This section is all about how musical context.
Can politicians influence your music?
Maybe not so much today, but a little while ago when you had Hitler and Stalin, they controlled the arts. Look at Shostakovich the poor guy was mullered into composing stuff that was not his thing and he became suicidal.
Let's have a look at what the conflict between England and Germany between 1914-1918 had on composers around the world. The first world war had causes cataclysmic economic and population decreases across the waring countries. And for Germany, the reparations came to a whopping £6.6 million. At the same point in history in Russia, there was a revolution where the monarchy where overthrown by Lenin and the communists.
After all this conflict, a lot of composers went down the road of fragmented melodies and the modernist sound. However, although fragmentation was modern, so was Jazz. The other huge change was the record. Now people all over the world could buy music and listen to their favorite Jazz singers.
A New and hip German composer from the 1920s by the name of Kurt Weill wrote music for orchestra under the influence from Jazz. The piece is called "Alabama Song" and it's for a wind band. The piece sounds rhythmically very unlike Jazz in that it is not swung but is very straight. His work was considered cutting edge though, as he, being German was exceedingly interested in American popular culture which at the time, was envied and respected ore than it is in the present day.
Bertolt and Brecht, two German composers who smoked classic American cigars were also up there in American culture. Their work on the opera "Mahoganny," a made up town that as obviously set somewhere in the south east of America, goes on about the one fundamental American immutable rule, to have a good time. The internationally recognizable words; Alabama, dollar, whiskey and mama are constantly used so that international audiences (their German counterparts) could understand what was vaguely going on. It is a little jazzy with an un-cha-cha cha-cha rhythm. It is bitonal throughout with floating voices contrasting against the rhythm. This was new music.
At the time this was written, the Treaty of Versailles was still affecting Germany. It was also getting the newly formed Weimar Republic down who eventually resorted to hyper inflation to cover up their lack of money. The one good way out of this depressing state where you could no longer buy anything the day after you received your money was to go out and spend it on whiskey. The poor where also constantly screwing over the rich to get by. In 1932, The National Socialist German Workers Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei) cae into power, better known as the Nazi Party.
The following year, Adolf Hitler became Chancellor. Hitler was interested in the same things as Roosevelt; roads and getting the population into employment. But he was also especially interested in the art having been a failed artist. His mission was to get rid of "Entartete Kunst" (nice word) or jewish art. It was known as degenerate art and if you were Jewish, you fell under this category. Even if you were the second cousin of a jew you were inferior. Jazz was obviously out as it was made by blacks. So when the Nazis were around, there was absolutely nothing interesting in the world of music. Both Brecht and Bertolt were doing things wrong. They both referred to Blacks in their music, Brecht was a socialist (bad) and Bertolt was Jewish (whoops.)
Copland
Good old Copland, Jewish but American.
At the age of 21, the promising Copland went to Paris to study composition with the ever famous teacher Nadia Boulanger (she taught Phillip Glass in the 60s hmm.) Having returned to America from having been taught by the Europeans, Copland's status as a composer would have risen like normal. When he arrived back in America, he carried on to write music like Stravinsky's work who was also living in Paris.
Just like in Germany, there was a money crisis and a dude to sort it out. In 1929, Wall Street crashed. There as an awful depression that made many peoples lives awful. In 1932, Roosevelt came in planning to sort out the horrific nastiness that was holding America. Roosevelt made it possible after that for artists to be payed a wage for their artistry. As of that day, photographers documented the rise of the American farms and the rise of buildings and some other things. Copland, being an artist decided he wanted to make some money out of himself. He started off working with a dance company in 1938 that painted a good picture of America. "Billy the Kid" was a big success as it specifically related to Americans.
Rodeo (1942)
This is the invention of the sound of the Wild West. High attacking brass and strings with slow and quiet woodwind. The harmony is made of strong 4 and 5 chords. Copland then becomes a populist composer creating music for his country.
Prokofiev
Prokofiev was in Paris with Stravinsky. He was always second choice to him making him a little angry. He returned to Russia when it was safer having toured Europe as a great pianist. At home, he became a communist under the influence of the Stalinist era. Prokofiev abandoned his friends in Europe and his decent ways because of the great terror. He and Shostakovich suffered (Shostakovich more as he did not necessarily comply.)
Prokofiev worked with Eisenstein (the amazing Russia director who was in battle with the awesome Dziga Vertov.) They set out to make a revolutionist populist communist film all about how great Stalin and the Soviet union was. Eisenstein made Prokofiev who he was after they worked together. The music he composed around this time was incredible. There was "Peter and the Wolf" and "Romeo and Juliet." They are both populist (would you agree?) Prokofiev is then asked to write a cantata to celebrate 20 years of Sovietness and of course the late Lenin. The music is very patriotic; big choirs, tonal, text setting, evenly rhythmic, neo-classic, with brass and percussion. It depicts extreme might and power in the Soviet Union. You would have thought it be successful but for some unknown Stalinist reason it was not shown or heard until they had all died.
Eisenstein and Prokofievs' film was all about Alexander Nevsky (1938.) Nevsky was a noble defender of the Motherland. When this came out, Stalin was rearming Russia. Stalin thought he was Alexander Nevsky. Comrade Stalin (man of steel) forced the population to watch it.
What a patriotic track; massive, tonal, huge ending, depicting great Russia. When it came out and the Russians were drunk on patriotism, the Germans signed a contract saying they would not attack Mother Russia. The when Russia sobered up, they then attacked.
America again
This music was greatly influenced by the second world war. Copland writes his famous "Lincoln Portrait" the equivalent to Nevsky. "War and Peace" came after all this (a bit of slightly irrelevant information for you there.) Lincoln was great we all know that.
Lincoln Portrait
There is a voice over the top a lot like "Baz Luhman's Sunscreen" saying that Lincoln in great. There are constant rising 5ths (a very heroic interval.) You'll here these in all of John William's film music.
Ballet Appalachian Spring
What America fights for.
It has loads of rising 5ths, rhythmically simple. The tune is augmented more and more and is also transposed. People can relate to this music easily making it kind of Populist. Yeah you got it.
On the one hand there was good music and then there was Populist music. Sorry I meant modernist music, you know i meant that.
Did you here of the burning of the Dixie Chick's music? It was a lot like Nazism only it was just very recently.
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