Deciphering the Musical Language of Nicholas Obouhow - Azadeh Atri

Various styles and techniques of composition were experimented with and developed by avant-garde composers during the early 20th century. In this regard, Nicolas Borisovich Obouhow (1892–1954) plays a significant role as a composer who experimented, very early, with a 12-tone system and electronic sounds. His innovative ideas were not only a response to the Russian avant-garde movement but were also part of the wider international search for new means and techniques of composition. For Obouhow, art facilitated and advanced his mystical search, and his views on music place him in a broader international cultural context associated with the occult and a belief in the transcendental power of sound.
The story of Obouhow and his life-long quest, through his craft, for peace and unity in a world destabilised by the upheavals of the 20th century is not just the curious tale of a maverick émigré of bygone, tumultuous days. He embarked on his search more than a century ago, and his journey is still relevant today in a world that continues to experience upheavals and wars. Drawing from a wide range of primary sources (in particular the Obouhow Archive at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France) and contemporary newspapers and journals, this book firstly demonstrates how Obouhow’s idiosyncratic ideas were formed and influenced by his spiritual beliefs and significant historical events such as the Russian Revolution and the First World War. Secondly, by examining his Parisian circle and important relationships, the author explores how Obouhow’s views were also in accord with the esoteric beliefs held by many others and how these views were part of a broader worldwide search for man’s spiritual destiny in the interwar period and beyond. Finally, through detailed and intelligible analysis of form, harmonic language, synthetic scale systems, and orchestration, the book shows how Obouhow contributed to the early decades of modernism and 12-tone writing.