(11/2021) World War 1 marked the end to 100 years of relative peace in Europe. From its ashes, musicians in the Allied nations emerged aware of a new sense of nationalism, the post-war cultural globalism which ensued, and a personal melancholy from their experiences in the war to end all wars. These four composers represent each allied nation and their shared national experience because of the first World War: George Gershwin from the United States, Sergei Rachmaninoff from Russia, Maurice Ravel from France, and Vaughan Williams from Great Britain. One finds that their music turned out better because of the conflict.

The 1910s and 20s saw the emergence of a new and authentically American sound in the form of jazz, and with it, the world was introduced to George Gershwin. World War I infused the United States with a preeminent sense of patriotism. Gershwin’s unique sound captured the spirit of the age. His first major composition, Swanee, was first published in 1916. Lyrics were added and a version was recorded by Al Jolson in 1920, launching Gershwin into the public eye. In this two-minute piece, one can detect both southern gospel and New York jazz, traditions exclusively American. Gershwin said that "he wanted the song to represent the soul of the country." Pivoting off of euphoria and national pride after the end of the war, in 1924 Gershwin wrote perhaps the most beautiful piece of American classical music ever written: Rhapsody in Blue, a swelling symphonic feast of melodic expression and rhythmic invention, a beautiful interplay between virtuosic piano and big band brass, ushered in by one of the most characteristic lines in music, a gorgeous clarinet glissando. Rhapsody in Blue, full of color and extraordinarily satisfying harmonic resolutions, was the anthem of the Roaring Twenties, a time of profound celebration. No such celebration was heard in the newly founded Soviet Union, however.

Russia’s Sergei Rachmaninoff, considered one of the most proficient pianists ever, revitalized a dying school of traditional Russian classical music at a time when music was being turned on its head. While his contemporary Igor Stravinsky fathered musical modernism, Rachmaninoff composed works reminiscent of his forefathers’ romanticism, both men responding to a drastically changing musical landscape. Rachmaninoff’s masterfully written 2nd and 3rd concertos, composed in 1900 and 1909 respectively, expressed a nostalgia, depth, and darkness which are so characteristically Russian. Rachmaninoff lost everything when he was forced to flee his homeland after the Bolshevik Revolution. It was during WWI that he first began to write his 4th piano concerto, a piece with all the same romance and melody of his previous successes. It was not until 1926, however, that he published the piece, after finally settling down in the US following years of difficult living while travelling the world. The piece was heavily revised as Rachmaninoff grew more and more dissatisfied with his own music. It is surprisingly less dark than one might expect for an exile, yet the entire piece is plagued with struggle, especially a struggle between beautiful and sometimes frantic piano prodigy and intense and abrupt symphony. It is as though Rachmaninoff, upon being faced with life’s crosses and the destruction of everything he held dear, only a short time after the war to end all wars (represented by the symphonic accompaniment), must come to accept his new life, and make of it something beautiful (represented by the piano). He would play the piano for his own concerts, and recordings survive to this day. One such example of his making the most of his new life includes a newfound fascination with American Blues, including our friend George Gershwin. We have no idea what Rachmaninoff’s 4th Concerto would have been like if not for the war. He emerged a changed man, a face lined with wrinkles, bags perpetually under his eyes -- not surprising for a man whose entire life was burned down.

After the death of Claude Debussy in 1918, Maurice Ravel was seen as France’s greatest living composer. His name is synonymous with impressionism, a musical genre which sought to paint a picture. Ravel joined the artillery corps at 40 years of age and fought on the front lines in WW1. Ravel wrote Le Tombeau de Couperin (translated, ‘a piece written as a memorial’) between 1914 and 1917 for his friends and comrades who died in the war. The piece is a synthesis of the French Baroque genre and is peculiarly light mannered and reflective. When asked why he wrote such an untroubled piece, he said "the dead are sad enough, in their eternal silence." Still, he was by no means jovial after the war, and many scholars have noted his postbellum melancholy and reduced musical output. Ravel was fond of jazz, and in 1928 took a massive tour of North America, where he was more warmly welcomed than anywhere prior. Maurice Ravel was a notoriously pensive man, and critics have long wondered how such a seemingly emotionless individual could compose such spectacular and elegant music. Perhaps it is as Stephen Zank, a prominent Ravel scholar, believes: the war caused, or at least correlated, with his producing his greatest works.

Ralph Vaughen Williams authored an authentically English school of classical music in the early 20th century. One hears echoes of his music everywhere from Star Wars to the songs one sings in church. Because he thought it his duty to serve his country, he enlisted in the military even though he was already 42 years old. He went on to serve in the Battle of the Somme, and eventually was posted as an officer in France. Many of his fellow composers and good friends died in the war. In a letter to Gustav Holst in 1916, Williams wrote, "I sometimes dread coming back to normal life with so many gaps...out of those 7 who joined up together in August 1914 only 3 are left - I sometimes think now that it is wrong to have made friends with people younger than oneself." Upon returning in 1920, he composed a crown jewel of English classical music, The Lark Ascending, a piece which many have interpreted as being about the war. The piece features ascending pentatonic scales played by a violin, with all the class of the most professional of choirs, and the genuineness of a barn yard fiddle, utilizing melodies characteristic of the British Isles. The song is serene and not much like the old German school of music which the English had been caught up in for years. Williams studied at one point under Ravel, insisting that it had an impact on his composing. Ravel, with his impressionistic arabesques is certainly heard here, but most of all, Williams seems to be sighing after the end of such a conflict which he had felt so intensely.

Though there is more to be said of other postbellum composers, these few were, along with their music and the whole of society, deeply affected by the first World War. What is interesting is that all these composers produced some of their best music after the war. The pain gave them an opportunity to reflect, and it made their art more beautiful. As we come out of a world-wide pandemic, it is good to keep this in mind: oftentimes, our sufferings produce our greatest beauty.