Michael Elka - Adam’s Lecture and Dvorak Concert

October 15, 2008 · Posted in Artistic Styles 

I think we went to hear John Adams and Dvorak in the same week because we have just moved into a new topic, music. Both of these composers have chosen music (and in Adams’ case, the sung word) to communicate ideas to the listener, or possibly evoke an emotion. Although Adams is a minimalist composer and Dvorak a Romantic composer, both utilized the styles of their times much like vernacular language to communicate what they wanted to the listener. Although they used different musical styles, each composer shared a trait that bridges the many years between them. One of the biggest things I took away from the Adams’ lecture was his ideas on what subjects qualify for a good contemporary opera, or any opera for that matter. As an example, he pointed out Nixon in China, and how the entire three-act opera was based on Nixon’s three days spent visiting the People’s Republic of China. His own opera, Doctor Atomic, is just as specific. The idea of having an good but extremely specific theme also manifested itself in Dvorak’s music; the musical motif that comprised the piece’s theme was short and memorable, and was threaded throughout the entire piece, making itself present in all three movements. In this regard, the composers had much in common. The events themselves were common in that they, although drastically different in terms of style, served the purpose of communicating the composer’s message; in Adams’ case, the purpose was to stir up memories of the Manhattan Project and communicate the emotional turmoil it brought to Robert Oppenheimer, and in Dvorak’s case the purpose was to stir up strong feelings (as indicated by the dynamic power of the first and third movements) of hopeful melancholy. (I am aware that the first and last movements of a “classical” piece are often powerful, with the middle being slower, but in this case I think the structure was important in highlighting the central motif in different contexts) All of this related to our topic in that it showed actual style (in this case, style was dictated by time period) does not matter when it comes to art, and that in the end, it is all about the composer’s central message, be it the emotional journey/narrative of Robert Oppenheimer or a melancholy Dvorak motif.

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