AN ANALYSIS OF ALBAN BERG'S LULU OPERA IN THE CONTEXT OF ADORNO’S NEW MUSIC THOUGHT
AN ANALYSIS OF ALBAN BERG'S LULU OPERA IN THE CONTEXT OF ADORNO’S NEW MUSIC THOUGHT

Author : R. Görkem AYTİMUR
Number of pages : 120-131

Abstract

Adorno finds the possibility of a critical, progressive and dialectical musical thought consistent with his own aesthetic theory in the atonal and dodecaphonic music that Schoenberg and the composers gathered around him in the first half of the 20th century constructed with a "new" thought. As of the 20th century, Adorno expresses this new musical understanding as a possibility of music away from the consumption culture, in the face of tonal music, which is regarded as a bundle of commodity fetish products in the cultural industry and mass culture. According to Adorno, the centuries-long traditions and ancestral forms of musical production must be transformed into "new" musical forms that are intrinsic to societal and historical demand and willingness. It is a social necessity to shift to tonal music which is consumed easily in the music industry, turned to habits and turned into commodity, and to the atonal music which is a reaction to all these consumption habits. Adorno has shown the work of Schoenberg as the greatest representative of the new music and his teacher, Alban Berg, as a complete example of his musical theory. According to Adorno, Berg's music has important links with his dialectic, progressive and new musical understanding. Adorno relate the technical and dramatic structure of Berg's music with his aesthetic theory, which expresses rejection of escape and harmony without aesthetic affection in the basic sense. In this context, he has studied in detail the works of Berg, who is also his music teacher, especially focusing on his operas. According to Adorno, Berg's "Lulu" opera can be portrayed as a complete model of a dialectical new musical thought. For this reason, studying Berg's Lulu opera is gaining importance in recognition of Adorno's partnership between music and philosophy.

Keywords

Theodor Adorno, Alban Berg, Lulu, New Music

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