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Commentary: Is there a Los Angeles musical style?

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Virgil Thomson, both a composer and critic, once characterized American music as any piece created by U.S. residents. Undeniably true, yet it’s less straightforward to pinpoint the essence of music produced in Los Angeles (L.A. music).

Los Angeles serves as a hub for film and music, with notable composers like Stravinsky, Schoenberg (who spent more of his life in L.A. than any other city), and John Cage, who had a profound impact on the second half of the 20th century, calling it home. Understanding Los Angeles’ influence on jazz, pop music, and even world music is an endeavor that spans a lifetime.

Despite appearing as contradictions, these aspects of musical existence are what captivate us the most. Composers like Schoenberg and Stravinsky, for example, were drawn, albeit unsuccessfully, towards composing film scores for Hollywood. The allure of financial gain was strong. The enticing prospect of touching a vast audience was too compelling to resist.

Imagine myself, in the year 1935, stepping into the office of Irving Thalberg, Hollywood’s leading film producer, presenting demands that seemed impossible for MGM’s adaptation of “The Good Earth.” I was a composer, renowned as a pioneer pushing the boundaries of music, asking for an equivalent of $1.1 million today in exchange for full control over the movie’s soundtrack. This control extended to having actors sync their lines with my rhythms and suggested notes.

Fast-forward eight decades, I find myself in my office at MIT’s Media Lab, contemplating a concept for an opera. This opera is based on that intriguing Thalberg incident as a means to delve into the deep-rooted questions about art, entertainment, and what could have been if Schoenberg had received the go-ahead.

The much-anticipated revival of Tod Machover’s ‘Schoenberg in Hollywood’, initially debuted in Boston seven years ago, will make its way to Los Angeles for a series of four performances starting this Sunday at the Nimoy Theatre by UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. The connection between Schoenberg (who taught here from 1936 to 1944), Herb Alpert, and Leonard Nimoy perfectly encapsulates the unique blend of musical influences that define L.A.

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Esa-Pekka Salonen’s impressive two-week tenure leading the L.A. Philharmonic Orchestra in stunning Beethoven and Boulez concerts is fueling optimism that he may take over as music director when Gustavo Dudamel eventually leaves his post.

Additionally, on Sunday, the Hear Now Music Festival will wrap up its 2025 season at First Lutheran Church of Venice. This festival, a committed resource for exploring local music in L.A., has been running for 14 years and has showcased over 200 composers, ranging from renowned figures like John Williams to lesser-known talents from academia or garages with their guitars.

The essence of Hear Now lies in the interplay between artistic settings and physical locations. If Los Angeles’s music has a defining trait, it is its ability to question the concept of boundaries. The festival emerged due to the observation by its co-founder, composer Hugh Levick (who splits his time between France, Spain, and Venice Beach), that the music being produced by his L.A. peers was more accessible when performed overseas rather than in local venues.

Composers scattered throughout Los Angeles have a broad reach. Just considering universities, institutions like UCLA, USC, CalArts, UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, Pomona College, and the California State campuses in Northridge, Long Beach, and Fullerton are all hubs of musical activity that have exerted a far-reaching impact.

In the 1950s at Los Angeles City College, it was La Monte Young who first sowed the seeds of Minimalism – a significant music style from the late 20th century, best recognized by Philip Glass and Steve Reich’s works. Guided and motivated by Leonard Stein, Schoenberg’s assistant and pianist, Young started to ponder what would occur if he deliberately slowed things down significantly.

I recently met up with Levick to find out his insights from the festival. Over coffee at a cafe in Santa Monica, we sat near a house where Cage resided during the early 1930s, marking the start of his music career. He began as an assistant to trailblazing animator Oskar Fischinger, who had artistic disputes with Walt Disney regarding “Fantasia.” However, Cage’s tenure was brief; he often dozed off on the job and once carelessly dropped a lit cigarette onto flammable film.

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Commentary: How did Gustavo Dudamel end his L.A. Phil season? By saving the best for last

In simpler terms, Gustavo Dudamel’s penultimate Los Angeles Philharmonic season might have appeared less grandiose, but he still managed to make history by conducting Carlos Simon’s “Good News Mass” and delivering an outstanding performance at the Coachella festival towards the end of his tenure.

In this particular region, Levick may have met a more diverse assortment of composers than any other individual. Given that Hear Now accepts submissions from all composers, I inquired if he could discern any shared traits, similar to what you might find in places like Paris or Berlin. Is there a West Coast and East Coast music style, as it once appeared? Does Los Angeles possess its unique sound or perhaps a relaxed vibe?

Levick replied, “It’s not a perfect match, more like stylistic similarities. They might be influenced by others, but they’ve largely forged their own paths. The main distinction between West Coast and East Coast is that there’s a sense of flexibility and adaptability here, while the East Coast tends to be more rigid.

When asked about what has been surprising over the years, Levick highlighted that while composers like John Williams, John Adams, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Thomas Adès, and Andrew Norman can draw crowds, people’s curiosity is also a significant factor. Interestingly, from this year’s festival, which showcases pieces by 28 different composers, I have only been familiar with four of them beforehand.

Even Levick was taken aback by the numerous compositions from unknown artists he received. However, this turned out to be an advantage. This year’s festival saw the first two programs selling out quickly. I attended the initial one held at 2220 Arts + Archives in March, which focused on electro-acoustic music that was sometimes complex and unfamiliar. The event drew a wide and eager crowd who enjoyed the thrill of not knowing what was coming next. Each piece was unique.

In the realm of music composition, I too can’t be easily categorized. Originally a fiction writer, my journey took an unexpected turn when I found myself captivated by avant-garde jazz in Paris. This encounter led me to pick up the saxophone and subsequently delve into the world of classical avant-garde music. This coming Sunday, you’ll have the opportunity to witness my latest creation, “The Song of Prophet X,” a piece for speaker/singer and piano quartet. Interestingly, this arrangement shares a resemblance with the configuration Schoenberg used in his antiwar masterpiece, “Ode to Napoleon.

It seems that Schoenberg’s influence cannot be avoided these days. This season has been marked by widespread commemoration of the 150th anniversary of his birth. Just last year, on April 30, the Hear Now festival concluded with a grand concert held at UCLA’s Schoenberg Hall and led by Neal Stulberg, who conducted the UCLA Philharmonia as they performed Machover’s “Schoenberg in Hollywood.

Despite reports of a violent protest incident near Schoenberg Hall involving Palestinians that day, events continued as planned. The concert was not intended as a political statement; the music had no connection to any protest movements. However, the symbolism of the situation couldn’t be overlooked. Schoenberg, who escaped Nazi Germany, composed numerous pieces with a protest theme like “Ode to Napoleon” and “Survivor From Warsaw.” He also dabbled in Hollywood.

Schoenberg could be recognized as a significant contrast in musical history. Leonard Stein and John Cage were among his students at UCLA. Notably, film composers David Raksin (“Laura”) and Leonard Rosenman (“East of Eden”) also studied under him. When I interviewed Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman, they both mentioned Schoenberg. It was their innovative jazz genre that guided Hugh Levick towards Hear Now.

Could we then define L.A. music as simply be music of, and open to, juxtapositions?

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2025-05-16 19:31

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