The Concept of New Complexity: Notation, Interpretation and Analysis
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THE CONCEPT OF NEW COMPLEXITY: NOTATION, INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS PART I A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts by Stuart Paul Duncan May 2010 © 2010 Stuart Paul Duncan THE CONCEPT OF NEW COMPLEXITY: NOTATION, INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS (PART I) A PORTFOLIO OF THREE COMPOSITIONS (PART II) Stuart Paul Duncan, D.M.A Cornell University 2010 This thesis examines Roger Regate’s first published work, Genoi Hoios Essi for solo piano, which has fallen under the epithet of “New Complexity,” a polemical term that reflects a superficial appraisal by critics of the notational system employed by the composer. One such superficial glance can be seen in Richard Taruskin’s depiction of the works of “New Complexity” as a simple reflection of progress in notational technology: “The notational detail was significant, even if the music was not; for its intricacy set a benchmark that is never likely to be equaled, let alone surpassed.” Given Taruksin’s supposition alongside a host of other responses from composers, performers and critics alike, it is understandable that the term “New Complexity” has become something of a hot potato, with composers who are generally seen as New Complexicists keen to distance themselves from the term, and with it the idea that their music strives for the most complex notation possible. However, if we look beyond the notational complexity to the question of where the complexity lies, we find a shared aesthetic between these composers that does make some sense of using a single term to group them together. Chapter One will provide an introductory framework, asking what this complexity comprises, and how the term developed. Chapter Two will begin to look at how the term and the misunderstanding of its underlying aesthetic have clouded the opportunity to examine these works from a positive critical standpoint. Frank Cox’s evaluation of the contemporary performance practices offers a means to situate these standpoints and address the ideology inherent in pursuing notational accuracy over all other musical-interpretative domains. The third chapter contextualizes the apparent need for performative accuracy over all other musical intuitions as an implicit association with the earlier serialist Darmstadt phase (the 1950s and 60s), before offering new perspectives on New Complexity works by performers who engage with them critically. The final chapter builds upon the foundation established in the preceding three, by offering an analysis of Roger Redgate’s Genoi Hoios Essi for solo piano. The analysis does not seek to render the complexity inert by reducing it to its technical construction or by mapping the density of notational information; instead, it charts the interstices between the composer and score, score and performance, and performance and reception that provide a complexity of relationships fueling what could be best described as ‘the work.’ In Redgate’s Genoi, changes from a complexity of weaving rhythmic strands to moments of perceptual transparency are not a superficial outcome of an eclectic notational strategy. Rather, the struggle between these two extremes lies at the heart of the narrative of Genoi, building an awareness of “things becoming themselves,” the translation of the title. Friedrich Nietzsche originally intended to use the title for the work now known as Ecce Homo. The rhetorical function of this title within the work is significant, for as well as asserting a struggle in the way various things attempt to “become” in Redgate’s music, Nietzsche’s ultimate rejection of the title suggests that such an attempt will never bear fruit. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Stuart Paul Duncan, born on 23 May 1983 in Dover, England, studied piano from an early age with David Brewer. He received a first-class honors Bachelor’s Degree in 2004 from Canterbury Christ Church University, studying composition with Roderick Watkins, orchestration with Paul Edlin, and theory with Eva Mantzourani, during which time he received the Canterbury Festival Composition Award. In 2006, he received a Master’s degree with distinction in composition from Goldsmiths College, University of London, under the guidance of Roger Redgate, before crossing the pond to study for his doctorate at Cornell University. At Cornell, Duncan has studied composition with Steven Stucky and Kevin Ernste and organ performance with Annette Richards. During his time at Cornell, Duncan’s music has been performed by Cornell’s Festival Chamber Orchestra, Wind Ensemble and Wind Symphony, the latter an educational outreach project for two simultaneous orchestras involving a children’s band. In 2007 his Spiral Density Waves was performed at the North American Saxophone Alliance. The following year, the Johnson Art Museum hosted a non-staged performance of Duncan’s chamber opera Abyssinia. Further afield, Duncan’s works have been performed across the US, UK and continental Europe. He participated in the 2006 Deal Music Festival, where he was an invited composition tutor, working with students on joint projects, one of which was performed by the King’s Singers. Mats and Johannes Möller have performed Duncan’s works for flute and guitar across Europe, and his 501.567nm for 19-division trumpet, performed by Steve Altoft, is due for CD release in 2010. iii Dedicated to David Brewer (1937- 2010) iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank the members of my committee, Steven Stucky, Kevin Ernste and Annette Richards, for all their support and guidance over the past four years. In particular, I must thank Professor Stucky for giving me the opportunity to realize my dream to study in America, an experience that has shaped both my scholarly and compositional aspirations. I also wish to thank Keith Hjortshoj for the countless readings he made of the thesis and his aid in translating from British to American English… two countries indeed separated by a common language! Thanks must go to Bonna Boettcher, whose skills as a librarian and researcher made the path to the thesis that much smoother, obtaining countless scores, recordings and hard-to-find texts. Richard Toop’s analytical insights were indispensible in developing the final chapter on Roger Redgate’s Genoi Hoios Essi. Thanks must be extended too, to Roger, for his willingness to explore the “dreaded attic” for the sketches of Genoi and for his guidance in developing a critical stance on the composition process, which have no doubt left their mark on my own music. I would also like to express appreciation for Cornell’s faculty, including James Webster, Roberto Sierra, David Yearsley, Steve Pond and Cynthia Johnston Turner, who have left a lasting impression on me that will be a constant source of inspiration. The music department’s graduate community has been a great source of support over the years, especially as I adapted to life in America, and I am particularly grateful to Mark Ferraguto and Damien Mahiet, both as friends and as scholars. Lastly I wish to express my thanks to David Brewer, David Burridge, Robin Hendry and Roderick Watkins, whose musical passion and guidance has led me to where I am today. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Biographical Sketch iii Dedication iv Acknowledgements v Table of Contents vi List of Figures vii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER TWO NOTATION 10 CHAPTER THREE 1980s DARMSTADT AND INTERPRETATIONS OF NEW COMPLEXITY 43 CHAPTER FOUR CONCLUDING ANALSIS OF ROGER REDGATE’S GENOI HOIOS ESSI 72 BIBLIOGRAPHY 124 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Taruskin’s excerpt from Ferneyhough’s Second String Quartet (1980) 12 Figure 2.2a Brian Ferneyhough’s Second String Quartet measures 14-16 13 Figure 2.2b Brian Ferneyhough’s Second String measures 39-41 14 Figure 2.3 Extract from Ferneyhough’s Time and Motion Study II for 14 vocalizing cellist and electronics Figure 2.4 Aaron Cassidy’s Crutch of Memory measures 55-58 17 Figure 2.5 Excerpt from Brian Ferneyhough’s Cassandra’s Dream Song 19 for solo flute Figure 2.6a Ferneyhough’s Second String Quartet Measures 14-16 33 Figure 2.6b Marsh’s aural transcription of measure 15 of Fig. 2.6a 34 Figure 2.7 Ferneyhough’s Second String Quartet, Arditti realization and Marsh 36 Transcription Figure 3.1 Opening measures from Ferneyhough’s Bone Alphabet 55 Figure 3.2 Schick’s grid approach to complex rhythm in Bone Alphabet measure 1 57 Figure 3.3 Bone Alphabet measure 2 58 Figure 3.4 Excerpt from Redgate’s Ausgangspunkte 61 Figure 3.5 Excerpt from Dench’s Sulle Scale della Fenice 65 Figure 4.1 Roger Redgate’s Genoi Hoios Essi, measures 69-71 70 Figure 4.2 Genoi, measures 1-2, registral expansion and contraction 77 Figure 4.3 Genoi, measures 1-2, set analysis 78 Figure 4.4 Genoi, measures 6-7, interval multiplication process 79 vii Figure 4.5 Results of intervallic-multiplication on each of the six pc-sets 81 from measures 1-2 Figure 4.6 Genoi, excerpts from measures 1-5, appearance of set-class (0,1,2,6,7) 82 Figure 4.7 Results of the intervallic-multiplication process focusing on the 83 transpositions of pc-set [2,3,7,8,9] Figure 4.8 Genoi, measures 6-7, obscure pc-set classification 86 Figure 4.9a Genoi, measures 10-13 87 Figure 4.9b Genoi, measures 10-13, (0,1,2,6,7) set-class transformations 87 and relation to T0: [2,3,7,8,9] Figure 4.10 Genoi, measures 1-14, ranspositions and transformations 89 Figure 4.11 Genoi, measures 1-14, symmetrical presentation of T10I via inv.B 90 transformation Figure 4.12a Genoi, opening, symmetrical reading 91 Figure 4.12b Genoi, opening, linear reading 91 Figure 4.13 Genoi, measures 7-8, retrograde complementation relationship 92 Figure 4.14 Genoi, measure 1-14, mirroring process 93 Figure 4.15 Genoi, measures 5–10, mirroring process 94 Figure 4.16 Genoi, measures 1-4 and 11-14, breakdown of mirroring process 95 Figure 4.17 Genoi, measures 20-22.