Serialism was a form of music made by men for men

Serialism was a form of music made by men for men

News

norman lebrecht

October 28, 2022

A couple of research inquiries set me down a path to a men-only zone.

Modernism in music was invented by Arnold Schoenberg and his disciples Berg and Webern.

It was embraced as post-1945 doctrine by Boulez, Stockhausen and the Darmstadt crowd, all men.

Boulez founded IRCAM in Paris, also men only.

In America, serialism was propagated by Milton Babbitt, Leon Kirchner and Leonard Stein, with the elderly Igor Stravinsky joining their ranks.

No women of any consequence.

Why not?

Two guesses.

Comments

  • Bone says:

    Kanye would probably see one possible reason…

  • Charles1986 says:

    …okay…? Your point being…?

  • Adam Stern says:

    One guess… they knew better?

    (Disclaimer: I do love Alban Berg’s music.)

  • Steve says:

    It’s true that there were more men than women (unlike so many fields of composition, of course) but I don’t think that Elizabeth Lutyens or Ruth Crawford Seeger, for example, would have considered themselves men. In any event, since you obviously have a theory to explain this apparent phenomenon, do please tell us what it is. I’ve had more than two guesses but haven’t worked it out yet.

  • Alan says:

    Because it’s rubbish?

  • Rob Keeley says:

    1. Elisabeth Lutyens is a composer of considerable interest.

    2. To the best of my knowledge. Leon Kirchner was not a 12-tone composer.

    3. It’s Darmstadt, not Darstadt!

    Does it matter?

  • opilec says:

    ‘No women of any consequence.’
    That sounds suspiciously like a ‘masculine’ judgement.
    Elisabeth Lutyens? Leni Alexander?

  • Charlie Boyd says:

    Ruth Crawford Seeger and Ursula Mamlok are the first that sprang to mind, then there’s Pia Gilbert and Sheila Silver.

    I think it’s a bit lazy to say no women of consequence. I won’t go as far as to say misogynistic because in some regards you are right – these pioneering women composers did not have the same profile as their male counterparts, but just from having a light knowledge of their compositions, I think it would be wrong to undervalue their contribution to the movement.

  • D** says:

    This theory is somewhat correct, although it’s worth pointing out that Dika Newlin studied with Schoenberg and was a foremost Schoenberg scholar.

    For what it’s worth, American composer Ruth Crawford Seeger went through a serialist before moving on to folk music.

  • lamed says:

    QUANTUM MECHANICS WAS A FORM OF PHYSICS MADE BY MEN FOR MEN

    A couple of research inquiries set me down a path to a men-only zone.

    Quantum theory in physics was invented by Max Planck and de Broglie.

    It was embraced as post-1927 doctrine by Heisenberg, Schrödinger, Dirac, von Neumann and the Copenhagen crowd, all men.

    Bohr founded the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Copenhagen, also men only.

    In America, quantum mechanics was propagated by Arthur Compton, Robert Rutherford, with the elderly Albert Einstein joining their ranks.

    No women of any consequence.

    Why not?

    Two guesses.

    (NL, that’s how crazy you sound.)

  • Eve says:

    Stop the presses! Lebrecht discovers that men make things for the benefit of men!

    Isn’t that what feminists have been saying for centuries about hu-man civilization, right from the biblical myth of a male god creating the entire universe for a man called Adam, and only as an afterthought for a wo-man, a helper of man, taken from the rib of man?

  • Wannaplayguitar says:

    They were simultaneously doing the washing, mending clothes, cooking and cleaning (whilst working in the fields or tractor factories) Or were they flat on their backs giving birth to 10 children in their fertile years? One of those must be the right answer.

    • Sue Sonata Form says:

      Except that in the western world it’s over 100 years since women gave birth to 10 children. I’ve had 5!! And I wasn’t flat on my back; to much work to do, shared by the spouse. Together 50 years later.

    • Herbie G says:

      Close Wannaplayguitar. They didn’t have 10 children but 12 – all related only to each other. They didn’t live in harmony as we know it. When they misbehaved, they were inverted.

  • ER says:

    Kaahia Saariaho is/was at Ircam, but not for serialism. Era
    strano, si.

    • Pianofortissimo says:

      Saariaho’s music is mostly a by-product of the spectralism of a certain Giacinto Scelsi (a man, by the way).

  • Stephen says:

    Elizabeth Lutyens?

    • Hilary says:

      Correct ! Of some consequence as a teacher ( Bennett and Williamson) as well . Her music hasn’t really taken off outside her lifetime where she ( despite protestations to the contrary ) enjoyed considerable success . With a few notable exceptions her music is rather arid/garrulous. I’d like to have met her though . She sounded like quite a character!

      • Rob Keeley says:

        Each according to his/her taste! While some of her (especially later) output can be meandering and uninspired, I’d easily cite eight superb works that are as good anything comparable: the Wittgenstein motet, O Saisons, O Chateaux, Music for Orchestra II, And Suddenly it’s Evening, the 6th String Quartet, the the Six Tempi (much admired by that footling nobody Igor Stravinsky…), Quincunx, The valley of Hatsu-Se…..i wish I’d met her too.

  • Gerry Feinsteen says:

    Wouldn’t be surprised of two theories:

    1) Serialism is the consequence of dudes in empty beds.

    2) Women have taste.

  • MMcGrath says:

    I can’t wait to hear the ‘answer!’

  • Althea T-H says:

    Which women composers of consequence would you use for your control group, NL?

    Because one needs to be able to find non-serialist female composers of comparable professional standing before deciding that serialism was specifically female-exclusionary.

    Only Nadia Boulanger comes to mind for me, and she was more renowned as a teacher, than as a composer.

    • Herbie G says:

      Germaine Tailleferre
      Rebecca Clarke
      Doreen Carwithen
      Grace Williams
      Imogen Holst
      Lili Boulanger
      Peggy Glanville-Hicks
      Alma Mahler
      Judith Weir
      Roxanna Panufnik

  • Pianofortissimo says:

    Some quickly written notes:

    If one is to argue positively about that, one can say that maybe avantgarde has to do with risk taking, and risk taking has to do with testosterone levels. What do I myself think of this reasoning? “Bull—-“, of course.

    Some “serial” music is beautiful: Webern’s String Quartet, Stockhausen’s Kontrapunkte. These works can relate to Josquim’s motets, Frescobaldi’s Capricci, and Bach’s Kunst der Fuge. What other people did with serialism was just using the idea of “progress” to destroy music.

  • SVM says:

    What about Elisabeth Lutyens? Or Dorothy Gow?

    • Gerry McDonald says:

      That’s why she was nicknamed twelve tone Lizzy!

      • Rob Keeley says:

        And let’s not forget her numerous Hammer horror scores: such deathless gems such as The Terronauts, The Earth Dies Screaming, Paranoiac (with Oliver Reed!) and best of all, The Skull!

  • William Osborne says:

    I’ve noticed the lack of women in the hardcore modernist scene for decades. There was no place for them in that macho, harsh, dissonant, piercing, violent, grandiose, banging and pounding aesthetic. Modernism also has nationalistic overtones. Women didn’t work as patriarchal examples of the genius seed of the nation state like Boulez, Stockhausen, Berio, or Andriessen. The aesthetic was also centered around a lot of self-absorbed ideological bluster about aesthetic superiority, a role that seemed to exclude women. Women were also not inclined toward the academic bilge with which the movement justified its presumed superiority.

    Germany, France, The Netherlands, Austria, and Italy (among other countries) are still strongly invested in modernist musical aesthetics. In spite of some small improvement in recent years there is still a notable lack of women composers in comparison to the English-speaking and Nordic countries which have tempered modernist aesthetics.

    Speaking very broadly, I also noticed that if women composers are accepted in the modernist countries, they often had to be especially hardcore modernist in order to prove their credentials, as it were. Olga Neuwirth and Rebecca Saunders are a couple examples. There aren’t many. Kaija Saariaho sort of took a middle ground between France where she lives and the more moderate modernism of the Nordic countries where she is from. It has been an effective formula for her.

    One wonders when the modernist conceits of these countries will finally die down a bit.

    • Sue Sonata Form says:

      Your opening sentence is brilliant!! Completely agree. I’ve heard a piece or two of Neuwirth played by the Vienna Philharmonic and what enchanted me was NOT THE MUSIC itself but the fact that the VPO could play absolutely anything that was put in front of them SUPERBLY.

  • Albrecht Gaub says:

    What about Louise Talma?

  • Sue Sonata Form says:

    Perhaps the women were more interested in cerealism than serialism.

  • Caractacus says:

    I’m not sure where this article is leading us, but in the first sixty years of the last century ( let alone the previous centuries ) music was by no means the only area of life where women did not get a fair/decent hearing. I think it is folly to try and judge the cultural attitudes of past years and societies by present-day standards. It happened – we may deplore it but the past cannot be changed. If there is a hint here of serialism being too academic or mathematically-focused for women to engage with it, well firstly that’s not accurate and secondly it just reinforces an incorrect and now old-fashioned view of female capabilities. If there seem to be few women engaging with serialism in the early years of its growth, it’s because they were generally discouraged, as in so many areas of life. Boulez and company are certainly not totally too blame – don’t forget that many of them were taught by Nadia Boulanger, one of the most influential teachers of the 20th century. Oh, and she was a woman!!

    • Herbie G says:

      Your problem is, Caractacus, that you will insist on bringing objectivity and common sense into this thread while some others seek to politicise it to further their own agendas.

  • BryanT says:

    Why are you diminishing the contributions of female composers, Norman? Ruth Crawford-Seeger, Joan Tower, Shulamit Ran, Augusta Read Thomas all were influential in perpetuating the aesthetics of the serialists.

  • Denise Brain says:

    Ruth Crawford Seeger originally started writing serial music then gave it up.

    • Rob_H says:

      She “gave it up,” as you put it, because Charles Seeger married her and recruited her into his study of folk music. A terrible loss.

  • Stephanie Greene says:

    Not sexy (sensual), too many rules.

  • Bill says:

    No one cares if a composer has a penis or not. The only thing that matters is the quality of their work.

  • Tom Moore says:

    Serialism also arrived in Brazil with Koellreutter in the late 30s, had some early followers including Guerra-Peixe, but soon fell out of favor. Had nothing to do with male/female dynamics.

  • Howard L. says:

    “You bunch of sissies! When you hear fine, masculine music like this, why can’t you stand up and use your ears like a man instead of flibby fainting all over yourselves?” Charles Ives, standing up for fellow traveler, Carl Ruggles, not a serialist, but still composer of dissonant music.

    • Adam Stern says:

      Further:

      “Beauty in music is too often confused with something that lets the ear lie back in an easy chair.“
      — Charles Ives

    • Herbie G says:

      Yes indeed – but listen to Ruggles’ last work, Exaltation; you couldn’t find a more euphonious ‘white note’ Salvation Army kind of piece! Had he finally changed his mind about dissonance?

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIj74w6osTY

      Just for the record, I do find his music remarkable – particularly Sun Treader, Portals and Men and Angels.

      Also, just for the record. Ruggles was probably completely bonkers – a foul-mouthed racist whose friends, like Lou Harrison, severed all ties with him. I don’t think Chi-chi will allow Chineke! to perform any of his music any time soon…

  • Kosmo Love says:

    Academia was hugely male dominated, and so, therefore, was the music that “mattered”. Oddly enough, in the case of “serialism” or “pointimism” as it was known at the start, it may have begun with the profound influence of Yvette Grimaud. She is nowadays remembered (by the historians of the post war academic music theory at any rate) as the *pianist* who played Boulez’s works immediatly after the war (the so-called “pre-serial” period). She played alot of the music of her classmates and teachers, like Messiaen, with whom she studied composition, and shared an interest in comparative musicology, ‘ethnomusicology’ and the history of music theory. Her work led to a deconstruction and recombination of the rhetorical clauses of musical phrases which synthesized an eventual atomization of different musical languages into an undifferentiated plasma, a “tower of Babel” effect, but in reverse. The story goes that “pointilism” began with the revelation of Messiaen’s “Quatre Etude de Rhythm”, particulatly the 2nd study, which synthesised Hindu and Greek metrical theory, rhythmic modes of medieval plainchant, and the techniques of Schoenberg (Messian’s experiment in this synthesis actually began slightly earlier in “Canteyojaya” of 1948, during Grimaud’s studies with him, and wherein the texture begins to ‘float’, during two brief moments, when none of the elements of the synthesis predominate). Since Messiaen was already such a hugely influential figure, and acetate recordings of these experiments in music theory synthesis began to circulate, the “pointilistic” moments drew much attention from composers who sought to imitate the effect; people like Fano, Barraque and Goevaerts, with whom Grimaud collaborated and helped realize their projects. It was Goevaerts who initiated Stockhausen into this new perception, and decades later, Stockhausen had the good grace to acknowledge Grimaud’s role. Incidentally, Boulez, who, to his credit, was busy trying to rebuild the avant-garde scene in Paris after the war, along with Rene Liebowitz, and of course, Yvette Grimaud herself, was initially not so keen on this pointilism/serialism thing, opting into it only when it had secured a place of importance, with the encouragement of Stockhausen, who helped him redraught several scores to be performable. As for Grimaud, one can imagine her impression of all these successful men. She soon commited herself to the study of the music of oral cultures and is today lauded as the primary preserver of the cultural hertiage of Georgia’s indiginous music.

  • geoffrey dorfman says:

    Baroque composers were just about all male; French symbolist poets were all male; the Cubists were all male. Until Hannah Arendt and Simone de Beauvoir, the philosophers were just about exclusively male. But none of these men created works for men. Artists, composers, and poets make their art for everyone. They all aim for universality. Always have; always will.

  • robc cowan says:

    Oh I’m so utterly sick of all this rubbish. Billie Holliday was the greatest jazz singer of all time. She was female and she was black. Duke Ellington was not the Duke of jazz but its King, alongside his collaborator Billy Strayhorn (America’s greatest composing force? Well I think so). I say this in the sincere belief that the best jazz levels with the best modern art music for musical quality. Then again Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Wagner are the cornerstones of historic Western art music. All were white and all were men. Aren’t we letting the tale wag the dog here? If music has the power to elevate, inspire, nourish and uplift then nothing should get in its way, be it race, gender, religion, lifestyle, political convictions, sexual orientation or whatever. The trouble starts when you turn the tables and build programmes not according to musical quality but according to one of the categories mentioned above. Then you’re in deep trouble … no, we all are! It’s utter madness. Enough said.

  • Rob_H says:

    Bravo, N—you certainly know how to rile people up. What fun reading the varied comments!!!!

  • John Porter says:

    Maybe it was because during that rough time period, from the 20s to the 70s, there were very few women composers receiving commissions and performances, as well as serving on composition faculties anywhere. Still to this day, how many know who Johanna Beyer was? Or Marion Bauer? You can count on your one hand the number of women composers any classical music lover, including performers, know from that period.

  • Herbie G says:

    I’ll raise my glass to all that!

  • Robert Holmén says:

    It was written for men?
    I thought it was written for a joke.

  • Barry Guerrero says:

    I thought cerealism was started by General Mills, but mostly for children. Shows what I know.

  • Dr Nick D says:

    Because the origin of structured music composition was in an early ancestral time when Chauvinism was a way of life in society. It is with few exceptions, through the ages, little interest was given to female composers.
    We live in an age when we can question societal behavior and be open minded to female composers. So, the answer is that the “men’s club” of composers has finally been called out and composers of modern music from
    Shoenberg to Stravinsky are just the 20th Century’s version of what has been going on since the incept.

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