Govur University Logo
--> --> --> -->
...

Describe how Dada and Surrealism's philosophies manifest in specific avant-garde musical compositions.



Dada and Surrealism, two pivotal art movements of the early 20th century, profoundly impacted avant-garde music by challenging conventional notions of beauty, logic, and reason. Their philosophies, born out of disillusionment with societal norms and the horrors of World War I, found fertile ground in music, leading to compositions that embraced absurdity, chance, and the subconscious. Dada, with its anti-art stance, sought to dismantle the established order, rejecting traditional aesthetics and embracing noise, found objects, and chance procedures as means of expression. Surrealism, on the other hand, explored the realm of dreams, the unconscious mind, and irrationality, aiming to liberate artistic expression from the constraints of logic. These approaches manifested in music in diverse and often provocative ways.

In Dada, the influence can be seen in the works that deliberately embrace the illogical and the absurd. For instance, Erik Satie's "Parade," though technically not solely Dada, embodies a spirit of playful irreverence and juxtaposition that aligns with Dadaist principles. Its deliberately nonsensical libretto and incorporation of unusual instruments and sound effects was a radical departure from traditional ballet, disrupting expectations of narrative coherence and musical beauty, mirroring the Dadaist rejection of artistic pretension. Further reflecting this irreverence is the deliberate incorporation of seemingly random and found elements. While not all surviving music was recorded, it was not unusual to see these performance events including instruments like typewriters, sirens, or bicycle wheels. In a way this rejects traditional instruments altogether as tools for musical creation.

Surrealism's influence on music is manifested through compositions that delve into the world of dreams and the subconscious. This is visible in the use of techniques such as free association and unexpected juxtapositions of musical ideas. For example, some of the later works of composers like Edgard Varèse demonstrate this. While not a Surrealist per se, his use of sound masses, dissonances, and fragmented melodic lines creates a dreamlike, otherworldly atmosphere. Works like "Ionisation" or "Hyperprism" feature an emphasis on pure sound and timbre rather than melody or harmony, creating a musical landscape that mirrors the illogical and evocative nature of dreams. Similarly, the emphasis on the irrational was done through the use of chance. Composers began exploring this with methods such as the use of dice rolls, astrological charts and other randomized elements. This introduced an element of indeterminacy that mirrored the unpredictability of the subconscious. This can be heard in a work like "Music of Changes" by John Cage where elements were decided by I Ching or the Book of Changes. This introduces an element of unconscious intent by removing control away from the composer.

Another manifestation of surrealist thought is in the use of collage and montage techniques in music, mirroring visual Surrealism. Composers began combining seemingly unrelated musical fragments or quotations to create jarring and unexpected sonic experiences. For example, Luciano Berio's "Sinfonia" contains quotations from various classical works interwoven with spoken word, creating a surreal and dreamlike landscape that challenges traditional notions of musical unity. In this work, these techniques are used to reflect on historical and cultural contexts through the musical lens. Another approach was to make musical works feel uncanny and strange. This can be heard in the early works of Pierre Boulez where his serialism takes on a chaotic and disorienting nature. This is not in the sense of his serialism being non-calculated but in how it created a sense of the strange and unfamiliar, akin to the unsettling feeling found in Surrealist paintings. Through various techniques like this the surrealist interest in the strange and dreamlike is achieved.

In conclusion, Dada and Surrealism's philosophies profoundly shaped avant-garde music by challenging established norms and embracing the irrational, absurd, and subconscious. Dada's influence can be seen in compositions that reject traditional structures, embrace noise, and incorporate chance, while Surrealism's influence manifests in the exploration of dreamlike soundscapes, free association, and unexpected juxtapositions. These movements transformed music into a medium that explores not just beauty and order, but also the realms of the unconscious and the absurd, pushing the boundaries of artistic expression.