Il primo libro dei Préludes di Claude Debussy: tonalità ed interferenze modali (original) (raw)

‘Ganjām’ e ‘Oh, baby’: la svolta inaudita dell’ultimo Morton [Ring Shout, 3 (2004), p. 21-95 ]

Ganjam is probably the last composition written by Jelly Roll Morton. The Ganjām and Oh, Baby manuscripts (the former is autographed by Morton, the latter can be traced back to him), which were found in New Orleans in 1996 in William Russell’s collection, shed new light on Jelly Roll Morton’s last years of activity. They belong in Morton’s songbook as two remarkable, far-reaching and whole compositions for orchestra, which had not been thoroughly analyzed before. Both pieces show an unknown facet of Morton, who once and for all abandons his image of nostalgic evocator of old New Orleans and tries extremely innovative stylistic and formal solutions. The difference between the two pieces is so big that each is a case apart. Oh, Baby can be easily considered as an offspring of the sound of big bands in swing style. The arrangement makes use of proven solutions, from the features of the theme to the way the orchestra, divided into sections, is conducted. In some cases, however, the way harmony is treated sounds as modern as to make us wonder whether the whole arrangement can actually be attributed to him. Ganjām, instead, can hardly be defined by using current schemes and categories. A superficial listening strikes above all for its oriental features, the broad use of ostinato in a modal context, the great dissonance of some melodic passages, and the intricacy of the form, which characterize a disconcerting and changing piece. On the other hand, a more in-depth analysis shows a carefully-considered constructive logic, which is conveyed by means of repeated motivic links between each section. Besides, in many cases the compositional eccentricities that characterize Ganjam can be traced back to its exotic connotation. The piece thus relates to a long tradition of Oriental texts, and gives the cue for a broader reflection on the musical representation of whatever is different from ourselves.