Summary: Farwell's Vision
MUSI 730 - Assignment 2 - 03/01/2017 - Professor Gerber
- Stoner, Thomas. “ ‘The New Gospel of Music:’ Arthur Farwell’s Vision of Democratic Music in America.” American Music 9, no. 2 (Summer 1991): 183-208
Backstory
Stoner’s article focuses on the life and philosophy of American composer Arthur Farwell (1872-1952). Farwell was not only a composer but an engineer by trade, idealist, writer and editor for musical newspapers, and social activist. In his beginning career Farwell attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study electrical engineering. During his studies, he developed an interest in music and studied with several local composers in Boston, later leaving for Europe to study with Engelbert Humperdinck, Hans Pfitzer, and Alexandre Guilmant. Starting his music career so late would perhaps shape his attitude toward music establishments later in life. Farwell went on to become founder and contributor to Wa-Wan Press (which published scores by “Indianist” composers), and also wrote for Musical America, The North American Review and Atlantic Monthly.
Music’s Social Role
Arthur Farwell was a major contributor to a new movement happening in American at the time called the “Innocent Rebellion” which stressed that American art should spring from American experience. Always the optimist and a progressive thinker, Farwell saw how American concert music was not organic and grounded but merely a replication of European styles. He sought to replace musical culture (the notion that American music be modeled after European creations) with musical evolution (music that is reflective of the American lifestyle and those who have assimilated the culture in which they live). He also believed deeply that music should be an experience for the masses and should be accessible to everyone. To achieve this goal Farwell started the community music movement which produced many public concerts, stage plays and pageants (sometimes outdoors), and choirs that included members of the community in which he lived.
Music’s spiritual role
Farwell believed that social improvement could be achieved through the arts, particularly music, and that music by the masses could produce a spiritual experience. In addition to this belief he saw the US as the leading example of better living through the evolution of people, culture, and ultimately mankind. Farwell allied himself spiritually with a number of contemporaries who upheld a Whitmanesque-Emersonian ideal including architect Louis Henry Sullivan, literary/social critic Wyck Brooks, arts critic Paul Rosenfeld, etc. Music is oftentimes too intellectually demanding for individuals. However, in using the principle of mass appreciation (as a group we can appreciate the music and get the full measure of spiritual nourishment), we as people could start to fully understand the complexities behind shared music. Farwell challenged composers to spiritually attune to the intuitive mind and its connection to universal forces, and to always keep audience in mind: how will this music satisfy them rather than you.
The article ends explaining how Farwell’s efforts can be seen through two lenses. First, his efforts were met with moderate success but eventual demise due to demoralized attitudes toward humanitarian progress caused by events like World War I and the Great Depression. Second, Farwell’s efforts were a success with the artists who believe that the communication of music relies on the emotion and feeling of the public, which is very much alive today.
Sources
The sources include a majority of primary sources and a few secondary sources which range from speeches and lectures given by Farwell himself, articles and music reviews published by Farwell in the early 20th century, Farwell’s catalogue of music, and biographies on the life and music of Arthur Farwell.