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PARTISAN REVIEW
man has come to negate the principle of revolutionary freedom in
art-the very principle of which he had been considered such a force–
ful exponent only some twenty years ago !
Still another serious accusation might be phrased thus: "In most
of Stravinsky's recent compositions that part which formerly was a
valuable experiment in the field of rhythm has now degenerated and
become a mere restatement of a number of rhythmical 'habits' or
formulae, based upon certain observations of the nature of rhythmical
irregularities (such as over-abundant syncopation or shifts of irregular
measure-patterns) and their psychological effect upon the listener."
For this and other reasons Stravinsky's new .contrapuntal style, al–
though transparent and orthodox, is characterized by some critics as
pedantic and uninspired. The harmonic language itself, as developed
by Stravinsky, is in part, so they say, "wilfully reactionary" in its
abundant use of old-fashioned chord formations and trivial chord
sequences. These same critics also maintain that into this peaceful and
grandmotherly atmosphere Stravinsky introduces, apparently without
reason, certain modern chord structures of the most elaborate kind
that sting like wasps and burn out the inside of one's ears. Is not this
composer, then, indulging himself in a kind of "artistic gambling"
with trivial matters, as shown, for example, in
his
preoccupation with
stylistic commonplaces and banal tunes gleaned from the musical
manuscript; of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries? Even Stra·
vinsky's mastery as orchestrator seems to have vanished. Gone are the
"beautiful lush tone colors" of the
Rites of Spring;
even the daring
orchestral experiments of his
Histoire du Soldat
or of his
First Piano
Concerto
have given way to ascetic restraint and a transparency
bordering on aridity. The only elements that remain are1 the extreme
instrumental registers and that percussive quality of the instruments
which gives to most of Stravinsky's scores a rather annoying crackling
and whistling sound.
The views sketched above are clearly the views of the majority
of "music lovers" in this country; and I would venture to suggest that
things do not stand very differently abroad. Stravinsky is, in fact, a
very lonely man, in a sense even more so than
his
older contemporary,
thet father of atonality, Arnold Schoenberg. Since the beginning of
the war, Stravinsky has lived and worked in this country, where he
has preferred the West Coast to the humming life of the East. He has
written a number of works of greater and lesser importanoe, and has
enjoyed the honors of the podium as conductor, pianist, and teacher
of "musical poetics" at Harvard University. Yet
his
influence is some–
how on the wane, for despite all the performances of his music his
