Page 394 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2017. Glasbene migracije: stičišče evropske glasbene raznolikosti - Musical Migrations: Crossroads of European Musical Diversity. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 1
P. 394
glasbene migracije: stičišče evropske glasbene raznolikosti
other line “at five in the afternoon” (in Spanish: a las cinco de la tarde), the
time of the bullfighter’s death, constantly reminds the listener of the time of
that fateful moment. The music includes some frightening “tearing” sounds
that mirror the terrible event. The original broadcast was prefaced by a talk
given by the composer to help his listeners to become involved in the poet-
ic drama,42 but it also included a recitation of the original Spanish that ef-
fectively conveys a doom laden atmosphere even more strongly than the
English translation. Gerhard made clear his understanding of the poetry’s
metre and explained a little of his thinking in creating the accompanying
electronic sounds. The poem itself has a particular resonance in the context
of the situation: Lorca himself paid tribute to his friend the bullfighter with
his poem and Gerhard reinforced this with his own contribution. Did Ger-
hard see this as an analogy with the Republican Spain which was being de-
stroyed in the Civil War, especially as Lorca with his left-wing sympathies
was mysteriously murdered in 1936?43
The second major work which involved electronic sounds was one
which combined these with a full symphony orchestra in a work originally
called simply Collages. It was later revised and now named Symphony No.3
(Collages). Unlike Edgard Varèse’s Déserts of 1954, which simply alternat-
ed the orchestral and tape sections and also allowed performances without
the tape sections, Gerhard’s Symphony No.3 was a work that fully integrat-
ed the tape and orchestral sections with constant overlapping and interac-
tion between the two sound sources (see Table 1). The verbal descriptions in
the right-hand column of Table 1 give some idea of the way that the different
sounds relate. Because the electronic tape sections are spaced out and are by
no means continuous, it is the way that they appear and disappear that pro-
vides some of the interest found in the music. The section IV is purely or-
chestral, part of section VI is for tape alone and in section V there are mel-
odies and rhythms which suggest Spanish influence.
42 A transcription is given in Roberto Gerhard, “Introduction to Lament for the Death
of a Bullfighter,” Gerhard on Music, 185–86
43 When Gerhard’s Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter was composed in 1959, it was
generally believed that Lorca had been murdered by unknown assassins. Since that
time, however, it has now been made clear officially that the killing was the work
of Nationalist hitmen attempting to extinguish any dissenting voices. A report by
Ashifa Kassam in The Guardian, newspaper (April 23, 2015) confirms this story. (See
http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/apr/23/federico-garcia-lorca-spanish-
poet-killed-orders-spanish-civil-war) This event must have preyed on Gerhard’s
mind when the forces of General Franco were victorious in 1939 and hastened his
emigration before it was too late.
392
other line “at five in the afternoon” (in Spanish: a las cinco de la tarde), the
time of the bullfighter’s death, constantly reminds the listener of the time of
that fateful moment. The music includes some frightening “tearing” sounds
that mirror the terrible event. The original broadcast was prefaced by a talk
given by the composer to help his listeners to become involved in the poet-
ic drama,42 but it also included a recitation of the original Spanish that ef-
fectively conveys a doom laden atmosphere even more strongly than the
English translation. Gerhard made clear his understanding of the poetry’s
metre and explained a little of his thinking in creating the accompanying
electronic sounds. The poem itself has a particular resonance in the context
of the situation: Lorca himself paid tribute to his friend the bullfighter with
his poem and Gerhard reinforced this with his own contribution. Did Ger-
hard see this as an analogy with the Republican Spain which was being de-
stroyed in the Civil War, especially as Lorca with his left-wing sympathies
was mysteriously murdered in 1936?43
The second major work which involved electronic sounds was one
which combined these with a full symphony orchestra in a work originally
called simply Collages. It was later revised and now named Symphony No.3
(Collages). Unlike Edgard Varèse’s Déserts of 1954, which simply alternat-
ed the orchestral and tape sections and also allowed performances without
the tape sections, Gerhard’s Symphony No.3 was a work that fully integrat-
ed the tape and orchestral sections with constant overlapping and interac-
tion between the two sound sources (see Table 1). The verbal descriptions in
the right-hand column of Table 1 give some idea of the way that the different
sounds relate. Because the electronic tape sections are spaced out and are by
no means continuous, it is the way that they appear and disappear that pro-
vides some of the interest found in the music. The section IV is purely or-
chestral, part of section VI is for tape alone and in section V there are mel-
odies and rhythms which suggest Spanish influence.
42 A transcription is given in Roberto Gerhard, “Introduction to Lament for the Death
of a Bullfighter,” Gerhard on Music, 185–86
43 When Gerhard’s Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter was composed in 1959, it was
generally believed that Lorca had been murdered by unknown assassins. Since that
time, however, it has now been made clear officially that the killing was the work
of Nationalist hitmen attempting to extinguish any dissenting voices. A report by
Ashifa Kassam in The Guardian, newspaper (April 23, 2015) confirms this story. (See
http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/apr/23/federico-garcia-lorca-spanish-
poet-killed-orders-spanish-civil-war) This event must have preyed on Gerhard’s
mind when the forces of General Franco were victorious in 1939 and hastened his
emigration before it was too late.
392
