20Th and 21St Century Practices in the Music of Björk

1 20th and 21st Century Practices in The Music Of Björk During the past two decades it has become fashionable for newspapers and music magazines to periodically promote “the death of classical music”. The most recent and widely- read example of one such article was published by Slate in January 2014, titled “Requiem: Classical Music In America Is Dead”.1 Although much of the article is founded on generalizations, such as using the television show Modern Family as a representation for public opinion, it does make reference to other academic and fact-based articles such as Greg Sandow's research on the increasing average age of the classical music listening audience. The underlying message of all such articles is perhaps best summed up by Naxos writer John Steinmetz, who writes, “Our culture now has musical needs that classical music cannot meet…classical music, through no fault of its own, has fallen out of step with current values”2. However, the problem with articles of this kind is that they fail to separate the institution of classical music from classical music itself, which does not strictly live within opera houses or recital halls. The influence of classical music, especially 20th and 21st Century classical music, is alive and well with artists such as David Bowie, Grizzly Bear, and perhaps most famously, Björk. The ideas surrounding harmony and melody, the use of technology in music, and cultural themes which emerged during the 20th century are an integral part of Björk's music, and her commercial success over the past two decades proves that the values and techniques of modern classical music are still relevant to younger audiences. Of all the musical techniques that emerged during the 20th century, the ones concerned 1 Mark Vanhoenacker, “Requiem: Classical Music In America Is Dead.” Slate Magazine, January 21, 2014, accessed March 1, 2014, http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2014/01/classical_music_sales_decline_is_classical_on_death_s_door.html 2 John Steinmetz, “Step Away From The Pedestal.” ArtsJournal, August 15, 2010, accessed March 1, 2014, http://www.naxos.com/news/?op=331&displayMenu=Naxos_News&type=2 2 with harmony and melody were perhaps the most radical and noticeable to the average listener. Some of these techniques include sprechstimme, tone clusters, and harmonic stasis, all of which can be heard in Björk's music. To examine her use of these techniques it is first relevant to acknowledge her background in classical music. In a 2001 conversation with photographer Juergen Teller, she reveals, “I went to music school for ten years, but I rebelled against it. I felt the school was too controlling, and I didn't understand what a ten-year-old Icelandic girl had to do with all these three-hundred-year-old German guys. (...) I thought we should think more about this century, and more about composers that were closer to us”3. This affinity for 20th century composers would continue throughout her career, and she would later acknowledge Schoenberg's influence in the song Hidden Place, which samples his piece Transfigured Night. Björk's connection with Schoenberg can be heard more deeply in her vocal style, which is at times influenced by sprechstimme, a vocal technique between singing and speech that was used most famously in Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire. At one point she even learned Pierrot Lunaire and rehearsed it for months with an orchestra conducted by Kent Nagano. Her biographer Mark Pytlik writes, “Nagano was reportedly so impressed with the results that he invited her to attend Switzerland's Verbier Festival as his special guest”, where she would perform the work in public for the first time. In Björk's own music, the influence of sprechstimme is ingrained in her trademark vocal delivery, which frequently makes use of alternation between speech and singing, often blurring the line between the two4. One example of this is the track Where Is The Line?, in which her delivery is strikingly similar to the method which Schoenberg described sprechstimme should be achieved. In the foreword to Pierrot Lunaire, he wrote that one should become, “...acutely aware of the difference between singing tone and speaking tone: singing tone unalterably stays on the 3 Juergen Teller, “Björk, 2001,” Index Magazine. 4 Mark Pytlik, Björk: Wow and Flutter (Toronto: ECW Press, 2003), 110. 3 pitch, whereas speaking tone gives the pitch but immediately leaves it again by falling or rising”5. On Where Is The Line?, Björk demonstrates her awareness of this difference, and her use of subtly-pitched spoken word and approximated pitches achieve an effect that is very close to sprechstimme. In a broader sense, Björk's melodic sense is informed by the freedom of this technique – the idea that things need not be exact reoccurs throughout her work. Harmonically, the defining characteristic of early 20th century art music was the expanded use of chromaticism. One of the techniques used to achieve dense chromatic textures was tone clusters – chords made up of adjacent pitches which first garnered attention in the music of Henry Cowell. This technique was later explored by composers such as György Ligeti, whose Atmosphères and other works entered the ears of the general public after appearing in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. On Björk's latest release, Biophilia, tone clusters are heavily used, especially on the tracks Dark Matter and Thunderbolt. Dark Matter is a piece for multi-tracked voice and organ that features Björk harmonizing with herself accompanied by tone clusters of varying density. At times, the piece brings to mind the tense opening moments of Atmosphères, and the general texture of tone clusters played on organ is comparable to Liegti's Harmonies, a study for solo organ. Organ was also used on Thunderbolt, in which tone clusters are used in a less obvious way. This time, the clusters appear in the background vocal textures which Björk created using the pitch modification software Melodyne. In an analysis of Thunderbolt, Nikki Dibben notes, “This software was originally developed to allow users to alter the pitch and timing of vocal phrase to create a more "in-tune" and "in-time" performance, but Björk used it to make harmonies: she arranged the vocals by recording herself singing a part and the created new material using the software. One result of this is that many more of the harmonies are made up from 5 Arnold Schoenberg. Verklärte Nacht and Pierrot Lunaire (New York: Dover Publications, 1994), 54. 4 notes next to each other on the musical scale ("cluster chords") than in her previous work”6. In Thunderbolt, the tone clusters are an addition to the overall texture which is dominated by a repeated bass line and heavy percussion, rather than the backbone of the texture as in Dark Matter. Both songs can be seen as contrasting uses of the tone cluster technique which makes up a large part of the harmonic language present in Biophilia. Another technique which emerged in 20th century art music, particularly during the later half of the century, was harmonic stasis – the continuous repetition of a single harmony. This technique was used in many other styles of music such as Indian classical, experimental jazz and even pop before it became widely used by 20th century classical composers. In a 2010 lecture, Steve Reich describes hearing the use of harmonic stasis on John Coltrane's Africa/Brass and Bob Dylan's Maggie's Farm, and he admits, “without that, I never would have done what I've done, Riley never would've written In C, etc etc”7. The repetition of a single harmony can be used to create either a tense or relaxed atmosphere (depending on the harmony used), and also allows the composer to emphasize other aspects of the music such as texture or melody. Harmonic stasis was a common technique of minimalist composers such as Reich and Riley, and was later used by Björk on the album Medúlla, released in 2004. On the track Öll Birtan, a single harmony unfolds through the use of multi- tracked voices which creates a stagnant atmosphere that is somehow tense at the same time. In an in-depth study of Medúlla, Victoria Malawey describes how Björk is able to achieve this, writing, “ [Öll Birtan] suggests timelessness through its static use of a single harmony —a perpetual incomplete dominant seventh comprised of pitches D, F#, and C. (...) Throughout the song, the gradually unfolding D7 sonority is never resolved, nor are there other functional 6 “Thunderbolt,” bjork.fr, accessed March 8, 2014, http://www.bjork.fr/Thunderbolt 7 “Steve Reich on Harmonic Stasis @ RBMA London 2010,” Youtube video, 5:18, posted by “Red Bull Music Academy”, February 16, 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqmBCRpyLD0 5 harmonies which would give the song some sort of directed motion toward a harmonic goal”8. This is an example of another aspect of Björk's harmonic language – her use of functional chords in a non-functional setting allows for greater harmonic freedom while still retaining consonant sonorities, and in this way she identifies with the tradition of minimalist thought. Björk's use of both melodic and harmonic techniques that originated in the 20th century are important when considering the relevance of modern classical music in contemporary culture. Her commercial success proves that there is a sizeable audience for music with unpredictable melodies and non-traditional harmonies – both of which are common characteristics of modern classical music. Another characteristic of 20th century classical music was the use of technology to introduce new sounds into compositions. These sounds can be generally classified into two categories – entirely new sounds created by electronic instruments, and “found sounds” incorporated into compositions through the use of electronic tape.

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