Storytelling in Opera and Musical Theater. Nina Penner
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Название: Storytelling in Opera and Musical Theater
Автор: Nina Penner
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Афоризмы и цитаты
Серия: Musical Meaning and Interpretation
isbn: 9780253052421
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A more serious objection is that my description went beyond the skimpy details Strauss provided in his score and program. I also relied on knowledge of Cervantes’s novel. Unlike the novel, Strauss’s tone poem does not bring into existence the characters Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Rather, it is designed to put listeners who already have knowledge of the novel in mind of its characters and their adventures. Some narrative theorists may wish to place more stringent demands on the act of telling or presenting a story, claiming that simply pointing to a preexisting narrative is insufficient.30 I suggest that such inclinations are predicated on too narrow a focus on linguistic narratives. In this regard, I agree with Almén that a consideration of musical works has something to teach us about narratives more generally.
In my discussion of Don Quixote, I have focused on Strauss’s representation of agents and their goal-directed activities, both of which I take to be essential components of stories, at least within the context of humanist discourse.31 These agents may not be human, but they must be represented as at least humanlike in their sentience, possession of beliefs and desires, and ability to perform self-impelled actions. But if representing an agent capable of action were sufficient, Strauss’s opening character sketch of Don Quixote would be just as much a narrative as the ensuing representation of his and Sancho Panza’s adventures. To exclude mere character sketches, the agent not only must be capable of action but also must exercise that ability.
The importance of agents to narratives is confirmed by the methodologies that have been employed in narrative-based analyses of instrumental music.32 What is required to understand musical events as constituting a narrative is to regard them as representing one or more agents and their actions. The first step is to identify some salient musical features (themes, motives, keys, instruments, pitches) and anthropomorphize them, regarding them as agents, fleshing out their characteristics, and attributing to them beliefs and desires that serve to motivate their actions. As illustration, I will perform an analysis of this type on the beginning of variation B of the second movement of Stravinsky’s Octet (ex. 1.3).
I take as the agents of my narrative the instrumental parts trumpet 2 and trombone 2. Trumpet 2 performs a solo march accompanied by the bassoons and trombones, which I interpret as a fictional act of marching, one that is curtailed by the crass glissando trombone 2 performs two measures before rehearsal 29. So far, I have some agents performing some actions. Almén may be inclined to regard my description as a narrative. Others may harbor doubts on this score. The problem, I suggest, is that neither trumpet 2 nor trombone 2 scores very high on the scale of particularity. Who are they? Why is trumpet 2 performing a march, and why does trombone 2 interrupt it? Narratives in other media provide answers to such questions.
Suppose I were to provide some. Since the musical topic of this passage is a march, a military setting seems apropos. The homophonic texture and regular pulse of the accompaniment suggest a scenario of a platoon going on a march with trumpet 2 as its leader—the corporal, let’s imagine. Based on the brisk tempo and dry accompaniment, the rigid dotted rhythms of trumpet 2’s part and its relative loudness, and even Stravinsky’s very choice of instrument, I could attribute to my corporal the character traits of seriousness, formality, arrogance, a need for control, and a desire to be the center of attention. The measure of triple meter (which would derail any attempt to march to this music) suggests that trumpet 2 is not as competent a leader as he thinks he is. Within the context of Stravinsky’s rhythmic practice, however, the metric abnormality is slight (compare the march at the Allegro moderato of the first movement). Perhaps it is not appropriate to think of the corporal as entirely incompetent, merely inexperienced and overconfident.
Example 1.3. Stravinsky, Octet, movement II, variation B
Within this framework, trombone 2 may be cast in the role of a private with a chip on his shoulder. Fed up with taking orders, he cracks a rude joke. The vulgar sound of his glissando might even suggest the target of his joke: the corporal’s sexual potency. Noticing the ensuing behavior exhibited by the other members of the platoon—the circus-like bassoon ostinato accompanying the flute, who lackadaisically mocks trumpet 2’s dotted rhythms—we may conclude that the private’s prank succeeded in putting a halt to the march, undermining the corporal’s authority and causing a ruckus.
By now, my remarks on the Octet do constitute a narrative, based on my earlier stipulations, but a narrative of my making, not Stravinsky’s.33 One might argue that the same is true of my description of Don Quixote, but that would be to elide crucial differences between these two cases. Although my discussion of Strauss’s work did involve creative extrapolations on my part, these were invited by Strauss and guided by features of his work—namely, its title and program.
Stravinsky’s work may be an apt prop for imaginings that constitute narratives, but there is no indication that Stravinsky invited such imaginings. Its title as well as the titles of individual movements (Sinfonia, Tema con variazioni, Finale) do not recommend extramusical associations. Stravinsky’s statements about his work provide further evidence that he did not intend it to present a story. The first sentence of an article he published shortly after the work’s premiere is “My Octuor is a musical object.” He elaborates that it “is not an ‘emotive’ work but a musical composition based on objective elements which are sufficient in themselves.”34 In his ghostwritten autobiography, Stravinsky sanctioned Walter Nouvel to publish the following aesthetic credo on his behalf: “I consider that music is, by its very nature, essentially powerless to express anything at all, whether a feeling, an attitude of mind, a psychological mood, a phenomenon of nature, etc. . . . Expression has never been an inherent property of music.”35 Such a claim is, of course, dubious in the extreme, as it is not even supported by the composer’s own works, including the passage under consideration. Nevertheless, it does suggest that Stravinsky did not intend the Octet to represent a story.
At this point, one might object that I have chosen decidedly cut-and-dried examples. A more challenging case would be Mahler’s Todtenfeier, which originated as a symphonic poem but eventually became the first movement of the composer’s Second Symphony (1895). Adam Mickiewicz’s verse drama Dziady (Todtenfeier in Siegfried Lipiner’s 1887 German translation) served as inspiration for Mahler’s compositional activities, but, unlike Strauss, he never made this fact public.
There were two actions Strauss performed that contributed to Don Quixote being a narrative. First, he modeled his composition on the characters and events of Cervantes’s novel such that appropriately informed listeners could hear those characters and events in his work. Second, he took steps to ensure that listeners would be appropriately informed by gesturing to Cervantes’s work in his title and indications in his score and by sanctioning Arthur Hahn to publish a more detailed program in his guidebook to the symphony.36
Mahler’s decision not to publicize the story on which his Todtenfeier was based suggests that he did not intend it to be taken as a representation of Mickiewicz’s story. Due to the substantial formal changes that occurred during the compositional process, there is also reason to doubt that Mahler’s compositional activities were guided by an intention to achieve a high degree of correspondence between the musical form of his composition and the plot of Dziady.37
Even if Mahler did not intend for listeners to think about Dziady while listening to his Todtenfeier, one could still argue that he intended them to invent their own stories while listening to his work. Such an argument would find support in Mahler’s decision to categorize his Todtenfeier as a symphonic poem, a genre of program music often used to tell stories. Furthermore, СКАЧАТЬ