A música de vanguarda serve ao imperialismo (?): a relação entre música e ideologia na trajetória de Cornelius Cardew entre as décadas de 1960 e 1970
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2018-07-30
Autores
Lemos, Gabriel Francisco [UNESP]
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Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)
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Na segunda metade do Século XX, em especial nas décadas de 1960 e 1970, artistas e intelectuais discutiram calorosamente acerca da relação entre a atuação poética (criativa) do artista e sua influência no campo político e ideológico social. Nesse contexto, o compositor inglês Cornelius Cardew (1936 - 1981) se destacou por desenvolver um trabalho composicional e teórico contundente, crítico e autocrítico sobre a vanguarda musical e sua dimensão ideológica. Transitou entre duas das mais influentes orientações estéticas da segunda metade do Século XX, a música de vanguarda e a música politicamente engajada, ambas fundamentais na construção de chaves de leitura acerca da relação entre o compositor e a sociedade ocidental capitalista. Cardew se dedicou no decorrer de toda a década de 1960 na criação e divulgação de obras diretamente influenciadas pela escola americana experimental. Compôs obras que trabalhavam com a aleatoriedade, a improvisação (The Great Learning, Schooltime Compositions, etc.) e a notação gráfica, dentre essas, Treatise (1963-7) se destaca. Em 1969, ainda ligado às diretrizes aleatórias e ritualísticas da escola americana, o compositor fundou a orquestra experimental Scratch Orchestra (1969-74). Não obstante, influenciado pelo trabalho de pesquisa feito em conjunto com a orquestra (haja a existência de um núcleo de estudos teóricos chamado de Ideological Group), nos anos seguintes ao encerramento das atividades do grupo, Cardew se engajou na utilização da música como ferramenta na conscientização da luta de classes. Orientado pela linha de pensamento Marxista-Leninista, sua produção teórica e musical dos anos 1970 é marcada por um forte engajamento revolucionário, culminando na publicação do livro Stockhausen Serves Imperialism and other articles (1974). Em seus últimos anos de vida, o compositor volta a utilizar a notação tradicional e compõe peças para piano, canções e música coral que, se comparadas à sua produção anterior, configuram-se como outra linguagem musical, operando sob uma chave de leitura híbrida e diametralmente oposta à vanguarda experimental. Marcadas por alusões e citações diretas ao repertório musical revolucionário, erudito e popular, as peças para piano dos anos 1970 indicam uma preocupação com a inteligibilidade do discurso musical e almejam uma clareza semântica que se consubstancia junto do ímpeto político do autor. Nesse sentido, o projeto proposto parte da necessidade de melhor compreender e refletir sobre a produção de Cornelius Cardew como um compositor que personificou contradições radicais na prática musical, na atuação profissional e política de seu tempo. O interesse na pesquisa e no levantamento de dados acerca dessas duas fases de Cardew reside em sua drástica mudança de orientação ideológica – porém, logicamente compreensíveis a partir dos encaminhamentos de sua atuação. Como fundamentação teórica este estudo utiliza-se de uma bibliografia que compreende algumas fontes distintas de análise do objeto em questão. Por sua vez, agrupados em quatro vias teóricas distintas; textos de autoria do próprio compositor, a aplicação desse corpo teórico na análise da música de Cardew, a ideologia marxista aplicada às artes (em especial à música erudita) e, finalmente um conjunto de autores que também abordam a relação entre linguagem e música no Século XX.
In the second half of the twentieth century, especially in the 1960s and 1970s, artists and intellectuals intensify argued about the relationship between the poetic (creative) performance of the artist and his influence on the political and ideological social field. In this context, the English composer Cornelius Cardew (1936 - 1981) stood out for developing a compelling, critical and self-critical compositional and theoretical body of work about the musical avant-garde and its ideological dimension. He transited between two of the most influential aesthetic orientations of the second half of the twentieth century, avant-garde music and politically engaged music, both fundamental in the construction of reading about the relationship between the composer and western capitalist society. Throughout the 1960s, Cardew devoted himself in the creation and dissemination of works directly influenced by the experimental American school. He composed works that worked with randomness, improvisation (The Great Learning, Schooltime Compositions, etc.) and the graphic notation – among these, Treatise (1963-7) stands out. In 1969, still attached to the random approach and ritualistic directives of the American school, the composer founded the experimental orchestra Scratch Orchestra (1969-74). Nevertheless, influenced by the research work done in conjunction with the orchestra (strictly related to the theoretical studies group called the Ideological Group), in the years following the closing of the group's activities, Cardew engaged in the use of music as a tool in the awareness of the class struggle. Guided by the Marxist-Leninist line of thought, his theoretical and musical production of the 1970s is marked by a strong revolutionary engagement, which culminates in the publication of Stockhausen Serves Imperialism and other articles (1974). In his later years of life, the composer revisits the traditional notation and composes pieces for piano, songs and choral music that, if compared to his previous production, configure themselves as another musical language, operating under a hybrid reading key and diametrically opposed to the experimental vanguard. Marked by allusions and direct quotations to the revolutionary, erudite and popular musical repertoire, the piano pieces of the 1970s indicate a concern with the intelligibility of musical discourse and aim for a semantic clarity that is consubstantial with the author's political impetus. In this sense, the proposed project started from the need to better understand and reflect on the production of Cornelius Cardew as a composer who personified radical contradictions in musical practice, in the professional and political performance of his time. The interest in researching and collecting data on these two phases of Cardew lies in his drastic change in ideological orientation – hence logically understandable from the directions of his trajectory. As theoretical foundation, this study uses a bibliography that includes some different sources of analysis of the object in question. In turn, grouped into four different theoretical lines; texts written by the composer himself, the application of this theoretical body to the analysis of Cardew's music, the Marxist ideology applied to the arts (especially to erudite music) and finally a set of authors who also deal with the relationship between language and music in the 20th century.
In the second half of the twentieth century, especially in the 1960s and 1970s, artists and intellectuals intensify argued about the relationship between the poetic (creative) performance of the artist and his influence on the political and ideological social field. In this context, the English composer Cornelius Cardew (1936 - 1981) stood out for developing a compelling, critical and self-critical compositional and theoretical body of work about the musical avant-garde and its ideological dimension. He transited between two of the most influential aesthetic orientations of the second half of the twentieth century, avant-garde music and politically engaged music, both fundamental in the construction of reading about the relationship between the composer and western capitalist society. Throughout the 1960s, Cardew devoted himself in the creation and dissemination of works directly influenced by the experimental American school. He composed works that worked with randomness, improvisation (The Great Learning, Schooltime Compositions, etc.) and the graphic notation – among these, Treatise (1963-7) stands out. In 1969, still attached to the random approach and ritualistic directives of the American school, the composer founded the experimental orchestra Scratch Orchestra (1969-74). Nevertheless, influenced by the research work done in conjunction with the orchestra (strictly related to the theoretical studies group called the Ideological Group), in the years following the closing of the group's activities, Cardew engaged in the use of music as a tool in the awareness of the class struggle. Guided by the Marxist-Leninist line of thought, his theoretical and musical production of the 1970s is marked by a strong revolutionary engagement, which culminates in the publication of Stockhausen Serves Imperialism and other articles (1974). In his later years of life, the composer revisits the traditional notation and composes pieces for piano, songs and choral music that, if compared to his previous production, configure themselves as another musical language, operating under a hybrid reading key and diametrically opposed to the experimental vanguard. Marked by allusions and direct quotations to the revolutionary, erudite and popular musical repertoire, the piano pieces of the 1970s indicate a concern with the intelligibility of musical discourse and aim for a semantic clarity that is consubstantial with the author's political impetus. In this sense, the proposed project started from the need to better understand and reflect on the production of Cornelius Cardew as a composer who personified radical contradictions in musical practice, in the professional and political performance of his time. The interest in researching and collecting data on these two phases of Cardew lies in his drastic change in ideological orientation – hence logically understandable from the directions of his trajectory. As theoretical foundation, this study uses a bibliography that includes some different sources of analysis of the object in question. In turn, grouped into four different theoretical lines; texts written by the composer himself, the application of this theoretical body to the analysis of Cardew's music, the Marxist ideology applied to the arts (especially to erudite music) and finally a set of authors who also deal with the relationship between language and music in the 20th century.
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Cornelius Cardew, Música do século XX, Música experimental, Música politicamente engajada, Cornelius Cardew, 20th century music, Experimental music, Politically engaged music