American absolute and programmatic music

In particular, American composers influenced by (and influencing) the jazz movement in the 20th century created some of the greatest pieces of music that words could not occupy without hindering. These men include George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, and Leonard Bernstein.

I confess that I do not really know detailed dynamics behind the making of orchestrated music. There are structural and melodic signatures that belong to both absolute and program musical styles that I am no expert on and will not discuss here. I prefer to illustrate pieces by giving a broad look at just how much of these styles have influenced American music.

Every song that can be thought of that includes some sort of wording or storytelling belongs to this category. As said before, program music outnumbers absolute music. Almost all mainstream popular music falls under the category of program music, as the general structure is based on the R&B, blues, and rock and roll style of music. There are almost always words and stories that these songs are built around.

And speaking of music built around stories, many great and favored musical works by American composers have come out of the movie industry. We discussed the role of music with movies for one of our weekly projects, so music's ability to complement cinema should be fairly recognizable by all of you

Examples of American program music (in no particular order)

• John Williams - Schindler's List (You don't necessarily have to watch the whole clip)
  • Anyone that has seen Schindler's List knows that the movie would be an incomplete piece of filmmaking without the music to help to tell the story. The dominant instrument for the soundtrack is the violinist (played by Israel-American violinist Itzhak Perlman), which adds a haunting and heartbreaking finish to what is played out on the screen.
• Bobby Fuller Four - "I Fought the Law"
  • Just like the majority of popular rock and roll songs, this song is meant to tell a story. And also like many rock and roll songs, it is inspired by the protagonist's struggle with authority. The reason I chose this piece over the others though is the break in the song after the verse "Robbin' people with a six gun." The drummer whips six hits on the snare that are made to resemble gunshots. This is a major element of programmatic music, creating sounds to resemble real things.

Leonard Bernstein - West Side Story
• One particular case in cinema (and theater) where music gets a promotion is in a musical. It's almost as if the score and the movie switch places in terms of command of the story. In this case, the twirling, singing, and dancing gangsters in West Side Story would look pretty silly without Bernstein's music to go with it. They aren't the most imposing gang anyways, the music is really all that's going for them. Pay attention to the choked out gasps of brass and woodwind in the standoff scenes and how the highly orchestrated dance scenes have highly orchestrated music to go with it. It's the music that's really at the wheel of the story and guiding the listeners.

Tupac Shakur - Keep Ya Head Up
• Rap and Hip-Hop are almost entirely lyric-based. For some rappers, they use words as a vehicle for what they see in the world or maybe what they want to see. Without them, people are just listening to drum machines and looped tracks.

It is not just the trait that absolute music carries no meaning through word which makes it absolute. It is the idea that the music tosses aside the common misconception that language, words, pictures, and other "restrictions" (in the musical sense) are the only ways to spur the senses and inspire the mind. Absolute music demands that people not just lay back and have the music and meaning spoon fed to them, but to actively participate with whatever is saying to the listener. One can release the philosophical idea that music has some kind of piety to it that commands its listener to kneel before its "beauty" and "grace." Absolute music is simply effort to identify that transcendent stuff that is in us and in the universe around us. We can only do that by letting that "stuff" out in the purest vehicle possible.

American absolute music is an obscure rarity, especially nowadays. Many contemporary musicians, at least those that tend to mainstream music, don't find instrumental as an interesting route for their music.

However, those that wish to create music that is independent enough to take on a life of its own have still pursued this in the United States. Lots of people are too controlling and demanding to allow music to stand on its own and say whatever it has in it to say.

Here are some examples

Examples of American absolute music (again, in no order)

• Sound Tribe Sector 9 - "Open E"
  • Sound Tribe Sector 9 is a jam/dub/electronic band that has been around for the past couple of years. They are a five piece, completely instrumental band. All of their songs are wordless and without lyrics, but sometimes they sample tracks that have words in them. This is a live piece that they play pretty often in concert.
• Jack DeJohnette, Herbie Hancock, Dave Holland and Pat Metheny -"Cantaloupe Island "
  • Each musician in this video has a strong background in jazz and funk music. This genre of music draws many of its ingredients from absolute music. Both Hancock and Metheny go off in this rendition of Cantaloupe Island. All show particular mastery of their instrument, but these are the two that are not restraining themselves (somebody's gotta keep rhythm) in terms of allowing their instruments to breath on their own. It's interesting to watch Hancock and Metheny unfold themselves through their music.

• Buddy Rich -"Drum Solo "
  • Incorporated in the anatomy of a drum solo are elements of abstract expression that echo absolute music and it spirit. If you'll notice, Buddy utilizes every single part of his instrument in different ways to vary the sound with beautiful technique. It's even more interesting that he never took lessons in his life and only practiced during band rehearsals. He just knew how to make his instrument speak, and that's what absolute music is all about.

• George Gershwin -"Rhapsody in Blue Part 1" "Part 2"
  • Leonard Bertanelli plays piano and orchestrates this rendition of one of Gershwin's most famous pieces. Rhapsody, as defined by the American Encyclopedia of Music is,

    "A composition of irregular form and ecstatic character made up of various airs woven together fancifully; a sort of medley expressive of wild joy, a piece resembling capriccio or fantasia. Rhapsodies are usually written in themes from folk-songs or natural music, but sometmies fantasias on some piece of art music."

    This free and irregular style is why Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue falls under the category of absolute music. It's what allows his music to grow its wings, and express only itself with the absence of reference. This was one of the prize pieces of the jazz movement, which was spurred on by the air of impressionism at the turn of the century.

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