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jeudi 2 juillet 2015

Exploring The Unique Relationships Between The Artistry Of Paul Klee And The Compositions Of Gunther Schuller

By Dorthy Lloyd


As if often the case in the world of the arts and humanities, each finds inspiration from the other. So it is not surprising to find works of art that have inspired musical compositions, or for music of some kind to inspire an artist to paint. When two masters, each respected in his own field, are connected by this kind of creative communication, some kind of new work emerges that is almost always interesting.

In 1959, composer Gunther Schuller composed a work for orchestra that was inspired by the paintings of Klee. His published work included a dedication to conductor Antal Dorati, and remarks by the artist himself. There are seven sections, each using the name of a painting by Paul.

There are descriptions provided by Gunther to explain his reasons for choosing the pieces he selected. He wanted to use both the compositional elements of each painting and the mood or feeling he believed it evoked in the viewer. Each note that he wrote gives profound, and in some cases humorous, reflections on his own thought process.

Much has been written about this piece of music by Schuller in relation to the artwork. But of great importance to him was the way that each painting evoked specific thoughts in him. The painting Little Blue Devil caused Schuller to think of jazz and blues music right away. It encouraged his writing of a composition that merged classic and jazz music into one, as an example of his widely discussed idea of third stream music.

There are many essays about the love of music Paul retained through his entire life. His parents were musicians and his first instructors. He practiced his instrument regularly, even though his career as an artist kept him very involved. He maintained a constant interaction between the two disciplines.

Paul had consuming interest in using the vocabulary of musical concepts within his art. The two disciplines share terms with similar meanings. His love for music was expressed in drawings and paintings using language musicians and artists share. One example is the word, line. Every artist knows how different kinds of lines show different emotions. In a similar way, musicians speak of the melody as a line. The general idea that unites them, is that a line starts at one point and ends at another point.

The seven paintings that uniquely inspired Schuller's compositions display a wide array of colors, shapes and lines. These artistic vocabulary words are common to both music and art. There is no doubt that this was completely understood by the artist. What is quite fascinating is that the composer could see these elements in the art, whether it be in a conscious way or not, and use them as springboards to create completely original music.

Ultimately, the works of both men are expressions of unity in thought. The discussions resulting from the links created by their works has been an intellectual feast, and most likely will continue for some time.




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