"At Bloomington, Indiana, I was invited to listen to music written in quarter tones for four harps and voices. I had to go out to be sick"
- Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
About this Quote
In this quote, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, a distinguished classical soprano, recounts her visceral response to a performance she attended in Bloomington, Indiana, featuring music made up in quarter tones for 4 harps and voices. The emotional reaction recorded here works as a lens into Schwarzkopf's creative sensibilities and the tension in between conventional and progressive musical expressions.
Quarter-tone music, an approach that uses intervals that are half the size of semitones utilized in Western symphonic music, falls within the more comprehensive spectrum of microtonal music. This type of structure typically challenges listeners with its unconventional tonal structures, diverging from the harmonious and familiar melodies of more conventional Western music. For somebody deeply rooted in the classical custom like Schwarzkopf, whose profession was built on operatic and classical collection identified by well-defined tonalities, encountering such an unknown auditory landscape might have been jarring.
Her expression "I had to go out to be sick" underscores a profound sense of discomfort and anxiousness generated by the quarter-tone structure. This physical reaction is an honest testament to how deeply music can impact one on both a psychological and physiological level. It recommends that Schwarzkopf's core musical values were deeply challenged by the extreme departure from convention that quarter-tone music represents.
At the very same time, this quote can show the stress and transitional minutes within the creative neighborhood throughout the 20th century, as numerous musicians faced stabilizing respect for classical traditions versus the amazing pull of modernism and experimentation. Schwarzkopf's experience highlights how the avant-garde motions can provoke strong, sometimes unfavorable, responses from traditionalists who are unprepared or unwilling to engage with brand-new types of musical expression.
In general, Schwarzkopf's quote encapsulates the rich tapestry of subjective experiences within the music world, reminding us of the broad spectrum of human responses to art and how these responses can be exceptionally personal, tied to one's background, training, and openness to change.
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away"