Throughout the centuries, artists and musicians have drawn inspiration from each other. Often, the love for the arts is strong and a master in one discipline has been trained in another. When creative opportunities offer the chance to merge two artistic loves in one work, then something new and different becomes a landmark of expression.
Two great masters, one an artist, the other a musician, produced works reflecting their loves for both music and art. Paul Klee took a definitive place in the contemporary world when his drawings and paintings gained public attention. The pieces reflected the stylistic trends of his lifetime. The same was true in following years, when Gunther Schuller composed an orchestral work inspired by the paintings of Paul. This commissioned piece successfully created musical expressions to match those in the art.
There are descriptions provided by Gunther to explain his reasons for choosing the pieces he selected. He wanted to use both the compositional elements of each painting and the mood or feeling he believed it evoked in the viewer. Each note that he wrote gives profound, and in some cases humorous, reflections on his own thought process.
Much has been written about this piece of music by Schuller in relation to the artwork. But of great importance to him was the way that each painting evoked specific thoughts in him. The painting Little Blue Devil caused Schuller to think of jazz and blues music right away. It encouraged his writing of a composition that merged classic and jazz music into one, as an example of his widely discussed idea of third stream music.
What is interesting is that both Paul and Gunther were passionate about more than their art of choice. Paul loved music and practiced on his violin for throughout his life. He began studies very young and played regularly. For him, explaining musical concepts through his visual art was a key challenge. For Gunther, composing music that would explain artistic elements in an auditory mode was important.
His writings, and certainly those of scholars who chronicled his works, describe his striving to use the basic concepts of music in his visual creations. Using drawn lines were similar to playing musical lines. Notes of melodies could express emotions, and lines in art could visually depict the gamut of human feelings, too. His paintings are described as visual renderings of the auditory language of music.
Gunther chose seven paintings with many different shapes, lines and colors. These terms, and certainly more, are shared in both the musical and artistic vocabularies. While Paul worked to have his art show elements of music, what motivated Gunther was the chance to describe the art within his compositions. It is a mark of creative excellence that both were able to achieve satisfactory works that are still being exhibited and performed today.
Since the time the work was premiered, many intellectual discussions have been held concerning his focus on the work of Paul. Without a doubt, the music has been played with and without commentary by the composer many times. But, what is important to take away from all of the words, is the theme of creative collaboration between two minds that have certainly thought alike. Both separately and through inspiration, they have demonstrated what is possible when global thinking takes place.
Two great masters, one an artist, the other a musician, produced works reflecting their loves for both music and art. Paul Klee took a definitive place in the contemporary world when his drawings and paintings gained public attention. The pieces reflected the stylistic trends of his lifetime. The same was true in following years, when Gunther Schuller composed an orchestral work inspired by the paintings of Paul. This commissioned piece successfully created musical expressions to match those in the art.
There are descriptions provided by Gunther to explain his reasons for choosing the pieces he selected. He wanted to use both the compositional elements of each painting and the mood or feeling he believed it evoked in the viewer. Each note that he wrote gives profound, and in some cases humorous, reflections on his own thought process.
Much has been written about this piece of music by Schuller in relation to the artwork. But of great importance to him was the way that each painting evoked specific thoughts in him. The painting Little Blue Devil caused Schuller to think of jazz and blues music right away. It encouraged his writing of a composition that merged classic and jazz music into one, as an example of his widely discussed idea of third stream music.
What is interesting is that both Paul and Gunther were passionate about more than their art of choice. Paul loved music and practiced on his violin for throughout his life. He began studies very young and played regularly. For him, explaining musical concepts through his visual art was a key challenge. For Gunther, composing music that would explain artistic elements in an auditory mode was important.
His writings, and certainly those of scholars who chronicled his works, describe his striving to use the basic concepts of music in his visual creations. Using drawn lines were similar to playing musical lines. Notes of melodies could express emotions, and lines in art could visually depict the gamut of human feelings, too. His paintings are described as visual renderings of the auditory language of music.
Gunther chose seven paintings with many different shapes, lines and colors. These terms, and certainly more, are shared in both the musical and artistic vocabularies. While Paul worked to have his art show elements of music, what motivated Gunther was the chance to describe the art within his compositions. It is a mark of creative excellence that both were able to achieve satisfactory works that are still being exhibited and performed today.
Since the time the work was premiered, many intellectual discussions have been held concerning his focus on the work of Paul. Without a doubt, the music has been played with and without commentary by the composer many times. But, what is important to take away from all of the words, is the theme of creative collaboration between two minds that have certainly thought alike. Both separately and through inspiration, they have demonstrated what is possible when global thinking takes place.
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