JOUVE (Pierre Jean). - Lot 149

JOUVE (Pierre Jean). Born in Arras. 1887–1976. French poet and novelist. Manuscript A.S. “Pierre Jean Jouve,” titled *A propos du XXe siècle*. No place, no date [circa 1950]. 10 folio-sized pages on heavy laid paper, in blue and red ink. A MAGNIFICENT TEXT ON ART AND MODERNITY IN THE 20TH CENTURY: Drawing on his reflections on modern art and the way art is perceived, Jouve praises Alban Berg’s opera *Wozzeck* (Jouve, who was a devoted fan of Berg, had written several articles on the Austrian composer):…In 19th-century Paris, Wagner, Baudelaire, Courbet, Mallarmé, and Cézanne were booed by the public, which was devoted to “clichés”… Today, modern art should …reach broad audiences, respond to the democratic shift toward the masses… Yet, he laments, we have never witnessed …greater isolation of art, nor such an adaptation of art to the narrow confines of spiritual life—that of an elite whose face is unknown… He is pleased that the exhibition “The Work of the Twentieth Century,” which took place in Paris last May, showcased the best of contemporary creation and…Without exaggeration, one can say that “the work of the 20th century” in opera has already been heard: it is *Wozzeck*. One cannot underestimate the significance of the Paris premiere of Alban Berg’s *Wozzeck*. The profound impression this brilliant work made on everyone […], the overwhelming success of the two performances conducted by Karl Böhm and phenomenally brought to life by the two protagonists, Christl Golz and Joseph Hermann, confirm that something truly new has happened in France… Jouve has carefully studied the score and is preparing … a highly detailed critical work on *Wozzeck*: I say that it is impossible to conceive of a science of form that is more profound, more thorough, or more complete, and that this form—in which every note has a precise meaning—miraculously serves both bursting creativity and dramatic truth… He then wonders why this prodigious opera was ignored for so long by the French public. Returning to the music featured in this exhibition, he mentions Stravinsky: …It can be said that Igor Stravinsky’s *The Rite of Spring* has not aged in its raw power as a great, obsessive myth, and that the extraordinary mass of sound and rhythm still retains its mystery… He believes that only Béla Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 2 can rival *The Rite*… and concludes …Art is a long battle […] the most rigorous and at the same time the most sovereign innovation in modern music will, in one way or another, have a real influence…The poet offers this manuscript to Théo Léger, …in memory of Sils, last year…