Syntaxes and Sonorous Systems in Five Pieces for Orchestra by Sabin Pautza
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Latest Advances in Acoustics and Music Syntaxes and Sonorous Systems in Five Pieces for Orchestra by Sabin Pautza ANCA LEAHU Department of Music University of Arts George Enescu, Iasi Str. Horia, nr. 7-9 ROMANIA [email protected] Abstract: In Five Pieces for Orchestra, the composer Sabin Pautza focuses on the idea of exploring all the syntaxes, from the accompanied monody, polyphony, homophony and heterophony to various combinations of them. This idea serves a modal-serial organization, based on mathematical formulas and incorporates all the elements of language, such as melody, rhythm, harmony and dynamics. Applying these mixed types of syntaxes (homogeneous or heterogeneous) to a large orchestra generates rich sonorous pages where the texture comes first. Key-Words: Syntaxes, sonorous systems, Sabin Pautza, texture, natural resonance, total chromatic, modal-serial organization. Introduction relating to an overall meaning with respect to the Although structured in five parts (composed in references to those sonorities stemming from 1971), this work is focused on a sound construction Romanian folk music. that claims its aesthetic meanings especially on a macro formal level. The alternation applied to syntax, metrics, dynamics, tempos and moods Piece I conveyed becomes the compositional principle upon The first piece starts with an accompanied which the Five Pieces for Orchestra [1] are built. monody (fig. 1) and reaches a texture with various Sabin Pautza’s [2] idea of exploring all the plans. syntaxes, starting from accompanied monody, polyphony, homophony and heterophony to various Fig. 1 (S. Pautza – Five Pieces for Orchestra, combinations between them, serves a modal-serial movt. I, pg. 3-4/G.S.) organization based on mathematical formulas and incorporates all the elements of language, from melody, rhythm and harmony to dynamics: “In this work, [...] I wanted to express typical affective states such as ecstasy, anxiety, hope, and so on, by means of sonorous states based on different elements of musical syntax such as homophony, polyphony, heterophony, accompanied monody as well as combinations of these such as polyphonic An evolutionary path transforms the texture with homophony, heterophonic polyphony, homophonic a continuous musical character, towards the end, polyphonies” [3]. Generally, applying these mixed spreading sounds through elements of isorhythmic types of syntaxes (homogeneous or heterogeneous) pointillism with a generalized function. to a large orchestra generates rich sonorous pages where texture comes first. The Five Pieces unfold according the classical principle specific to the suite genre, alternating contrasting characters and tempos, but in this case, ISBN: 978-1-61804-096-1 126 Latest Advances in Acoustics and Music Fig. 2 (S. Pautza – Five Pieces for Orchestra, emptiness, focused on and redistributed in the movt. I, pg. 12/G.S., extras) vertical. Fig. 4 (S. Pautza – Five Pieces for Orchestra, movt. I, pg. 11/G.S.) Although with a special allure, the principle of continuity is maintained by the presence of pedals, either on their own or rhythmic, assigned mostly to If the beginning of the first movement features as grave instruments. a primary element the monody, therefore, the On the intonational level, the sonorous discourse distribution of the sound focuses on an horizontal starts from a single sound, C#, and adds the level, the evolution of the musical discourse remaining of the total chromatic organized on strict gradually changes its position, and the end occurs partitions attributed to each instrument, so that the with a harmonic concentration by expanding the beginning of the work offers the overlap of all the vertical factor, resulting in a compact area of intervals. maximum density and of an isorhythmic choral The evolution of the musical manifestation aspect. changes its format throughout the first part, in such a way that each new syntactic depiction adds another dynamic step towards the fff in the end, by Piece II using durations and rhythmic formulas increasingly The second piece (Poco Rubato) is built on a shorter and enriching the sound spectrum with a sound continuum engaged in a course of broader number of instruments. accumulation and agglomeration up to a climax Concerning the placement in terms of rhythmic (R65) and on a return to quietness of the sonorities, formulas in a block syntax, it can be seen a alternating different types of syntaxes. The first one permutation of a finite set of vertical rhythmic is the accompanied monody depicted as an imitation combinations with different temporal distributions. of temporal shift, from one timbre to another (oboe 1, flute 1, clarinet 1). Fig. 3 (S. Pautza – Five Pieces for Orchestra, movt. I, pg. 7/G.S.) Fig. 5 (S. Pautza – Five Pieces for Orchestra, movt. II, pg. 13/G.S.) The alternating principle, applied to different After the three displays, another monody, this types of syntax, is also extended to the sonorous time animated by horn 1, brings changes to the spaces, by regular succession, in some timbre parts, rhythmic-melodic structure, both in terms of main evidence of elements characterized by fullness and line, and of the conformation of the accompaniment ISBN: 978-1-61804-096-1 127 Latest Advances in Acoustics and Music that adds to the initial pedal a heterophonic level, brass instruments timbre (trumpets and trombones in with a quasi-complementary rhythmic development. relation of rhythmical quasi-complementarity), which follow the same route from a decreasing level Fig. 6 (S. Pautza – Five Pieces for Orchestra, to an increasing one in a temporal stretto. movt. II, pg. 3/G.S.) Fig. 8 (S. Pautza – Five Pieces for Orchestra, movt. II, pg. 17/G.S.) In terms of intonation, the melody of the horn is built on a series of 12 sounds, none of them being repeated until the end. Of the total chromatic strictly implemented, the other instruments extract partitions of five elements, being modeled a serialization of modal type. A second type of writing, with a modified agogic, initiates a sonorous canvas in the score of the chordophones achieved by a canonical polyphony, in which entities, subject to imitation, The dynamic level is subject of gradation, the are mixed timbre couples (second violin – section 1 sonorous trajectory registering a very soft dynamic – and the cello 1, viola 1 and double bass 1, second and culminating with ff in the explosion of the violin – section 2 – and viola 2, cello 2 and double climax. bass 2). The return is achieved through a descending chromatic passage, polyrhythmic, in which the total Fig. 7 (S. Pautza – Five Pieces for Orchestra, chromatic is recorded (fig. 9) and makes the movt. II, pg. 14/G.S.) transition to the reiteration of the beginning, being reaffirmed the accompanied monody. Fig. 9 (S. Pautza – Five Pieces for Orchestra, movt. II, pg. 21/G.S.) The intonational material also runs with partitions of the total chromatic. In terms of rhythm, the concatenation of the durations is based on three consecutive numbers in the Fibonacci string, the variation being 3 eighths, 5 eighths, 8 eighths (fig. 3). From a general perspective, the audible and graphic result perceived is a texture of polyphony of Piece III attacks (due to time position and the emphasizing of The third piece builds its sonorous dramaturgy the imitative beginning), that records gradually an on the alternating principle, a formal projection orchestral widening through the use of woodwind being able to develop on the pattern A B A B A. In instruments, as well. The continuity element is fact, the score of the third part alternates contrasting crucial for the second part, however, in order to states, brought in not only by construction, but also create a contrast, the composer includes some by agogic (Allegro – Moderato), dynamics (f –p), rhythmic percussive interventions, by referring to ISBN: 978-1-61804-096-1 128 Latest Advances in Acoustics and Music way of producing sounds, writing. The opposition of combinatorial amount of durations, following the the formal segments also holds a timbre support, the periodicity of formulas but no less rigorous. For distinction being also marked by the tendency for example, trumpet 1, which at first, went on a chain the brass instruments and percussion in sections A of four related eighths, in the middle and in the final and woodwinds and chordophones for sections B. sections plays in a 1-1-1-2-1-1-2 ratio [4], kept From the intonational point of view, the sonorous constantly. organization in sections I, III and V (A) is based on the elements of Fibonacci string (3, 5, 8) by using Fig. 13 (S. Pautza – Five Pieces for Orchestra, some structures – segment –, their movt. III, pg. 26/G.S.) complementarity reunite with intonational material of the sections B reassuring the chromatic integration of 12 sounds. Fig. 10 (acorduri , segment ) Sections II and IV (B) are built on the same typology of organization of the total chromatic, but the syntax changes its appearance, by emphasizing the status of imitative polyphony. The sonorous track narrows by the successive organization of the entry of the instruments and, Fig. 14 (S. Pautza – Five Pieces for Orchestra, therefore, by overlapping the structures, each movt. III, pg. 27/G.S.) timbre displaying aspects of the segment transposed on other sounds. Rhythm follows a symmetric organization scheme to every melodic line, but with a wide distribution in all the orchestral attacks, highlighted by accents, resulting in a de-synchronization of the sound plans, thus giving birth to a polyphony of attacks combined with heterophony. Piece IV Fig. 11 (S. Pautza – Five Pieces for Orchestra, The fourth piece realizes a synthesis of the movt. III, pg. 24/G.S.) previous syntaxes, borrowing something from the other movements, the result being a mosaic syntax. The composer advances another type of experiment. Without any claims of processing, the fourth movement, more dynamic and striking, is built entirely on collages taken from previous parts [5] and attached to a dynamic evolutionary path that The expansion of the rhythmic terms is realized starts from ppp and ends with fff.