Magic Realism in Music and Literature

This is the first book to explore the manifestation of myth, magic and mysticism in music since 1920 against a background of the emergent literary movement that has become known as magic realism. Caroline Rae demonstrates how writers and composers shared a fascination for ancient mythologies, legend, ritual, Africanism and diverse non-Western traditions, as well as a predilection for the exploration of dislocated time and memory. Their common aim was to revitalise existing forms of expression and thereby to seek creative and spiritual renewal. The work of Borges, Asturias, Paz, Carpentier, García Márquez and others is considered in this French context, alongside connections with the composers Varèse, Jolivet, Millaud and Villa Lobos. The book also examines those composers such as Messiaen, Berio and Ohana, who had little or no direct contact with magic realist writers but whose music reveals concerns with similar themes. Rae therefore elaborates a new and engaging interpretation of the creative preoccupations of leading French and Latin American composers of the twentieth century.