Art & Music - Art Nouveau...2/4

In search of authenticity

Art Nouveau’s brief reign of popularity had a profound influence on art and design at the dawn of the 20^th century, providing an alternative to the incumbent style while pursuing personal authenticity; how did this affect other art forms?

Form and function combined

A reaction to the academic art of the 19th century, Art Nouveau was characterized by organic motifs, especially floral and other plant-inspired structures, as well as highly-stylized, flowing curvilinear forms.  Such decorative "whiplash" motifs, formed by bold, undulating, and flowing lines, are found throughout the architecture, painting, sculpture, and other forms of Art Nouveau design; those working in the Art Nouveau style were committed to sustaining a balanced relationship between form and function.

Unintentional beauty

The Art Nouveau aesthetic was embraced by all: traditional artists, designers, architects and indeed, musicians.   Czech composer Vitezslav Novak’s symphonic poems like Slovak Suite incorporated a traditional folk idiom; his contemporary, Josef Suk explored symbolism and atonality, as illustrated by his symphony Asrael, or his cycle of piano works, Things Lived and Dreamed.

In particular, Spain was a hotbed of Art Nouveau composition: composers like Albéniz, Granados, Nicolau and Morera wrote music that was concerned more with the search for authenticity than beauty; the music had to be unique, personal and original and beauty was subjugated to this drive for individuality.

Although beauty may have been a secondary aim, Albéniz’s piano suite Iberia is a perfect example of the Art Nouveau aesthetic, and music that elegantly synthesizes authenticity and beauty. Folksy and traditional non-academic musical idioms intertwine with unique syncopated rhythms and the resulting music manages to be complex and yet accessible.  This piece, a combination of the new while harkening back to times past, epitomizes the sensibility of the emerging 20^th Century and the spirit of the Art Nouveau movement. 

Authentically beautiful

The music also, as is characteristic of the art and design, manages to be authentic and beautiful.  Albéniz’s clarity of purpose, use of clean lyrical lines and adherence to musical figures of elegant simplicity, unintentionally created layers of fresh, unstudied beauty.

But how was the impact of this highly distinctive style, reverberating through all areas of the arts, received by the public?

(This is the next in a series created for the Fuschia Tree's art magazine, Artitude, exploring the inter-relatedness of art and music.)