DOCSLIB.ORG

Het Musicerende Lichaam Vanuit Compositorisch Perspectief

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Het Musicerende Lichaam Vanuit Compositorisch Perspectief het musicerende lichaam vanuit compositorisch perspectief PAUL CRAENEN Gecomponeerde Uitvoerders het musicerende lichaam vanuit compositorisch perspectief PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden, op gezag van Rector Magnificus prof.Mr. P.F. van der Heijden, volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties te verdedigen op dinsdag 29 maart 2011 klokke 16.15 uur door Paul Craenen geboren te Leuven, België in 1972 Promotiecommissie Promotor: Prof. F.C. de Ruiter co-promotor : Drs. M. Van Imschoot Overige leden: Prof.dr. E.J. van Alphen Dr. M.A. Cobussen Prof.dr. T. van Haaften Prof.dr. S.A.F. van Maas Prof.dr. W.A. Wagenaar Dit proefschrift is geschreven als een gedeeltelijke vervulling van de vereisten voor het doctoraatsprogramma docARTES. De overblijvende vereiste bestaat uit een demonstratie van de onderzoeksresultaten in de vorm van een muzikale presentatie. Het docARTES programma is georganiseerd door het Orpheus Instituut te Gent. In samenwerking met Universiteit Leiden, Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag, Het Conservatorium van Amsterdam, KULeuven en het Lemmensinstituut. Inhoudsopgave Samenvatting 4 Orthografie 5 Vooraf 6 INLEIDING Motivering 8 Afbakening van het onderzoek 10 Overzicht 11 HOOFDSTUK I : muziek van hier en daar 1.1 Metamorfose van de klinkende ruimte 14 1.2 Muziek in de wereld 19 rondom de muziek 19 voor de muziek 20 van de muziek 21 1.3 Muziek van hier en daar 25 oog en oor 25 muziek van ergens 27 punten, lijnen, bollen 29 resonantie 30 disciplinering 30 weerstand 31 onderbreking 32 concrete muziek, bewegende klank 33 muziek van daar 34 muziek van hier 37 onderweg tussen daar, hier en ergens 40 HOOFDSTUK II : het lichaam weerklinkt 2.1 Het stille lichaam 43 collectieve spanning 45 ruimtelijke frustratie 46 2.2 Het klinkende lichaam 50 instrumentaal theater 51 contacmicrofoons en EEG's 54 tussen abstractie en concreetheid 58 de blootgelegde stem 59 2.3 Een concrete omslag 67 ideologie, herontdekking, experiment 67 hoorbare processen 71 1 geluidskunst 72 musique concrète 74 musique concrète instrumentale 78 ambivalenties 87 HOOFDSTUK III : gecomponeerde instrumenten 3.1 Een gemedieerde relatie 90 ecologie van het horen 92 dynamiek van de klinkende aanwezigheid 94 3.2 De instrumentale vergroting 99 een onzichtbaar instrument 101 inspirerende inspanning 110 3.3 Speeltechniek en muzikaliteit 113 het virtuoze lichaam 116 3.4 Instrumentaal denken 124 3.5 Musiceren als performance 130 instrumentale intensies 133 instrumentale verbeelding 135 3.6 Instrumentale identiteit 139 van de slag en de streek 140 strijken 143 slaan 147 zien, horen, voelen 149 de spiegel in de slag, 150 de stem in het instrument enactie en subvocalisatie 152 multimodale gestiek 156 plukken 159 3.7 Van het punt en de lijn 162 3.8 Sequenza V 171 “why?” 173 trombone als percussie 174 percussieve stilte 177 Sequenza V, B-deel 180 3.9 Gecomponeerde instrumenten 184 HOOFDSTUK IV : het gecomponeerde lichaam 4.1 Het compositorische perspectief 192 een onmogelijk object 193 toegang tot het lichaam 195 2 4.2 Strategieën 198 onthullen 198 o obstructie 198 o stimulatie 202 o uitputting 203 vergroten 204 synchroniseren 207 demonstreren 209 conceptualiseren 211 projecteren 213 infecteren 216 interactiveren 220 4.3 Lineariteit versus non-lineariteit 222 patchworks 223 van compositie tot design 227 4.4 Het componerende lichaam 231 het schrijvende lichaam 233 signatuur van het componerende lichaam 238 het tastende lichaam 245 het timbrale ‘nu’ 247 4.5 Het lichaam als strategisch nulpunt 251 – voorbij het lichaam het lichaam als filter 251 het lichaam als geheugen 254 kinesthetische exploraties 255 voorbij het lichaam 259 Abstract 262 Bibliografie 263 Curriculum Vitae 270 3 Samenvatting Het muziek uitvoerende lichaam vormt een essentiële schakel in de creatie van nieuwe in- strumentale composities. Toch vormt zijn aanwezigheid meestal niet het onderwerp van de compositorische aandacht. Compositorische vernieuwingen richten zich doorgaans op de muzikale organisatieprincipes of op de ontginning van nieuwe instrumentale sonoriteiten. Het muziek uitvoerende lichaam behoudt in het muzikale experiment meestal zijn status als transparant medium voor muzikale ideeën, maar ook als begrenzer van het uitvoeringspo- tentieel. Twintigste-eeuwse uitzonderingen hierop vinden we in het instrumentale theater van Mauricio Kagel of Dieter Schnebel, of in de door John Cage geïnspireerde Fluxusperfor- mances -en happenings die begin jaren ‘60 de muzikale uitvoering onthulden als een sce- nisch en theatraal gegeven. Een decennium later werd in de ‘musique concrète instrumenta- le’ van Helmut Lachenmann of in de hypervirtuoze muziek van Bryan Ferneyhough het uit- voerende lichaam impliciet hoorbaar en zichtbaar gemaakt via een thematisering van de instrumentale handeling. Ook bij tal van andere componisten was er eind jaren ‘60 sprake van een perspectiefverandering waarbij het concreet klinkende of de lichamelijke aanwezig- heid in de klinkende ruimte in de belangstelling kwamen te staan. De implicaties van deze concrete wending voor de status van het muziek uitvoerende lichaam bleven echter dubbel- zinnig. Vanuit historisch perspectief was er slechts zelden sprake van een succesvolle of duurzame integratie van het musicerende lichaam als een compositorisch materiaal. Recente artistieke en theoretische ontwikkelingen bieden aanleiding tot een herdenken van het compositorische potentieel van het muziek uitvoerende lichaam. De aandacht voor de lichamelijkheid van de muziekbeleving is in afgelopen decennia sterk toegenomen. In de muziekwetenschap is er sprake van een lichaamsparadigma dat ook hoorbaar en zichtbaar wordt in de compositorische concepten van een generatie jonge componisten. De micro- temporaliteit van de lichamelijke gestiek en het instrumentale timbre vormen weerkerende thema’s. In het microtemporele tijdsvenster kan lichamelijke aanwezigheid zich op een heel direct niveau manifesteren als een muzikaal interactievermogen van de uitvoerder of de improvisator, maar ook als een ‘lichamelijk denken’ van het componerende lichaam. Uit- gaande van recente wetenschappelijke inzichten en van zowel historische als recente mu- ziekvoorbeelden, wordt in het proefschrift een concept van ‘interlichamelijkheid’ uitgewerkt dat een nieuw licht werpt op de relatie tussen het muziek uitvoerende, het componerende en het muziek beluisterende lichaam. In het bijzonder wordt het belang benadrukt van een conceptualiserend vermogen dat berust op een afwisselend lineaire en non-lineaire verhou- ding van het componerende lichaam tot de muzikale tijd. 4 ORTHOGRAFIE . De tekst van de auteur volgt de officiële spelregels van de Nederlandse Taalunie, 2005. Citaten worden in hun originele spelling weergegeven. Citaten uit digitale bronnen krijgen een hyperlink in de voetnoten. Het uitgespelde web- adres is te vinden in de bibliografie achter de naam van de auteur en de titel van de web- pagina. Alleen letterlijk geciteerde auteurs worden met voornaam en achternaam vermeld. Online bronnen krijgen in de bibliografie de vermelding ‘online artikel’ indien ze geen andere publicatievorm kennen. ‘Beschikbaar op: (websiteadres)’ wordt vermeld indien meerdere publicatiekanalen voor het desbetreffende document bestaan. Titels van composities worden cursief gedrukt zoals: Sonant . Onderdelen van composities worden cursief met aanhalingstekens gedrukt zoals: ‘piece touchée, piece jouée’ . Geciteerde tekstfragmenten uit geraadpleegde partituren worden aangegeven met het navoegsel ‘part.’ . Als vertellerperspectief wordt de eerste persoon meervoud gehanteerd. Uitzonderlijk wordt de eerste persoon enkelvoud gebruikt waar het persoonlijke getuigenissen van de auteur betreft. De dramatis personae in deze verhandeling zijn onpersoonlijke ‘lichamen’: het uitvoeren- de lichaam, het luisterende of componerende lichaam. Indien de context vraagt om een verpersoonlijking wordt ofwel gekozen voor een onbepaald geslacht (de percussionist(e)), ofwel wordt per geval en willekeurig gekozen voor een vrouwelijk dan wel mannelijk ge- slacht (de pianiste, de componist). 5 VOORAF Het voorliggende proefschrift is de vrucht van tien jaar muzikaal experiment, studie, les geven en schrijven. Het Orpheus Instituut te Gent bood me de kansen en de omgeving om parallel met mijn artistieke exploraties een theoretisch kader te ontwikkelen, aanvankelijk binnen de Laureaatsoplei- ding, enkele jaren later binnen het doctoraatsprogramma docARTES (Orpheus Instituut Gent, Con- servatorium van Amsterdam, Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag, Universiteit Leiden, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven en Lemmensinstituut Leuven). Het is onmogelijk om alle luisterende oren, musi- cerende lijven, enthousiasmerende en kritische stemmen te vernoemen die me in dat lange traject op één of andere manier geholpen hebben. Ik beperk me noodgedwongen tot het opsommen van enkele mensen die, wellicht soms zonder dat ze het zelf beseften, een richtinggevende invloed heb- ben gehad in de uitvoering van mijn onderzoek. Enkele muzikanten dragen dankzij hun aansporingen van het eerste uur en hun bereidheid om zeer ver te gaan, onrechtstreekse verantwoordelijkheid voor mijn volharding in het muzikale experiment. Dat zijn in het bijzonder gitarist Tom Pauwels en pianist Frederik Croene, maar ook klarinettist Ben- jamin Dieltjens, geluidsingenieur Yannick Willox en blokfluitiste Tomma Wessel. Een artistiek project met conceptueel kunstenaar David Helbich en architect
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Minimalism Post-Modernism Is a Term That Refers to Events After the So
    Post-Modernism - Minimalism Post-Modernism is a term that refers to events after the so-called Modern period. The term suggests that we are now using what we learned in the “modern” period, but mixing it with ideas from the more distant past. A major movement within Post-Modernism is Minimalism Minimalism mixes some Eastern philosophical principles involving chant and meditation with simple tonal materials. Basic definition of Minimalism: sustained or repetitive use of simple (often tonal) materials. The movement began with LaMonte Young (b.1935); he used simple textures and consonant materials; often called trance music. Terry Riley (b.1935) is credited with first minimalist work In C (1964). The piece has repeated high C’s on piano maintaining simple pulse. Score has 53 short motives to be played by a group any size; players play all 53 figures, repeating as many times and as frequently as desired. Performance ends when all players are done with all 53 figures. Because figures change in content, there is subtle but constantly shifting texture all the time. Steve Reich (b. 1936) prefers to call his music “Structural” not minimal. His music is influenced by his study of African drumming. Some of his early works use phasing, where a tape loop is set up: the tape records first sounds made by performer; then plays them back while performer continues to play. More layers are added, and gradually live sounds get ahead of play-back. Effect can be hypnotic: trance-like. Violin Phase (1967) is example. In Mid-70’s Reich expanded his viewpoint and his ensemble: Music for 18 Musicians is a little like In C, but there is much more variation in patterns.
    [Show full text]
  • Clever Children: the Sons and Daughters of Experimental Music?
    Clever Children: The Sons and Daughters of Experimental Music Author Carter, David Published 2009 Thesis Type Thesis (PhD Doctorate) School Queensland Conservatorium DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/1356 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367632 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au Clever Children: The Sons and Daughters of Experimental Music? David Carter B.Music / Music Technology (Honours, First Class) Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree Doctor of Philosophy 19 June 2008 Keywords Contemporary Music; Dance Music; Disco; DJ; DJ Spooky; Dub; Eight Lines; Electronica; Electronic Music; Errata Erratum; Experimental Music; Hip Hop; House; IDM; Influence; Techno; John Cage; Minimalism; Music History; Musicology; Rave; Reich Remixed; Scanner; Surface Noise. i Abstract In the late 1990s critics, journalists and music scholars began referring to a loosely associated group of artists within Electronica who, it was claimed, represented a new breed of experimentalism predicated on the work of composers such as John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Steve Reich. Though anecdotal evidence exists, such claims by, or about, these ‘Clever Children’ have not been adequately substantiated and are indicative of a loss of history in relation to electronic music forms (referred to hereafter as Electronica) in popular culture. With the emergence of the Clever Children there is a pressing need to redress this loss of history through academic scholarship that seeks to document and critically reflect on the rhizomatic developments of Electronica and its place within the history of twentieth century music.
    [Show full text]
  • Multiple Meters and Metrical Processes in the Music of Steve Reich
    Multiple Meters and Metrical Processes in the Music of Steve Reich Gretchen Horlacher Minimalist and repetitive music... reduces the elements of music to one, single component - periodicity. Pierre Boulez, New York Review of Books 31/1 1 (June 28, 1984): 14 That Steve Reich's music challenges listeners' rhythmic and metric faculties is well known; the composer himself has written "If I compose music that is to use repeating patterns and is also to remain interesting I must build in rhythmic ambiguity to make it possible for the ear to hear a given pattern beginning and ending in different places depending on slight differences of accent and on how one listens."1 Reich's statement draws our attention to two signal features of his metric language. First, a repeated motive may have more than one accentual interpretation; moreover, the contrasting interpretations differentiate the repeated motives, inviting the listener to engage in a process of comparison. Boulez's emphasis on periodicity is apt, for it is Reich's creative use of repetition within meter that gives the music its charge. Consider, for example, the music shown as Example la, a portion of Reich's 1967 Piano Phase, This excerpt from the two- piano work results from the superimposition of an original melody (played on one piano, and shown in filled-in noteheads in the top line of the example) with a cyclical permutation beginning on its sixth note (played on the other piano, and shown in open noteheads on the top line); the resulting two-part counterpoint is repeated many times over.
    [Show full text]
  • In Steve Reich's Phase-Shifting Music
    Structural Levels and Choice of Beat-Class Sets in Steve Reich's Phase-Shifting Music Roberto Antonio Saltini In his 1968 essay "Music as a Gradual Process," Steve Reich discussed the ideas underlying his compositional technique of phase-shifting,1 which was to characterize his music from 1965 to 197 1.2 Aside from this essay by the composer himself, very few studies of Reich's phase-shifting music have appeared.3 From "Music as a Gradual Process," one can summarize Reich's main concerns as follows: (1) The musical structure must be clear, as in compositions where structure (in Reich's terms, "process") and musical content are identical. There can be no "hidden" structures which, according to Reich, serve only to obscure the musical process. (2) Once the musical process is set into motion, it has a life of its own and therefore needs no further interference from the composer. (3) Improvisation plays no part in the musical process, since most of the musical parameters created by improvisation cannot be easily identified. (4) No matter how objective and 1 Steve Reich, Writings about Music (Halifax: Press of Nova Scotia College of Arts and Design, 1974), 9-11. ^For a comprehensive list of Reich's works which employ the phase- shifting technique, see Reich, 73-75. The date boundaries were established by Reich himself in a later essay, "Notes on Composition, 1965-1973" (Reich, 49-71). ^Indeed, very few analytical studies of any of Reich's compositions have appeared. For a representative sampling, though somewhat dated, of the more important European articles, see K.
    [Show full text]
  • Barbara Lee Family Foundation Theater \ 2019–2020 Like the Show? Let Us Know! @ICA.Boston @Icainboston @Icaboston #Icaboston
    Barbara Lee Family Foundation Theater \ 2019–2020 Like the show? Let us know! @ICA.Boston @ICAinBoston @ICABoston #ICABoston Welcome Artists observe and reflect on our current moment to present unique perspectives and fresh perceptions. In precarious and uncertain times, artists model strength and resilience through athleticism and endurance, they scrutinize our past to illuminate our present, they enact histories and memories to remind us who we are, and they invite us—the viewer in a gallery or a darkened theater—to connect, reflect, and to reconsider our individual points of view. This season at the ICA, renowned choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and her company Rosas return to Boston for the first time in more than 30 years to present a pioneering work choreographed to the propulsive compositions of minimalist composer Steve Reich. Inspired by her formative years in Zimbabwe, nora chipaumire unleashes a raw and visceral live performance album that celebrates the radical visions of groundbreaking musicians Patti Smith, Grace Jones, and Rit Nzele. Faye Driscoll rounds out her Thank You For Coming trilogy with Space, a shared elegy of loss and grief. In her Boston debut, Seattle-based choreographer Kate Wallich and her group The YC join forces with indie rock band Perfume Genius to present a radical integration of music and movement. Reggie Wilson and his Fist and Heel Performance Group affirm Shaker values, contributions, practices, and history through dance. And in THE DAY, cellist Maya Beiser, New York City Ballet’s Wendy Whelan, choreographer Lucinda Childs, and composer David Lang explore a soul’s journey from life to afterlife with elegant grace.
    [Show full text]
  • ANNE TERESA DE KEERSMAEKER Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich Photo: Herman Sorgeloos Photo
    LIVE ANNE TERESA DE KEERSMAEKER Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich Photo: Herman Sorgeloos Photo: Choreography Technical Coordination Tate Modern Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker Joris Erven Curators Danced by Technicians Catherine Wood Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Wannes De Rydt, Kathy Noble Tale Dolven Michael Smets Assistant Curator Created with World Premiere Capucine Perrot Michèle Anne De Mey 18 March 1982 Beursschouwburg (Brussels) Intern Music Laura Hensser Steve Reich Production Piano Phase (1967), Come Out Rosas Production Manager (1966), Violin Phase (1967), Steve Wald Clapping Music (1972) Coproduction Early Works Sadler’s Wells (London), Assistant Production Manager Costumes Les Théâtres de la Ville Adam Hopper 1982: Martine André / de Luxembourg Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker Rosas is supported by Assistant to the the Flemish Authorities Artistic Director Anne Van Aerschot THURSDAY 19 JULY AND FRIDAY 20 JULY 2012, 20.30 As part of The Tanks at Tate Modern Fifteen Weeks of Art in Action 18 July – 28 October 2012 When she returned from New York, De Keersmaeker created Fase, certain basic principles of composition used in a way that was Four movements to the Music of Steve Reich, which opened in the independent and autonomous. More particularly, De Keersmaeker Beursschouwburg in Brussels in 1982. This production exploded aspires to an analogous relationship between dance and music. onto the scene and is still considered to have been the starting She usually finds the foundations for this in the structure of point of the contemporary dance movement that developed in the music, which is then taken up in the choreography. Flanders during the eighties.
    [Show full text]
  • University of California
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Music as a Gradual Lostness: A Performer’s Guide to the Phase Music of Steve Reich A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Musical Arts by Kelly Lawrence Flickinger 2012 © Copyright by Kelly Lawrence Flickinger 2012 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Music as a Gradual Lostness: A Performer’s Guide to the Phase Music of Steve Reich by Kelly Lawrence Flickinger Doctor of Musical Arts University of California, Los Angeles, 2012 Professor Gordon Henderson, Chair Steve Reich's phase pieces Drumming and Piano Phase continue to test performers. Challenges include developing a successful phase, determining audible and visual checkpoints, and defining the role of the steady player. In this dissertation, detailed rehearsal and performance techniques of Steve Reich and Musicians are described using information obtained through the author’s interview with Russell Hartenberger, an original member of the ensemble Steve Reich and Musicians. While the methods of Steve Reich and Musicians and the author overlap in many respects, one significant difference separates the two: the “Cognitive Pulse Alignment” (CPA), or mental alignment of the beat within the measure, of the performers. Unlike the “Displaced Pulse Method” (DPM) of Steve Reich and Musicians, where the performers perceive beat one in different locations than each other within the phase pieces, this ii paper introduces the "Unified Pulse Method" (UPM), an approach that unifies beat one among the players. A combination of UPM and other techniques results in a comprehensive guide to rehearsing and performing the phase pieces of Steve Reich, and an overall enhancement of the performer’s conception of musical time.
    [Show full text]
  • STEVE REICH Compositions
    STEVE REICH Compositions RUNNER (2016) 2 fl, 2 ob, 2 cl, 2vbs, 2 pro, 4 vin, 2 vla, 2vcl, 1 cb PULSE (2015) 2 fl, 2 Cl, Pno, Electric Bass, 4 vlns, 2 vla QUARTET (2013) 16' for 2 pianos and two percussion RADIO REWRITE (2013) 19' fl.cl-2vib-2pft-elec.bass.gtr-1.1.1.1.0 WTC 9/11 (2010) 15' for string quartet and pre-recorded tape MALLET QUARTET (2009) 15' for percussion quartet 2X5 (2009) 20' for five musicians and tape, or 10 live musicians DOUBLE SEXTET (2007) 22' for ensemble (or ensemble and pre-recorded tape) 2fl-2cl-2vln-2vcl-2vib-2pft or fl-cl-vln-vcl-vib-pft and pre-recorded tape Awarded the 1990 Pulitzer Prize in Music DANIEL VARIATIONS for large ensemble (2006) 30' Text: Book of Daniel; Daniel Pearl (E) 2cl-4pft-perc(6):BD/tam-t/4vib-*2vln.vla.vlc-4 voices(*SSTT) *max. 1 player/voice per part VARIATIONS FOR VIBES, PIANOS AND STRINGS (2005) 25’ dance piece for vibraphones, pianos and strings 2 pft-4vib-3 string quartets (or sm string section*) YOU ARE (VARIATIONS) for amplified ensemble and voices (2004) 27' text: Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (E), Psalms (Heb.), Wittgenstein (E) & Pirke Avot (Heb.) 2-2-3-0, no brass, 2 marimbas, 2 vibraphones, 4 pft., strings 3-3-3-3-1 voices S,S,S,A,T,T FOR STRINGS (WITH WINDS AND BRASS) for orchestra (1987/2004) 12' 4(IV=picc).4.4.4-4.4.3.1-2synth-strings(16.16.12.8.6) CELLO COUNTERPOINT (2003) 15' for amplified cello and multichannel tape DANCE PATTERNS (2002) 6' 2 xylophones, 2 vibraphones, 2 pianos THREE TALES (1997-2002) 60’ Documentary video opera in collaboration with video artist Beryl Korot Text: documentary material (English) Vocal forces: Lyric Soprano (2), Tenor (3) perc (4): 2vib / 2SD / 2pedal kick dr/susp.cym - 2 pft (I, II=samplers) - pre-recorded tape - strings (1.1.1.1.0) TRIPLE QUARTET (1999) 15' for string quartet and tape (or three quartets or small string section eg.
    [Show full text]
  • A Guide to Steve Reich's Music Without Steve Reich's Rhythms, Pulses and Phasing, Contemporary Culture Would Be a Much Poorer Place
    A guide to Steve Reich's music Without Steve Reich's rhythms, pulses and phasing, contemporary culture would be a much poorer place 'He has given the contemporary musical world a licence to groove' … Steve Reich. Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian It's rare that one says this about a contemporary composer, but it's become too easy to take Steve Reich for granted. Of course, that's a sign of just how influential his music has been, the way it has drawn on everything from African drumming to concept art, and how it has influenced generations of pop, jazz and classical musicians over the last half-century. In fact, if you were to subtract Steve Reich from the total sum of today's musical culture, I think you'd notice more of a difference than if you took away any other single figure. Even if you think you don't know Reich's music directly, you will almost certainly be familiar with what it does, thanks to the way his music and his example have been refracted by other composers in other fields. Here's a whistlestop tour: in the 1960s, with Terry Riley and Philip Glass, Reich gave pulse back to experimental music (listen to Clapping Music for the Reichian pulse at its purest), he discovered tape-based techniques of looping and phasing using recordings of fragments of speech (try Come Out and It's Gonna Rain ), and then molecules of musical material ( Piano Phase , Violin Phase , or the Fluxus-ish Pendulum Music). And phasing itself? Imagine you have a pattern that consists of 12 quavers.
    [Show full text]
  • Adobe Acrobat PDF Complet
    sm10-10webintro copy 2005-07-01 10:25 Page C1 La Scena Musicale July-August 2005 Juillet-août Vol. 10.10 Version PDF This low resolution PDF version is made available free of charge to visitors of La Scena Musicale Online <http://www.scena.org>. As a web magazine, this version is not printable. A high resolution printable PDF version is available on yearly subscription for $15 CDN (10 issues of La Scena Musicale PDF and 4 issues of The Music Scene PDF). Every month PDF paid subscribers will be sent by email the link to the high resolution version. Contact [email protected] to subscribe. http://www.scena.org Cette version PDF à basse résolution est disponible gratuitement pour les visi- teurs du site de La Scena Musicale <http://www.scena.org>. Cette version pour le web du magazine n'est pas conçue pour être imprimée. Une version PDF à haute résolution, imprimable, est disponible sur abonnement au tarif de 15$ CDN (10 numéros de La Scena Musicale et 4 numéros de The Music Scene en format PDF). Pour plus d'information, contactez [email protected] lsmX-10 coul 2 2005-06-28 09:11 Page 1 Juillet-Août 2005 July-August Vol. 10.10 Marie-Claire Alain Un été d’orgue à Montréal Le retour de Ben Heppner Returns Lectures d’été / Summer Reading Calendrier / Calendar : Montréal, Québec, Ottawa, Gatineau Jazz : Critiques / Reviews lsmX-10 coul 2 2005-06-28 09:11 Page 2 AUBAINES ESTIVALES MUSIQUE D’ABORD FANTASTIQUES FANFARES MUSIQUES DU MONDE 3 CD POUR $20 PLUS DE 100 TITRES 10 TITRES PAR LES DU MONDE ENTIER : À PRIX SPÉCIAL MEILLEURES FANFARES LES MEILLEURS ARTISTES CONTACTEZ [email protected] POUR CONNAÎTRE LES POINTS DE VENTE lsmX-10 coul 2 2005-06-28 10:35 Page 3 lsmX-10 coul 2 2005-06-28 09:13 Page 4 3: 12 P THE CLASSICAL age 1 MUSIC AND JAZZ CANADIAN GUIDE TO SIZZLING SUMMER MUSIC QUARTERLY Summer 2005 • MAGAZINE $4.95 Vol.
    [Show full text]
  • The Music of Steve Reich in Context, 1965–1968
    The University of York Illusion / Anti-Illusion: the Music of Steve Reich in Context, 1965–1968 A dissertation submitted for the degree of Master of Arts by Research in Musicology By Ross Graham Cole (102008550 / Y4777582) December 2010 ii © 2010 Ross Graham Cole All Rights Reserved iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract iv List of Figures v Acknowledgements vi (1) 1 Process, Pendulums, and Links with the Plastic Arts [Contact with the impersonal...] (2) 27 Racial Politics, Tape, and San Francisco’s Cultural Nexus [Marching to a Manhattan tempo...] (3) 61 Intermezzo: Two Missing Links [Trapped in a lab...] (4) 74 Teleological Mechanics and the Phase-Shifting Pieces of 1967 [Millions of burgers sold...] (5) 105 Concluding Remarks: Context and Contradiction Resource List 112 iv Abstract ‘Illusion / Anti-Illusion: the Music of Steve Reich in Context, 1965–1968’ Ross Graham Cole (2010) Supervisor: Professor William Brooks This dissertation situates the work of Steve Reich during the mid-to-late 1960s in its intricate socio-cultural context. Exploring biographical, hermeneutic, aesthetic, and political implications, it attempts to shed light on the composer’s early years. The historical narrative concentrates on the period between the first instantiation of the phase-shifting technique in It’s Gonna Rain, or, Meet Brother Walter in Union Square after Listening to Terry Riley (1965) and the theoretical treatise ‘Music as a Gradual Process’ (1968). It reaches back, however, to the cultural nexus of San Francisco and ahead to the mercurial gallery scene in New York. In addition, modal compositions from 1966 and 1967 are subject to detailed analyses which question the boundary between ‘impersonal’ process and composerly intervention.
    [Show full text]
  • 36 by Kerry O'brien in the Summer of 1970, Steve Reich Traveled to Accra
    Hearing Disorientation in Steve Reich’s Drumming (1971) by Kerry O’Brien In the summer of 1970, Steve Reich traveled to Accra, Ghana to study Ewe drumming, and when he returned to New York, he composed Drumming (1971) . Regarding the influence of this experience, the composer stated in an interview: African music really had no influence on me . African music had an enormous con- firmation . It was a big pat on the back . In other words, before I went to Africa I did “Come Out,” “It’s Gonna Rain,” and the live pieces imitating the tape technique: “Piano Phase,” Violin Phase,” and “Reed Phase,” which was rejected later . And all of that was in place – if you look at “Piano Phase” it’s in twelve . “Violin Phase” is in twelve, and this was all done by instinct .1 Martin Scherzinger has challenged this oft-repeated confirmation narrative – “a period of early invention followed later by confirmation in Ghana” – noting that Reich had been interested in African music since the 1950s and had been studying A . M . Jones’s Studies in African Music since 1962 . In his 1959 text, Jones identified patterns with non-coinciding downbeats as a trans-continental characteristic of African music, and Scherzinger sees ev- idence of this stylistic influence as early as Reich’s It’s Gonna Rain (1965) 2. Reich’s trip to Ghana, then, served as the culmination of nearly a decade of interest in African drumming rather than a serendipitous confirmation . Beyond what he learned from Jones’s book, Reich’s experience in Ghana may have been more influential for the composer, as Sumanth Gopinath has argued .
    [Show full text]