The recent sweep of modern music at the Grammy awards in the classical music category inspired this “twisted classic.”
Three Musicians (1921) features standard characters from Italian commedia dell-arte (comic theater) including a masked Pierrot and Harlequin. It exemplifies Pablo Picasso‘s “synthetic” cubist style – where flat areas of color resemble collages made of construction paper cut-outs.
It was created shortly after an artistic collaboration between Picasso and composer Igor Stravinsky during the ballet production of Pulcinella (another commedia dell-arte character).
In this particular rendition high humor takes a turn for the low as the Pierrot decides to put down his clarinet in favor of a preferred instrument.
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