Type: Lecture
Language: Greek
Year of Publication: 1970
Description:
This lecture by Yorgos Sicilianos, the first of five under the general title “Music from Wagner to the Present Day,” was delivered between April 8 and May 22, 1970, to graduates of the Senior College of the American College of Greece. The lectures featured recorded excerpts from relevant musical works.
In his opening lecture, Sicilianos emphasises that contemporary art is not a local phenomenon but a reflection of global issues that affect every individual. He argues that modern art, including music, is an honest representation of our times, stripped of adornments and prejudices. Contemporary artists face the challenge of finding a language and medium for artistic communication amid a broader moral and technical crisis. He addresses common criticisms of modern art as sterile or cerebral, asserting that any genuine intellectual and artistic movement warrants closer examination to understand what it has contributed, dismantled, or established.
Sicilianos explains that while the term “New Music” is frequently used, the concept of “newness” in art is as old as civilization itself. The evolution of music, from the 1300s with Philippe de Vitry’s Ars Nova to the atonal music emerging from Central Europe, shows that art perpetually evolves, driven by the need to express the innermost self of the creator and the collective reality of their time. He stresses the importance of form and content in music, suggesting that a balance between emotional expression and intellectual structure is crucial. Sicilianos highlights that contemporary music’s emphasis on form without content or content without form risks either becoming a lifeless formality or an incomprehensible abstraction.