Elektra
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Modernism isn’t Modern anymore Art of all types (music, visual, theater, dance, etc.) music of European origin and contemporary popucan be categorized in two ways: by a common lar music are tonal in nature. However, in keeping style and/or by a historical period. Think of various with early 20th century composers’ desire to break styles of popular music today; Hip-Hop, Ska, Punk, with past rules and develop new forms of musical Techno, R&B, etc. Various styles can establish rules expression, Richard Strauss (RICK-ard SHTROWSS), and/or be dedicated to breaking rules. Each style the composer of Elektra, explored more dissonant, usually evolves as a reaction to a preceding one. or atonal, music. Although many of Strauss’ other An easy way to think of the contrasting poles of this operas are tonal, the violent, ugly world of Elektra pendulum is “traditional” (establishing rules) and almost demands atonality. “rebellious” (breaking rules). This pendulum of style swings one way or the other over time which, As with Igor Stravinsky (The Rite of Spring), Strauss’ in the context of music history, we call a period, or Elektra also reflects the Modernists’ obsession with a certain span of history when one or more styles primitivism. The primal themes expressed in Elektra, dominate the artistic scene. such as lust for revenge, blind hatred, and patricide, have been subjects of artistic creations since the At the turn of the 20th-century, tremendous changes Ancient Greeks. Elektra’s original source of inspiwere transforming Western society: industrializaration was a play of the same name by the Greek tion, scientific discoveries, and, in particular, the playwright Sophocles, whose work was adapted devastation of World War I (1914-1918) and the Rusas a new play by the opera’s librettist, Hugo von sian Revolution of 1917. Artists during this period Hofmannsthal. With Elektra and other Modernist responded to these changes by rejecting the lyriworks, artists declared that the previous uplifting, cal traditions characterizing the late 19th century. idealized portraits of the human condition were out This reaction has been classified as the Modernof touch with the harsh and cruel reality of the modist period (not meaning “modern” in the sense of ern world. today). We label what is happening in the present as Contemporary. The late 19th century emphasized Romantic realism in visual art, upper class sensibilities of the Victorian era in literature, and tonality in music. Tonality simply describes music that has a center key or tone to which the music seeks to resolve or settle (whether a single melody or several lines of music played at once, like chord progressions). Most
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The story of Elektra originated in Ancient Greece circa 400BC. In the play, a Greek tragedy by Sophocles, the characters are archetypal personages that were very familiar to most Greeks, as the names had been passed down over generations through oral traditions, legends, and myths. Often the