Pawel Marcinkiewicz 5/10/2019 Portfolio Modernism – an era that shaped the future of art Since the beginning of mankind, music has been an integral part of one’s culture, tradition, and lifestyle. Music has undergone many different changes and has been influenced by various trends and styles, with many artists and composers creating their own variations and musical pieces, ones which resonate with the listener’s souls. Each age of music brought about different sounds, styles, and instruments. Modernism, an age of music that began at the beginning of the twentieth century, is considered a prominent era of music that was characterized by rejecting norms that were previously considered “correct” and “acceptable”, and instead creating and performing music that goes against previously commonly-accepted norms, striving to reach new sounds and limits. Society is often guided by public opinion and influenced by what is considered acceptable by social norms. Modernism could be interpreted as a turning point for music in general, with many composers and artists disregarding common norms, and instead bringing about a more subjective approach. Music is an artist’s extension of their soul, enabling people to express themselves in a unique manner. Edgard Varese and Harry Partch could be considered as one of the most prominent Modernist artists, implementing new ideas and innovations in the musical worldpawelnet.com that allow a broader field of expressing oneself. Edgard Varese, a modernist that gained a strong musical rooting in Europe, is considered as an important musical American artist whose artistic talents included many non-standardized methods of creating music. His song titled “Hyperprism” is considered as one of the first songs to be considered as “Machine Age music”. While it includes many commonly – known wind instruments, Varese also incorporated instruments that were not considered to be part of the commonly accepted public norms. These instruments included: “an anvil, a slapstick, two Chinese blocks, a big and small rattle, sleigh bells, a siren, and a ‘lion roar’”.1 (Candelaria, pg. 277) By implementing new instruments which were considered to be unconventional, Edgard Varese paved the path for new aspiring artists and composers in breaking away from previously accepted norms, and was able to portray that music is one’s own expression of different feelings and thoughts, and not simply a set of strict rules one must follow. Harry Partch, an artist from Oakland, California, was one that set to create and reach new heights with music. A prominent piece of music created by him was titled “U.S. Highball”, which could be considered as his personal account of his life’s journey from the mid 1930’s to 1943, and included many elements that were considered to break away from previously accepted social norms, through the use of subjective and objective voices throughout his piece: “The roles in U.S. Highball include ‘subjective voice’ and several ‘objective voices,’ whose words consist of ‘fragments of conversations, writings on the sides of boxcars, signs in havens for derelicts, hitchhikers’ inscriptions”.2 (Candelaria, pg. 282) Partch would strive to create new sounds, ultimately creating new instruments that would represent his musical talents, and would likewise have a visual impact as well – with having the act of playing the instruments being part of the complete musical experience. Oftentimes, musical artists create many prominent pieces of music as a direct resultpawelnet.com from their own life experiences, often translating their experiences into music, as visible with Partch, whose childhood was spent in the Wild West and influenced by a wide variety of cultures. Harry Partch likewise influenced many musical artists by serving as an example that music is not limited to just sound, but rather, the performance (of playing the instruments) as well. Similarly, Partch proved that anything can become an instrument – no matter the size or shape, an instrument is ultimately defined by the sound it produces and the emotions it triggers. Both Edgard Varese and Harry Partch can be considered as part of the avant-garde movement. The avant-garde movement was one where people broke off from previously accepted norms, and instead, experimented and created new types of music, that pushed the limits of what was previously accepted. Music, as many other fields of art, are shaped and guided by the public. Many artists, however, would strive to break apart from the mainstream, and instead, create music that resonated with their own perception of the world, often employing unorthodox methods, such as the invention of new musical instruments which created new sounds that would enable an artist to express themselves in a manner that is unique to the individual. Similarly, Dadaism was a movement whose goal was to reject the standard of the modern world, and instead bring about an outlook of the world that was considered nonsensical and absurd. Dadaism provided a different perspective of art, one that was not afraid to stand out and go against the mainstream. As can be seen, music is not guided by a set of rules, rather, it is an expression of an artist’s feelings, emotions, and thoughts. Every musical genre has its prominent artists that influenced music with many artists adding their own take on music, with modernism involving many new inventionspawelnet.com of musical instruments, sounds, and even the form of music. Music is an ever-evolving art, and through the talents and creativity of musicians such as Varese and Partch, music takes on new paths and is constantly shaped, allowing artists to express themselves in ways previously unimaginable. pawelnet.com Works Cited Candelaria, Lorenzo F., and Daniel Kingman. American Music: a Panorama. Cengage Learning, 2015..