H ARVARD UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF Art Placement only MUSIC NEWSLETTER Vol. 4, No. 1/Winter 2004 Bernstein and Copland, the Cold War: Music Building Oja and Schreffler’s 20th-Century Studies North Yard CAROL J. OJA “I would have never thought of it in America,” Harvard University says Anne Shreffler of her current project, a Cambridge, MA 02138 book on new music during the Cold War. Shreffler spent nine years in Europe, at the 617-495-2791 University of Basel, before joining the faculty at Harvard. www.music.fas.harvard.edu “It changed my life. I thought about the dif- ferences between Europe and America every day while I was there. Europeans do it this way, Americans do it this way; it was a constant back- ground noise, this awareness of difference.” Shreffler is interested in the decade after INSIDEINSIDE WWII—1945-1957—and in exploring the dif- ferences in political context between American 22Faculty News “I take pride in working across disciplines,” says 32 Shelemay in Ghana Carol J. Oja, referring to her recent work with ANNE C. SHREFFLER 43 Library News 20th-century American music. Oja has just fin- 4 Jazz innovator Greg ished her first semester at Harvard as the newly Osby at Harvard appointed William Powell Mason Professor of 5 Alumnae News Music. 6Graduate News “I really loved my graduate seminar this fall. 6Undergraduate News The discussion around the table was extraordi- 7 Heisey-Rotner’s nary, with students in ethnomusicology, theory, Music & Art composition, and historical musicology—even 8 Aaron Berkowitz: An one from the History of American Civilization— Interview and the sparks that flew were pretty amazing. 9 Arthur Berger I’m looking forward to building a network of 10 Calendar graduate students interested in investigating 11 2004 Fromm American musical traditions from diverse disci- Commissions Announced plinary perspectives.” and European new music: “We had such differ- 11 Staff News For Oja, “American” is most compelling when ent experiences of the war, our music histories 12 Yannatos Celebrates widely defined. are different. It wasn’t just Soviet and commu- 40 Years at Harvard “The notion of ‘national identity’ is continu- nist cultures that created a political music, what ally fluid, posing all sorts of intriguing issues. we think of when we think of Eisler and Brecht. Take Cage. Cage was certainly American, but his People in the West were writing music—Cage, work was profoundly shaped by Asian philoso- Schoenberg, Boulez—that occupied an ideologi- phies at the same time as it had a strong impact cal position. It was a political music as well.” in Western Europe. Studying American music New music, Shreffler believes—music per- DEPARTMENT CHAIR isn’t about being a nativist booster but rather ceived by creators and listeners as advanced, or Thomas F. Kelly provides an opportunity to probe our culture in experimental—was part of the political context DEPARTMENT ADMINISTRATOR terms of its internal diversities and relationship of the Cold War. Nancy Shafman to traditions around the globe.” “One strand of new music after WWII in NEWSLETTER EDITOR Oja is happy to be stepping onto the moving America was highly systematized. It was related Lesley Bannatyne train at Harvard. “The maverick here in study- to science and technology—think IBM in the ing American music was Eileen Southern [the 50s. There was an academic establishment be- Continued on page 3 Continued on page 4 F aculty News Professor Emeritus REINHOLD BRINKMANN Shelemay in Ghana delivered a “Wiener Vorlesung” at the Schubert-Saal of the Vienna Konzerthaus Kay Kaufman Shelemay took a research trip commemorating the 175th anniversary of to Ghana during the first half of January, Schubert’s death. The topic was Schubert’s 2004. Shelemay worked primarily in Accra, “Winterreise.” In March, Professor the Ghanaian capital, where she researched a Brinkmann will give the annual Donald J. case study of urban musical life for the sec- Grout lecture at Cornell University, also on ond edition of her Soundscapes textbook. In Schubert songs. collaboration with Harvard historian Emmanuel Akyeampong, Shelemay also vis- Assistant Professor MAURO CALCAGNO and ited traditional healers in the Volta region to James Edward Ditson Professor ANNE the east of Accra, where she and Akyeampong SHREFFLER initiated a seminar on opera at explored collaborative research possibilities the Harvard Humanities Center. The semi- relating to healing, ritual, and music for the nar is a discussion group, and will provide a Harvard African Studies initiative. forum for presenting new work and bring- Akyeampong and Shelemay also met with of- ing together scholars from different fields. ficials at the University of Ghana and trav- elled north to Kumasi, where they had an SEAN GALLAGHER is co-editor of Western audience with the Asantehene (King of the Plainchant in the First Millennium, a collec- Asante Nation), Otumfuo Osei Tutu II. tion of essays recently published by Ashgate. While in Ghana, Shelemay attended many He is on leave this year, thanks to a fellow- events with rich musical content including ship from the American Council of Learned church services, healing rituals, performances Societies, and is currently writing a book on by various funeral and dance associations, and musical poetics in the fifteenth century. a rehearsal of the national Ghana Dance En- semble. Shelemay interviewed a number of Morton B. Knafel Professor THOMAS FORREST Ghanaian musicians and came back with re- KELLY gave the opening lecture for the Los cordings and photographs documenting Angeles Philharmonic orchestra in Walt many aspects of present-day Ghanaian mu- Disney Hall during a series entitled “First sical life. Nights,” based on his Harvard Core course and his book of the same title. In February Top to bottom: Children from families associated with he was the Geiringer Lecturer at the Univer- African Star Dancers in Accra learn to play drums; Star Dancers performing a dance to drum accompaniment; sity of California, Santa Barbara. He pre- Master drummer accompanying singing and dancing of sented a paper to the American Musicologi- the Agbadza by an Ewe Funeral Society in Accra. cal Society on a new fragment of Old-Ro- Photos by Kay Shelemay. man chant, and he spoke in the Department's own lecture series. Kelly also addressed the Harvard Clubs of Westchester and Louisville. Visiting Faculty & Associates Dwight D. Robinson, Jr. Professor ROBERT LEVIN is working full tilt on his commission DEBORAH BURTON’s forthcoming book— from Carnegie Hall to complete the Mozart Tosca's Prism Northeastern U. Press, 2004— C-minor Mass, K.427 (to be premiered by won an AMS subvention grant to help with Helmuth Rilling at Carnegie, January 15, musical examples. The book derives from an 2005). Recent performances include concerts international conference Burton organized with Günter Herbig, the Detroit Symphony; in Rome in June 2000 for the centennial of Christopher Hogwood, Götegorg Symphony Puccini's “Tosca” and the bicentennial of the (Sweden); Nicholas McGegan, New World historical events depicted in the opera. Both Symphony (Miami Beach, FL); Sir Roger Professors Kelly and Lockwood were on the Norrington, Stuttgart Radio Orchestra Advisory Committee. continued on page 5 2 Oja, continued from page 1 first professor with a dual appointment in Block, the series editor, just published the first Afro-American Studies and Music], whose volume, about Richard Rodgers. Library News Music of Black Americans (1971) simulta- “When I first was approached about the neously established a scholarly model and series, I considered writing about Gershwin,” made a political statement. Currently, Ingrid says Oja, “but I was intrigued by the idea of Computer Workstations at Monson, Kay Kaufman Shelemay, and Anne tackling a later time period.” Loeb Music Library Shreffler are all working on different corners Why Bernstein? Tailored for Music Scholars of the American scene, and our methodolo- “I admire Bernstein’s theatrical scores, and gies vary considerably, yielding a wonderful West Side Story was an important part of my Computer workstations tailored for multi- synergy.” adolescence. I am a pianist and organist, and media music research are available in the Oja developed her interest in 20th-cen- in high school I played for lots of musicals, Eda Kuhn Loeb Music Library’s Aldrich tury American music through graduate study including that one. This repertory is central reading room. Students can complete with H. Wiley Hitchcock at the Graduate to our national identity. On a scholarly level, course listening assignments, compose School of the City University of New York. Bernstein’s music attracts me in part because music, or access online multimedia re- A project about the music of Aaron Copland of his relationship with Copland; it feels like sources from the workstations, which are hooked her early on: “As a first-year student, a natural extension of work I’ve done before. equipped with high-end sound cards, I interviewed Copland for a paper and There are some dissertations emerging about headphones, and headphone amplifiers. In jumped headlong into archival research– Bernstein, but the scholarly literature remains addition, Finale, a notation software for which in this case meant having the good surprisingly slim.” creating, editing, and printing sheet mu- fortune to work with correspondence and Oja is also co-editing a volume of essays sic, is installed on each of the four ma- music manuscripts housed in his basement about Copland with Judith Tick, to be pub- chines. Regular software updates ensure in Peekskill, New York. This material is now lished in conjunction with the Bard Festival the latest versions of plugins, such as at the Library of Congress.” in 2005 (Princeton University Press), and she RealAudio and Beatnik, are installed. Research into American 20th-century is currently president of the Society for “Music scholars have always conducted music led to Oja’s extensive publications American Music.