The years 1959 and 1960 saw some important developments in jazz, a few new ideas in musical theatre and film music, and some hints of what was to come in rock and popular music. As the 1960s progressed, the “change train” seemed to pick up speed and momentum. 1960 might not have sounded all that different from 1959, but by 1963, it would be clear that “the torch had been passed to a new generation.”
LISTENING EXAMPLE 3: “REQUIEM AETERNAM,” WAR
REQUIEM (1963)—BENJAMIN BRITTEN
In 1958, Benjamin Britten was commissioned to compose a work for the dedication ceremony of the new Coventry Cathedral that was being built to replace the old cathedral destroyed by the German Air Force in World War II. Britten was deeply opposed to war and had even fled his beloved England as a conscientious objector during World War II. Britten believed in the power of music to “utter the sentiments of a whole community,” and the Coventry commission offered him the opportunity to do just that. Britten’s War Requiem is the masterpiece that resulted from that commission.
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To grasp, to any extent, the brilliance of the War Requiem requires one to know a little bit about the traditional Latin Requiem Mass. A Mass is a set of texts used for the Roman Catholic worship service, and these texts are often set to music by composers—sometimes for use in a church service, and sometimes for concert performance. A Requiem Mass is a mass for the dead and gets its name specifically from the first word of one of the texts that differentiates it from a regular mass—“Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine,” which means “Give them eternal rest, O Lord.” Composers would sometimes add tropes to the mass—a section, often in the vernacular language, that poetically comments on the Latin text. This technique was, however, banned by the Catholic Church in 1562, so it was not widely known or commonly used.
Britten chose to employ tropes to deepen the meaning of his War Requiem as further amplification of his pacifist beliefs. He chose for these texts nine poems of the World War I soldier-poet, Wilfred Owen, who was killed in action just one week before the end of the war, at the age of twenty-five. These poems about the horrors of war serve both to emphasize Britten’s own anti-war beliefs and to deepen the meaning of the Latin texts they interrupt, linking the Latin texts more closely to the occasion at hand. In addition to the dedication to the rebuilt cathedral, Britten dedicated the Requiem to the memory of four of his friends who died during World War II.
The alternating Latin liturgical texts and the English antiwar poetry set up a tension that befits the theme. Britten went further to emphasize the dichotomy. The liturgical texts are performed by a soprano soloist, a mixed chorus, a boys’ choir, organ, and full orchestra, while the Owen texts are performed by a tenor soloist (representing the voice of the Allied soldier) and a baritone (representing the German), accompanied by a chamber orchestra. So the juxtaposition goes beyond just the sacred and secular texts.
The alternating Latin liturgical texts and the English antiwar poetry set up a tension that befits the theme. Britten went further to emphasize the dichotomy. The liturgical texts are performed by a soprano soloist, a mixed chorus, a boys’ choir, organ, and full orchestra, while the Owen texts are performed by a tenor soloist (representing the voice of the Allied soldier) and a baritone (representing the German), accompanied by a chamber orchestra. So the juxtaposition goes beyond just the sacred and secular texts.
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The Britten Requiem consists of six of the movements of a Requiem mass: “Requiem aeternam” (Grant them eternal rest), “Dies irae” (Day of Wrath), “Offertorium” (Offertory), “Sanctus” (Holy), “Agnus Dei” (Lamb of God), and “Libera me” (Deliver me). Within these movements, the chamber orchestra and the male soloists comment on the Latin text, using Owen’s poetry. Taking advantage of the space in which the work would be premiered, the chorus of boys, accompanied by the church organ, sing separately from the other forces, representing the otherworldly—they are far removed from the battle and are spatially separated from the other performers and the audience.
Britten’s complex organizational structure, the unique forces he assembles, his neo-tonal language with dissonance introduced at appropriate times, his sense of drama and pacing, and the way he combines instruments and voices all contribute to an effective depiction of the destructive forces of war and the loss that results from the violence. The tolling of bells (chimes), at the dissonant interval of a tritone, returns again and again to emphasize both the churchly mourning of a Requiem mass and the discomfort and lack of resolution caused by the interval known as the “diabolus in musica” (the Devil in Music).
The poetry Britten selected was evocative and gave him numerous opportunities to reflect the text, including references to “passing bells,” “voices,” “choirs,” “bugles,” the “stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle,” “the trumpet, scattering its awful sound,” blasts of lightning, the rolling “drums of time,” marches, battles, rest, even eternal rest, and a choir of angels.
The commission had specified that the horrors of war be balanced with the spirit of rebirth and reconciliation, and one of the ways that Britten reflected the latter was by having the great German singer Dietrich Fischer-Diskau sing the baritone role, while the English singer, Peter Pears (Britten’s personal and professional partner) took on the tenor part. After singing separately for nearly twenty minutes, Britten forces the two enemies to sing together in the section (which is included on the USAD Music CD) with Owen’s poem, “The Next War,” in which they talk about how they faced death together. At the end of the Requiem, all the forces join together as the two soldiers sing “Let us sleep now,” and the choruses and soprano plead for them to be received into heaven and granted eternal rest. Finally, the chorus sings “Let them rest in peace” alone, interrupted one more time by the dissonant chimes before eventually arriving at the remote key of F major for the final chord of the final “amen.”
The three representative sections that we will hear on the USAD Music CD present three particularly interesting musical ideas, but one cannot begin to comprehend this eighty-five-minute work without hearing it in its entirety. The first example on the CD is an excerpt from the opening of the Requiem and sets the tone and provides some of the important elements that will recur throughout the work, such as the tolling chimes. The first section of the second example (“Out There”) occurs about twenty minutes later, during the second movement, the “Dies irae.” The second section of (Dies irae) picks up about seven minutes further into the “Dies irae,” and is a short recapitulation of the opening of the second movement.
LISTENING EXAMPLE 4: “OUT THERE” AND “DIES IRAE,”
WAR REQUIEM (1963)—BENJAMIN BRITTEN
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Britten’s War Requiem was a masterpiece. While the use of tritones, tropes, word painting, mixing dissonance and tonality, and imitation separated by only one beat are hardly new ideas, the brilliance with which he incorporated them, and always in service of the message, was what made this piece transformational. These were particularly unusual techniques for music that was religious in nature. There were other innovative passages. Later in the work, for example, Britten has the boys’ chorus and organ move at one speed, while the mixed chorus and orchestra move at another. In the opening of the “Sanctus,” the soprano sings a melismatic (many pitches per syllable) “Sanctus” while the pitched percussion instruments repeat F♯ quarter notes. Though the soprano has a specific rhythm to perform, and the relationship to the quarter notes is specified, the section does not have a time signature, but rather a series of eleven F♯s with which the soprano needs to coordinate her melisma. This happens again with percussion on a C (note the tritone relationship), after which choir members are asked to chant a line of text “freely,” but on specific pitches. The resulting buildup of complexity is fascinating and unusual, and a technique to which other choral composers would return.
Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem is a complex work that achieved his goal of uttering “the sentiments of a whole community.” His heartfelt depiction of war, loss, and reconciliation expressed what the people of Coventry had been feeling and has continued to give voice to those who would oppose the type of bloodshed and destruction perpetrated by the combatants in World War II. The War Requiem is one of the great masterworks of the twentieth century.
Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem is a complex work that achieved his goal of uttering “the sentiments of a whole community.” His heartfelt depiction of war, loss, and reconciliation expressed what the people of Coventry had been feeling and has continued to give voice to those who would oppose the type of bloodshed and destruction perpetrated by the combatants in World War II. The War Requiem is one of the great masterworks of the twentieth century.
Rock and Roll, Folk, and Folk
Initially, rock and popular music had been an AM phenomenon, while FM was more likely to be used for broadcasting classical music. However, before long FM radio was helping rock and roll rule the airwaves. In 1961, the first stereo FM radio stations went on the air, and by the end of 1962, there were more than two hundred stereo FM radio stations broadcasting in the United States and Canada. With higher fidelity and stereo capabilities, FM fit better with the increased use of high fidelity recording equipment by rock musicians. FM stations were also less likely to be part of a tightly controlled chain and thus were less beholden to the top 40 format. This permitted new artists a little more chance to be heard and started to free up stations to play longer songs and even entire albums.
Music of the early 1960s was influenced by other technological developments as well. The first cassette tape was introduced in 1963. This technological development had an unexpected effect on music. Because it was difficult to find the beginning of a selection on tape, consumers got in the habit of listening to an album in its entirety, instead of skipping around and mixing recordings of different artists. Knowing that more listeners would hear their music in the order in which it was intended encouraged musicians to put more emphasis on the significance of the order of selections on an album and inspired more rock groups to create concept albums that relied on sequential listening. The Marshall Amplifier was developed in 1962 and became the amp of choice for many of the leading guitarists during the 1960s. It is unlikely that the huge stadium concerts and rock festivals of the decade would have been possible without the powerful amps developed by Jim Marshall.
Music of the early 1960s was influenced by other technological developments as well. The first cassette tape was introduced in 1963. This technological development had an unexpected effect on music. Because it was difficult to find the beginning of a selection on tape, consumers got in the habit of listening to an album in its entirety, instead of skipping around and mixing recordings of different artists. Knowing that more listeners would hear their music in the order in which it was intended encouraged musicians to put more emphasis on the significance of the order of selections on an album and inspired more rock groups to create concept albums that relied on sequential listening. The Marshall Amplifier was developed in 1962 and became the amp of choice for many of the leading guitarists during the 1960s. It is unlikely that the huge stadium concerts and rock festivals of the decade would have been possible without the powerful amps developed by Jim Marshall.
Hitsville, U.S.A.: MotownBerry Gordy’s Motown label continued its growth and development. In the late 1950s, even the most popular soul records would rarely rise above the bottom half of the Hot 100. Berry Gordy knew that to reach the more lucrative audience of white record buyers, he needed to smooth the rough edges of artists who might previously have performed with a more gospel, soul, funk, or R&B edge. In 1961, The Miracles, featuring composer and lead vocalist Smokey Robinson, achieved Gordy’s goal. Their song “Shop Around” not only hit number one on the R&B list, it hit number two on the pop music list, bringing Motown to national attention. Shortly thereafter, Motown got its first number one hit: “Please Mr. Postman” by the Marvelettes, the prototype of Motown “girl groups.” Motown was now hitting the pop music charts, not just the R&B charts.
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In June 1962, at the “Motortown Review” in Chicago, young Steveland Morris had played an instrumental from his first album, improvising on bongos and harmonica with a big backup band, singing an improvised call and response with the audience, and improvising a coda saying goodbye to the crowd. Gordy was so impressed with the audience’s response to his protégé that he decided to take a risk and put the second half of the improvisation out as a single. The single caught on and spent fifteen weeks in the Hot 100, three of them at number one. At one point, Morris occupied the top spot on both the pop and R&B singles charts, and a new album containing the improvisation also hit number one at the same time. Gordy’s gamble paid off. Motown had its second number one hit. Morris was only twelve when “Fingertips, Part 2” was recorded and had barely turned thirteen when he was on top of the pop music world. This accomplishment was even more amazing considering that Morris had been blind since shortly after birth. Morris was much better known by his stage name: Little Stevie Wonder. Not a bad start to an amazing career!
A new form of music emerged in the early 1960s: Surf Rock. The first successful surf group was Jan and Dean, and their 1963 hit, their only hit to reach number one, was “Surf City.” However, Jan and Dean were not the first musicians to address the subject of surfing. A local California band had a regional hit with a song simply titled “Surfin’,” which helped them get signed with Capitol Records. If you think you hear some similarities between the two songs, there is good reason. The group that recorded “Surfin’” was soon to be known as the Beach Boys, made up of brothers Carl, Brian, and Dennis Wilson; Mike Love, who was their cousin; and a newcomer from the east, Alan Jardine. Brian Wilson, considered by most writers to be the brains behind the Beach Boys’ success, gets co-writing credit on both Jan and Dean’s “Surf City,” and the Beach Boys’ “Surfin’.” Before long, the Beach Boys had surpassed the popularity of Jan and Dean, with top ten hits like “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” “Fun, Fun, Fun,” “Surfer Girl,” and “I Get Around” (their first number one hit).
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Robert Zimmerman . . . aka Bob Dylan
As the 1960s began, folk music and rock and roll seemed like two unrelated styles, as different from each other as jazz and classical music. One man was going to change that. He was born Robert Zimmerman and hailed from the heartland of America, albeit the northern edge of the heartland: Duluth, Minnesota. During a short stint at the University of Minnesota, he spent a lot of time in the collection of bars, clubs, and coffeehouses that had grown up around the university. Playing and singing and listening, he learned a lot about folk music and became particularly fond of the music of Woody Guthrie. In 1961, upon learning that Guthrie’s health was failing, Zimmerman packed up his belongings and headed to New York to see his idol. By this time Zimmerman had adopted a performance name that he thought sounded good and that referred to the tragically short-lived Welsh- born poet, Dylan Thomas. Guthrie was taken with the younger musician, now known as Bob Dylan, and helped introduce him to the Greenwich Village folk music scene. Dylan began to play at some of the clubs, accompanying himself on guitar and harmonica, singing traditional folk tunes and a few originals. He even managed to perform for the legendary talent scout, John Hammond. Somehow, Hammond saw potential in the young man with the rough, untrained voice (one reviewer called it “anything but pretty”), who almost spoke while strumming the guitar and occasionally interjecting a few notes on the harmonica slung around his neck. Hammond got Dylan a contract with Columbia Records. It was a fortuitous choice.
Columbia was one of the largest and most successful record companies, but they had not gotten involved in recording rock and roll. Hammond produced Dylan’s first eponymous album for less than $500. The album, which had only two original Dylan compositions, was not a great success, and Hammond had to do some serious negotiating to get permission to give Dylan a second chance. This time, he gave Dylan—who had been working on original material feverishly during the five months since the recording session for his first album—the freedom to record many of his own compositions. The result changed the history of music. The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan contains such iconic compositions as “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” “Masters of War,” “Girl of the North Country,” and two songs that came to be anthems of the generation: the prophetic “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall” and the rebellious “Blowin’ in the Wind.”
In stark contrast to the love songs and surfing music that were dominating the airwaves, these songs addressed social issues of the day and challenged the status quo. In the heady days of Camelot, “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall” and “Masters of War” might have seemed dystopian, but these were also the years of the Cold War, the Bay of Pigs, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The fear of nuclear destruction seemed to parallel the idea of a hard rain that was bound to fall sooner or later. The younger generation had begun to question authority, and politically conscious songs seemed to touch a nerve—but Dylan’s voice was rough, his guitar playing rudimental, and pop radio listeners were not quite ready for his style. On the other hand, when Peter, Paul, and Mary recorded Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” and “Blowin’ In the Wind” and took them to numbers nine and two respectively, it was clear that Bob Dylan’s star was rising.
Columbia was one of the largest and most successful record companies, but they had not gotten involved in recording rock and roll. Hammond produced Dylan’s first eponymous album for less than $500. The album, which had only two original Dylan compositions, was not a great success, and Hammond had to do some serious negotiating to get permission to give Dylan a second chance. This time, he gave Dylan—who had been working on original material feverishly during the five months since the recording session for his first album—the freedom to record many of his own compositions. The result changed the history of music. The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan contains such iconic compositions as “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” “Masters of War,” “Girl of the North Country,” and two songs that came to be anthems of the generation: the prophetic “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall” and the rebellious “Blowin’ in the Wind.”
In stark contrast to the love songs and surfing music that were dominating the airwaves, these songs addressed social issues of the day and challenged the status quo. In the heady days of Camelot, “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall” and “Masters of War” might have seemed dystopian, but these were also the years of the Cold War, the Bay of Pigs, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The fear of nuclear destruction seemed to parallel the idea of a hard rain that was bound to fall sooner or later. The younger generation had begun to question authority, and politically conscious songs seemed to touch a nerve—but Dylan’s voice was rough, his guitar playing rudimental, and pop radio listeners were not quite ready for his style. On the other hand, when Peter, Paul, and Mary recorded Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” and “Blowin’ In the Wind” and took them to numbers nine and two respectively, it was clear that Bob Dylan’s star was rising.
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Meet The BeatlesThe times were a-changin’, but not just in the world of politics. Some of the biggest changes were in popular music, and those changes could largely be attributed to John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. The Beatles are the iconic rock group from the 1960s; the group that sparked Beatlemania and started the British Invasion; the group that, in a single decade, played a major role in transforming the recording industry and changing the sound of rock and roll. Their rise to prominence in the UK was impressive, but the speed with which they became a nationwide phenomenon in the U.S. was amazing.
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The boys from Liverpool had started rather slowly. There were several steps on the path to becoming The Beatles. The first two to work together were John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who both joined a local band in July 1957.66 Paul’s friend George Harrison joined the group in 1958. In 1960, after several name changes and permutations of personnel, the band prepared for an engagement in Hamburg, Germany, settling on the name of The Beatles, out of respect for Buddy Holly and the Crickets and as a pun on the word “beat.” In late 1961, after hearing them at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, Brian Epstein, a local record-store owner, became their manager. Following an unsuccessful audition at Decca Records early in 1962, Epstein got the band an audition for George Martin at EMI. Martin signed the group, but insisted that they replace drummer Pete Best. Local drummer Richard Starkey joined the band in August, using his stage name of Ringo Starr. The Beatles were complete.
The Assassination of John F. Kennedy
The Assassination of John F. Kennedy On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was shot and killed while traveling with his motorcade through Dallas, Texas. Most of the nation learned about the shooting and the President’s passing from CBS and Walter Cronkite. The Beatles would have to wait. The world’s reaction was one of shock and horror. The torch that once had been passed was now dimmed. Some authors have suggested that the assassination served “as a crucial pivot point marking the end of a golden age of optimism and confidence and the start of a period of disillusionment and conflict.” Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are a-Changin’” and “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” took on new meaning. Some people could put their reaction into words. Others could not. Depending on whose account you accept, Brian Wilson and Mike Love’s “The Warmth of the Sun” was either composed in reaction to the assassination, or at the very least finished just before the assassination and always associated with it. Either way, the happy-go-lucky atmosphere of the Beach Boys was now tempered by more melancholy songs.
The early 1960s saw the rise of rock and roll, with dozens of artists selling a million or more albums. By the end of 1964, The Beatles’ first album on Capitol Records, which came out at the beginning of the year, had sold over four million copies. That was nothing compared to the fastest selling album of all time. In December 1963, less than a month after the assassination, John Fitzgerald Kennedy: A Memorial Album sold more than four million copies in only six days. The musical Camelot, which had begun its Broadway run barely a month before the inauguration of John F. Kennedy, closed in 1963, only a few months before Kennedy was assassinated. The parallel was striking. The “one brief shining moment” was over.