Over the years, there has been a number of different eras and cultures. Throughout all this centuries music has constantly been evolving and frequently represented the feelings and learnings of a era. The purpose of this essay is to explore how two different composer from two different culture and era portray their feelings and ideals through their music. The two composers that I will examine will be Niccolo Paganini from the Romantic era and Jimi Hendrix from the Hippie culture.
Paganini is born in Italy and is from a poor family. (Ewen 1937 pg 320) He is sickly throughout his entire life and his father is known to be very abusive and forcing Paganini to practice long hours. (Ewen 1976 pg 320) When Paganini was sixteen years old, he ran away from home so he could get away from his abusive father and was able to support himself by giving performance around Lucca, Northern Central of Italy. (Ewen 1937 pg 321) Paganini is frequently describe as pale thin looking, eagle eye, hook nose, long flowing black hair and always dressed in black. (Ewen 1937 pg 321) His pale thin appearance is most likely due to his poor health but however because of this, Paganini is often associated with the devil. His incredible technique on the violin is often cited as a exchange of his soul with the devil.
Italy was never really unified until Napoleon conquered and crown himself as the Emperor of Italy in 1804. (Killinger 2002 pg 96) Prior to Napoleon's invasion of Italy, there was a period of Enlightenment in Italy due to the French Revolution. However as the French Revolution slowly became the Reign of Terror, the Italian's enthusiasm died off as well. (Killinger 2002 pg 94)
When Napoleon invaded Italy in 1796, he drove most of the nationalist out of Italy and based his government on the French model. (Killinger 2002 pg 95) One of the first few things that Napoleon did was to confiscate the Church land and redistributed and there was legal equality. (Killinger 2002 pg 96) Napoleon also created roads and docks to promote trading as well as implementing French style civil laws. (Killinger 2002 pg 97) The overall living condition in Italy improved and more wealth was generated, education is better and as a result the middle class expanded. (Killinger 2002 pg 97)
When Napoleon invaded Italy, there were many changes and a lot of this can be reflected in Paganini's music and performance. The very first is Paganini's association with the devil, if Napoleon did not invade Italy and the Church's power was reduced, the chances of Paganini being exiled or killed is extremely high. Obviously this is a great time for self expression and individualism. The public are willing to pay and watch this kind of performance. I have googled on the internet for pictures of Niccolo Paganini and all of them shows him dressed in black, long hair, long sideburn and a pale face. This is most likely because Paganini never appears in the public dressed in any other style, hence there are no other pictures of him dressed otherwise. I think of it as his stage persona and most likely it probably helped with the ticket sales as well.
Part of Paganini's repertoire includes a piece entitled Le Streghe which translates into Witches Dance. Just from the title of the piece, I'm very sure some one from Paganini's era would be wooed into watching him perform. Le Streghe has elements of folk and gypsy influence in it gives it a very mystical and sometimes a very dark minor feel to it. I actually find Le Streghe to be rather progressive with many different sections to it. Some parts grand, some parts waltz's like, some part sad. The Le Streghe is almost like mimicking Paganini's life, each section describing a part of this life, from a poor and abusive childhood to a very well known performer, from rag to riches style story. I very strongly believe that with the decline in the church's power in Italy, it paved the way for musician's to explore other forms of music like gypsy and folk music.
One of the reason's why Paganini is known to be the greatest violinist is not just because of his stage persona and association with the devil but because of his great violin techniques. I personally believed that Paganini's great techniques did not come from his pact with the devil but rather from his long hours of practices as a child. I also believe Paganini uses different techniques as a medium to release his frustration and anger he suffered from his abuse by his father as well as his sickness. Paganini is also very well known for imitating the nature and you can find references of nature in his music.
I feel that Paganini probably suffered from some emotional as well as physical abuse effects from his father as well as his sickness. I feel that this is very strongly portrayed in Paganini's Caprice 24 Opus 24. This particular piece is in the key of A minor thus giving it a very sad feeling to it. It is widely considered to be one of the most difficult violin piece. This piece contains a main theme and eleven variations of the theme and I feel that each of the theme represents a different feeling.
The rhythmic structure of the main theme feels very military like and I personally feel that the main theme is not really sad but rather more of a uncertainty. Napoleon ruled Italy with a iron grip like a military coup which is represented by the rhythm and the uncertainty if it is for better or for worse. Another possible interpretation could be the abuse that Paganini suffered as a child, his childhood is probably very military like, long hours of violin practice and he is probably uncertain of his future.
The first variation feels like a bird singing. Paganini is well known for imitating various animals and I feel that this is a representation of it.
The second variation uses some chromatics, although one can still feel the key, I find that it is quite dissonance. It is really giving me the sense of pain which I assume is from his measles attack. Due to the lack of medication, the measles attack is probably a very painful one.
The third variation is probably the saddest theme. Paganini is plagued with ill health since a young age. This is probably also a flashback of the physical abuse he suffered as a child.
The fourth variation contains a lot of chromaticism and actually feels a little similar to Flight of the Bumble Bee.
The fifth variation contains a lot of wide intervals and sounds extreme dramatic. I feel that this is a representation of Napoleon's invasion of Italy where he brought about a lot of changes to the country.
The sixth variation sounds very angry. I feel that way is mainly because of the slides in the variation. The violin is a fretless instrument hence it is able to play all the notes in between like ¼ tone, 1/16 tone. When playing a slide on the violin, it is extremely chromatic and you do not really hear the tonality but really a whiz or blur of notes fly past. I feel that it is very similar when someone is angry, you don't really think so much but rather just speak out without thinking.
The seventh variation sounds very much like a horse galloping. When Napoleon invaded Italy he built a lot of roads. Paganini is well known to use horse carriage for his travels and the road and horse carriage is like one of the greatest technology of that period.
The eighth variation uses a bowing technique call Collé. Collé actually uses one small part of the bow to stroke the strings. The technique actually gives a more percussive and brighter tone to the violin. This variation gives me the feeling of anger and frustration which I would accredit it to his abusive childhood and the sickness that he suffers.
The ninth variation is another violin technique call pizzicato which is basically using your fingers to pluck the strings on the violin. It gives a very percussive high pitch staccato feel to the notes. I find that this style of playing is very unnatural does not really feel good and is actually eerie to a certain extend. If Paganini played this all dressed in black and with candles, it should be pretty eerie and even more strongly establish his pact with the devil.
The tenth variation is played extremely high on the violin and contains the highest note found in the entire piece. I personally feel that this is an extension carrying over from the ninth variation because the tenth variation is pretty sad and when played so high it is still very eerie and gives that feeling of mysterious which is part of Paganini's stage persona.
The eleventh variation is probably the most epic and contains many fast runs and poly rhythm as well as double stops. I have always personally felt that fast runs is really a way of releasing your anger and displeasure. If you take a look at the above description of the Caprice 24, Paganini although well known is plagued by illness and a abusive father and lived in a country where there is a lot of uncertainty. In order to release all this tension and unhappiness, playing at a very fast breakneck tempo really give a sense of release.
Jimi Hendrix is from a fairly poor family and his parents divorced when he was nine years old. (Jimi Hendrix Wikipedia 2008) Most of his brothers and sisters was given away and Jimi Hendrix would occasionally be put up at his grandma's place. (Jimi Hendrix Wikipedia 2008) Hendrix has his own share of run ins with the law and was given the choice of going to prison or be enlisted in the army and Hendrix chose the latter. (Jimi Hendrix Wikipedia 2008) Hendrix although very popular in England, was not successful in America until his performance of “Wild Thing” in 1967. (Jimi Hendrix Wikipedia 2008)
Hendrix probably had pretty tough and unhappy childhood and ended being drafted into the Army. It would not be surprising if he embraced the Hippie culture. Hippies generally will be under the influence of drugs, typically LSD to try to achieve another state of consciouses, often using music to express their feelings and in general are against the use of nuclear weapons and war. (Hippie Wikipedia 2008)
I strongly believe that you can find traces of the Hippie culture in Jimi Hendrix's music. I feel that the song Purple Haze is a representation of Hendrix's feeling while under the influence of drugs. The song starts off with a augmented fourth interval also commonly known as “The Devil's Interval” An augmented fourth interval is considered to be the most dissonance interval in music and many heavy metal bands like Slayer and Ozzy Osbourne will frequently make reference like its their favorite interval and the most evil interval in music. Using such a strong, dissonance interval as the intro of Purple Haze gives me the feeling of tension and displeasure. I feel that this can be traced back to his unhappy childhood and probably his struggling career as a musician prior to releasing his hit album, “Are You Experienced”
As the song goes into the first verse, the vocal is panned more to the right probably seventy right and thirty left. This sort of panning gives a sense of unbalanced, inequality and can be represented as Hendrix's frustration when not under the influence of drugs. However at the end of the first verse there is a shift in the panning of the vocals moving from the right to the left. The vocals from the left can be heard from clear to being more reverberant which can be represented as Hendrix experiencing another state of consciouses from using LSD, there are a many types of LSD and coincidentally there is a variant known as Purple Haze. Hendrix could also be heard shouting help me as the vocals from the left starts to become more reverberant, this can be seen as Hendrix wanting to get away from reality.
In Jimi Hendrix's version of Star Spangled Banner, it is typically viewed as the ultimate war protest against the Vietnam war. The American's in the Vietnam war used a lot of napalm bomb to burn the villagers and in return Hendrix used a lot of noise and feedback to perform the Star Spangled Banner. At the very start of the piece, it actually sounded like those warning siren going off before a air strike. The piece is also performed fairly slowly giving it a more sad and melancholy feel. Hendrix has never been known for his whammy bar technique but however he used it very liberally in the Star Spangled Banner and it actually sounds to my ears like people screaming from the burning effects of the napalm bomb. When Jimi Hendrix ended the piece, he never really resolved it back to the tonic, but rather he chose to let the guitar bled into a feedback. Feedback in audio engineering is considered to be unacceptable and painful to the ears and the Star Spangled Banner is the national anthem of the United States and hence the ending of this piece can be considered as Jimi Hendrix burning and mocking the national flag of United States.
Music as a whole can really be seen as a platform for musicians to express their feelings although the way it is accepted by the society can be very different..The Romantic era is a great time for musicians to experiment with different musical ideas like incorporating nature as well as other musical influences into their music due to the decline in the power of the Church. One of the greatest difference in the Romantic era is the fact that music is frequently performed in public and not commissioned like it was in the Baroque era. Therefore, a composer will have more creative control. Paganini is really exploring with his personal life. For example, in some of his pieces, he uses a rhythm that sounds very similar to a horse galloping and Paganini is well known for using a horse carriage for his travels. He also used many different violin techniques to portray different feelings, some giving a very angry harsh feel, some giving a very sad moody vibe. I dare say that Paganini's music is more intrinsic by nature because they affected him personally.
However it can be said that it is very much different for Hendrix's case, he is really expressing his feelings on the current issues. They are actually more extrinsic by nature. For example in his reinterpretation of Star Spangled Banner, he is really showing his anger at the United States for being in the Vietnam war but however he is not really personally involved in the war at Vietnam. I feel that Hendrix took drugs to forget his unhappy childhood and memories. Although I have interpreted Purple Haze as what Hendrix felt while under the influence of drugs, Hendrix has very openly rejected that idea and say that it is a dream of Jesus saving him. I feel that either way it is still extrinsic because the trip you get from taking drugs is momentary hence extrinsic.
In conclusion, music is influenced by the people and culture that you live in. Musicians will draw their inspiration from their personal lives as well as the culture and current issues to use in their work. However it may or may not have affected them personally and can be intrinsic or extrinsic force by nature.
References
Ewen, David, and David Ewen, eds. Composers of Yesterday: A Biographical and Critical Guide to the Most Important Composers of the Past. New York: H. W. Wilson, 1937. Questia. 16 Oct. 2008
Hippie. Wikipedia 2008
Jimi Hendrix. Wikipdia 2008
Killinger, Charles L. The History of Italy. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002. Questia. 17 Oct. 2008
