Opera and Ideology in Prague Polemics and Practice at the National Theater, 1900-1938 |
|
| Author:
| Locke, Brian S. |
| Editor:
| Locke, Brian S. |
| Series title: | Eastman Studies in Music Ser. |
| ISBN: | 978-1-281-60819-2 |
| Publication Date: | Jan 2010 |
| Publisher: | University of Rochester Press
|
| Book Format: | Ebook |
| List Price: | USD $160.00 |
Book Description:
|
This study presents a history and analysis of the Prague musical community from 1900 until the end of democracy in 1938. Opera and Ideology in Prague not only narrates the fascinating history of a local musical community but also reveals much about music and culture in Europe. The fin-de-siecle period was dominated by the musicologist Zdenek Nejedly's polemics regarding the competing legacies of Smetana and Dvorak and the merits of modernism. After Czech independence in 1918, a new...
More DescriptionThis study presents a history and analysis of the Prague musical community from 1900 until the end of democracy in 1938. Opera and Ideology in Prague not only narrates the fascinating history of a local musical community but also reveals much about music and culture in Europe. The fin-de-siecle period was dominated by the musicologist Zdenek Nejedly's polemics regarding the competing legacies of Smetana and Dvorak and the merits of modernism. After Czech independence in 1918, a new generation of musicians accepted modernist foreign influences only with extreme hesitation. The 1926 Prague premiere of Berg's opera Wozzeck and the ascendancy of a young group of avant-garde composers changed the cultural climate entirely, providing new ground for the exploration of jazz, neo-classicism, quarter tones, and socialist music. As the Czechoslovak Republic drew to a close, a resurgence of nationalism appeared in the musical expressions of both Czechs and German-Bohemians. The analyses of operas and tone poems by Novak, Ostrcil, Zich, Jeremias, Haba, Kricka, and Suk provide a cross-section of musical life in early twentieth-century Prague, as well as a series of interpretations of Czech cultural identity. Populist endeavors such as jazz and neo-classicism represented some of the ways in which composers of the 1930s attempted to regain an audience alienated by modernism: in this respect, the trends in Prague mirrored those of the rest of Europe. Brian Locke is assistant professor of music history at Western Illinois University (in Macomb).