In typical accounts of the beginnings of bebop the first modern

Question

In typical accounts of the beginnings of bebop— the first “modern” jazz style, which was originated in the 1940s by Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, and Thelonious Monk, among others—commercialism plays an important, though indirect, role. By the early 1940s, according to these histories, jazz had reached an impasse. The reigning jazz style, swing, had become “threadbare,” a “harmonic and melodic blind alley,” a formulaic popular music undergoing “death by entropy,” a “billion-dollar rut.”

These metaphors, sampled from various writings on jazz, echo the “crisis theory” of twentieth-century European classical music. Classical music history textbooks commonly impute the eruptions of modernity in the early 1900s to classical music’s stubborn failure to move beyond the language of tonality worn out from overuse in the nineteenth century. Something similar is implied about jazz in the early 1940s. Musicians’ failure to extend jazz’s rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic language in directions plainly indicated by the music itself built up pressure resulting in the eruption of a new musical modernism.

But phrases like “billion-dollar rut” clearly suggest that these writers believe that the real culprit is commercialism—the commingling of art and commerce that had for a time allowed swing to become both an authentic jazz expression and a national fad. Even after swing had run its course, the theory goes, the machinery of the popular music industry continued to prop up the “threadbare” idiom, seducing musicians into going through the motions long after they had any legitimate artistic reason to do so. In other words, mass-market capitalism was a logjam in the path of musical evolution that could be removed only by explosive force. Bebop provided that force. In this version of jazz history there is an implicit teleology to the progression from early jazz through swing to bebop: the gradual shedding of jazz’s associations with dance, popular song, and entertainment. Bebop is the logical culmination of this process—in it jazz became “art,” declaring its autonomy by severing forever its ties to commerce.

This insistence that bebop is anticommercial may suit the needs of contemporary jazz discourse, but it is a poor basis for historical inquiry. It idealizes the circumstances of artistic creation and represses the unpleasant reality that commercial relations permeate all realms of musical entertainment. For the musicians who originated bebop, mass-market capitalism was not a prison from which the true artist was duty-bound to escape, but a system of transactions defining music as a profession, thereby making their achievements possible. By 1945, Parker, Gillespie, and Monk had indeed willed a new musical subculture into being. But they were not trying to disengage from the “commercial” music world so much as to find a new point of engagement with it— one that would grant them a measure of autonomy and recognition.     
  1   
 1.  Which one of the following most accurately states the main point of the passage?

(A) Historical inquiry into the origins of bebop has tended to overemphasize the commercial causes of swing music’s artistic decline. 
(B) Typical accounts of the origins of bebop misrepresent the relationship of bebop’s originators to mass-market capitalism. 
(C) Bebop arose as a reaction to the failure of swing musicians to extend jazz’s rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic language in directions plainly indicated by the music itself. 
(D) Commercial relations permeate all genres of musical entertainment, including bebop. 
(E) Bebop’s originators did not see bebop as being fundamentally different from swing music.

2   
 2.  According to the author’s argument, at least some of the originators of bebop were motivated by a desire to

(A) attain artistic autonomy 
(B) overthrow the musical dominance of swing music 
(C) strip jazz of its associations with entertainment 
(D) escape the commercial influences present in swing music 
(E) secure financial rewards greater than those available to swing musicians

3   
 3.  The primary purpose of the reference to eruptions of modernity in classical music in the early 1900s (second sentence of the second paragraph) is to

(A) provide evidence that undermines the typical accounts of the origins of bebop by suggesting that factors other than commercialism were at play 
(B) outline a theory of classical music history that the author claims is parallel to the typical accounts of the origins of bebop 
(C) suggest that typical accounts of the origins of bebop are based on an inaccurate understanding of the history of twentieth-century music in general 
(D) describe a movement in classical music that was part of the impetus behind the transition from swing to bebop in jazz 
(E) provide an example of a modernist movement in classical music that was motivated at least in part by commercial considerations

4   
 4.  The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements about the originators of bebop?

(A) Their music was promoted by the music industry with the same vigor as swing music had been earlier. 
(B) They repudiated the notion accepted by swing musicians that jazz was a form of popular entertainment. 
(C) They regarded themselves as professionals and accepted commercialism as a central element of their profession. 
(D) They were better off financially than they would have been had they played only swing music. 
(E) They believed that bebop would appeal to as wide an audience as swing did.

5   
 5.  It can be inferred from the passage that the proponents of the typical accounts of the origins of bebop would be most likely to believe which one of the following?

(A) The lack of innovation in classical music in the early 1900s was due largely to commercialism. 
(B) Swing music came to enjoy immense commercial success primarily because it was not aesthetically adventurous. 
(C) The insistence that bebop was anticommercial in its origins serves the needs of today’s jazz critics rather than the needs of genuine historical inquiry. 
(D) Swing contained the seeds of innovations in musical language that, because of commercial pressures, were left undeveloped by swing musicians. 
(E) The originators of bebop embraced jazz’s associations with dance, popular song, and entertainment.

6   
 6.  According to the passage, which one of the following is true of typical accounts of the origins of bebop?

(A) They assert that bebop was originated by musicians seeking commercial success. 
(B) They represent bebop as an outgrowth of the modernist movement in classical music. 
(C) They identify bebop as the first jazz movement that did not have strong commercial appeal. 
(D) They overly idealize the realities of artistic creation. 
(E) They were themselves shaped by commercial pressures.

7   
 7. It can be inferred from the passage that the authors of typical accounts of the origins of bebop would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements about swing musicians in the 1940s?

(A) They continued to believe that their music was innovative even though artistic developments in jazz had rendered swing outdated.  
 (B) They resented critics’ insinuations that their music was merely entertainment.  
 (C) They recorded and performed music in a style that many of them no longer found to be artistically compelling.  
 (D) They believed they had a responsibility to preserve the great traditions established by earlier generations of jazz musicians.  
 (E) They sought unsuccessfully to liberate their music from the pressures of commercialism.

8   
 8. Which one of the following principles does the author use in analyzing typical accounts of the origins of bebop?

(A) Artistic progress in music is generally the result of commercial pressures.  
 (B) New movements in music typically begin with the rejection of the fundamental principles of the reigning musical style.  
 (C) Music historians should rely primarily on musicians’ first-hand accounts in analyzing significant developments in music.  
 (D) The turns of phrase employed by historians can legitimately be analyzed to uncover the historians’ assumptions.  
 (E) Music historians must take care not to let their aesthetic preferences influence their historical analyses.

Sajjad1994 · Accepted Answer

Hello ReetArora

To crack such dense history passages, concentration is the key if you lost track of information you will not get the desired outcome.

Read the first paragraph very carefully to understand what kind of debate is being offered. 
 Pay attention to the twist and key words and see what author is trying to convey.   
 Keywords shape the opinions so keep track of all important key words.   
 Do not dive into detail and examples too much and keep in mind you will return to the passage to read it again for detail questions. 
 Go with passage from paragraph to paragraph and try to see and conceptualize the bigger picture or the main structure of the subject matter being discussed in the passage. 
 Lastly, you don't need to get all hard questions correct to get a good score, even if you are not sure on a question do not think much of it and try to get over the next question on the screen.  
Good luck!

namculpa · Answer

Can someone explain question 1 and 8 please? 
A and B feel very close in Q1

Tucky · Answer

Author shares his views in P4: 
 This insistence that bebop is anticommercial may suit the needs of contemporary jazz discourse, but it is a  poor basis  for historical inquiry. It idealizes the circumstances of artistic creation and represses the  unpleasant reality that commercial relations permeate all realms of musical entertainment . For the musicians who originated bebop, mass-market capitalism was not a prison from which the true artist was duty-bound to escape, but  a system of transactions defining  music as a profession, thereby making their achievements possible.

Look at the ABOVE bold highlighted ones. The author says that Commercial relations were conducive for the origins for Bepop, but never said anything about how   commercialism contributed to the decline of swing music. Hence A wrong and B is right.

(A) Historical inquiry into the origins of bebop has tended to overemphasize the commercial causes of swing music’s artistic decline.
 
 (B) Typical accounts of the origins of bebop misrepresent the relationship of bebop’s originators to mass-market capitalism.

namculpa · Answer

" Even after swing had run its course, the theory goes, the machinery of the popular music industry continued to prop up the “threadbare” idiom, seducing musicians into going through the motions long after they had any legitimate artistic reason to do so. In other words, mass-market capitalism was a logjam in the path of musical evolution that could be removed only by explosive force. Bebop provided that force."

So does that not mean commericialism was a cause of swing's decline?

So does that not mean commericialism was a cause of swing's decline?

Tucky · Answer

these are NOT the Author's views. Those are Writers'/Historians' views. It may help to navigate the passage again.

Priyank1905 · Answer

It felt like a tough passage. It took me 20 minutes to complete the RC. The passage felt confusing and it is having so much information which is a little confusing for the brain to understand. It took me 6 minutes to read and understand the passage and 14 minutes to solve the questions. Got 5 correct out of 8 questions (5/8).

Definitely felt like a 700+ level passage to me

Definitely felt like a 700+ level passage to me

ReetArora · Answer

Bunuel   Sajjad1994   KarishmaB  
This passage felt quite confusing , went 4 wrong out of 8. How to deal with such passage? Please help.

counterclash1 · Answer

Has anyone received such lengthy RC paragraphs in any official mocks/official exam recently?

sarkarsarbani · Answer

Same question  bb   Bunuel   KarishmaB   kevincan

KarishmaB · Answer

Long passages in GMAT (which are fairly common) will likely be around 350 words, not 450 like this one.
Though we cannot be 100% certain that such a long passage will not be given.

In typical accounts of the beginnings of bebop the first modern

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In typical accounts of the beginnings of bebop the first modern

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