Stefan Wolpe and the Avant-Garde Diaspora

342 Pages·2012·16.756 MB·English

by  Brigid Maureen Cohen

StefanWolpeandtheAvant-GardeDiaspora
TheGerman-JewishémigrécomposerStefanWolpewasavitalfigureinthehistory
ofmodernism,withaffiliationsrangingfromtheBauhaus,Berlinagitprop,andthe
kibbutzmovementtobebop,AbstractExpressionism,andBlackMountainCollege.
Thisisthefirstfull-lengthstudyofthisoftenoverlookedcomposer,launchedfrom
thestandpointofthemassmigrationsthathavedefinedrecenttimes.Drawingon
over2,000pagesofunpublisheddocuments,Cohenexploreshowavant-garde
communitiesacrossthreecontinentsadaptedtosituationsofextremeculturaland
physicaldislocation.Aconjurerofunexpectedculturalconnections,Wolpeservesas
anentry-pointtotheutopianartworldsofWeimar-eraGermany,pacifistmove-
mentsin1930sPalestine,andvibrantartandmusicscenesinearlyColdWar
America.ThebooktakesadvantageofWolpe’sroleasamediator,bringingtogether
perspectivesfrommusicscholarship,arthistory,comparativeliterature,postcolonial
studies,andrecenttheoriesofcosmopolitanismanddiaspora.
BrigidCohenisAssistantProfessorofMusicatNewYorkUniversity.Herteaching
andresearchfocusontwentieth-centuryavant-gardes,questionsofmigrationand
diaspora,theoriesofcosmopolitanism,andrelationshipsbetweenmusic,thevisual
arts,andliterature.HerworkhasbeenrecognizedwithawardsfromtheAmerican
MusicologicalSociety,theAndrewW.MellonFoundation,thePaulSacher
Foundation,andtheJ.PaulGettyResearchInstitute.SheisarecipientoftheBerlin
PrizefromtheAmericanAcademyinBerlin.

Newperspectivesinmusichistoryandcriticism
Generaleditors:JeffreyKallberg,AnthonyNewcombandRuthSolie
Thisseriesexplorestheconceptualframeworksthatshapeorhaveshapedthewaysin
whichweunderstandmusicanditshistory,andaimstoelaboratestructuresof
explanation,interpretation,commentary,andcriticismwhichmakemusic
intelligibleandwhichprovideabasisforargumentaboutjudgementsofvalue.The
intellectualscopeoftheseriesisbroad.Someinvestigationswilltreat,forexample,
historiographicaltopics,otherswillapplycross-disciplinarymethodstothecriticism
ofmusic,andtherewillalsobestudieswhichconsidermusicinitsrelationtosociety,
culture,andpolitics.Overall,theserieshopestocreateagreaterpresenceformusicin
theongoingdiscourseamongthehumansciences.
Publishedtitles
LeslieC.DunnandNancyA.Jones(eds.),EmbodiedVoices:RepresentingFemale
VocalityinWesternCulture
DowningA.Thomas,MusicandtheOriginsofLanguage:TheoriesfromtheFrench
Enlightenment
ThomasS.Grey,Wagner’sMusicalProse
DanielK.L.Chua,AbsoluteMusicandtheConstructionofMeaning
AdamKrims,RapMusicandthePoeticsofIdentity
AnnetteRichards,TheFreeFantasiaandtheMusicalPicturesque
RichardWill,TheCharacteristicSymphonyintheAgeofHaydnandBeethoven
ChristopherMorris,ReadingOperaBetweentheLines:OrchestralInterludesand
CulturalMeaningfromWagnertoBerg
EmmaDillon,MedievalMusic-Makingandthe‘RomandeFauvel’
DavidYearsley,BachandtheMeaningsofCounterpoint
DavidMetzer,QuotationandCulturalMeaningintheTwentiethCentury
AlexanderRehding,HugoRiemannandtheBirthofModernMusicalThought
DanaGooley,TheVirtuosoLiszt
BonnieGordon,Monteverdi’sUnrulyWomen:ThePowerofSonginEarlyModern
Italy
GaryTomlinson,TheSingingoftheNewWorld:IndigenousVoiceintheEraof
EuropeanContact
MatthewGelbart,TheInventionofFolkMusicandArtMusic:EmergingCategories
fromOssiantoWagner
OliviaA.Bloechl,NativeAmericanSongattheFrontiersofEarlyModernMusic
GiuseppeGerbino,MusicandtheMythofArcadiainRenaissanceItaly
RogerFreitas,PortraitofaCastrato:Politics,Patronage,andMusicintheLifeofAtto
Melani
GundulaKreuzer,VerdiandtheGermans:FromUnificationtotheThirdReich
HollyWatkins,MetaphorsofDepthinGermanMusicalThought:FromE.T.A.
HoffmanntoArnoldSchoenberg
DaviniaCaddy,TheBalletsRussesandBeyond:MusicandDanceinBelle-Époque
Paris
BrigidCohen,StefanWolpeandtheAvant-GardeDiaspora
Stefan Wolpe and
the Avant-Garde
Diaspora
Brigid Cohen
cambridge university press
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Singapore,SãoPaulo,Delhi,MexicoCity
CambridgeUniversityPress
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©BrigidCohen2012
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2012
PrintedintheUnitedKingdomattheUniversityPress,Cambridge
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
Cohen,BrigidMaureen.
StefanWolpeandtheavant-gardediaspora/BrigidCohen.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-1-107-00300-2
1. Wolpe,Stefan. 2. Musicians–Biography. 3. Avant-garde(Music)–History–20th
century. I. Title.
ML410.W8355S76 2012
780.92–dc23
[B] 2011049749
ISBN978-1-107-00300-2Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceor
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Contents
Listofillustrationsandmusicalexamples pageix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction:Towardahistoriographyofmodernisminmigration 1
Modernism,migration,andWolpe 1
Retheorizingmusicalmodernism 8
Beyondnationalframeworksandstudiesofexileandassimilation 12
Migrantcosmopolitanism 22
Ontheinterpretationofmodernistworks 31
1 Wolpe’sSelf-RevelatoryPoeticsandCriticalReflections,Circa1951 38
“Therealclarificationandreal-truesolutionofhumanparticularities” 38
“HeldIn” 40
Formandbrokenform 47
“Theun-losablefriendshipofhumanrecognition” 55
Wolpe’sself-revelationandself-narration 64
2 Weimar-EraMontageandAvant-GardeCommunity 76
Part1: AttheBauhaus 76
“Whatwouldwebeinapositiontodowithoutschool?” 76
Montage:theethicsofestrangement,formalization,andreclamation 88
Part2: AftertheBauhaus 104
ZeusundElida 105
Shockandexperimentalform 130
3 “Amalgamated”MusicsandNationalVisionsin1930sPalestine 140
“Amalgamated”idiomsandMandate-erapolitics 140
Wolpe’spoliticalpositioninPalestine 145
Wolpe’s“fullconcern”andpedagogicalpresence 158
“Ifitbemyfate...” 169
The“dream-panorama”ofJewishmusic 183
“Butonlyifitexisted:themostspiritualcommunity” 193
viii Contents
4 TheMid-CenturyPoeticsandPoliticsofExperimentalCommunity 202
TheOboeQuartet:communitylifeandmemory 202
Resistingthe“holesofoblivion”:Wolpe,Arendt,andhuman
plurality 212
Transforming“things”into“beings”:Wolpe,Blücher,and“organic
modes” 222
Wolpe’smid-centurycommunitiesinprofile 230
Bebop 232
EighthStreetArtists’Club 245
BlackMountainCollege 255
Heterotopia 263
Epilogue:TheWitnessingMemory 267
Nodirectionhome 267
Theself-narrator’sbelonging 275
Hauntedobjects 284
The“discontinuum”oftestament 295
Interpretivecommunitiesandpublics 301
SelectBibliography 304
Index 322