Beginning a new term as artist-in-residence at the Institute for Advanced Study, Jon Magnussen examines the life and music of Arnold Schoenberg.
By: Susan Van Dongen
Mention 20th-century composer Arnold Schoenberg to many people and they will groan. The controversial Austrian-born giant of contemporary music makes heavy demands on his listeners with much of his music, especially his "12-tone" pieces, written later in his life. These were formulated on Schoenberg’s pioneering method of using 12 notes related only to one another.
For composer Jon Magnussen, who has recently been reappointed artist-in-residence at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, Schoenberg is one of the most influential figures in music, pushing the outer limits of the tonal vocabulary, as well as finding new frontiers with rhythm, texture and form.
As part of the 2003-04 Recent Pasts 20/21 music series, Mr. Magnussen has planned a weekend of concerts and lectures focusing on Schoenberg’s music and life, Feb. 20 to 22 at the Institute. The series runs through the 2006-07 season, exploring new music and ideas of the 20th and 21st centuries.
"Contemporary or new music does have a certain specialist reputation among the concertgoing public," says Mr. Magnussen, seated in Wolfensohn Hall, where the weekend concerts will be held. "This is mainly due to the way some music has developed during the last hundred years or so, requiring a conceptual openness on the part of the listener an openness that hasn’t always been there.
"For most other progressive disciplines, developments are expected. However, in music some developments have proven to be problematic. Arnold Schoenberg brought to fruition an idea that had been around for at least a century he called this development the ’emancipation of dissonance’ and this idea did not hit it off with the general public.
"People feel proprietary about their music," he continues. "They learn what music they love, and this music, in a sense, becomes ‘their’ music. At the same time, they learn the names of those composers whose music they would rather avoid. Schoenberg comes up here, because of his part in the emancipation of dissonance. He arrived at that moment in history when the momentum toward atonality was undeniable, and he went with it. As a result, people have certain fixed ideas about his work. But Schoenberg’s story is not as simple as many would have it. This is the reason for this particular series of concerts and events. (We’re) presenting something that has many facets to it."
Photo Album with Music is a special event focusing on Schoenberg’s life in America, and features pianist and composer Stefan Litwin. In addition, Nuria Schoenberg-Nono Schoenberg’s daughter and wife of Italian composer Luigi Nono will speak about her father’s life. The concert takes place Feb. 20. Mr. Litwin will perform Feb. 21 and 22 in a program titled Arnold Schoenberg: Broadening the Circle, with works by J.S. Bach, Alban Berg, Charles Ives, Franz Liszt, Erich Itor Kahn, Stefan Wolpe and Mr. Litwin.
"With this latter concert we’ll be presenting ties to and from Schoenberg," Mr. Magnussen says. "For example, there’s a Liszt transcription of a Wagner piece that’s nearing the end of what we once knew as the tonal language. He was really pushing the boundaries. Then Schoenberg came along and took the ball after that, and tried to codify the rules creating a method to write atonal music.
"(It’s also) important to see him in the context of his students, like Alban Berg," he continues. "In ‘Opus 11’ which is rarely performed we’re actually using the kind of piano Schoenberg composed this particular piece on. You never hear it this way, on an upright piano with (special use of the) soft pedal. This is a household instrument, not a 9-foot Steinway you’d usually hear this work on. It’s quite a different color."
Planning the music series and giving associated lectures are some of Mr. Magnussen’s unofficial duties at the Institute. An independent research institution of higher learning, the Institute is fertile ground for creative ideas. Mr. Magnussen has relished his time there.
"It’s an incredible opportunity," he says. "There are very few composers who can pay the bills from composing modern classical music. So to have an opportunity, where for a length of time you can inquire exactly what it is that makes your music distinct, is like a gift. You have the time to ask yourself, ‘What are the pieces and how do you put them together?’ You learn a lot about yourself and your music.
"When I first got here I wrote a piece for solo piano," he continues. "I’d written quite a few before, but this particular piece was mainly about rhythm, and I was using nonrational rhythms, (those) that don’t add up well when given a certain meter. It was an opportunity to make some discoveries I was able to explore for a while afterward. The next piece I wrote, in fact, was a ballet, which ended up being performed at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics (the Olympic Arts Festival) and at Carnegie Hall. I think its success was largely because I was able to have this valuable gestation period here."
Mr. Magnussen’s compositions span the disciplines of the concert hall, drama and dance, and have been performed nationally and internationally by performers including the American Composers Orchestra, the Juilliard Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and Symphony San Jose Silicon Valley, Calif.
Combining richly textured rhythmic and melodic patterns with a deft sense of form, his works are both emotionally appealing and intellectually stimulating. Mr. Magnussen also uses the computer to create interactive environments for live performers, uniting the acoustic and electronic worlds.
Mr. Magnussen has received numerous commissions with support from such organizations as the Library of Congress, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Meet the Composer. Commissioners have included the American Ballet Theatre, St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, the Juilliard School, the Jose Limón Dance Company and the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C.
Recently, Mr. Magnussen orchestrated 19th-century chamber works for choreographer Robert Hill’s new ballet Dorian, based on Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. The score was commissioned by the American Ballet Theatre, and the ballet was performed last fall at New York’s City Center.
Mr. Magnussen was born in Sierra Leone and grew up in Hawaii, on the island of Kauai, where he nurtured a love for water sports especially surfing. He holds doctoral and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School, as well as degrees from Conservatoire Nationale Supérieure de Musique de Paris and Cornell University. His position as artist-in-residence will run through the academic year 2006-07.
Now that he has the luxury of all this creative time, one of Mr. Magnussen’s goals is to continue work on an opera based on W.S. Merwin’s poetic narrative The Folding Cliffs.
"It (has its roots in) a true story about a man living on Kauai who becomes infected with leprosy," Mr. Magnussen says. "It’s set during the time when they were shipping the afflicted away to Molokai and they would never see their families again. The man decides he’s not going to let this happen and he takes his wife and son into a valley and they go into hiding.
"The politically minded sheriff decides he’s going to clean the valley out, ingratiating himself to the new government, which has just overthrown the (Hawaiian) queen," he continues. "There’s a fierce gun battle, and they lay siege to the family. It’s a project I started thinking about right at the beginning of my time here. It’s not commissioned yet, though, so I’m taking a big chance."
There’s a concept in Zen philosophy that the most inspired artistic work comes from "not doing," refraining from forcing things into fruition. You step away from the canvas or keyboard, let the ideas tumble around, and they somehow become vitalized. That’s part of the beauty behind the Institute, particularly the artist-in-residence program. Mr. Magnussen can take a break from the frenetic and uncertain life of a composer, letting music come out of him more organically.
"(The Institute) is a wonderful place to create, and so many people here are creating," Mr. Magnussen says. "A colleague was remarking how nice it was to be in a place where you can discover what it is about your work that is the truth and then follow that. "
Photo Album with Music, with pianist Stefan Litwin and Nuria Schoenberg-Nono, speaker, will be performed at Wolfensohn Hall, the Institute for Advanced Study, Einstein Drive, Princeton, Feb. 20, 8 p.m. Arnold Schoenberg: Broadening the Circle with pianist Stefan Litwin, will be performed Feb. 21, 8 p.m., and Feb. 22, 4 p.m. Tickets are free but must be reserved. For information, call (609) 734-8228. On the Web: www.ias.edu