centre and periphery, roots and exile, at the University of Calgary,22–25January,2008. Cf. Introd. Includes bibliographical references and index. Also available in electronic format. Most essays in English; includes3essays in French isbn 9781554581481

1. Anhalt, István,1919–.2. Kurtág, György.3. Veress, Sándor,1907–1992.4. Composers— Hungary—Biography.5. Immigrants—History—20th century.6. Music—History and criticism. I. Sallis, Friedemann II. Elliott, Robin,1956DeLong, Kenneth,– III. 1944–

ml390.c397 2011

780.92'2

Electronic monograph. Also available in print format. Most essays in English; includes3 isbn 9781554581726 (PDF)

c20119027453

essays in French.

1. Anhalt, István,1919–.2. Kurtág, György.3. Veress, Sándor,1907–1992.4. Composers— Hungary—Biography.5. Immigrants—History—20th century.6. Music—History and criticism. I. Sallis, Friedemann II. Elliott, Robin,1956– III. DeLong, Kenneth,1944–

ml390.c397 2011b

780.92'2

c20119027461

Cover design by Sandra Friesen. Cover photo of István Anhalt by Walter Curtin, reproduced with the permission of the Walter Curtin Estate. Cover photo of György Kurtág by Sibylle Ehrismann, reproduced with the permission of the photographer. Cover photo of Sándor Veress reproduced with the permission of Claudio Veress.Text design by C. BonasTaylor.

©2011Wilfrid Laurier University Press Waterloo, Ontario, Canada www.wlupress.wlu.ca

This book is printed on FSC recycled paper and is certified Ecologo. It is made from100% postconsumer fibre, processed chlorine free, and manufactured using biogas energy.

Printed in Canada

Every reasonable effort has been made to acquire permission for copyright material used in this text, and to acknowledge all such indebtedness accurately. Any errors and omissions called to the publisher’s attention will be corrected in future printings.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher or a licence from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For an Access Copyright licence, visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to18008935777.

To István Anhalt on the occasion of his ninety-second birthday

c o n t e n t s

List of Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix List of Plates and Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xviii Introduction , 1friedemann sallis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

First Word 1István Anhalt: A Character Sketch , . . . . . . .john beckwith 2Kurtág, as I Know Him , gergely szokolay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3“A Kind of Musical Autobiography”: Reading Traces in Sándor Veress’sOrbis tonorum , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .claudio veress

29 37

45

Place and Displacement 4Of the Centre, Periphery; Exile, Liberation; Home and the Self , istván anhalt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 5István Anhalt’s Kingston Triptych , 73robin elliott . . . . . . . . 6István Anhalt’sThe Tents of Abraham: Where Music Cannot Heal, Let It Be Restored , william benjamin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 7Which Displacement? Tracing Exile in the Postwar Compositions of István Anhalt and Mátyás Seiber , . . . . florian scheding 111 8Letters to America , 129rachel beckles willson . . . . . . . . . . . 9Roots and Routes: Travel and Translation in István Anhalt’s Operas , 175gordon e. smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Le fonds István Anhalt (mus 164) à Bibliothèque et Archives Canada : autoconstruction du compositeur et rôle du lieu dans son œuvre , 199rachelle chiassontaylor . . . . . . . . . . .

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viii

contents

Perspectives on Reception, Analysis, and Interpretation 11Sewing Earth to Sky: István Anhalt and the Pedagogy of Transformation , 219. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . austin clarkson 12György Kurtág’sJátékok:A “Voyage” into the Child’s Musical Mind , stefano melis 241. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Arracher la figure au figuratif : la musique vocale de György Kurtág , alvaro oviedo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 14Dirges and Ditties: György Kurtág’s Latest Settings of Poetry by Anna Akhmatova , . . . . . . . . . . . julia galievaszokolay 279 15Interpreting György Kurtág and George Crumb: Through the Looking Glass , 303. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . dina lentsner

The presence of the Past and Memory in Contemporary Music 16György Kurtág et Walter Benjamin : considérations sur l’aura dans la musique , jeanpaul olive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327 17What Presence of the Past? Artistic Autobiography in György Kurtág’s Music , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345ulrich mosch 18“Listening to inner voices”: István Anhalt’snancResonce•Sonae (Welche Töne?) , 371. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . alan gillmor 19Music Written from Memory in the Late Work of István Anhalt , friedemann sallis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .395

Final Word 20On Doubleness and Life in Canada: An Interview with István Anhalt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .423

The Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .433 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .439