Synopses & Reviews
Music Divided explores how political pressures affected musical life on both sides of the iron curtain during the early years of the cold war. In this groundbreaking study, Danielle Fosler-Lussier illuminates the pervasive political anxieties of the day through particular attention to artistic, music-theoretical, and propagandistic responses to the music of Hungaryand#8217;s most renowned twentieth-century composer, Band#233;la Bartand#243;k. She shows how a tense period of political transition plagued Bartand#243;kand#8217;s music and imperiled those who took a stand on its aesthetic value in the emerging socialist state. Her fascinating investigation of Bartand#243;kand#8217;s reception outside of Hungary demonstrates that Western composers, too, formulated their ideas about musical style under the influence of ever-escalating cold war tensions.
Music Divided surveys Bartand#243;kand#8217;s role in provoking negative reactions to and#147;accessibleand#8221; music from Pierre Boulez, Hermann Scherchen, and Theodor Adorno. It considers Bartand#243;kand#8217;s influence on the youthful compositions and thinking of Bruno Maderna and Karlheinz Stockhausen, and it outlines Bartand#243;kand#8217;s legacy in the music of the Hungarian composers Andrand#225;s Mihand#225;ly, Ferenc Szaband#243;, and Endre Szervand#225;nszky. These details reveal the impact of local and international politics on the selection of music for concert and radio programs, on composersand#8217; choices about musical style, on government radio propaganda about music, on the development of socialist realism, and on the use of modernism as an instrument of political action.
Review
and#8220;A nuanced analysis . . . . Demonstrates with great clarity relationships between aesthetic questions and broader political and social issues.and#8221;
Synopsis
"This is an extremely important, groundbreaking study. The research is impressive and explores a wide variety of resources that span several languages, disciplines, and secondary as well as archival sources. Stylistically uncomplicated and lucidly written, this book is a fascinating piece of reading."and#151;Land#225;szland#243; Somfai, author of Band#233;la Bartand#243;k: Composition, Concepts, and Autograph Sources, Editor-in Chief of the Band#233;la Bartand#243;k Complete Critical Edition
About the Author
Danielle Fosler-Lussier is Assistant Professor of Music at The Ohio State University.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface
Note on Hungarian Pronunciation
1. Bartand#243;kand#8217;s Concerto for Orchestra and the Demise of Hungaryand#8217;s and#147;Third Roadand#8221;
2. A Compromised Composer: Bartand#243;kand#8217;s Music and Western Europeand#8217;s Fresh Start
3. and#147;Bartand#243;k Is Oursand#8221;: The Voice of America and Hungarian Control over Bartand#243;kand#8217;s Legacy
4. Bartand#243;k and His Publics: Defining the and#147;Modern Classicand#8221;
5. Beyond the Folk Song; or, What Was Hungarian Socialist Realist Music?
6. The and#147;Bartand#243;k Questionand#8221; and the Politics of Dissent: The Case of Andrand#225;s Mihand#225;ly
Epilogue East: Bartand#243;kand#8217;s Difficult Truths and the Hungarian Revolution of 1956
Epilogue West: Bartand#243;kand#8217;s Legacy and George Rochbergand#8217;s Postmodernity
Appendix 1: Compositions by Bartand#243;k Broadcast on Hungarian Radio, 18 September to 1 October 1950
Appendix 2: Biographical Notes
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index