Being one of my passions in life, I think music is an important factor in the lives of men. As a listener of an extremely wide range of music, I am sometimes distressed to see that many people don’t explore music outside of their comfort zone. I listen to a lot of jazz, rock, electronic and orchestral music. But sometimes, even the most beautiful or moving of songs can get a bit boring. That is why I was quite delighted when I discovered the works of Leo Ornstein about a year ago, and have listened to them on occasion even till now.
Ornstein composed for piano, which upon mentioning that particular instrument names such as Bach, Beethoven and Mozart are invoked. Yet Ornstein completely breaks these preconceived notions of piano music and instead creates a sound that is uniquely his own.
Leo Ornstein was born in Ukraine in 1893. Growing up in a musical family, he was deemed to be a prodigy very early on in his life and by age 10, he was already accepted into the Moscow Conservatory of Music. By age 11 he was earning money by playing accompaniment for singers. In 1906, at the age of 13, he emigrated to the US, where he was quickly accepted into what is known today as Julliard School of Music. By 1914, he started to develop his own unique sounds.
To most people, Ornstein’s compositions seem chaotic, destructive, random, and unsettling. Some people say, jokingly, that he was just a man who banged on a piano to create random sounds, then slapped on his name and sold it for a quick profit. But being one of the most important Avant-garde composers in history, Ornstein’s style and compositions truly transcends the realm of conservative music and into a new world that has been left quite untouched. As an example, here is one of my favorite songs by Ornstein: Suicide in an Airplane.
[youtube zS0x3u6pH3w]With a song like this the title is important in invoking imagery with the aid of music, and there is no better title than Suicide in an Airplane in my opinion. It doesn’t sound “nice” by conventional means, yet within the chaotic nature of this song there is a progression that fits with the idea of committing suicide in an airplane. With a soft atonic rumble from the beginning, the music starts to unfold as a line is developed apart from the rumbling, as if the psychological tension of a man is beginning to permeate him. As the song intensifies with a climbing action emotions run high until the climax, when the deed is finally committed. And after that, a return to the soft rumbling, as if nothing has happened.
Without a doubt, Leo Ornstein’s music is extremely difficult to play, as there is no safe fall-back style to rely upon. Every right note can easily sound like as if it was wrong. And within this chaotic jumble of notes, there is something that when coupled with the title, can evoke vivid imagery in our minds. And shouldn’t all art do that?
For further listening, check out his Danse sauvage, Op 13 No 2.