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THE CAPITALISTIC MACHINE AGAINST A RADICAL INDIVIDUAL

of his teacher, Arnold Schoenberg. An example of Blitz- often paired with a lyrical and intimate theme, played by
stein’s contrapuntal skill occurs later in the scene, as he oboe (Figure 4 on page 41).
inverts both the four-note scale and the low string coun- The Condemned and the Wife share words of com-
termotive (Figure 3). The scene ends with an unresolved fort, sung contrapuntally by choirs I and II, their cadence
polychord. on the unison at the conclusion of the scene suggesting
The next few scenes introduce the rest of the cast: the an emotional union between the characters. The choral
Wife (choir II, scene 2), the Friend (choir III, scene 3), writing here shows the infl uence of Blitzstein’s studies in
and the Priest (choir IV, scene 4). Of note here is Blitz- the music of the Renaissance, albeit with highly modern
stein’s continued use of musical language to illustrate harmonic language (Figure 5 on page 41).
these characters. The Wife’s entrances, for example, are The Wife’s music contrasts greatly with that of the

40 CHORAL JOURNAL June/July 2021 Volume 61 Number 11