Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - Theses
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ItemBeyond revolution: the journeys of Luigi Nono’s politically engaged music( 2014)The works of Italian composer Luigi Nono (1924-1990) present a special opportunity to examine the interactions between music and history. A committed communist, Nono explored political and social issues in works such as La victoire de Guernica (1954), Il canto sospeso (1955-56) and Intolleranza 1960 (1961). His musical materials were progressive, representing the cutting-edge of the 1950s European avant-garde. This seems to present a contradiction: how could one express political and social issues to a wide audience through such an arcane and elite musical language? After presenting an overview of Nono’s life and work and questioning previous approaches to the production and analysis of ‘engaged’ music, this thesis will present case studies investigating the three works above. La victoire and Il canto sospeso have had diverging political meanings since Nono’s death, and an analysis of the historical and musical aspects of each will be presented in an attempt to explain these trajectories. The musical language will be contrasted with the contemporary and post-premiere reception with close reference to primary sources. The opera Intolleranza 1960 has been revived on numerous occasions since its premiere in 1961, predominantly in German-speaking countries. This thesis argues that the work allows theatrical artists to create a form of ‘coming to terms with the past’ (Vergangenheitsbewältigung) that is sufficiently abstract as not to be overly confronting. The final chapters describe the transformation of the work from a hypertopical, engaged piece of political musical theatre into an abstract and timeless parable. It is argued that this transformation is the reason for the work’s enduring popularity, and is a direct result of its troubled and chaotic genesis.
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ItemThe New York Philharmonic behind the Iron Curtain: goodwill tour or Cold War propaganda?( 2012)In 1959, the New York Philharmonic embarked on its longest and most ambitious venture to date: a ten-week tour of the Soviet Union and Europe. At the height of Cold War hostilities, Leonard Bernstein led the orchestra abroad under the sponsorship of President Eisenhower’s Special International Program for Cultural Presentations. US-Soviet cultural exchanges had been occurring since the early 1950s to bring about mutual understanding and benefit amid the tensions of the Cold War. The Philharmonic’s 1959 tour provides a specific insight into the cultural exchange process and illuminates the musical and political ramifications of cultural tours of this period. The promotion of American music was a significant aspect of the 1959 tour, and the Philharmonic’s programs reflected the influence of Bernstein’s personal and professional relationships with American composers of the period. By examining the American press coverage of the tour, it is possible to see how Bernstein and the Philharmonic were utilised to promote the United States’s cultural achievements at a time of intense political and scientific rivalry with the Soviet Union. Bernstein shed his image of the early 1950s of a radical leftist implicated in McCarthyism to become the model of the new breed of American-born and -trained musicians and a representative of American values. Through him and the Philharmonic, the United States sought to show that it was a cultural leader as well as a world power. The Philharmonic’s tour demonstrated how notions of goodwill were overshadowed by unavoidable Cold War competition and that the tour’s success contributed to the shaping of American national identity.