Third Stream Movement
While jazz has sometimes been seen in a negative light, it has recentlyexperienced a more positive appreciation. In addition, the differentaspects of jazz have gained a greater appreciation. According to GuntherSchuller, jazz is worth much more. He says jazz has evolved from: humble beginnings that were hardly more than sociological manifestations of a particular American melee, has developed as an art form that not only possesses a unique capacity for individual and collective expression, but in the process of maturing, has gradually acquired certain intellectual properties . . . Its strength has been such that it has attracted interests in all strata of intellectual and creative activity. (Gunther qtd. in Gennari).From this perspective, we can begin to appreciate the Third Streammovement. This movement finds its roots in the 1950s and it came about asthe result of a conflict of desires and ambitions. According to Gennari, the 1950s were a critical time for jazz becausethe "music itself was in the process of assimilating and transforming themomentous aesthetic advancements of bebop; not only because the cool, Third
I was looking for someone free enough, either aurally, or in technical knowledge, to be able to operate in an atonal context, and lo and behold, that is what happened with Ornette Coleman. Being an atonal twelve-tone composer, I was hoping that some players would come along who could operate in such a context . We can certainly see how such performers as Gunther werereaching for a new and exciting experience while still holding onto theroots of the jazz music they loved. His technique focused on someWestern art music compositional ideas similar to Rugolo's in the 1940s. Gennari explains the divide that existed between swing and bebop as a "adispute between groups that were simply looking for different things fromthe music. This emotion and frame ofmind are certainly captured in the interesting mixtures that Third Streamprovides. Schuller hehad been a twelve-tone composer for many years and was: disappointed that the harmonic language of jazz, even the bebop with all of its eleventh chords and flatted fifths, was still basically the language that Debussy, Ravel, Schoenberg, and Szymanowski has used form 50 or 60 years earlier. Sauter is known for utilizing unusual instruments as well as anexpanded rhythm section in his work. Ted Gioia, author of The History of Jazz, describes the Third Stream asan "ambitious and controversial offshoot of cool jazz that aimed to breakdown barriers between classical and jazz idioms" (Gioia 283). in Shipton 784-5) Schuller's Abstraction is the first work that demonstrates this conceptand it emphasizes Coleman's connection with Western music influences,especially in the ensemble sections and the saxophone solo. Its sections of varyinglength and the movement of motifs ahead of the meter create an "effect veryunlike the usual metrical precision of a well-oiled swing band" (Shipton336). In conclusion, the Third Stream movement is essential to the jazz worldbecause of the diversity that artists desired to express. In addition, Eddie Sauter's composition, Superman, was one of the firstpieces to usher in the Third Stream movement.
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Acceptance Essays
