Fisher (2006) The Music of Ezra Pound

Yale University Library
Yale University
The Music of Ezra Pound

Author(s): MARGARET FISHER
Source: The Yale University Library Gazette, Vol. 80, No. 3/4 (April 2006), pp. 139-160
Published by: Yale University , acting through the Yale University Library
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The MusicofEzraPound
By MARGARET FISHER
A FacsimileEditionofEzraPound's
ModernistOperaLe Testament
in theBeineckeLibrary
RobertHughesand I will be workingat theBeineckeLibraryin Apriland

May 2006 to completethe series"The Music of Ezra Pound" forSecond
EveningArtPublishing. Forthisfourth volumewe arepreparing a digitaledi-
tionof Pound'sfirstoperaLe Testament, theworkRichardTaruskincalled"a
modernist triumph" and thepoet's"claimto musicalimmortality."1 The 1923
operascore,a resultof thenow-legendary collaborationbetweenPound and
avant-garde composerGeorgeAntheil,is an important perioddocumentwith
severaldistinctivefeatures.It is themusicalcomposition of a modernist poet
who taughthimselfto composein orderto masterrhythm. The document's
mostsalientfeature is thedivisionofmusicintounusualasymmetrical meters
ofmathematical that
complexity undergo constantchange from one bar to the
next.The rhythms, arisingfromPound'sfeelingforthewordrhythms ofVil-
lon'spoem,defymusicallogic.While(still)fiercely difficult
toperform, thefull
operahas beenstagedat leasta halfdozentimesand recordedin theUnited
Statesand in Holland.The experiments ofthis1923scorewarrant comparison
withotherexperiments ofthetime- Stravinsky'srhythmicunorthodoxy, Charles
Ives'seclecticcollageof musicalmaterials,and HenryCowell'sadvocacyof
polyrhythms. We also hope to bringLe Testament into "conversation" with
othermodernist worksthatdrewmusicand musicalstructures fromwords;for
example,theworksoftheRussianconstructivists. The scorehas notbeenpub-
lishedand currently remainsin theshadowofitsliterary contextand origins.
Pound"beat,dictated, and cantillated"
FrançoisVillon's GrandTestament in
theoriginalOld French,communicating themusicas he heardit in his head
Margaret fisher and Robert hughes are recipientsof a Donald C. Gallup Fel-
lowshipto pursue researchat the BeineckeLibrary,Spring2006. For Second EveningArt
Publishingtheyhave publishedtheopera and violinscoresbyEzra Pound, each volumeac-
companiedbybackgroundand analysisof themusic: Cavalcanti:A Perspective on theMusicof
Ezra Pound(2003) ; Complete ViolinWorksofEzra Pound(2004) ; TheRecovery
ofEzra Pounds
ThirdOperaCollis O Heliconii: Settings
ofpoemsbyCatullusand Sappho(2005).
Partsof "Ezra Pound, Composer"werefirstprintedby OtherMinds Festival(San Fran-
cisco) to accompanytheiraudio CD 1005-2,Ego scriptor
cantilenae:TheMusic ofEzra Pound;
it is reprintedhereby permission.
Yale University
LibraryGazette 13 9
April2006
toAntheil, hiseditor,who knewno French.The resultwas thecarefulifidio-
syncraticnotation thatPoundlaterreferred to as "fractional metrics."2
Antheil
finishedthescoreinParison 31December1923,leavingthelyricsforPoundto
writeintothe scoreand leavingthepolyrhythms of thepenultimate choral
number"PèreNoe" tobe workedoutbythecopyistfroma formula introduced
in theinitialbars.
For a special1931Villonanniversary BBC broadcastof theopera,Pound
made extensiverevisionswiththickcolorcrayondirectly onto thepages of
the1923score.Notesto thecopyistwerein red;radiodialogue,musicdynam-
ics,and phrasing,in redand blue.When rehearsalhourswerecut,theBBC
musicians,findingthe1923notationtoo difficult, replacedpartsof thescore
witha different versionof themusicarrangedbyPoundin 1926.Manypas-
sages in the 1923scorereceiveda largediagonalslash indicatinga cut,and
pages removedby the singerswereneverreturned to thescore.The BBC's
contribution, in the end, was not to premierethe scoreas written,but to
definetheoveralldramaticshape and sound of theoperaby producingthe
first
performance thatincludedall thenumbers.
The worldpremiere of the1923Pound/Antheil scoreas written wouldnot
takeplaceuntilalmostfifty yearsafteritwas written-a fullystagedproduc-
tionconducted and recordedbyHughesin 1971withtheSan FranciscoOpera's
WesternOperaTheaterat ZellerbachHall in Berkeley. The scorewas bynow
problematic. It lackedtwo pages in additionto the ostinato linein "PèreNoè,"
mentionedabove; it neededcorrection of orchestration problemsmissedby
of
Antheil;theeditorialrevisions 1931 had to be sorted out; and it required
recopyingoverallforeasy readingof the difficult metersin performance.
BorrowingtheBBC's copyof the1923score,Hughesreplicated as closelyas
possible the Pound/Antheil collaboration for a new performance editionof
theopera.This editionbecamethebasis forall laterstageperformances and
recordings.
The problemthathas becomeapparentin the last ten yearsis thatthe
BBC's score,a black-and-white copymadefrommicrofilm, conflatedthe1923
and 1931artisticintentions as a singlevisionforperformance. This has con-
fusedtwogenerations ofPoundscholarswho offer contradictorydescriptions
of the dramaticand musicalshape of the opera,and it has vexedanalyses
basedon thosedescriptions. The 1931markings addedto the1923scoresome-
timesclarified Pound
qualities had in mind from thebeginning;theseregard
mood,characters, voices,and instrumental timbres.But charactersand dia-
logue intended for
specifically radio were often ascribed
incorrectly to the1923
Pound/Antheil collaboration. Our annotated facsimile
edition will resolve
thesequestions,and thecirculating Hughes'sperformance editionofLe Testa-
mentcurrently handledbyNew DirectionsPublisherswillbe slightly revised
as a result.
140
Four Testament "Scores"
The original1923Pound/An theilscoreis housedat theBeineckeLibrary,
partof theEzra PoundPapersin theYale CollectionofAmericanLiterature,
YCAL 43. The collectionwas foundedby Donald C. Gallup,curatorof the
Collectionof AmericanLiterature from1947to 1980,and NormanHolmes
of
Pearson,professor English at Yale. Gallupdevotesa riveting chapterofhis
memoirPigeonson theGraniteto theEzra PoundArchiveand to thedelicate,
oftencontentious negotiations forthescoreand thePoundmaterialsin gen-
eral. Havingacquiredmostof the extantmusicmanuscripts, the Beinecke
nowplaysa crucialrolein thefutureofPound'smusic.The nextchallengeto
be metis theidentification ofthebitsand piecesof musicand theirrelations,
withinthecontextofa literary archive.
We haveidentified fourversionsoftheTestament opera,in almostas many
hands.The 1923Pound/Antheil score,withthe1931markings, is thedefinitive
scoreforPound'sLe Testament; itsetsthebenchmark fororiginality and vital-
ity in themusic. It was not the firstscore forPound's opera.
An earlierscore,begunin 1920in Londonand completedin 1921in Paris,
thoughnota viableperformance edition,is valuableforwhatit revealsabout
Pound'soriginalmusicaland dramaticconception oftheopera.Antheil's sub-
sequent contributions also become clear the
against backdrop of this earlier
score.In thehandofPound'sfriendand amanuensisAgnesBedford,a British
conceitpianistand vocalcoach,thisfirstscoreestablishedthemelodiccon-
toursofmanyoftheopera'snumbersand thedramatic arcoftheworkoverall;
it set the instrumentation and put forththe conceptfororchestration. The
Pound/Bedford correspondence established clearlythat these were all deter-
minedby Pound. This score lacks,however,the kind of innovationthat
Poundsoughtforhis rhythms. Bedford,a publishedarranger of troubadour
songs, was a and
knowledgeable qualified, if collaborator.
conservative,
Two otherversionsof theoperaofferpragmaticoptionsforprofessional
and studentperforming ensemblesseekinga concertstaging,an abridged
production, and/orlessdifficult music.Theyalso offera lookat theprogress
of a fledglingcomposer,as Pound composedthe musicfortheseversions
independently ofhismentors.
The 1926ParisSallePleyelconcertversionofLe Testament containsPound's
own arrangements foreightof theopera'snumbers.Addingan overture for
alpenhorn but otherwise reducing the performing forcesfrom seventeen
instrumentalists to six,Poundcomposedup to thedayoftheperformance. All
of themusicis eitherin his handor in engravededitionsof twoof thenum-
bersthathe had hadprivately printed.The musicwas notformally assembled
intoa singlemusicmanuscript beforeor aftertheperformance and someof
theindividualnumbersbecameseparatedfromthemainbodyofthemusicat
141
Inside frontcover ofLe Testament.
142
Title of Le Testament.
143
thetimeof the1931production. The valueof thescoreis itsreducedorches-
trationforconcertperformance and itsretention of therhythmic of
integrity
the 1923scoreby meansof a revisedmetricalbasis of 5/8.Olga Rudge,the
Americanviolinistforthe Salle Pleyelconcert,retainedsome of the music
manuscripts, and thesewerein herpossessionwhenBob Hughes metwith
herin 1982.Fromthese,and frommanuscripts alreadyacquiredfortheEzra
Pound Papers,YCAL 43 and 53,Hughescreateda performance editionand
reconstructed the historicParisconceitin 1983withtheArchEnsembleat
HerbstTheatre,San Francisco.
A fourth, unboundscoreentirely in Pound'shanddatesfrom1933to 1934.
Thiswas thecomposer'sown redaction ofLe Testament intosimplerrhythms.
By thistimehe had completedhis secondopera Cavalcantiand was concur-
rently workingon a thirdopera,CollisO Heliconii. Valuableforitspotentialto
place thedifficult opera within reach ofamateur and studentgroups,thisver-
sionoffers a pragmatic approach thatreflects
the hard lessonsoftheBBC per-
formances. It has receivedno scholarly commentand has yetto enterPound's
bibliography.
Two arrangements ofLe Testament proceededwithoutthecomposer'sover-
sightand shouldbe mentioned. CanadiancomposerR. MurraySchäfermade
a newscorewithsimplification ofthemusicforBBC producerD. G. Bridson's
redactionof the 1931radio script.StanleyHollingsworth and Lee Hoiby
the
arranged opera as a with
ballet, a new score,for the 1965SpoletoFestival
in Italy.Scholarsfleshingout theperformance historyof the operawill be
interested in thesetwoeditions.Neitherhas enjoyeda secondproduction, the
preference since1971reverting to thePound/Antheil scoreoncethereexisted
tangibleproofthatitwas, indeed,playable.Each successiveperformance that
followedthe1971edition(therehavebeenat leasta halfdozen) further dem-
onstratedtheespressivity, musicalstimulant, and emotionalappeal thatlay
dormantforso long.
A Document with "Legs"

Usuallywhenwe saya workhas "legs"it meanstheworkis notonlysuc-
cessful;thereis momentumand the successbuildson itself.In the case of
Pound'sLe Testament, theoperahas alwayshad isolatedsuccesses,followedby
silence.The scoredid, however,have"legs"of a differentkind- thePound/
Antheilscoretraveledextensivelybetween1924and themid 1970s- perhaps
morethanusual fora modernscorein manuscript-and oftenout of the
handsof the composer.Pound relocatedto Rapallo,Italy,in 1924,yetstill
enjoyedcelebrityin Paris,wherehe privately
producedtheSallePleyelperfor-
mance.We lose trackof thescorebetween1932and 1952,thoughthereis no
lackofrumor, speculation,andinstruction
aboutitswhereabouts anditsrecov-
ery.Even afterits returnto Pound in 1952,thescorewas reportedmissing.
144
The physicalscoreaccumulateda socialand politicalhistoryofitsown apart
fromperformance.
Afterthe 1926 productionof Testament, opera activitystalleduntil1931,
when Pound succeededin interesting BBC producerArchieHarding in
mounting a specialbroadcastthatwouldtakeadvantageof radiotechnology.
Ata pre-production meetingin Paris,May 1931,Pound,withHarding'sguid-
ance, added scenes,characters, and dialogueonto the pages of the "gold
score,"so calledforthecolorofitscover.He also alteredthestructural outline
of themusic.Fromthispointthescorechangedhandsfrequently. Harding
tookit to London.Here it passed intothe handsof BBC choralconductor
LeslieWoodgate,who tookitbackto thecontinent, makinga stopin Rapallo
to consultwithPoundaboutthemusic.The scorewas backin Londonforthe
Octoberbroadcast,afterwhichHardingreturnedit by registered post to
Poundin Rapallo.3
The following yearOlga Rudgewantedto showthegoldscoreto hermusi-
cianfriends and contactsin Paristo generateinterest
in anotherperformance.
Poundoffered tosendhervariousparts,butRudgecontinued toaskforthefull
score.Rudgedidtakepossessionofthescore,butwe don'tknowexactly when.
Fast forwardto 1959.R. MurraySchäferinterested Geoffrey Bridsonin
creatinga newbroadcastbased on thehistoric1931Le Testament broadcast-
historicbecauseHardingand Pound had brokennew groundin theiruse of
radioeffects, addingto thenew genrecalledradiofeatureswitha new kind
of musicdrama.As Bridsonreported it,Poundrespondedto a requestforthe
scorebywritingthathe had no idea whereitwas, and askedBridsonto find
theoriginal.In theinterim, Poundwas goingto ask twofriendsin theStates
to reconstruct the opera fromhis "roughnotes."4It is unclearwhat notes
Poundhad in mind,thoughhe was able,evenintohis lateseventies, to sing
hisrhythms fortheVillonwordsfrommemory.5 Atanyrate,one ofthosetwo
friends was thrownintoprisonon a drugcharge,stallingtherecovery effort
fromPound'sside.
For his part,Bridsonworriedthatif the scorehad never,in fact,been
returned to Poundafterthe1931broadcast,theloss would greatly embarrass
theBBC. Bridson'sown researchon thematterled himto writetheHead of
the Music Department, "For some reasonthe scorewas neverreturnedto
Pound, but keptin BBC archives - presumablyforpossiblerepeatperfor-
mances... the scorewas leantto [theBritishtenor]PeterPearswho had
expressedinterest in it.Whetherthiswas beforeor afterthewar,I just don't
know:butwhichever,he tookthescorewithhimto Germany and promptly
lostit."Concernedthatthemusichad perhapsbeendestroyed on 15October
1940whentheBBC's MusicLibraryon thethirdfloorofBroadcasting House
receiveda directbombhit,Bridsonaskedforan inquirythatwouldyieldhim
"a responsible (and quotable)verdict."6
145
AssistantHead of Music Eric Warrprovidedthis,"Miss Coyne of the
Music Libraryhas found(in a specialmanuscript library)threelargebags
containing all thematerial that I
youneed, think; also a littlecorrespondence
withRonaldDuncan [editoroftheLondonjournalTownsman, whichprinted
excerptsfromthescore]suggestingthatPearsleft theMS of Ezra Pound's
opera,"Villon"at Broadcasting House' in theearlysummerof 1951.In fact,it
was discoveredlaterthatPearsdid notleaveit at B.H. butwithBooseyand
Hawkes [MusicPublishers].Our MusicLibraryrecovered it fromBoosey&
Hawkesat theend ofJuly1951.. . ."7Bridsonreported to PoundthattheBBC
nowhad "thewholebundle."8
Pound had initially writtenBridsonfromSt. ElisabethsFederalHospital
fortheInsaneinWashington, D.C., wherehe had beenadmitted in December
1945, the result of a federal indictment charging him with treason againstthe
UnitedStates.Claimingnotto havefoundthescorehad eitherbeendisingen-
uousora signofacuteforgetfulness on Pound'spart,becausewhenOlga Rudge
crossedtheAtlanticin 1952to visithim,she deliveredthegold scoreto him.
BecausetheDistrict Courtdetermined thatPoundwas mentally unfitto stand
trial,everything he ownedwas deemedtheproperty oftheCourt.The storyof
thescorebecomesmorecomplicated fromthispoint,mirroring theambigu-
itiesand tensionsofPound'spersonalsituation.
In theyearor yearsjust priorto Bridson'srequestof 1959,Pound madea
giftofthescoreto SherriMartinelli, a youngartistwhobefriended thepoetin
1952.BecausePound did not legallyown the scoreany more,he could not
technically give it away.Nevertheless, Martinelliacceptedit willingly.She
tookitto H. A. Seiberat theLibrary ofCongressto haveitmicrofilmed so that
copies could be distributed freely,
obviating the need foranyone'sapprovalfor
loanofthescore.9
AttheendofSeptember 1959,Bridsondiscovered he did nothavethescore
amongthebundledmusicat theBBC. By thistime Pound had beenreleased
fromthehospitaland withhis wifewas stayingin Meranoat SchlossBrun-
nenburg, a Tiroleancastlethatwas hometo Maryde Rachewiltz, daughterof
Poundand Olga Rudge,and Mary'sfamily. Bridsonwroteto Poundin Merano
to send him the LOC microfilm.10 Bridson'sphotocopyof the score from
microfilm thenbecamethesourceforthe1971performance edition,Hughes
having borrowed the BBC's copy.Martinelli had been prescient aboutdemand
forthescore.Still,one couldnotmounta production ofPound'soperainde-
pendently, becauseof the need to obtainperforming rights.It was also, in
thosedays,difficult to obtaina photocopy ofa score.11
On Pound's release7 May 1958,his wifeDorothyShakespearePound
becamea "Committee of One" withpowerof attorney but she,too,did not
ownthescore.WhenshelearnedthatMartinelli soldthescorein 1958forfifty
dollarsto Yale throughNormanHolmesPearson,she had herlawyerschal-
146
lengethe sale.12As a result,Pearsonplannedto send the gold scoreto the
PoundsinMerano,according to Martinelli,thoughshemayhavebeenreport-
ing the facts well in arrears.13
It is unclearif the scorecrossedtheAtlantic
In
again. anycase, Dorothy Pound's lawyerHerbertGleasonhad the score
placed"on deposit" with theHoughtonLibraryat HarvardUniversity. 14
Yale steppedforwardto claimownershipof the scoreon the basis of a
"third-party clause"in theoriginalsale agreement betweenthePoundfamily
andYale.The clauseidentified Yaleas thepurchaser of"Pound'sinterestinhis
archivalmaterialsin thepossessionof thirdpartiesunknown."15 Gallup had
the scoretransferred fromthe HoughtonLibraryto the BeineckeLibrary,
whereit is now catalogued.Becauseof Gallup'sefforts, mostof themusicin
thehandsofthirdpartieseventually madeitswaytoYale,andis nowdispersed
throughout YCAL43 and 53,and theOlga RudgePapers,YCAL 54.
EzraPound,Composer
Bornin Hailey,Idaho,in 1885,and raisedin Wyncote,a suburbof Philadel-

phia,theAmericanpoetEzraPoundreceivedhisearliestmusicaltraining not
but
throughdisciplinedstudy throughexposure to themusic of his parents.
His motherIsabelplayedpianoandorganand hisfather Homerplayedviolin;
bothwereamateurs.Poundprobablyplayedsomepiano.WilliamCarlosWil-
liams,whomPound metat theUniversity of Pennsylvania whenbothwere
undergraduates, used to takehisviolinon visitsto thePoundfamily hometo
playmusic with Isabel.After taking a bachelor's degreeat Hamilton Collegein
NewYorkStatein 1905,Poundreturned to theUniversity ofPennsylvania for
graduatestudy in Romance languages and was awarded a master of artsin
1906. He then for
departed Europe begin to doctoralresearchon the subject
"The Graciosoin theplaysof Lope de Vega."As a specialistin Romancelan-
guagesand drama,Poundgavea seriesof lecturesin London,whichhe later
publishedunderthe titleThe SpiritofRomance(1912). But he had already
decidedin favorof poetryoverscholarship. In Venice,he publishedhis first
bookofpoems,A LumeSpento, in 1908.
Whydid Poundsetwordsto music?The synapseswerealreadyin place:
therewas thespecialization in a literature thathad notyetdissolvedthebond
betweenwordsand music,the interestin sounds and rhythms otherthan
English,as wellas theinterest in theatrical idioms.Ezra Pound'sTheCantos,
one ofthetwentieth century's mostinfluential poems,bearsa titlethatcould
as "The Songs"- thoughitneveris. Poundtookhisdefinition
be translated of
poetrydirectlyfrom Dante, is a
"Poetry composition of words set to music"
147
(Convivio6.6), but his ear keptreturning to the earlierart of troubadour
poetry, theartof"motz el sons."
Poundsetto musicthewordsof earlierpoets,his favored"inventors, dis-
coverers ofa particular process or of more than one mode and process."They
werepoetswho signaleda transition-a newenergyor pulse- in theexpres-
sionoftheirnativelanguage16 and Poundthoughthe couldbestconveytheir
genius - both psychological artistic-to a newgeneration
and through perfor-
mance.He triedto resuscitate through music a poeticlineage that could be
tracedfromSappho (Greece,7th century B.C.) through Villon (born 1431),
thelastmajorvoicebeforetheMediterranean influences enteredtheworkof
Englishlanguagepoets.Havingtranslated textsfromtendifferent languages
intoEnglish,Pound foundthattranslation did not alwaysservethepoetry,
"Thegrandbogiesforyoungmenwhowantreallytolearnstrophewriting are
Catullusand Villon.I personally havebeenreducedto settingthemto music
as I cannottranslate them."17
WhenPoundtranslated poetry, he habituallyfit"therhythms ofpoetryto
thecurvesofa music line."18He encouragedpoets to takeup translation work
because"rhythm is thehardestqualityofa man'sstyleto counterfeit."19 Of his
ownpoetry, he setonlyone pieceto music,Sestina:Altaforte, butitwas never
performed.
Pounddid notencourageotherpoetsto composebutto developtheartof
"writing to sequence,or scale,ofvowels
to be sung... to paysomeattention
in the line"20and "to compose [poetry]in the sequence of the musical
phrase."21 theremark:
This lineofCanto4 exemplifies
Aurunculeia!"
"ANAXIFORMINGES!
The vowelsin theGreekexclamanation byPindardo notflow:

"ANAXIFORMINGES !"AH- x - ih- Õ - ih- eh
The comparative liesin thesequencingofthevowelsand therhythms

interest
thatarisefromthatsequence.The Greekdoes notflowlikemusic.The vowels
in theLatinnamedo flow;and becausetheyflow,theystayin thememory.
!" Ow- 00- 00- Aey-ya
"Aurunculeia
Once in thememory, thesequenceresonateswithor againstotherlinesofthe

poem in a playof sonicelements.Settingaside thequestionof intrinsic
aes-
theticinterest,thevalue of Pound'smusicis thatit returnsus to a master
poet'sconstruction ofsonicelements.
In a 1934essay"Dateline,"Poundlists"Criticism via music,meaningdefi-
nitelythesettingofa poet'swords"as thefourth ofcriticism,
offivecategories
and the "mostintense,"save forthe fifth, "Criticismin new composition."
Pound'sventureintomusicar literary reasons-poeticanalysis,preservation,
148
and,ultimately,popularization(thegoalofallscholarship according toPound)-
is unparalleled.The hourswere long and the intricacies of musicnotation
frustrated him no end. AccountsfromWilliamCarlosWilliamsand W. B.
Yeats(and Poundhimself)regarding Pound'sinability
to carrya tuneseemto
negate a musicalproclivityfrom the start,butPound's music careerbegannot
as a performerbutas a transcriberofmedievalsonginthearchives ofthegreat
librariesofEuropewhileon hisdoctoralresearch fellowship in thesummerof
1906. Canto20 relatestheanecdoteof hisjourneyto theProvençalexpertin
Germany. Poundwas theyoungcourierof twoArnautDaniel songshe had
copied in Milan'sBiblioteca
Ambrosiana, but he was carefulto remark,"Not
thatI could sing him the music."This anxietyregardingthe singingvoice
recursthroughout Pound'soperaCavalcanti;itis an anxiety aboutexactly who
is singing,theirrelationship to thepoet,how well theysing,whetherthey
knowwhattheyaresinging,andwhethertheycouldsingat all.
Perhapshe couldn'tsing,but he could write.Pound studiedmedieval
neumes,squarenotenotation,theRenaissancetheoriesand specialnotation
of AntonioCarbonchi,and the collectedmusicof Raphael Socius; he also
studiedstandardmusicnotationas we knowit. He was languageconsultant
to threeeditionsoftroubadour melodiesand translated fromFrenchBorisde
Schloezer'sanalysisof Stravinsky's musicand method.He attempted to play
thebassoonand clavichord, thelatterpurchasedfromtheearlymusicspecial-
istArnoldDolmetsch.Afterattending the1916operaseasonat CoventGar-
den,Poundtookemployment as musiccriticfortheLondonweeklytheNew
Age,intenton hearingas muchmusicas possiblethatcouldteachhimmore
about the relationship of wordsand music.Severaltimesa week forthree
years the American poet,notoriousforhis eccentric behaviorand bohemian
dress,penetrated London's refined circlesand intimatesalonsto hearperfor-
mancesof song recitalsand chamberconcerts, largelymusic and wordsof a
bygoneage.
One can readPound'sintroduction to Mauberley,writtenin 1920just as
he was aboutto leaveLondonforParis,as a markerofthepoet'swell-earned
riteofpassagefrommusiccritic(underthepen nameofWilliamAtheling)to
composer:
Forthreeyears,outofkeywithhistime,
He strove
toresuscitatethedeadart
Ofpoetry;tomaintain "thesublime"
Intheoldsense. . .
He passedfrom men'smemory
inVantrentiesme
De soneage. . .
The criticfadingfrommemory
has listenedto the"deadartofpoetry,"
butlis-
has
tening producednothingimportant. With thesame words Poundpreviews
149
a newmask,thatofFrançoisVillonwhoseline,'Tan trentiesme de moneage"
begins Le Grand Pound
Testament. would beginhis own Testament,
putting
learned-thesettingofwordsto music
intopracticewhathe had so patiently
requireda poetto restorethe"sublime."
Afterhearinga concertperformanceofLe Testamentin 1926,VirgilThom-
son praisedEzra Pound'saccomplishment, "The musicwas notquitea musi-
cian'smusic,thoughitmaywellbe thefinest poet'smusicsinceThomasCam-
pion Its soundhas remainedin mymemory."
A Brief History of Ezra Pound's Three Operas
EzraPound'stwocompleted operas,Le Testament (1920-21;rev.1923,1926,
1931,1933-34)and Cavalcanti (1931-33),approachtheirsubjectswithsuchdif-
ferentstructuresand contrasting musicthattheseworksare,fromall appear-
ances,entirelyseparate,each with itsowndramaticimpulsesand concerns, as
unrelatedas Villon'sParisiannightsto Cavalcanti'sTuscandays.Poundcom-
posed thetwooperasunderverydifferent circumstances as well,makingthe
mostof his limitedtraining byworking with professional musiciansto score
thefirstopera,thenscalingthedegreeof difficulty of thesecondoperato a
levelof technicalcompetence he was confident he couldachieveon his own.
He also wovethediscoveries he madein one poet'sworkbackintothefabric
of theother.For example,Pound's1912translations of thepoetryof Guido
Cavalcanti(ca. 1250-1300)prompted hisfirst
statements on theroleofrhythm
in music;hismusicalsettings ofthepoetryofFrançoisVillon(born1431)pro-
videdhim a laboratory in whichto experiment withrhythm. While setting
Villon,he discoveredthemelodiccelland specificuses fortheintervalof the
octave.These discoveries becamethestructural buildingblocksforhis opera
Cavalcanti.
Pound'sprojectbeganwitha modestobservation in 1919thatin twopoems
by Villon, and a sonnet by Cavalcanti,the music was alreadymade by the
words.CompositionofLe Testament beganin earnestat theend of 1920with
thehelpofLondonconcertpianistand vocalcoachAgnesBedford.Theyfin-
ishedworkinginParisthesummerof1921,turning outa one-actoperaforten
soloists,largechorus,and seventeen instrumentalists.Poundwas responsible
forthework'sartisticand structural its
shape, rhythmic emphasis,unusual
instrumentation, and sparedesignfortheorchestration; Bedfordoffered tech-
nicaladviceand notatedtheworkin scoreform.
Late in 1923Pound engagedtheAmericancomposerand pianistGeorge
Antheilto recalculate themetricaldivisionsof theoperain "fractional nota-
tion,"thetimesignatures rangingfrom1/8to 25/32, to accountforall thepos-
siblesyllabicdurationsand patternsof soundsin Villon'swords.Antheilhad
enteredParisin Junethatyearwitha reputation as a sensationalconcertpia-
nistand avant-garde composer. He came in awe ofStravinsky andalso tochal-
150
lengehim.Antheilwouldbe thenewchampionofTIME as thesole and true
canvasof music.The rhythmic driveof his Mechanisms, SonataSauvage,and
AirplaneSonata caused pandemonium at his4 October Paris debut.To a press
voraciousforthelatestand biggestscandal,Antheilwas thenewfuturist dar-
ling.To Marcel Duchamp, Erik Satie,and Man Ray,he was the instanthero of
theirdada world.A monthlaterAntheilpremieredtwo new violinsonatas
writtenfor the AmericanconcertviolinistOlga Rudge. Ezra Pound had
requestedthesonatas;theywerethefirstofthreecommissions he arrangedto
keep Antheil employed in Paris.The second commission to be completedwas
there-scoring oftheVillonopera.
On thelastdayofthatyearAntheilsignedoffas editorofPound'snew Le
Testament,onlytopickitup againthenextdayto firethissalvoto prospective
performers:
Thisoperais madeoutofan entirely newmusical technic, a technic,
forcertain,
madeofsheermusicwhichupholdsitslinethrough inevitablerhythmic locksand
newgrips... a technic heretoforeunknown, owingtothestupidity oftheformal
musicalarchitects
stillbusywithorganizing squarebricks inwornout andformal
... a
patterns, powerful technicthatgrips musical phraseslike the mouths ofgreat
poetsgripwords.. . . [Theopera]iswritten as itsounds!Pleasedonotembarrass us
bysuddenly developing intelligence.
Antheilthenturnedto finishthethirdcommission, a filmscoreforFernand
LégertitledBalletMécanique.It wouldbe thefinalstunning composition ofan
unrelenting pushintonewmusicalterritory, unleashedontoParisas a storm,
"streamlined, glistening,cold,oftenas 'musically silent'as interplanetary
space,
and also oftenas hotas an electricfurnace, but alwaysattempting at leastto
operateon new principlesof construction. . . ." Antheilwrotethathe "had
possiblygone too far in thismatter of reachingout forpurelynewform"and
he beat "a hastyretreat from... thepremature fame"(fromAntheil'sauto-
biography, Bad BoyofMusic).
He had certainly let Pound go too farwithrhythmic invention.Though
wedgedamongsomeofthecentury's mostextraordinary experiments inrhythm
and time,Antheil's transcription ofPound's rhythms for Le Testamentreceived
littlecomment becausethemusicwas unplayablein the1920sand 1930s.Per-
formers weresimplyunequippedto preparesuch music,the difficulties of
whichexceededevenStravinsky's meters.
Because Antheil'smetricalnotationsfor Villonwere at the serviceof
Pound's own theoriesabout what constituteda revolutionin music,and
linkedspecifically to Villon'swordrhythms, we shouldnotexpectto hearin
theVillonthesame"romantic" (Antheil'sword)impulsethatdrivestheviolin
sonatasor BalletMécanique.The Villonoperapresentsa variantofAntheil's
theorieson rhythm, a strain,he explainedto Pound,thatinfluenced hisopera
Cyclops (to thewordsofJamesJoyce).Thatoperawas neverfinished.
151
It is tempting to assumethatAntheilwrotePound'soperaforhim,thatthe
youngergenius newmusicdispatchedtheoldermusician'samateurenthu-
of
siasmswithgreatease and perhapsto repaya debtof gratitude. The hand-
writing and content of theearly music drafts
establish that it was Pound,not
Antheilor Bedford,who setthegroundwork forVillon;Pound'smusiccriti-
cismand essaysanticipateand supportthatgroundwork. Writingto Agnes
Bedford,Poundreferred to his own musicalmethodas, "improving a system
byrefraining from obedience to all itspresent 'laws.' . . ." Elsewhere he wrote
thathe had a "damndefinite system," which fact he
byitself, believed, would
distinguish himfromtheParisavant-gardists, Les Six. Disciplesoftheicono-
clastandparodistErikSatie,Les Six respondedto theprevailing impressionist
tastein musicwithhumorand,accordingto PeterYates,a mixture oftriviality
"offset by bloated and .
polyglottery Wagnerism, thoroughly. . mixed up with
musicalskill."Pound'sdiscontent withimpressionism ranmuchdeeper,pro-
vokinghim to posita new theoryof harmonydespitehis limitedand self-
taughteducationin music.His workwithAntheilenabledhimto articulate
and developina smallvolume,Antheil andtheTheory ofHarmony (1924),ideas
Pound firstpresentedin the Introduction to Sonnetsand Ballate(1912),his
translations ofthepoetryofCavalcanti.
Musicis ... purerhythm;

rhythm andnothing else,forthevariationofpitchisthe
variationinrhythmsoftheindividual notes[i.e.,thefrequency and
ofvibrations],
harmony ofthese
theblending varied rhythms.Whenweknowmoreofovertones we
willseethatthetempoofevery masterpiece is absolute,andis exactly
setbysome
furtherlawofrhythmicaccord.. . . Ergo,therhythm setina lineofpoetryconnotes
itssymphony, hadwebuta little
which, moreskill, wecouldscorefororchestra.
Herewe findPounddeferring to thepotentialof modernscienceto reveal

new principlesin musicthroughmathematical measurement, while at the
sametimegrounding his ideasin Guido d'Arezzo'seleventh-century doctrine
of symphoniam grammaticae a of
admireris,harmony language. The medieval
"armonia" was thebondbetweenwordsand musicthatis heardas proportion
and constitutesthesonicessenceofpoetry."Armonia" privileges soundas the
significanttruthof poetry.When applied to words ratherthan to music,
Poundexplainedin a 1913essay"AFew Dont's,"theterm"harmony" refersto
a poet'stechniqueof buildinga residueof soundfromthetonalleadingsof
words,whichhavetheireffect byremaining in theear.
Though Pound'sensemble of seventeen musicians large,hisorches-
is rather
trationis sparseso thatthe listenermayhearovertones(whichare always
softerthanthe fundamental tone) and timbre.The pointillistic designthat
characterizeshisorchestrationstrategy forthefirsthalfof Villon("Et mourut
Paris,""Dictesmoy,"and on throughpartofHëaulmiere's aria),makesallow-
anceforthetimeneededforthesetonesto maketheireffect. It is thepracticum
152
whichwas alreadytakingformduringhis stintas
to his theoryof harmony,
criticfortheNewAge:
Theactualsoundofa givennoteorchordneedsa certaintimetorounditself out
before
thenextsoundis imposed orshotafter
it.Themasterlyrenderingofa piece
depends almostwhollyon theexactinstants
chosenforthisimpositionorsuiteof
thearcsorspheresofsucceeding
soundsoneonanother.Thisaffectsnotmerelythe
rhythm morethanpeopleusually
ofthepiece,butitaffects, thequality
realise, of
thetone.... (3January
1918)
In Villon,Poundrelieson thetimbreof instruments to createtheharmo-

niesto his melodies.Each instrument has specialcharacteristics thatresultin
thesounding ofcertainovertones over others. The function ofthe instrumen-
tal accompaniment is to join singletonesand theirharmonics to thesinger's
tone,buttheymustnotobscurethewords,whosenaturalharmoniesor resi-
duesofsoundneededto register a prominence in theear.Poundwas adamant
thattheevolutionof Westernharmonicstructure sincetheseventeenth and
eighteenth manifested
centuries, particularlyin the of
replacement just into-
nationwithequal temperament, had theeffect of graduallyobliterating the
naturally occurringharmonics. Further,therelianceon favoredharmonic pro-
gressionsand resolutionsof cadenceswas merelya reflection of tasteand
whatever culturaldogmahappenedto reignat thetime,farremovedfromthe
natureofsounditself. Pound'spointofviewanticipated hisinterestintheCon-
fucianformulaofexponential influence (whichhe wouldadd to hisexamples
ofgoodgovernment in TheCantos).Thisformula beganwitha sincerity inthe
individualthatpermeated thefamily,strengthened community, made
the and
good laws thatwere upheldbysincerity in government. The analogyofexpo-
nentialinfluence applied to music would locate within the qualityof individ-
ual tonesindicatorsforthe healthof government and finance.Harmonics,
thatis,theovertone seriessoundingaboveeachfundamental tone,wouldbe a
fitting symbol of Confucian thought as well as of poetry.Pound's returnto
medievalEurope'sfascination withwordsand musicas a basis forhis song
settingswas rootedin thedesireto establisha foundationin Westerncul-
turebeforeharmonicmovement was theorized-whensingletoneswerestill
undressed.
NewsthatPoundwas composingan operaquicklyspreadthroughout Paris
by means of Pound's friends and admirers, Jean Cocteau, Wyndham Lewis,
ErnestHemingway, NatalieBarney, WilliamCarlosWilliams,Margaret Ander-
son, Aaron of
Copland,and, course,George Antheil. Selections from Villon,
someofwhichwererevisedyetagainintosimplermeters(thistimebyPound),
werepreviewedin twosalonconcerts, thefirstbyYvesTinayrein 1924,and
thenYvesTinayrewithRobertMaitlandin 1926.The singerswereaccompa-
nied on both occasionsby Olga Rudge on violin.Harpsichord,trombone,
153
drums,and cornetde dessus,a brasstubeovereightfeetlonginspiredbythe
Swissalpenhorn, filledouttheorchestration ofthe1926concert.
In October1931Pound'sfledglingcareeras a composertook a big step
fromtherarefied atmosphere ofParisiansalonaudiencescomposedofartists,
patrons,and thepress,to a radioaudienceof tensof thousandsof listeners.
The completeTestament, performed by the BBC as an experimental studio
broadcastby non-BBCmusicians,was producedunderthe auspicesof the
DramaDepartment byArchieHarding,theradioartist/engineer, thatMari-
netticouldonlyimaginein his 1933FuturistRadio Manifesto, La Radia. An
Oxford-educated Marxist,Hardingbroughtto radioan intellectual's under-
the
standingthatculturereflected political and economic dynamic and that
restrictionson microphone accessweresynonymous withcensorship and rule
withoutrepresentation. He was responsible fortheworld'sfirst real-timeglobal
communications event,a round-the-world radio Christmaslinkup;and he
createda numberof collagedaudio piecesthatwerepoliticalsoundscapesof
thehotspotsin Europein theearly1930s- Austriaand Spain.Representing
thecuttingedgeof radiotechniqueand theory, he wouldhead thefirsttrain-
ingprogramandwritethefirst production manualfortheBBC.
GuidedbyHarding,Poundrevisedthedramaand someofthemusic,add-
ingnew scenesto exploitthenew radioeffects, equipment,and theory. The
newlyadapted Testament provoked considerable in-house controversy among
BBC producersas well as amongreviewers and radiolisteners.The debate
was overPound'samateurstatusas composeras wellas his retention ofVil-
lon'sOld Frenchpairedwitha Chicago-styled Englishslang.Not foreseeing
thatthe recognizeddon of Englishlanguagepoetryin Europe would be
criticizedby Drama and Music Departments alike,Hardinghad alreadyre-
quested a second work- something to be conceived especiallyforthe mass
radioaudience;something yet to be written.The enticement was to becomea
fatalattraction.
Poundsetto workimmediately in thefallof 1931,composingCavalcanti at
his residenceon theLiguriancoastof Italy.When he feltsufficiently sureof
hisdrafts,he sentthemtoAgnesBedfordforcomments, and showedthemto
a few musicians.Pound maintaineda selectiveveil of secrecyaroundthe
project,askingBedfordtowithholdtheoperafromHardinguntilitwas com-
plete.HavingvisitedRapallo in 1932,thepoetRobertFitzgeraldrecalledfor
Encounter (London,1956)a strangeconversation withPound,who is reported
to havemadein a "troubledand reluctant way ... an admission."Fitzgerald
tookPound'swords,"I livein musicfordaysat a time,"to be an allusionto a
"visionary musicrequiring words,"discounting thepossibility ofactualmusic
to be performed. The musicthatconsumedPound was assumedto be the
poetrytakingformin his imagination, yetto be writteninto The Cantos.
Fitzgeraldwas not theonlyperson who remained unawarethatthesettingof
154
wordsto musicand compositionhad becomea full-timeactivityand that
forthe past threeyearsPound had registeredhis professionas "poet and
composer"in A & C Black'sWho'sWho.The periodof theearly1930sis the
mostthinlydocumentedof Pound'slifeand work,and the relationship of
thetwooperasto eachotherand to Pound'sliterary has
output passedlargely
unnoticed.
That Pound conceivedCavalcantias a projectof some importance can be
supportedby thenumberof hoursdevotedto it.Workingas musiccopyist
forRobertHughes'srecently assembledperformance editionof Cavalcanti,I
a
attempted tally of the approximate number of hours Pound spentcompos-
ingtheopera's1230barsof music.A fledgling composermightspendone to
threehoursfinishing a singlebarofverticallyscoredmusicfora smallensem-
ble.Poundorchestrated theworkhimself, writing twoto threedifferent drafts
to finalizeeacharia (at thattime,each revisionrequiredrecopying theentire
aria). Pound composedadditionalmovementsfora violinwork,Ghuidonis
Sonate,fromwhichtheoverture totheoperawas selected.Evenatan extremely
conservative estimate ofhistimeat 1200hours,Pound'scomposingefforts for
thisone opera,basedon a hypothetical four-hour composingday(considered
a full-time compositional workload),add up to 300 consecutive daysor ten
monthsofwriting musicon paper.
Pound looselyorderedelevenballateand canzoneby Cavalcanti,and two
ProvençalsongsoftheItaliantroubadour Sordello,forcontrast, intoa three-
actoperascoredforeightsolo arias,twotrios,and twoduets.Hughesremarks
in his editionthatwhereLe Testament exploresa Webernesquepointillistic
orchestration andderivesitsvitality fromcomplexrhythms, Cavalcanti thrives
on theextensionsof melody,withoccasionaldemandsforvirtuosicperfor-
mances.Guido Cavalcantiis a poet whose famewas eclipsedby Dante but
whois stillstudiedforhismastery ofpoetictechniqueand forthephilosophi-
cal importofhiscanzone"Donna miprega,"a poetictreatise on thenatureof
love.The canzoneis thecenterpiece ofPound'sopera,framed bya loosenarra-
tivedrawnfromthefewhistorical factsand literaryanecdotesof Cavalcanti's
life.Pound'sconceitwas to surroundtheformidable figureof Guido Caval-
canti,a baritone,with friends,enemies,servants,and familywho cannot
understand him- thosein thetenor,soprano,and evenboy sopranorange.
Bitsof connective Englishdialoguebetweenand duringthesongsquestion,
explain, and
ridicule, scoldthenon-understanders. Listenersmaysafelyassume
thesecomments aredirectedto themas well! The unorthodox plotof Caval-
cantidependsupon itssecondary characters,those who do not fullycompre-
hendthepoetry, to inadvertently tendtheflameof a poetdestinedto remain
in theshadowofDante'sgreatness. Destinyitself,in theformofthegoddess
Fortuna,bringstheoperato a conclusion.
The opera'snumbersarecharacterized bya challenging belcanto,intowhich
155
Pound incorporates severaleclectictongue-in-cheek referencesto Verdi,the
nineteenth- century Italian and German operatic traditions,and a briefrefer-
enceto Stravinsky's neo-classicism. By thistime the relationshipwithAntheil
had considerably cooled, and Pound, in his gradualacquisitionof technical
feltfreeto borrowa linefromStravinsky's
self-sufficiency, Pulcinella
balletfor
his opera'smain motive.The recurring principalmotiveconflatesthe neo-
platonistand troubadourtraditions withina flame-like scalarriseand de-
scent.Pound calledthis"a musicof representative outline"as distinctfrom
"a musicof structure." This is notwordpaintingbuta commentary or gloss
on Cavalcanti'sversein whichPound'sown insightsand interests are trans-
portedin themovement ofthemusic.It is one exampleofmusicas a formof
criticism.
Cavalcanti'sbaritonevoicemustcarrya basis of authority despite,or be-
causeof,hisdangerousopinionthatexperience ratherthanreasonis a source
oftruth(dangerous,thatis,forthethirteenth century). Poundmodulatesthe
voiceawayfromtonalcentersand towarddissonanceon keywords.At one
point,to insurethathis audienceunderstands thatthemodulationis inten-
tional,and notthemistakeofan amateurcomposer, Poundhas Guido'sfriend
comment, "Well,maybeon a secondhearing.. . ."The interval ofthetritone,
in themelodicline and in theharmonyof theorchestration, alwaysdistin-
guishes Cavalcanti's ideas from more conventional ones. Pound firstused the
tritone,or diabolus in the in
scale, 1920 to describe the personalityoftheficti-
tiousaestheteof hispoem,Hugh SelwynMauberley. In 1932Poundused the
tritonein Cavalcanti to further explorethefigureoftheaesthete,hisprotago-
nist.When he wroteCanto72 in themid 1940s,he declared,"God thegreat
aesthete."
The octavein Cavalcanti becomesthesymbolofthenaturalorderand reso-
nanceofpersonalrelationships - theiralignment, likeovertones, morea mat-
terof destiny-a manifestation of theexponential power of nature - thanof
will. To strengthen thisidea Pound scoredtheact'sfinaltwo songsforboy
soprano,basso, and soprano,withGuido'sbaritonerangeheardonlyocca-
sionallyin thepenultimate song.The bass voicein Cavalcanti symbolizes two
kindsofwisdom:thatacquiredthrough experience and thatwhichcomesin a
flashor instantof enlightenment. The bass is the rarepersonwho under-
standsGuido. Pound suggeststhebass singerperform boththe roleof the
home-spun cobbler and the burlyprisonguard. The cobblerwarnsGuido to
the that
stop politicalinfighting plagues Florence. The prisonguard,referred
to byPoundas a deus ex machina;is merephysicalpresence,devoidof per-
sonality;he is a symbolof timestandingstilland, as such,he becomesthe
vehicleordevicebywhichPoundtransitions thequotidianeventsofhisopera
intotherealmof theeternal.Knowledgeis divinely bestowedbythegoddess
Fortuna,who enterstheguard'sbody,takespoweroverhis voice,and sings
156
through him,bassissimo, "Io sonla donna"[I am thewoman],theconcluding
numberof theopera.Cavalcanti^finaldramaticsceneis styledin a manner
similarto thefinalsongand danceinJapaneseNoh plays,wherethenarrative
dropsawayto revealthepresenceof the gods. The opera'sliterary source,
however,is Pound'sown Religio,A Child'sGuideto Knowledge (1918). This
charming essaytellshow we maydiscernthepresenceof thegods,and how
we maypleasethemwithgarlands.
In 1933TimeMagazineand the ChicagoHeraldTribunereportedthatthe
workwas completeand readyforbroadcast,but Pound eventually gathered
fromHarding'ssilencethatCavalcanti would notair afterall. The finalclear
copyoftheoperathatremainedwithPoundbeforethewarwas setaside,and
until1982theoperawas assumedto be half-finished, basedon theearlydrafts
stillin AgnesBedford'spossession.The opera has long been the neglected
stepsisterof therichTestament, a circumstance due notonlyto itslong-term
storage, but to theprimitive appearance of Pound's musicnotationand the
assumption that Pound, composing without the assistanceofAntheil,turned
outan inferior musicin thissecondlargework.
Testament and Cavalcantiare linkedto each otherthroughtheirstrategic
appealto a radioaudience.Each operahad itsuniqueintellectual and acoustic
problemforthenewmassmedium,and theworks,withquitedifferent sound
and structure,shouldbe judgedaccordingto theirdramatic fulfillmentofthat
problem.Pound avoidedplacingthepoemsat theserviceof a largemusical
structure,as was expectedof professional composers,in orderto bringfor-
ward the musicof the poetry.Experiments in Le Testament are applied as
provenformulain Cavalcanti:the crafteddistinctions betweenhearingand
seeing,theuse of morethanone language,theuse of voicesfromdifferent
timezones,and theinclusionofscenesreferring to a preternaturaland eternal
world.
Radio provedto be a valuablelaboratory forPound'sownpoeticas wellas
a forumforhisideason history, theliterarycanon,prosody, and criticism.He
had beenableto dramatize a triangularmodelofEuropeancivilization he had
writteninto The Cantos-the city,the individual,and amor or the erotic
impulse.The namesofVillonand Cavalcantiare inextricably linkedto their
cities,Parisand Florence,respectively. Bothpoetswereexiled,and thepas-
sionateexperience thatwas theirsfortheaskingslippedthroughtheirhands.
Villonsuccessfully bequeathsthe underbelly of Paristo succeedinggenera-
tions.Cavalcanti,unableto bequeathbecausehe is theaesthete,becausehis
poetryis difficult, and because Dante's fame overrideshis achievement,
receivesa properburialand reassessment due to theefforts of his twentieth-
century translator,
composer, andcommentator.
librettist, Poundcarefully artic-
ulatedthemystique ofthesetwopoetsin orderto equatetheir"uncounterfeit-
able" soundwithan important momentin thehistoryof civilization. In the
157
caseofCavalcanti, itwas thecloseofthetroubadour periodthatcultivated an
irreconcilable fissurebetweentherefined thing heldin the mind and the phys-
ical experienceof love. In thecase of Villon,it was an age thatwould once
again flauntthe profitsof the world'soldestprofession.The operas are a
microcosm of TheCantos,whichshowbyexamplevariousheightsof human
achievement fromtheancientand medievalpast,and comparetheseto the
deterioration ofthehumancondition whenprofits formthesoleprinciple that
governs commerce between people.
BetweenCavalcantiand Villon,two heirsto the troubadourtradition,
Pound has bequeathedus a musicaltapestry we shouldnot be surprisedto
learnclaimsforitsmainthread"thegoldin thepattern" (Canto116),theper-
sistentglow of sexualdiscoveryand the storiesof its consequences.Pound
musthavewaffled aboutadmitting intohisepicpoemthemanhe considered
themostimportant poet of all French literature. Villon'sversedoes notenter
untilCanto45 whereit is firmly tethered to Pound'ssustainedlitanyagainst
usuryas ifPoundcouldn'ttrustthepotencyofVillon'svoicenotto shiftthe
poem'sregistration of praiseand blame affixedto its manyfragments. An
opera about one hour in length,and theoretically somethingto whichone
wouldpay admission,would be themoreappropriate venueforthekindof
lovecelebrated inLe GrandTestament withtheline,"On ne les aimesque pour
l'heure"(One lovesbythehour).Whoreswerewonderfully entertainingbut
antithetical to Pound'sdesireto preservethe ancientpulse of the chthonic
mysteries, inparticular,theGreekmysteries atEleusis,which,Poundbelieved,
worshipped coitionas a sacrament. Poundwritesthisclearlyin Canto36 as a
personalcredoand pivotto Cavalcanti 's philosophy oflove,"Sacrum,sacrum,
illuminatioincoitu"
A thirdoperawas "halfdone,"Poundwrotein GuidetoKulchur, "and no
smalltechnical problem." CollisO Heliconii has forits the
centerpiece wedding
poem,CarmenLXI, byGaiusValeriusCatullus(ca. 84-ca. 54 B.C.). Circum-
stantialevidenceadditionally supportstheinclusionof anothersong setting
thatis in Pound'shand and amonghis musicdrafts - Sappho'sPoikilothron,
withits invocationof Aphrodite, thegoddessof love. Catullus'poem set to
musicas theepithalamium itwas thoughttobe - an invocation ofHymen,the
of
god marriage, to come forward to bless the marriage bed, thusinsuring
progeny and thefuture of Rome. Recent scholarship (see especiallythatofOle
Thomson) destabilizesthat characterization, describing insteada poem more
likelyto be a lampoon of the bridegroom's imminent performance in themar-
riagebed (Pound maywellhavediscoveredthesarcasm in thelanguageonce
he begansettingthewordsto music).
The use of multiplelanguages,Latinand Greek,thevoicesfromdifferent
centuries,thereference to spiritsand godsfrom"theotherside,"all comefor-
wardas formula fromtheearlieroperas.Sappho,an exile,continuesthepoet-
158
in-exilethemethatrunsthroughtheoperas.Poundwrotein ABC ofReading
thatCatulluswas theonlypoetwhohad"mastered thelady's[Sappho's]metre."
Poundwould haveus hearthesound of bothpoetsin thesame sitting,the
debtof one to theother,as he has had us listenforCavalcanti^debtto Sor-
dello. Pound had writtenSappho,Catullus,Cavalcanti,and Villonintothe
essentialshortlistofliterature thatcouldnotbe ignoredand also couldnotbe
translatedintoEnglishwithoutlosingthepotencyoftheoriginalvoice.
Becauseall threeoperasdeveloptheirthemeon love,we mightconsider
thatPoundhas leftus lessonson lovethroughexample,in theformofa love
trilogy.The impulsedatesbackto Ovid,whoseHeroldes comments on loveby
meansofcollectedexamples.The orderofPound'strilogy is notthesequence
inwhichtheoperaswerecomposed,butthereverse. By1932Poundwas com-
posingdaily,waitingforthetimewhenhe believedhe had thenecessary skill
to singdirectlyto thegods.In August,he sang,scoringCollisO Heliconiifora
bassvoice,thatofCatullus,masterofceremonies. Catulluswas thedaringand
of
darlingpoet Rome, endeared for a craft
and curiositythatcouldenjambthe
outrédetailsof highfinanceand tradeintogossipfromthestreet;thatcould
carrythe echo of earlierAlexandrinepoets into a purelyRoman emotion
expressedin a modernlanguage.
WhetherPoundsettheoperaaside forlackof time,or foundit couldnot
servethepurposehe originally intended, itwas themodernexpression ofCat-
ullusthatPound soughtto bringforwardin themusic.He did thiswithan
eclecticismthatmaybe surprising today,giventheimportance ofRomanand
Greekcultureto thepoems,butwas in keepingwiththeemergence ofcertain
eclectictrendsin Westernmusicdirectly attributableto theJavaneseperfor-
mancesat the Paris Expositionof 1889. This eclecticismis perhapsbest
knownthrough themusicofClaudeDebussywherewe findexperiments with
augmented triadswithin a whole tone hexatonicscale.Colin McPhee, research-
ingBalinesemusicalsystemsin situfrom1931,composedhis signature work
Tabuh-tabuhan (1936) for largesymphonicorchestra withjazz and Balinese
elements.Pound's settingof Catullus'voice relieson pentatonicelements
organizedto suggestpelog,an Indonesiantone systemwith narrowsteps
betweentones.His setting ofSapphotendstowardthewiderintervals between
tonessuggestive of slendro,a secondIndonesiantonesystem.The keysigna-
turewithitssingleaccidentalofC#is a Javanesescaletranscribed intoWest-
ern notation,borrowedfromthe work of the Germanethnomusicologist
ErichVonHornbostel, whichPoundhad seenin 1924(Ethnomusicology was
a relatively
new fieldand thepublicear was stilluneducatedaboutcultural
and regionaldifferences in themusicsof Eurasia,Asia,and theNear East.).
The East, signifying to Pound theuncorrupted livingtradition, becamethe
locusofhiscelebration ofloveand callto thegods.The melodiesof Catullus
and Sappho,recently published,nowjoin thetwocompleteoperasto shapea
159
love trilogyin whichantiquityrepresents
the pure and authentictradition
through a sacralization
oflove:
Collis O Heliconii,celebrationof the sacrament
Cavalcanti,intellectualizationof the sacrament
Le Testament, degradation of the sacrament
i Arts& Leisure,NewYorkTimes,27July2003,1,24.
2 "Beat,dictated,and cantillated" A Perspective
: Cavalcanti: ontheMusicofEzraPound,ed. Rob-
ertHughes (Emeryville:Second EveningArt,2003), 30. "Fractionalmetrics":Letter,Ezra
PoundtoAgnesBedford,1 February IndianaUniversity).
1924(LillyLibrary,
ArchieHardingtoEzraPound,23November1931(BeineckeLibrary,
3 Letter, YaleUniversity).
4 Interdepartmental Memo,D. G. Bridsonto Head ofMusic,7 September1959(BBC Written
Archives Centre).
5 As toldto theauthorbySchäfer, vivavoce,Emeryville,November2002.WhenSchäfervisited
Poundin Merano,Italy,PoundsangbitsofLe Testament frommemory.
6 Memo,Bridsonto Head ofMusic.
7 Interdepartmental Memo,EricWarrto D. G. Bridson,10 September1959(BBC Written Ar-
chivesCentre).
8 Letter,D. G. BridsontoEzraPound,15September 1959(BeineckeLibrary).
9 Letters,SherriMartinelli
toEzraPound,11June1958and 9 Decemberi960 (BeineckeLibrary).
10 Letters,D. G. BridsontoEzraPound,5 and 16 November1959(BeineckeLibrary).
11 HughesobtainedDorothyPound'swritten permission to receivethescoreand itwas shewho
authorized theBBC to releasetheirphotocopyto him.Today,someoneinterested in produc-
ingtheoperawillmakearrangements withPound'sliteraryagent,New Directions Publishers,
to requesta perusalscoreor rentthescoreand instrumental parts,negotiatingperformance
rightsat thattime.
12 Letter,SherriMartinellitoEzraPound,11October1958(BeineckeLibrary).
13 Letter,SherriMartinellitoEzraPound,9 Decemberi960 (BeineckeLibrary).
14 Letter,JamesLaughlin,New DirectionsPublishers, to WilliamBond,HoughtonLibrary, 19
April1971(carboncopyin possessionofRobertHughes); also see Donald C. Gallup,Pigeons
on theGranite (New Haven: The BeineckeRareBook & Manuscript Yale University,
Library,
1988),205.
15 Gallup,Pigeons, 204.
16 EzraPound,Literary Essays,23.
17 EzraPound,ABC ofReading, 104.
18 R. MurraySchäfer, EzraPoundandMusic:TheComplete Criticism,i2n.
19 EzraPound,SpiritofRomance, 222.
20 EzraPound,ABC ofReading, 206.
21 EzraPound,Literary Essays,3.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Anderson, Princeton
Princeton:
David,ed.,Pound'sCavalcanti, Press,1983.
University
Antheil,George,Bad BoyofMusic,GardenCity,N.Y.: Doubleday,Doran,1945.
Pound,Ezra,ABC ofReading,New York:New Directions, i960.
NewYork:Da Capo Press,1968.
, Antheiland theTreatiseon Harmony,
,TheCantosofEzraPound,NewYork:New Directions, 13thPrinting,
1995.
, GuidetoKulchur, NewYork:New Directions,1968.
EssaysofEzraPound,New York:New Directions,
, Literary 1968.
, Personae,London:Faberand Faber,1926.
, TheSpiritofRomance,New York:New Directions, 1968.
Schafer,R. Murray,ed.,EzraPoundand Music,New York:New Directions,
1977.
Thomson,Virgil,VirgilThomson,New York:AlfredA. Knopf,1966.
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Yale University Library

The Music of Ezra Pound

RobertHughesand I will be workingat theBeineckeLibraryin Apriland

A Document with "Legs"

Bornin Hailey,Idaho,in 1885,and raisedin Wyncote,a suburbof Philadel-

The vowelsin theGreekexclamanation byPindardo notflow:

The comparative liesin thesequencingofthevowelsand therhythms

Once in thememory, thesequenceresonateswithor againstotherlinesofthe

Musicis ... purerhythm;

Herewe findPounddeferring to thepotentialof modernscienceto reveal

In Villon,Poundrelieson thetimbreof instruments to createtheharmo-

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