Reading too deeply into the inclusion of Chopin
While struggling through Mumbo Jumbo, with all of its unconventional quirks and additions, I began to think it would be much easier to simply understand each choice with regard to its writing and composition as intentional. Why are there two chapter 52s? Why is there a chapter before the publishing information? Why are there pictures that often don’t directly relate to the contents? I really can’t say, but I convinced myself there is a distinct reason, even if that reason is as simple as “for the sake of rebellion”. I still think much of the time that quality of ordered chaos and purposeful orchestration on behalf of Reed is what makes Mumbo Jumbo such a revolutionary piece.
Naturally then, in chapter 51 when the background music to the fake Harlem Renaissance celebration party was a Chopin piece, I guessed that there could be a reason for this- a sort of hint for people with music history knowledge to understand the intentions of this phony party, even if in the most subtle way. Despite my initial firm belief in his orchestration and puppeteering, I think Reed could have included a much more intentional piece and composer to convey what was getting at.
Chopin was a composer of the Romantic era in music- an era which I think in a very subtle and specific sort of way embodies some of the core principles of Jes Grew. If we take Jes Grew to mean a revolutionary cultural/musical/political/artistic movement which faces some sort of opposition from the current elite and which springs up organically (whether it be from one specific person or otherwise), Romantic era classical music sort of fits. If in class when we were coming up with examples we touched on everything from feminism to Pushin P, I don’t see why not. If one hasn’t studied music history and theory, everything under the “classical music” umbrella term sort of blends together, but the romantic era set the tone for our modern music in a tangible way by deviating from previous musical structures and expressing human emotion in a much more candid and dramatic way. Most point to Beethoven as being the catalyst, and he truly did set the tone for rule breaking in music- often nicknamed “the world's first rockstar”.
Another important thing that we touched on in class is the importance of the ever-evolving nature of Jes Grew. Jazz might have been Jes Grew in the 1920’s but it certainly isn’t anymore. Today Jes Grew is perhaps more found in Hip Hop, and maybe eventually Hip Hop won’t even be Jes Grew anymore and it’ll be something else. For this reason, I don’t see why revolutionizing music in the 1800s couldn’t be seen as Jes Grew or at least something not completely worthy of mockery by being set as the soundtrack to such a distasteful sort of event. Chopin wasn’t pretending to be great and his work wasn’t insignificant or false in any sense. He revolutionized piano writing and playing and more importantly gets at something very profound when he writes and for that very reason his work survives.
Perhaps (actually, in all likelihood), Reed wasn’t thinking this deeply into it. He just wanted a classical piano piece which his ideal reader would automatically recognize as meaning western, boring, and phony, and I’m not necessarily knocking him for that, I just think he could have done better with that detail. Perhaps a Neoclassical composer like Arthur Berger might have been better, but then the reference would get too niche.
It’s also important to recognize that Romantic era classical music was initially scoffed at by compositional purists and elites/critics, but it is of course nothing to the same extent as Jazz/Hip Hop, and race/culture plays into that significantly, and that is one of the most prevalent themes in Mumbo Jumbo. Again however, should we expand the definition of Jes Grew to mean expression with opposition (however it may come about), like we began to do in class on Thursday, I think we have a case to be made in favor of Chopin and all the other Romantic Era composers.
Yeah, the Chopin detail is pretty interesting. I would agree that this choice was intentional. The party in Chapter 51 has a Western vibe to it, so I understand why Reed chose a European composer. I'd add that the fact that it was an etude adds another layer of complexity. Etudes are technically challenging and highly skilled, which contrasts with the terribly written poem that Gould presented in the party. These pieces were certainly revolutionary for their time - one of Chopin's most famous etudes is known as "Revolutionary" (Op. 10, No. 12).
ReplyDeleteMaybe one day we will look at hip hop with the same view as we have on classical music. It may have been revolutionary at the time but now it is ancient and boring to many. Sure it can be studied and has so much one can learn from but it doesn't have that same freshness that it once did. I think the main dividing line between this comparison are the origins in black culture. I think Reed would not consider Chopin to be Jes Grew for these reasons.
ReplyDeleteI think your post speaks greatly to the evolution of music throughout the ages. Nowadays, the hip-hop and rap genre has increased immensely and has become the mainstream form of music - the Jes Grew of this era. I think our generation doesn't enjoy classical or older forms of music regularly, but at one point, the works of Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven, etc. were revolutionary. Music evolves so much and adjusts with the trends of the time which speaks to how Papa LaBas characterized the longevity of Jes Grew. Interesting post!
ReplyDeleteI say no reference is too obscure for Reed - if he had known about Arthur Berger I'm sure he would have used his work. He often writes without regard for what we will understand, as you mentioned at the beginning.
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