Postmodernism in Music

“The Composition of Sound”

Introduction

Collapse of High and Low

The blending of high and low culture is a predominant characteristic of Postmodernism, particularly in the arts. Since the late 1950s, it was more evident that styles of music began to blend and crossover.

“In recent years, the violinist Nigel Kennedy has tried his hand at rock, while blues guitarist Eric Clapton has performed an electric guitar concerto.”
The Routledge Companion to Postmodernism (Scott, 2001)

Elements of Postmodern Music

The stylistic and thematic tendencies associated with Postmodernism in the other arts also applies to music. Features of recent art-music culture, both internationally and within Australia include:

  • The programmatic cultivation of pastiche
  • Borrowing from other artists and appropriating them (referred to as ‘quotation’)
  • Stylistic eclecticism and disunity
  • The critique of authenticity, creativity and originality
  • The dismantling of the authentic art/popular culture hierarchy
  • The decentering of Western canons of ‘high culture’

Death of the Music Composer

Music sampling is the act of taking a sample of one sound recording and reusing/manipulating it as an element of a new recording. This has had a significant impact on ideas of originality, ownership and creativity. DJs in hip hop, trance, techno and dance focus on selecting parts of songs while blending features and combining, restructuring and remixing new sounds. This questions the authorship of music and whether new music is truly new.

Polystylism is considered a postmodern characteristic in music as it is the juxtaposition of music from different genres and styles. This includes the use of vocal sounds, recorded voices, new instrumental combinations and the combination of composition with video and other visual media.

Examples of Postmodern Music

Olivier Messiaen (1908 - 1992)

"Modes of limited transposition"

Olivier Messiaen is regarded as one of the most influential French musicians of the twentieth century. His approach to music composition is complex, breaking conventional styles of rhythm, harmony and melody. His experimentation of blending music from different cultures is significant, “from plainsong and from exotic music: from the rhythms and modes of ancient Greece and India, from the resonant heterophonies of Bali, from the ululations of birds”¹

“Messiaen is the first great composer whose works exist entirely after, and to a large degree apart from, the great Western tradition.”
Oliver Messiaen and the Music of Time (Griffiths, 1985)

The Bedroom Philosopher

I’m So Postmodern

In 2005, Australian musician Justin Heazlewood (The Bedroom Philosopher) recorded a song called ‘I’m So Postmodern’. It was voted number 72 in the Triple J Hottest 100 in 2005. Although the song itself is not ‘postmodern’, it is filled with satirical humour, witty puns and comical wordplay. View the lyrics and listen to the song here.
 

Other Works

  • Symphony No. 3, Op. 36 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs) by Henry Górecki [1976]
  • City Views (Kouvaras: PianoWorks) by Linda Kouvaras [2000]
  • Fratres I, Fratres II, Fratres III by Arvo Pärt [1977, 1980, 1980]

¹ Paul Griffiths, Oliver Messiaen and the Music of Time, 1985