Moderate Modernism as the Third Way in the Opus of Alfredo Casella

Abstract

The work of an artist is related to society, politics, and ideology, which are important aspects of the context in which the work of art is created. The multi-layered relationship between art/music and society/politics can especially be seen when we consider neoclassicism, which was for decades after the Second World War in literature defined as a stylistic movement in the service of the ruling (totalitarian) regimes. Consequently, authors of neoclassical works were criticised for returning to tradition and order, and their works for reducing expressive means. Among them, the name of Italian composer Alfredo Casella stands out, whose works were criticised because of their alleged coherence with the aesthetic requirements of the regime. Starting from the hypothesis that neoclassicism is a modernist movement, I will examine the third period of Casella’s work in the context of moderate modernism, as a third way between the aesthetic requirements of the regime and modernistic expression that was characteristic of the composers’ earlier period.