Welcome Visitor

Welcome to my blog plan of my Inspiring the Inspired Art Exhibition. In the actual exhibit, I envision buttons near the displays that will play music over intercoms when pressed. However, for the purposes of this blog, I have simply embedded YouTube videos to play the music. You will need to press play in order to begin the video and be sure to turn your volume on.

When you get to the bottom of the page, be sure to click on OLDER POSTS to access the rest of the exhibit. There are a total of 3 rooms and 13 displays of art. 

Thank you, and enjoy Inspiring the Inspired...

INTRODUCTION

In·spi·ra·tion

   [in-spuh-rey-shuh n]

noun

1.

an inspiring or animating action or influence

2.

Something inspired, as an idea.

3.

A result of inspired activity.

4.

A thing or person that inspires

(Dictionary.com)

According to its definition, inspiration exists in many forms. It is something that inspires, it is something, or someone, that is inspired, and it is the product of that inspiration. Art, in all of its multiple styles, has quite often been the result of someone’s inspiration. What inspires artists to paint, to write, or to compose what they do?   That question may be one for the artist to answer, but what about you as the viewer? Art, the product of inspiration, can also be the source of inspiration. Possibly, some of you may leave this exhibit today feeling “inspired” by what you see and hear. That inspiration may move you to create your own work of art, and in this way the art has now become the product as well as the source of inspiration.

Back to the original question: What inspires the inspired? Is art a product of another art’s inspiration? If so, how is it that this inspiration can transcend the various artistic mediums with their distinct languages? Literature speaks in the language of words and structure that can describe scenes as well as emotions to its viewer. Visual Art speaks the vivid language of color, shape, and line which has the power to generate an image. Music, however, speaks an invisible language that breaks down all barriers of culture. The sounds and the texture of the notes speak to the emotions of all listeners allowing them to generate meaning. It suggests, rather than describes. Because of this, it has the capability to translate the languages of the other mediums into its invisible language. Notes and sounds explain a scene like the words of a poem. With only audible noises, instruments can paint a visual image.  In the following exhibit, you will see how the various art forms inspire each other and how music with its ability to translate art’s many languages acts as the center of this mutual inspiration. 

ROOM 1 – Musicians inspired by Literature

Whether inspired by reading a piece of literature and then desiring to compose a musical piece based on its words, or by writing a piece of poetry to accompany and amplify a musical composition, the art of literature has inspired musicians to compose. These musicians have recognized the beauty in the flow of words and the literary power of telling a story. With this recognition, they have attempted to translate the language of words and description into their language of sounds and suggestion. In this room, you will have the opportunity to read the literary inspiration that inspired these musicians while listening to the composed products of that inspiration. The room will highlight a composer and writer from three different time periods: Baroque, Romanticism, and Postmodernism. Please press the green button next to each display to hear the musical selection. We would ask you to remember to be considerate to those around you wishing to hear the music. Thank you. 

Antonio Vivaldi’s Spring Movement 1

“Spring with all its festiveness has arrived
And the birds salute it with happy song
And the brooks, kissed by the breezes,
Meanwhile flow with sweet murmurings.
Dark clouds cover the sky
Announced by bolts of lightning and thunder.
But when all has returned to quiet
The birds commence to sing once again their enchanted song”
(qtd. in Wright)

Antonio Vivaldi composed his famous Four Seasons concertos in 1723. Before composing these concertos, Vivaldi first wrote a poem, or what he called an “illustrative sonnet,” in order to put down in words exactly what his music would show (Wright). He set the structure of each line to correspond to the appropriate line of music. Here is the poem that Vivaldi wrote to accompany his first movement of his Spring Concerto. As you listen to the movement and read the poem, note how Vivaldi uses his music to describe the exact scene of which his words express. Instruments, like words, can express feeling and describe a scene.

Vivaldi writes the piece in a major key to express joy for the arrival of spring. Note with the entrance of the violin soloists how Vivaldi uses the violin solo to introduce the birds’ happy song. He writes that the violins play short, quick, staccato notes in a high register to mimic the noise of birds chirping. The violinist use techniques such as vibrato and trills to produce the sound of fluttering wings. Next, he creates the flow of the brook with the continuous movement of broken chords in the orchestral accompaniment. Then the violas and the cellos play a low rumbling tremolo, or a rapid repeat of the same note, to produce the culminating sound of thunder. The violin soloist comes in with a quick bow that shows the fast lightning bolt. Finally, there is a shift to a minor key as the storm continues and the birds return singing the key back to major.

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe & Franz Schubert

The Erlkönig

            Original German                                     

Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind? Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind; Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm, Er faßt ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm. "Mein Sohn, was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht?" — "Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht? Den Erlenkönig mit Kron und Schweif?" — "Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif." "Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir! Gar schöne Spiele spiel' ich mit dir; Manch' bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand, Meine Mutter hat manch gülden Gewand." — "Mein Vater, mein Vater, und hörest du nicht, Was Erlenkönig mir leise verspricht?" — "Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind; In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind." — "Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehen? Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön; Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn, Und wiegen und tanzen und singen dich ein." — "Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort Erlkönigs Töchter am düstern Ort?" — "Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh es genau: Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau. —" "Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt; Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch ich Gewalt." — "Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt faßt er mich an! Erlkönig hat mir ein Leids getan!" — Dem Vater grauset's, er reitet geschwind, Er hält in Armen das ächzende Kind, Erreicht den Hof mit Müh' und Not; In seinen Armen das Kind war tot.

Who rides, so late, through night and wind? It is the father with his child. He has the boy well in his arm He holds him safely, he keeps him warm. "My son, why do you hide your face so anxiously?" "Father, do you not see the Alder king? The Alder king with crown and tail?" "My son, it's a wisp of fog." "You dear child, come, go with me! Very lovely games I'll play with you; Some colourful flowers are on the shore, My mother has some golden robes." "My father, my father, and don't you hear What Alder king quietly promises me?" "Be calm, stay calm, my child; The wind is rustling through withered leaves." "Do you want to come with me, pretty boy? My daughters shall wait on you finely; My daughters will lead the nightly dance, And rock and dance and sing you to sleep." "My father, my father, and don't you see there Alder king's daughters in the gloomy place?" "My son, my son, I see it clearly: There shimmer the old willows so grey." "I love you, your beautiful form entices me; And if you're not willing, then I will use force." "My father, my father, he's grabbing me now! Alder king has done me some harm!" It horrifies the father; he swiftly rides on, He holds the moaning child in his arms, Reaches the farm with trouble and hardship; In his arms, the child was dead. (Wikepedia.com)

Goethe wrote this poem in 1782 about a strange mythical creature. In 1815, Franz Schubert took inspiration from this poem and composed his Lied for soloist and piano. “According to a friend’s account, Schubert was reading a book of Goethe’s poetry, pacing back and forth. Suddenly, he sprang to a piano and, as fast as he could write, set Goethe’s entire ballad to music” (qtd. in Wright). 

Schubert begins the piece in a minor key with the right hand playing fast repetitive chords that give the motion of the galloping horse. This quick repetitive movement continues throughout the entire accompaniment to give a sense of urgency. Although Schubert incorporates the words from the text, his musical accompaniment sets the scene. The poem has four characters: the narrator, the father, the son, and the Erlkönig. In order to portray these distinct characters, Schubert, as well as the singer’s vocal technique, creates specific emotions and traits for each character. The Father sings in a low strong voice that is steady and reassuring, the son sings in a loud, urgent cry, and the Erlkönig sings in a major key and higher register to show that he is seducing and tempting the child to come with him. The Erlkönig’s music continues in a playful manner, but the music changes to minor and expresses spite when the Erlkönig loses patience and begins to threaten the son. The pace of the horse, and subsequentlyaccompaniment to depict the silence as the father realizes the son has died.

Nietzsche and Richard Strauss

Thus Spoke Zarathustra

“I stand before my final peak now and before now I must face my hardest path! Alas, I have begun my loneliest walk! But whoever is of my kind cannot escape such an hour – the hour which says to him: ‘Only now are you going your way to greatness! Peak and abyss—they are now joined together. ‘You are going your way to greatness: now that which has hitherto been your ultimate danger has become your ultimate refuge. ‘You are going your way to greatness: now this must give you the greatest courage that there is no longer any path behind you, and over it there is written: impossibility.” (Nietsche 152-153).

Friedrich Nietzsche wrote his philosophical work Thus Spoke Zarathustra between 1883 and 1885. In this piece of literature, Zarathustra, named after the Persian prophet Zoroaster, climbs a mountain to overcome his current way of thinking and strengthen his personal will. Nietzsche uses Zarathustra as a type of Űbermensch or superman to advocate self-mastery and the need for the rise of a new man. In 1896, Richard Strauss used Neitzache’s literature as a direct inspiration for his Also Sprach Zarathustra. For many, this piece is immortalized as the opening theme of the film “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

In this piece, Strauss uses the tone and timbre of different instruments and dynamics in order to portray the rising of the sun as well as the superman on his climb up the mountain. It is the dawn of a new age and new beginning. The piece begins with a slow rumble of the double basses, contrabassoon, and organ playing a double low C as if from the lowest depths of the earth. Strauss chooses instruments with a low register to play this depth. The drums push the hero forward as he climbs with the climbing notes of the brass instruments going up the scale. Next, the trumpets burst forth as “rays of light that ascend in pitch, get louder, and grow in warmth” as Strauss introduces more instruments (Wright). This produces the climax as the hero finally reaches the top and the music brightens into a sing able melody. Typically, trumpets signify a heroic deed or the entrance of something important. Strauss’ piece depicts the philosophies of the need and will of the superman through the use of instruments and rhythm. 

ROOM 2 – Musicians inspired by visual artwork

Like those musicians inspired by literature, the viewing of visual artwork has also inspired musical compositions. Painting and drawing use the techniques of color, line, and form to create a specific image. Music also uses color, line, and form in order to produce sound. Visual Art relies on paint, crayons, pencils, or dyes to produce color, whereas music relies on the use of varying instruments to produce color, or timbre. Each instrument, like each color with its distinct hue, produces a different tone quality and sound. Using multiple instruments is like painting with multiple colors. Visual Art uses lines to form the structure of the piece, and Music relies on its staff, or lines, to do the same thing. While visual art relies on shapes for forms, Music uses forms such as Rondo and Sonata-allegro to dictate the structure of the musical composition. The following room will focus on two musicians who were inspired by pieces of artwork to compose pieces of their own. As you see the image displayed on the wall, listen for how each musician paints a similar image in his music.