CHAPTER 10 The Cult of the Commonplace
Satie, the French “Six,” and Surrealism; Thomson and the “Lost Generation”
Richard Taruskin
Not long ago, an apple orchard would have suggested to Rimsky-Korsakov, or even to the young Stravinsky, a secret, mysterious place, an impenetrable jungle, whereas in our day the poet seeks an ordinary apple on Olympus, an apple without artifice or complications, which is the most flavorful kind.1
—Sergey Diaghilev (1924)
Never any magic spells, reprises, sleazy caresses, fevers, miasmas. Never does Satie “stir up the swamp.”2
—Jean Cocteau (1918)
On 18 May 1917, at the very height of the Great War, Sergey Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes unveiled a new work—a “ballet réaliste” in one scene, called Parade—at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, where six years earlier Stravinsky’s Petrushka had premiered. There was nothing at all Russian about this new Ballets Russes offering. The music was by Erik Satie, the scenario was by Jean Cocteau, the sets and costumes were by Pablo Picasso. The choreographer, Leonid Massine, was Russian, it was true (as were all of Diaghilev’s choreographers), but the steps he designed were not.
- Citation (MLA):
- Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 10 The Cult of the Commonplace." The Oxford History of Western Music. Oxford University Press. New York, USA. n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2024. <https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume4/actrade-9780195384840-chapter-010.xml>.
- Citation (APA):
- Taruskin, R. (n.d.). Chapter 10 The Cult of the Commonplace. In Oxford University Press, Music in the Early Twentieth Century. New York, USA. Retrieved 12 Oct. 2024, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume4/actrade-9780195384840-chapter-010.xml
- Citation (Chicago):
- Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 10 The Cult of the Commonplace." In Music in the Early Twentieth Century, Oxford University Press. (New York, USA, n.d.). Retrieved 12 Oct. 2024, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume4/actrade-9780195384840-chapter-010.xml
