O Superman (1981)

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MUS434-571.3 Music of the Modern Era Later Electronic Music and Multimedia – Apr. 25, 2013 Electronic Music • Began with electrical instruments • Developed with creation of – Recording technology – Synthesizers – Computers • Multimedia – Works like this date back to ancient Greece, but more frequently after 1960 Laurie Anderson – O Superman (1981) • Often performs her own works with prerecorded and live electronics (looping, harmonizer, vocoder) • Song from United States • First multimedia performance piece (video/other visual elements) • Inspired by Jules Massenet aria “Ô Souverain, ô juge, ô père” from 1885 opera Le Cid • Explores humanity in relation to technology • Minimalist style • Relation to Iran-Contra affair? (1985) Meredith Monk – Songs of Ascension (2008) • Also performs her own multimedia works • Collaboration with dancer Ann Hamilton • Site-specific, spacialized work with movement, costuming. • Singers, harmoniums, string quartet • Minimalist style – more like Górecki and Pärt than Adams, Reich – Singing vowels/sounds rather than words Michael Gordon – Light is Calling (2001) • One of his responses to 9/11 • Violin (or cello) and pre-produced electronics with video by Bill Morrison – Video source = 1926 black and white film The Bells • Ambient, melodic, tonal music meant to express “something beautiful.” • Solo line develops over fairly static background, ground bass rising. Jacob TV (ter Veldhuis) – Grab It! (1999) • Originally written for saxophone + ghettoblaster (with video); flexible instrumentation • Portions are open for improvisation • Text from interviews with prisoners on death row in US • Instrumental line accents video part (often in unison / homophony) • Meter and tempo changes define sections Donnacha Dennehy – Junk Box Fraud (1997) • Crash Ensemble: Clarinet, trombone, 2 pianos, 2 speakers, tape, and video • Post-minimalism includes – extended techniques (vocal sounds + words) – irregular pulses / rhythms – more atonal language – references to Irish vernacular culture • Theatrical performance, costuming, movement, spacialization (between speakers) Phil Kline – Unsilent Night (1992) • Public, participatory performance art • 4 tape tracks handed out to audience to play back on boomboxes while parading through the streets • Indeterminacy, spacialization, audience participation • Ambient, minimal music creates immersive experience / sonic landscape Summary • Post-minimalist style = incorporating other genres/elements into a minimal structure. – The other dominant style is sound art (noise/drones/ microtonal spectral influence) • Movement, video, spacialization, specifics of performance space, theatricality figure into composition (as do current events and politics) to heighten impact of expression. • Technology affords greater opportunity for DIY performance (Do It Yourself!) .

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University of California Santa Cruz
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ EXTENDED FROM WHAT?: TRACING THE CONSTRUCTION, FLEXIBLE MEANING, AND CULTURAL DISCOURSES OF “EXTENDED VOCAL TECHNIQUES” A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in MUSIC by Charissa Noble March 2019 The Dissertation of Charissa Noble is approved: Professor Leta Miller, chair Professor Amy C. Beal Professor Larry Polansky Lori Kletzer Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies Copyright © by Charissa Noble 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures v Abstract vi Acknowledgements and Dedications viii Introduction to Extended Vocal Techniques: Concepts and Practices 1 Chapter One: Reading the Trace-History of “Extended Vocal Techniques” Introduction 13 The State of EVT 16 Before EVT: A Brief Note 18 History of a Construct: In Search of EVT 20 Ted Szántó (1977): EVT in the Experimental Tradition 21 István Anhalt’s Alternative Voices (1984): Collecting and Codifying EVT 28evt in Vocal Taxonomies: EVT Diversification 32 EVT in Journalism: From the Musical Fringe to the Mainstream 42 EVT and the Classical Music Framework 51 Chapter Two: Vocal Virtuosity and Score-Based EVT Composition: Cathy Berberian, Bethany Beardslee, and EVT in the Conservatory-Oriented Prestige Economy Introduction: EVT and the “Voice-as-Instrument” Concept 53 Formalism, Voice-as-Instrument, and Prestige: Understanding EVT in Avant- Garde Music 58 Cathy Berberian and Luciano Berio 62 Bethany Beardslee and Milton Babbitt 81 Conclusion: The Plight of EVT Singers in the Avant-Garde
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