{"id":1614,"date":"2019-12-15T21:36:51","date_gmt":"2019-12-16T02:36:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/?p=1614"},"modified":"2019-12-15T21:36:59","modified_gmt":"2019-12-16T02:36:59","slug":"americas-forbidden-composer-take-two-listening-to-arthur-farwell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/2019\/12\/americas-forbidden-composer-take-two-listening-to-arthur-farwell.html","title":{"rendered":"America’s Forbidden Composer: Take Two — Listening to Arthur Farwell"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u201cAmerica\u2019s forbidden composer\u201d is Arthur Farwell (1872-1952), leader of the \u201cIndianists\u201d movement in music. As I\u2019ve discussed in a recent blog<\/a><\/strong>: politically, Farwell seems hopelessly incorrect today. But impressions of Farwell, insofar as they endure, are typically misimpressions. His significance is not merely historical. He composed some of the most original and compelling American piano, choral, and chamber music of the early twentieth century. Two new PostClassical Ensemble webcasts make it possible to actually listen to top-notch Farwell pieces in top-notch performances \u2013 and discover what is actually there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here<\/a><\/strong> and you can audition:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

—Pawnee Horses<\/em> for 16-part a cappella chorus (1937)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–Two versions of Pawnee Horses<\/em> for solo piano (1905)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–Two versions of Navajo War Dance<\/em> No. 2 for solo piano\n(1904)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

—Three Indian Songs<\/em> for baritone and piano (1908)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–The Hako<\/em> String Quartet (1922)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our webcasts also include, by\nway of context:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–Music by Dvorak and Busoni\ninspired by Native America<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–Three formidable compositions\nby the contemporary Native composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–Two products of the South\nDakota Symphony\u2019s visionary Lakota Music Project, one a vivid showcase for the\nNative flutist Bryan Akipa, the other a remarkable collaboration between Akipa\nand the composer Jeffrey Paul<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of this was heard at the Washington National Cathedral during PostClassical Ensemble\u2019s \u201cNative American Inspirations\u201d festival two months ago. The festival\u2019s principal revelation was Farwell\u2019s Hako<\/em> Quartet \u2013 a work never recorded (the world premiere recording, on Naxos, will be PCE-produced). As I\u2019ve written <\/strong><\/a>in this space, its inspiration is a Great Plains ritual. Though it incorporates passages evoking a processional, or an owl, or a lightning storm, it does not chart a programmatic narrative. Rather, it is a 20-minute sonata-form that documents the composer\u2019s enthralled subjective response to a gripping Native American ritual. It conveys throughout a primal tingle. It mounts to climaxes of exaltation rare in the American chamber-music literature. It bears intense witness to elemental magic and mystery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our webcast includes commentary\nby the South Dakota Symphony\u2019s music director, Delta David Gier, who coached\nthe gripping Lakota String Quartet performance in DC. Gier calls the Hako<\/em> \u201ca salute from one culture to\nanother,\u201d part of a centuries-old tradition of cultural fusion in the concert\nhall. He says that Farwell is \u201csomeone who needs to be rediscovered.\u201d At the\nsame time, Gier does not envision presenting the Hako<\/em> on Indian reservations within his Lakota Music Project. The Native\nAmerican musicians with whom he regularly \u2013 and remarkably \u2013 interacts are, he\nexplains, \u201cnot interested in the white man\u2019s take on their culture.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I say in our webcast colloquy, this decision makes me \u201cuncomfortable.\u201d \u201cI\u2019m very protective of Farwell because of the degree to which is music is forbidden,\u201d I respond. \u201cWith the greatest respect and admiration for you, and what you\u2019ve achieved in South Dakota, I think I disagree. Because if you take that attitude, I fear you\u2019re feeding a widespread and ill-informed prejudice. It\u2019s as if he were a forbidden composer in [Maoist] China or the Soviet Union. I know: you perform this music, and you\u2019re in deep trouble.\u201d (In DC, the Museum of the American Indian wanted no part of our festival; a Museum representative said Farwell lacked \u201cauthenticity.\u201d On twitter, PostClassical Ensemble was attacked by a torrent of writers none of whom had ever heard a note of Farwell\u2019s music.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can listen to the entire exchange and ask yourself who is being more \u201cdisrespected\u201d when the Hako<\/em> is forbidden \u2013 Arthur Farwell or Native America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another highlight of the\nwebcasts is a unique presentation by William Sharp \u2013 a supreme American concert\nsinger who regularly partners PCE. Bill was assigned Farwell\u2019s Three Indian<\/em> Songs<\/em> \u2013 music which he approached with some trepidation. As he recounts,\nhe discovered himself so consumed with this assignment that he investigated the\npertinent legends, auditioned historic wax cylinders of Indian chant, and\nconferred with the Lakota singer\/drummer Emmanuel Black Bear. You can hear Bill\ndescribe it all \u2013 and caution against \u201cthoughtless knee-jerk\u201d condemnations of \u201ccultural\nappropriation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deeper Bill immersed\nhimself in Farwell\u2019s world and its sources, the more galvanized he became; he acquired\na mission. As I remark in our webcast, his response seemed a microcosm of Farwell\u2019s\njourney. Farwell is a composer who plainly felt compelled to become an \u201cIndianist.\u201d\nAs Bill McGlaughlin, our inimitable host, puts it: \u201cIt\u2019s how music is\ntransmitted. It\u2019s what musicians do.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To finally frame the cultural\nappropriation debate, we listened to what was once by far the best-known\nIndianist concert song: Charles Wakefield Cadman\u2019s \u201cFrom the Land of the Sky\nBlue Water\u201d (1909). I would call this song a specimen of tuneful kitsch. That\nis: we sampled a full spectrum of \u201cappropriation.\u201d In their own time, Farwell and\nCadman were antipodes. Farwell passed on including Cadman\u2019s songs in his Wa-Wan\nPress publications. Cadman, in turn, viewed Farwell as a kind of fanatic, out\nof touch with practicalities.  As I have previously\nwritten: Cadman\u2019s once-famous song is as remote from Farwell\u2019s Pawnee Horses<\/em> as a balalaika orchestra playing\n\u201cDark Eyes\u201d is remote from Stravinsky\u2019s Les\nnoces<\/em>. Beware of facile generalizations about the Indianists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What to make of Cadman\u2019s song today? Is it \u201ccultural misappropriation\u201d? Is it \u201cdisrespectful\u201d? On our webcast, David Gier answers \u201cYes and no.\u201d Bill McGlaughlin says: \u201cFor me, it\u2019s a period piece. I\u2019m not offended by it \u2013 I just don\u2019t want to hear it again.\u201d Bill proceeds to compare Cadman unfavorably to Sigmund Romberg and Victor Herbert \u2013 \u201cperiod composers\u201d of higher ability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, as for Bill, the pertinent\ncriterion is aesthetic, not moral. If \u201cFrom the Land of the Sky Blue Water\u201d today\nseems ephemeral, it\u2019s partly because, unlike Farwell (or Dvorak or Busoni), Cadman\nwas not smitten by the primal. He did not ride a tidal ardor for Native\nAmerica. He merely discovered something useful.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remark in closing: \u201cHow I\nwish that this conversation were more pervasive. Instead, it\u2019s usually just\nsilenced. It was hard as hell to get this conversation started in DC because so\nmany people refused to take part. That there are actually people who refuse to\nlisten to the music of Arthur Farwell \u2013 this pains me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more on Arthur Farwell and cultural appropriation, click here<\/strong>.<\/a> To read a blog about Harry Burleigh and cultural appropriation, click here<\/strong>.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NATIVE AMERICAN INSPIRATIONS: LISTENING GUIDE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PROGRAM ONE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part One:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

00:00: Farwell: Pawnee\nHorses<\/em> for a cappella chorus, performed by the University of Texas Chamber\nSingers conducted by James Morrow<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2:00: Introducing Arthur Farwell<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7:50: Farwell: Pawnee\nHorses<\/em> for solo piano, performed by Benjamin Pasternack, then by Emanuele\nArciuli  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

14:23: Farwell: Pawnee\nHorses<\/em> for a cappella chorus (reprise)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

19:23: Farwell: Navajo\nWar Dance<\/em> No. 2 performed by Emanuele Arciuli<\/p>\n\n\n\n

25:40: William Sharp introduces Three Indian Songs<\/em> by Arthur Farwell and discusses \u201ccultural\nappropriation\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

32:40: Farwell\u2019s \u201cSong of the Deathless Voice\u201d introduced\nand performed (35:40) by William Sharp with pianist Emanuele Arciuli<\/p>\n\n\n\n

38:30: Farwell\u2019s \u201cInketunga\u2019s Thunder Song\u201d introduced and\nperformed (39:40) by William Sharp with pianist Emanuele Arciuli<\/p>\n\n\n\n

42:16: Farwell\u2019s \u201cOld Man\u2019s Love Song\u201d introduced by William\nSharp<\/p>\n\n\n\n

44:18: A pertinent wax cylinder recording from the 1890s<\/p>\n\n\n\n

50:39: Farwell\u2019s \u201cOld Man\u2019s Love Song\u201d performed by William\nSharp and Emanuele Arciuli<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part Two:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6:24: South Dakota Symphony Music Director Delta David Gier\ndescribes the Lakota Music Project<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10:20: Farwell: Hako<\/em>\nString Quartet excerpt 1, performed by the Lakota String Quartet <\/p>\n\n\n\n

15:16: Farwell: Hako<\/em>\nString Quartet excerpt 2<\/p>\n\n\n\n

32:59: Larghetto from Dvorak\u2019s Violin Sonata (Netanel\nDraiblate and Emanuele Arciuli) preceded by the pertinent Longfellow passage\nread by William Sharp<\/p>\n\n\n\n

45:09: Busoni Indian\nDiary<\/em> No. 1 performed by Emanuele Arciuli<\/p>\n\n\n\n

59:33: Cadman: \u201cFrom the Land of the Sky Blue Waters\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1:10:19: Farwell: Navajo\nWar Dance<\/em> No. 2 performed by Benjamin Pasternack <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PROGRAM TWO<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part One:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

00:00: \u201cResolution\u201d by Jerod Tate, sung by William Sharp\nwith PostClassical Ensemble led by Angel Gil-Ordonez<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12:10: Shakamaxon<\/em>\n(movement one) by Jerod Tate, performed by PostClassical Ensemble led by Angel\nGil-Ordonez<\/p>\n\n\n\n

27:29: Shakamaxon<\/em>\n(movement two) by Jerod Tate<\/p>\n\n\n\n

42:26: Victory Songs<\/em>\n(excerpt) by Jerod Tate, performed by baritone Stephen Bryant and the South Dakota\nSymphony led by Delta David Gier<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part Two:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10:15: Wind on Clear\nLake<\/em> by Jeffrey Paul, performed by Bryan Akipa and members of the South\nDakota Symphony led by Delta David Gier<\/p>\n\n\n\n

22:13: Bryan Akipa describes composing Meadowlark<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

26:11: Meadowlark <\/em>by\nBryan Akipa, performed by Akipa and members of the South Dakota Symphony<\/p>\n\n\n\n

41:04: \u201cPrologue\u201d and \u201cHiawatha\u2019s Wooing\u201d from the Hiawatha Melodrama<\/em>, composed by Michael\nBeckerman and Joseph Horowitz, with Kevin Deas (narrator) and PostClassical\nEnsemble led by Angel Gil-Ordonez<\/p>\n\n\n\n

53:30: \u201cThe Hunting of Pau-Puk Keewis\u201d and \u201cEpilogue:\nHiawatha\u2019s Departure\u201d from the Hiawatha<\/em>\nMelodrama<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAmerica\u2019s forbidden composer\u201d is Arthur Farwell (1872-1952), leader of the \u201cIndianists\u201d movement in music. As I\u2019ve discussed in a recent blog: politically, Farwell seems hopelessly incorrect today. But impressions of Farwell, insofar as they endure, are typically misimpressions. His significance is not merely historical. He composed some of the most original and compelling American piano, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1614","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2QLHN-q2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1614"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1619,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1614\/revisions\/1619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/uq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}