Turner 1 History of Text Technology Paper #2 Question: How useful is Theodor Adorno’s theory of musical spheres for evaluating the socio-cultural impact of Wagnerian music dramas, namely Der Ring des Nibelungen, and The Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD series? Written in 1941, Theodor Adorno’s cultural critique On Popular Music divides the discipline of music into two spheres: the popular and the serious. The popular music sphere encompasses all music that is simple, whose whole is not contingent on its individual parts. In popular music, a musical motif can be substituted for another and the overall scheme will not be altered or hindered because of it. Conversely, Adorno defines the serious music sphere as music in which “every detail derives its musical sense from the concrete totality of the piece” (Adorno 439). Serious music is entirely dependent on each part that makes it a whole. Even the smallest motif serves a greater purpose in the entire scheme of a work. Adorno’s concept of serious music evokes another Germanic idea originating a century prior to Adorno— Gesammtkunstwerk. Directly translated as “universal or total artwork,” this term was perpetuated by the prolific German composer Richard Wagner in his aesthetic manifesto “The Artwork of the Future” (1849) (Millington, Barry, et al.). Since then, Gesammtkunstwerk has become synonymous with his canonic compositions. This concept of total artwork unites all disciplines—music, art, dance and literature—into one entity. Essential to understanding Adorno’s theory about serious music is Benjamin’s concept of aura, written only five years prior in The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (1936). Benjamin defines the aura of a work as “that which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction” (Benjamin, II). Essentially, the aura is a work’s authenticity, originality— the essence the advent of modern, industrialized recording diminishes, even destroys. While historically the act of recording has existed for centuries, recent advances (in technology) (in the nineteenth and twentieth) have steadily made it quicker and more accessible. Recording an object creates a copy of that object, “substituting a plurality of copies for a unique existence” (Benjamin, II). Again, this repudiation of substitution appears; substitution dually negates the seriousness of a work just as it negates its aura. In contrast, there is a partiality for totality shared by Adorno’s theory about serious music and Benjamin’s concept of aura. Their theories
Turner 2 emphasize a quantitative fullness to music. As an analysis of Adorno quickly proves, however, an assessment of totality is inherently subjective. Thus, the following study of music is restricted primarily to Adorno and Benjamin’s interconnected theories. Specifically, the musical concept of Gesammtkunstwerk as seen in Wagnerian opera is shown to be an exemplification of both serious music and aura. Time and space determines the aura of a work. Both concepts were entirely demolished and reconstructed by Wagner and his operas, or as he considered them, his music dramas (Millington, Barry et al.). These musical works are long-winded (totaling no less than four hours in length) and incessantly ostentatious. An example of a Wagnerian music drama is Der Ring des Nibelungen (1848-74), a lengthy cycle comprised of four operas (Wagner). Exclusively built for the premiere of Der Ring, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus is an opera house in Bayreuth, Germany (Bayreuther Festspiele, Chronology). Originally conceived in 1850 and completed in 1876, the construction was an arduous process made possible by Ludwig II of Bavaria’s immense monetary support and Wagner’s obsessive supervision (Chronology). Its construction was to perform only Wagner’s operas and the annual Bayreuth Festival continues this initial purpose even today (Bayreuther Festspiele, Programme 2014). By creating his music dramas and an exclusive opera house in which to perform them, Wagner essentially built time and space, respectively. This granted his “universal works” ultimate authenticity: that which is grand is that much harder to reproduce. The Bayreuth Festspielhaus, in effect, acts as a substrate on which operas are rendered, a musical experience Adorno’s theory adamantly endorses as serious music. Opera and specifically Gesammtkunstwerk demands one’s entire attention. Wagner is famous for his use of leitmotifs— literally translated as “leading or guiding motif”— which act as essential, albeit small, musical units that unite an entire work (OED Online). For example, the leitmotif of lilting, dolce (sweet) sixteenth notes in the upper woodwinds might represent the whistling of the wind or the gentle murmuring of a stream. Timbre, rhythm, color, and scoring are all unique, important aspects of a leitmotif. If one aspect were to replace another, then the function of the leitmotif would change completely. The concept of leitmotif clearly encapsulates Adorno’s concept of serious music. It also demonstrates aura in that there is a particular place and time that the motif must and will
Turner 3 occur. Situations constrain and define these motifs; they are not free agents as a fragment of popular music might be. In the Gesammtkunstwerk previously mentioned, Der Ring des Nibelungen, there are countless leitmotifs (Wagner). They serve two important functions: a sensual importance and a structural importance (Evensen). The latter indicates the scene, agency, and/or emotions that occur during a specific scene. The former contributes to the overall structure of the composition. These leitmotifs are not simple, but inherently complex. The average listener would struggle to identify the majority of them, let alone when they are complicated transformations or subtle suggestions of motifs (Evensen). A nuanced ear requires time, energy, research, and, most importantly, attention. An unwavering focus is required for this dense, complex music. According to Adorno’s concept of serious music, this demand for focus constitutes the music to be serious. The whole and its parts are contingent to one another and are irrevocably irreplaceable. His defining characteristics of serious music could very well serve as a supplemental definition of leitmotif: “the detail virtually contains the whole and leads to the exposition of the whole, while, at the same time, it is produced out of the conception of the whole” (Adorno 441). Flash-forward nearly a century after Adorno’s On Popular Music and one is bombarded by the internet, portable music players, streaming torrents of illegal, free music, and the overwhelming production and consumption of what Adorno despises most: popular music. It is this reality that Adorno’s theory of musical spheres cautions against, even fears, and it is a relentless, cyclical process. How society consumes in the present affects how objects will be produced in the future and so on and so on, ad nauseam. Opera as a genre has dramatically transformed in the centuries following Wagner, gradually becoming more populist in both form and function.1 As access grew, so did the arguments of staunch conservatives (like Adorno) who argued for a certain style of music: this music over that music. However, history now relegates Adorno’s theory of musical spheres to the obsolete, the disfavored side of history (Taruskin). A theory that divides music into two distinct spheres simply does not hold merit in a century where musical styles constantly bleed into one another.
1 Now accessible to the public at large, not only by the wealthy, white, and/or male—i.e. the privileged
Turner 4 A recent development in bridging the perceived elitism of opera and classical music is The Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD series. Beginning in 2006, this series broadcasts performances of The Metropolitan Opera’s (The Met’s) current season across the globe as they are performed live in New York (The Metropolitan Opera, Our Story). The recent 2013-2014 season consisted of ten operas, ranging from canonic works of Mozart and Puccini to lesser-known works of Shostakovich and Massenet (The Metropolitan Opera, 2013-14). Regarding Benjamin’s concept of aura, this series shatters it. Now I can simply go to my local theatre at a prescribed time and watch a live-broadcast of an opera being performed hundreds of miles away. And if I could not make the first showing, then there are typically “encores” of the original, live performances that also play in theatres often weeks after the original premiere. The Met’s Live in HD series displaces the object (opera) and its recipient (an audience member) from both time and space, effectively dismantling any notion of aura. Tackling Adorno’s concept of serious music in light of The Met’s Live in HD series is slightly more challenging. Society overall has a warped view of classical music, all too often conflating it with a negative connotation and an austerity not unlike Adorno’s idea of serious music. However, strictly adhering to Adorno’s theory of musical spheres, The Metropolitan Opera does not exclusively perform serious music. For example, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Così fan tutte (1789), the opening opera on The Met’s most recent season, is not a work whose whole is contingent on its individual parts, despite initially sounding extremely ornamented and deceptively complex (Rushton). Historically, the opera’s melismatic melodies were actually encouraged to change, be substituted each performance. In the traditional setting of an opera house, Mozart’s opera does allow for a sense of aura. Ultimately, however, it deviates from what Adorno’s theory considers purely serious music. Adorno’s concept of serious music and Benjamin’s theory of aura are fundamentally rooted in the fear of the new and unknown. The concept of the internet and the speed at which we can obtain and distribute information was considered fictitious magic during their lifetimes. They instinctually feared what they did not comprehend, subsequently revoking the positive possibilities of the new technologies that are guaranteed to develop with each passing generation. The access The Met offers is enriching, positive, and (before the previous decade) unheard of. Its efforts to change the perceptions of opera and “classical music” as a whole are commendable.
Turner 5 While the overall canon of Western music stills bears to be reassessed, the restrictive dichotomy of Adorno’s spheres is suffocating and is ultimately not conducive to musical progress.
Turner 6 Works Cited Adorno, Theodor W. "On Popular Music." Adorno, Theodor W. Essays on Music. Ed. Richard Leppert. Trans. Susan H. Gillespie. University of California Press, 2002. 437-468. Bayreuther Festspiele GmbH. Chronology. n.d. <http://www.bayreutherfestspiele.de/english/backstage/the_history_of_the_bayreuth_festival/chronology_234.ht ml>. —. Programme 2014. n.d. <http://www.bayreuther-festspiele.de/english/programme_157.html>. Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. Comp. Andy Blunden. Prod. Film and Television UCLA School of Theater. February 2005. <http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm>. Evensen, Kristian. Leitmotifs in Der Ring des Nibelungen - An Introduction. 2008. <http://www.trell.org/wagner/motifs.html>. Millington, Barry, et al. "Wagner." The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Ed. Stanley Sadie. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. <http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/subscriber/article/grove/music/O905605p g1>. OED Online. leitmotiv, n. March 2014. Oxford University Press. PBS. GP at the Met: Wagner’s Ring Cycle, About the Opera. 2014. Educational Broadcasting Corporation. <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/episodes/gp-at-the-met-wagner %E2%80%99s-ring-cycle/about-the-opera/1312/>. Rushton, Julian. "Così fan tutte." The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Ed. Stanley Sadie. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. <http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/O003389>. Taruskin, Richard. 'The Oxford History of Western Music'. Oxford University Press, 2005, p.xiv. The Metropolitan Opera. 2013-14 Live in HD Season Schedule. 2014. <http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/liveinhd/LiveinHD.aspx?nav=top>. —. The Metropolitan Opera. July 2013. <http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/about/ourstory.aspx>. Wagner, Richard. "Der Ring des Nibelungen, WWV 86." 1848–74.