New Babylon: Soviet Artistry, Together in Collaboration

Films scores are certainly interesting creatures that live and die by many factors that could not be further from the music itself. The author did not realize this until presented with a unique opportunity to accompany - as part of the University of Chicago Symphony Orchestra - New Babylon, by russian film directors Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg.

The film score was composed by Dmitri Shostakovich at the age of 23 years old. In short the film, produced in 1929 and considered by many to be a pinnacle of early Russian avant-garde film, tells the story of the Paris Commune of 1871. Within the score itself the young Shostakovich quotes La Marseillaise and uses several dances popular at the time including the can-can and farandole. Shostakovich even goes so far as to quote Offenbach in several places, selectively displacing a note (or two) as a humoresque. All these themes and dances are fair game for Shostakovich to use in coordination, or opposition, with each other. Tension and anxiety is provided to the viewer through use of counter point, ostinatos, rhythmic and harmonic juxtapositions, and more. The author noted Shostakovich using macro-theme of semitones (Bb-A-Cb) during the third "reel" of the film. This small fragment much resembles his future eleventh symphony.

When the film was completed in 1929, Russian censors in Leningrad approved the version of film, and all was on track to include Shostakovich's monumental score, written in merely three weeks, in the premiere throughout Russia and abroad. Then, things went sour. New censors in Moscow decided that a further 20-percent of the film should be cut upon it's submission for the Moscow screening. The directors were able make their edits in time, but unfortunately Shostakovich's music did not lend itself well to editing because it was written to illustrate and support impressions in the film, acting in a greater capacity than just background music.

New Babylon was one of the first film scores written using techniques that audiences would eventually come to expect, decades later. Character motives, quotes from pop-culture, special effects to create tension and mood, and other techniques are used throughout the film to increase the overall impact of the cinematography. Unfortunately, cutting large portions out of the score (which, even by Shostakovich's account, was a very difficult piece of music to perform) to meet the requirements set forth by the Moscow censors would lead to disaster. The films fate was also doomed for many other reasons outside the scope of this article, and thus it fell out of mainstream media for decades.


The realization of film given last weekend was the premiere of director Marek Pytel's 2006 restoration of the film. Maestra Barbara Schubert, music director of the University Symphony, should also be noted for her efforts to successfully create a smooth, musically correct, film score to accompany this premiere. Presented in eight "reels", the score is a tour de force for orchestra. Although several speeds of the film can be chosen, this premiere was chosen to run at 24 frames per second (the standard running speed for film in today's cinematography).

Accompanying the film running at 24 fps presented several challenges to the orchestra due to the increase in tempos required to fit all music for a scene, or an entire reel, appropriately. Much success was accredited to the Ms. Schubert and her orchestra by several audience members I spoke with after both performances.

The percussion requirements throughout the score are minimal but interesting. Although there are two portions which call for a solo, melodic flexatone (yes, you read the right!), the remaining snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, tambourine, and triangle can be covered by three percussionists and a timpanist.

The experience was certainly a learning experience for the myself, and I suspect for the other members of the orchestra and conductor. To end this article, I quote one of the few scenes I was able to watch...

   "Viva la commune!"

WFMT Streaming

It seems that WFMT in Chicago is once again streaming audio. The catch? You have to be willing to pay $100 USD to be a part of the club. Sorry, no freebies here in Chicago! WFMT used to offer free streaming services 3 to 4 years ago until many entities decided they should not be broadcasting this music onto the Internet. It isn't quite enough that royalties have been paid to those money-hungry fools at the RIAA (and probably those greedy folks within the American Federation of Musicians too!) to broadcast recordings into the Chicagoland market. Instead, WFMT has now succumbed to paying twice the royalties to broadcast onto the Internet. Luckily, they've created a pricing model to obtain that content, but this sets new standards of "low" for the only classical station left in Chicago.

I could probably rant about this for days, and if you've met me in person, you would have already heard about my dealings with the RIAA and MPAA during my day job. They are reversing the usefulness of the Internet by limiting access to content or pursuing end-users through legal action. Now, I write this as an artist knowing well that artists wish to make money from their performances, recordings, etc., but most of the artists, upon whose behalf the RIAA pursues those file-sharing scoundrels, rarely see any of the money returned from those legal actions. Most artists rarely see all but a small percentage of each dollar of their sales.

There's an interesting segment called Dear Air Online which was aired on National Public Radio in 2001. The case has only worsened, and we are being locked into DRM-restricted technologies that provide micro-controls of your artistic preferences. You can help change this by writing your congressmen and telling them you are not pleased with their passive stance on RIAA/MPAA enforcements, DRM, etc. Even if you prefer to buy CD's at your local music store, there are still reasons why you should be afraid of DRM.

Oh yes, I forgot! To be fair, if you're interested in the streaming service, visit the WFMT Streaming website. It wasn't my intent to bash WFMT in this posting because I have friends who work there. But I do hope more people start considering the "why" behind the costs of listening to their favorite on-air programs.

Goodbye, Friend

Sadly, Tower Records has now ceased to exist in everywhere but cyberspace. I have many fond memories of the Tower Records location on Clark Street on the north side of Chicago, and even the Wabash Street location. There was always a wonderful selection of classical music and knowledgeable staff. While superstores such as Border's Books and Music and Barnes and Noble keep a decent stock of classical music, their support staff is often unaware of even the more popular classical and operatic recordings. Recordings in these stores are often incorrectly sorted in the wrong bin, jewel cases are often damaged, and special demands are not easy to request. It appears that classical music sales are entirely going the way of the Internet. At the "we sell everything megastore" near my home, the classical music selection consists of two small racks of compact discs. Perhaps the message is that it's time to find a new genre to love, or enjoy my already-purchased recordings and simply swap digital music collections with other classical fans.

History Photographed by a Historical Figure

It isn't very often that we see images from the eyes of historical figures, themselves. This photograph of Bela Bartok was taken by legendary Hungarian conductor Fritz Reiner. I often wonder what Bartok was thinking in this photograph, or if Dr. Reiner had just asked the Maestro for a photo opportunity the way anyone would ask a friend.