Caroline Rae

The musical collaborations of Alejo Carpentier: Afrocubanism and the quest for spiritual renewal

The importance of music in Alejo Carpentier’s writings, both fictional and critical, has long been recognized, yet the deeper significance of his musical friendships and collaborations during the years of his creative apprenticeship in Havana and Paris in the 1920s and 1930s has received little attention. While it is well known that Carpentier was closely involved in the musical, as well as literary, circles of the avant-garde during his eleven-year residence in Paris, the implications of his friendships with the composers Edgard Varèse, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Marius-François Gaillard and Darius Milhaud deserve closer consideration. Even before his departure from Havana in 1928, Carpentier had revealed a commitment to new music, not only in his early critical writings but in his friendships and collaborations with his Cuban compatriots Amadeo Roldán and Alejandro Garcı́a Caturla, composers whose work he later helped promote in Paris. Carpentier’s friendship with all of these composers was cemented by a creative kinship; they shared mutual enthusiasms for the aboriginal basis of the Americas and engaged in a common quest for spiritual and artistic renewal through connecting with the ancient past. Carpentier drew much from music, certainly, but the composers with whom he worked were also touched by his own search for a creative identity. By investigating Carpentier’s musical friendships and collaborations against a background of his music criticism, it is the objective of this essay to consider the path which led Carpentier to draw on music as one of the defining metaphors of his literary writings. Carpentier’s music criticism of the interwar period, much of which is preserved in the two volumes comprising the Crónicas , goes beyond mere

Jolivet on Jolivet: an interview with the composer’s daughter

An interview with the daughter of French composer Andre Jolivet, Christine Jolivet-Erlih, tracing her fathers compositional aesthetics, activities and interests. Madame Jolivets extensive work on the Jolivet archives are discussed as are a number of her personal recollections not only of her father but also of many of the figures with whom he was most closely associated.

Maurice Ohana’s 'Office des Oracles' and 'Messe' [Music Review]

This article compares two major vocal works by French composer Maurice Ohana composed during the 1970s and sets them in context within twentieth century French music.

Honegger: a centenary reappraisal

Centenary celebrations may seem to some extent artificial, yet if such occasions stimulate reassessment of a composers creative achievement during the period of relative neglect that often follows the death of an artist, then the anniversary is far from arbitrary. Born of Swiss parentage in Le Havre in northern France on 10 March 1892, Arthur Honegger was neither French nor German, yet his music stems almost equally from the musical traditions of both cultures in what may retrospectively be considered a truly European lineage (a point of some socio-political significance perhaps for readers today.) The wealth and unequivocal mastery of his compositional legacy which includes nine major dramatic works, five symphonies and a significant contribution to the chamber music repertories, as well as a host of scores for ballet and film, is testimony to the preeminent position he has held in French music, in particular. His status is justly deserved, if somewhat undervalued during the 37 years which have elapsed since his death in November 1955.