Musical Process in Selected Works by Michael Torke Kathleen Biddick Smith

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2009 Musical Process in Selected Works by Michael Torke Kathleen Biddick Smith

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COLLEGE OF MUSIC

MUSICAL PROCESS IN SELECTED WORKS BY MICHAEL TORKE

KATHLEEN BIDDICK SMITH

A Dissertation submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2009

The members of the Committee approve the Dissertation of Kathleen Biddick Smith defended on March 17, 2009.

Michael Buchler Professor Directing Dissertation

Patrick Meighan Outside Committee Member

Jane Piper Clendinning Committee Member

Evan Jones Committee Member

James Mathes Committee Member

The Graduate School has verified and approved the above named committee members.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to my advisor, Michael Buchler, for his patience, support, and encouragement throughout this journey. His doctoral seminar sparked the initial inspiration for this work, and I cannot thank him enough for his guidance, his enthusiasm, and his careful critiques of my writing. I am also grateful for the contributions of the rest of my committee members: Jane Piper Clendinning, for her helpful feedback on both early and late drafts; Evan Jones, particularly for a successful brainstorming session early on in the project; James Mathes, for his doctoral seminar on form during which an initial chapter of this dissertation was drafted; and Patrick Meighan for lending an invaluable performer’s perspective to this work. My heartfelt gratitude goes to the entire music theory and composition community at Florida State for creating a challenging yet nurturing environment in which to learn. To my friends at FSU, thank you for cheering me on, for sharing ideas and most of all for your camaraderie – my years in Tallahassee were some of the best of my life because of you. My deepest admiration and appreciation belongs to my family: to my parents, Jean and Chris Biddick, for encouraging my love of music from such a young age and for supporting my endeavors throughout my education; to my brother, Jeff, for being the grammar police and for growing up musically with me; and above all to my husband, Chris, for sustaining me with eternal patience, love, and especially laughter – I could not have done this without you. Finally, I wish to extend special thanks to Michael Torke, for his buoyant, approachable music and for promptly and helpfully answering my questions throughout this process. I am also much obliged to Bill Holab at

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Adjustable Music, for sending me scores so quickly and for granting permission to use the following musical examples:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES ...... vii

LIST OF FIGURES ...... viii

ABSTRACT ...... xiii

CHAPTER 1: POSTMINIMALISM AND MICHAEL TORKE ...... 1 Introduction ...... 1 State of Postminimal Music Analysis ...... 4 Minimalist Heritage...... 7 International Influence ...... 11 Postminimalism ...... 12 Michael Torke ...... 16

CHAPTER 2: PROCESS TYPES ...... 18 Phase Shifting ...... 18 Additive or Subtractive Process ...... 20 Diminution or Augmentation ...... 20 Key Signature Transformations ...... 22 Text-Pitch Relationships ...... 23 Conclusions ...... 26

CHAPTER 3: TELEPHONE BOOK, “THE BLUE PAGES” ...... 27 Pitch ...... 29 Phrase Length ...... 31 Interludes ...... 33 Interactions ...... 34 Conclusions ...... 36

CHAPTER 4: RAPTURE ...... 37 Introduction ...... 37 Movement 1: drums and woods ...... 38 Movement 2: mallets ...... 50 Movement 3: metals ...... 63 Conclusions ...... 75

CHAPTER 5: FOUR PROVERBS AND BOOK OF PROVERBS ...... 77 Part I: Four Proverbs ...... 77 “Better a Dish” Analysis ...... 78 Additional Processes...... 87 Part 2: Book of Proverbs ...... 96 Conclusions ...... 107

CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS ...... 110 Analytical Summary ...... 110 Fundamental Questions ...... 111 Avenues for Further Research ...... 113

APPENDIX: COPYRIGHT PERMISSION LETTER ...... 115

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 116

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...... 122

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1: Starting pitches by rehearsal letter in “The Blue Pages” ...... 31

Table 4.1: Organizational structure of Rapture, Movement 1 ...... 39

Table 4.2: Pitch classes correlated with tom-tom registers, Rapture, Movement 1 ...... 47

Table 4.3: Sectional divisions of Rapture, Movement 2 ...... 51

Table 4.4: Structural outline of Rapture, Movement 2 ...... 58

Table 4.5: Pattern ratios and lengths, Rapture, Movement 3 ...... 65

Table 4.6: Sequence of events across sections, Rapture, Movement 3 ..... 69

Table 4.7: Percussion/orchestral shadow pairings, Rapture, Movement 3 . 74

Table 5.1: Overall layout, Four Proverbs, “Better a Dish” ...... 79

Table 5.2: Syllable pitches and durations, Four Proverbs, “Better a Dish” . 80

Table 5.3: Use of chorus in Book of Proverbs ...... 97

Table 5.4: Composite process durations compared with imitation process durations, Book of Proverbs, “Boast Not of Tomorrow” ...... 107

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1: Terry Riley, In C, cells 1-16 ...... 9

Figure 1.2: Steve Reich, Piano Phase, patterns 1-3 ...... 10

Figure 1.3: Philip Glass, Music in Fifths, excerpt ...... 11

Figure 1.4: Steve Reich, The Desert Music, mm. 62-67 ...... 13

Figure 1.5: Steve Reich, City Life, mm. 37-39 ...... 14

Figure 1.6: John Adams, Harmonium, mm. 128-135 ...... 15

Figure 2.1: Steve Reich, Piano Phase, patterns 1-3 ...... 19

Figure 2.2: Philip Glass, Music in Fifths, excerpt ...... 20

Figure 2.3: William Duckworth, The Time Curve Preludes, No. 9, a) mm. 18-23, b) mm. 35-40a, c) mm. 49b-54a, d) mm. 62b-66a, left hand diminution ...... 22

Figure 2.4: Michael Torke, Telephone Book, “The Yellow Pages,” key signature transformations in cello ...... 23

Figure 2.5: Milton Babbitt, Play on Notes, mm. 1-8 ...... 24

Figure 2.6: Michael Torke, Book of Proverbs, “Boast Not of Tomorrow,” a) soprano and alto, mm. 5-8, b) alto and tenor, mm. 11-13 ...... 25

Figure 3.1: Diminishing phrases, expanding interludes, “The Blue Pages” 28

Figure 3.2: Lyrical melody and syncopated interlude in the flute and violin at rehearsal letter C, “The Blue Pages” ...... 29

Figure 3.3: Repetitions of flute melody by rehearsal letter, “The Blue Pages” ...... 30

Figure 3.4: Repetitions of bass clarinet motive by rehearsal letter, “The Blue Pages” ...... 32

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Figure 3.5: Nested interludes by rehearsal letter, “The Blue Pages” ...... 34

Figure 4.1: Rapture, mvt. 1, two statements of the Initial Pattern (IP) stated in the high tom-toms ...... 40

Figure 4.2: Rapture, mvt. 1, two statements of the augmented IP in the low tom-toms ...... 40

Figure 4.3: Rapture, mvt. 1, composite rhythm of the toms ...... 40

Figure 4.4: Rapture, mvt. 1, Group 1 fragmentation of IP by rehearsal number ...... 41

Figure 4.5: Rapture, mvt. 1, Group 1 descending staircase at R6 ...... 42

Figure 4.6: Rapture, mvt. 1, Group 2 fragmentation of augmented IP by rehearsal number ...... 42

Figure 4.7: Rapture, mvt. 1, Group 2 ascending staircase at R13 ...... 43

Figure 4.8: Rapture, mvt. 1, Group 3 fragmentation of embellished, augmented IP by rehearsal number ...... 43

Figure 4.9: Rapture, mvt. 1, Group 3 ascending staircase at R21 ...... 44

Figure 4.10: Rapture, mvt. 1, Group 4 fragmentation of embellished IP by rehearsal number ...... 44

Figure 4.11: Rapture, mvt. 1, Group 4 descending staircase at R28 ...... 45

Figure 4.12: Rapture, mvt. 1, composite IP at R5 and R12 ...... 45

Figure 4.13: Rapture, mvt. 1, composite IP at end of movement ...... 46

Figure 4.14: Rapture, mvt. 1, original orchestral/tom-tom pairings ...... 47

Figure 4.15: Rapture, mvt. 1, orchestral shift up a perfect fourth at R2 ... 48

Figure 4.16: Rapture, mvt. 2, marimba motive ...... 51

Figure 4.17: Rapture, mvt. 2, Section 1, R1-R3, alternating starting segment, constant pitch ...... 53

Figure 4.18: Rapture, mvt. 2, Section 2, R9-R11, constant starting segment, gradual stepwise pitch descent ...... 54

Figure 4.19: Rapture, mvt. 2, Section 3, R18-R20, alternating starting segment, gradual stepwise pitch ascent ...... 55

Figure 4.20: Rapture, mvt. 2, Section 4, R26-R28, constant starting segment, constant pitch ...... 56

Figure 4.21: Rapture, mvt. 2, gradual chromatic ascent of accompaniment at R1 and R2 ...... 60

Figure 4.22: Rapture, mvt. 2, contrasting metrical interpretations of marimba motive ...... 61

Figure 4.23: Rapture, mvt. 2, oscillation disruption at R4...... 62

Figure 4.24: Rapture, mvt. 3, Pattern A ...... 64

Figure 4.25: Rapture, mvt. 3, Pattern B ...... 65

Figure 4.26: Rapture, mvt. 3, Pattern C ...... 66

Figure 4.27: Rapture, mvt. 3, Pattern D ...... 67

Figure 4.28: Rapture, mvt. 3, Section 1, Event 1 ...... 70

Figure 4.29: Rapture, mvt. 3, comparison of “ecstatic” and original versions of Pattern A ...... 71

Figure 4.30: Rapture, mvt. 3, fragment arch in Section 1, Event 10 ...... 72

Figure 4.31: Rapture, mvt. 3, imitation in Section 2, Event 12 ...... 73

Figure 4.32: Rapture, mvt. 3, percussion/orchestral groupings in Section 1, Event 2 ...... 74

Figure 5.1: Four Proverbs, “Better a Dish,” original setting of proverb ..... 78

Figure 5.2: Four Proverbs, “Better a Dish,” divisions of original proverb ... 81

Figure 5.3: Four Proverbs, “Better a Dish,” rehearsal letters A and B ...... 82

Figure 5.4: Four Proverbs, “Better a Dish,” original statement with every other beat eliminated ...... 83

Figure 5.5: Four Proverbs, “Better a Dish,” first iteration of echo process at rehearsal C ...... 83

Figure 5.6: Four Proverbs, “Better a Dish,” entire echo process ...... 84

Figure 5.7: Four Proverbs, “Better a Dish,” beginning of third process ..... 85

Figure 5.8: Four Proverbs, “Better a Dish,” end of third process ...... 85

Figure 5.9: Four Proverbs, “One Man Pretends,” generation of first phrase...... 87

Figure 5.10: Four Proverbs, “One Man Pretends,” generation of second phrase ...... 88

Figure 5.11: Four Proverbs, “There is Joy,” complete text...... 88

Figure 5.12: Four Proverbs, “There is Joy,” rehearsal letters A and B...... 89

Figure 5.13: Four Proverbs, “There is Joy,” parenthetical process at rehearsal letters D and E ...... 91

Figure 5.14: Four Proverbs, “There is Joy,” stutter process at rehearsal letters G, H, and J ...... 93

Figure 5.15: Four Proverbs, “There is Joy,” zipper process ...... 95

Figure 5.16: Book of Proverbs, “Better a Dry Crust,” original setting ...... 97

Figure 5.17: Book of Proverbs, “Better a Dry Crust,” rearrangement of text to affect meaning at rehearsal letter C ...... 98

Figure 5.18: Book of Proverbs, “Better a Dry Crust,” ascending pitch order in the soprano line at rehearsal letter D...... 99

Figure 5.19: Book of Proverbs, “Like the Man Who Seizes,” original setting ...... 100

Figure 5.20: Book of Proverbs, “Like the Man Who Seizes,” rehearsal C . 102

Figure 5.21: Book of Proverbs, “Boast Not of Tomorrow,” original setting ...... 103

Figure 5.22: Book of Proverbs, “Boast Not of Tomorrow,” composite process...... 104

Figure 5.23: Book of Proverbs, “Boast Not of Tomorrow,” imitative process...... 105

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ABSTRACT

This dissertation explores the role of musical process in four postminimalist works composed by Michael Torke. Close readings of “The Blue Pages,” Rapture, Four Proverbs, and Book of Proverbs show a variety of ways in which process can function in compositional design. As an introduction, Chapter 1 discusses the state of postminimal music analysis, and poses what I believe to be fundamental questions about the impression of postminimalism, including the important role that process plays. Chapter 2 identifies and explains various rhythmic and tonal processes one encounters in minimal and postminimal music. The analytical chapters (Chapters 3 through 5) address three very distinct types of pieces to demonstrate the variety and combinations of processes that appear in Torke’s music. Chapter 3 examines a small chamber work entitled “The Blue Pages” (the second movement from Telephone Book), the form of which is shaped by several interacting rhythmic and tonal processes. Rapture, the subject of Chapter 4, is a percussion concerto in which rhythmic processes play the largest role. Chapter 5 includes two pieces for voice and ensemble (Four Proverbs and Book of Proverbs), in which the relationship between text and music is especially salient. The dissertation concludes by drawing comparisons and exposing differences among the various analytical examples, providing responses to questions posed in the introduction, and presenting further considerations and additional avenues of research for the study of postminimal music.

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CHAPTER 1

POSTMINIMALISM AND MICHAEL TORKE

Introduction

The term minimalism, while most typically associated with the 1960s works of Steve Reich, Terry Riley, LaMonte Young, and Philip Glass, has been applied to composers as diverse as György Ligeti, Louis Andriessen, and Arvo Pärt. Now, nearly fifty years later, it is clear that composers have moved beyond minimalism’s original limits, although the musical style that has grown out of minimalism is still very much a moving target. The term postminimalism was created as a response to this problem—a way to classify current composers who are using the sparse aesthetic and processive techniques of minimalism, but in new and often more complex ways. Postminimalism does not simply refer to music written chronologically after minimalism (for one thing, it is not even clear that minimalism has ended); rather it describes the “maximalism” of minimalism—the ways in which minimalist techniques have been adapted and expanded to include a broader harmonic palate and richer textures. In his article, “Minimalism, Postminimalism, and the Resurgence of Tonality in Recent American Music,” Jonathan Bernard lists two criteria by which a composer could qualify as a postminimalist: 1) He or she “began as a minimalist and is now writing music that, however different from those beginnings, can be plausibly traced back to them” 2) He or she “developed after minimalism’s most abundant flowering, but principally in response (even if partly in opposition) to it” (2003, 127)

Other writers have used the term much more generally to refer to composers whose works draw from a number of different sources, including but not limited to minimalism.1 Timothy Johnson, on the other hand, prefers the term minimalist, but defines it as a technique rather than as an aesthetic or a style. “Thus,” he says, “the term could be employed on a broader basis to describe certain features that compositions include, even if they incorporate other compositional aspects as well” (1994, 750). Johnson lists five principal characteristics of the minimalist style: 1) Continuous formal structure 2) Even rhythmic texture and bright tone 3) Simple harmonic palate 4) Lack of extended melodic lines 5) Repetitive rhythmic patterns (1994, 751)

According to Johnson, pieces that employ the minimalist “technique” must use two or more of these stylistic features and typically adapt or transform others. It is difficult to determine, however, what exactly Johnson means by his descriptions. Does “continuous formal structure” prohibit breaks or divisions of any kind? What constitutes “bright tone”? Can “simple harmonic palate” include tonal and non-tonal elements? How long is “extended”? Johnson’s vague descriptions leave plenty of room for personal interpretation, which allows for a wide range of works to fall under the “minimalist” umbrella. Despite the somewhat ambiguous criteria, Johnson’s general idea still resonates and his approach identifies “pieces with aspects that bear an undeniable resemblance to those of the minimalist style, but that significantly depart from its other stylistic ideals” (1994, 751). Combining the ideas of Bernard and Johnson, I will use the term postminimalist to refer to works composed after the “abundant flowering” of

1 Kyle Gann (1997), especially, refers to a host of composers under the label of “postminimalist” and lists other recent composers under the headings of “postmodernist” and “totalist”.

minimalism (generally regarded as the 1960s through the early 1970s) as stated by Bernard, and that exhibit two or more of the stylistic features laid out by Johnson. Existing analyses of postminimal music generally focus on only one musical element, or on the processes to which that element is subjected. Although this can be a useful starting point when describing surface details, studying the interaction of processes among several musical elements can foster a deeper understanding of postminimal music. Like its minimalist ancestors, one general trend in postminimalist music is for the formal structure to be defined by the continuous spinning out of a single idea. The evolutionary process often becomes the work’s primary focus, and this, in turn, requires a new way of listening: attending carefully to gradually changing parameters. “In various ways,” Timothy Johnson notes, “these pieces seem to suspend time, gradually revealing a slowly unfolding process or focusing upon a minute musical detail” (1994, 745). Unlike early minimalist music, however, recent postminimalist works use less restrictive materials.2 These newer works often have fuller chords, more layers of rhythmic activity, and several elements being manipulated at once, as opposed to a single idea generating an entire piece. Whereas early minimalism is often characterized by a single process, simultaneous multiple processes are commonplace in postminimalism. This dissertation will address the following fundamental questions: How can analysts go beyond merely describing the processes at play in postminimal music? What can process reveal about the structure of a piece? When process or other typically minimalist compositional techniques appear to be absent, what musical features still preserve the impression of

2 Restrictive materials characteristic to minimalist music can include perpetual rhythmic repetition, melodic drones, a limited selection of pitches, and sparse instrumentation, to name a few.

postminimalism? To tackle these issues, I will analyze several of Michael Torke’s pieces in which process is an integral compositional device, exploring the interactions of different musical processes in each.

State of Postminimal Music Analysis

What does analysis claim to convey about a piece of music? Several scholars have contemplated the role of analysis as a means for musical understanding. Nicholas Cook, in his 1987 book A Guide to Musical Analysis, says that in general terms, analysis claims to provide an explanation of the work. Ian Bent defines musical analysis as “the resolution of a musical structure into relatively simpler constituent elements, and the investigation of the functions of those elements within that structure” or simply, “that part of the study of music which takes as its starting-point the music itself, rather than external factors” (1987, 1). David Lewin (1969) states that it is the responsibility of the analyst to assemble interesting, important points of a particular piece in a way that will engage the reader. Regarding processive minimal music, Ian Quinn (2006) claims that if the traditional role of analysis is to reduce and parse the contents of a composition according to previously established formal categories, process music’s “challenge to the analyst-as- interpreter is precisely the minimal challenge it presents to the analyst-as- parser” (293). In the case of minimalist and postminimalist music, the challenge lies in crafting a meaningful and captivating analysis despite seemingly simple surface procedures and repetitive gestures. Although the analytical literature on postminimal music is fairly limited, a few studies have emerged in the last several years, including those by Pellegrino, Horlacher, Quinn, Cohn, Roeder, Hook, and Kleppinger. In her 1999 dissertation, Catherine Pellegrino investigates the applicability of traditional musical analysis to works of a postmodern style. She uses the

music of John Adams as a case study “because his musical style is strongly influenced by early minimalism, the aesthetic principles of which directly challenged the suitability of formalist analysis, in their claim that minimalist music lacked any structure beneath the musical surface” (Pellegrino 1999, 287). Like Cook, Pellegrino says that analysis “claims to explain how the work divides into parts, how the parts work together to create a whole, and the function of each part in relation to the whole and to the other parts. It also claims to elucidate the overriding unity that binds together any apparent disparity or diversity in the musical surface” (1999, 287-8). Regarding the analysis of postminimal music, she lays out several expectations. According to Pellegrino, a good analysis should: 1) Illuminate an aspect of the musical organization of the work that is not immediately apparent on the surface, and that musical organization should be sufficiently comprehensive as to explain all the musical events of the work 2) Be consistent with what we already know about other, similar works 3) Resonate in some way with our own experiential understanding of the work, or to allow us to hear or perform the work in a new way (1999, 289-90)

It is with Pellegrino’s last analytical expectation that I sympathize most strongly. To attain musical understanding from intuition experienced during a live or recorded performance of a piece, it is possible to draw upon analytical language to subsequently examine and explain intuitive responses. Dan Warburton offers some useful terminology for the analysis of minimalist works. Of his contributions he says, “Inevitably an analysis of a minimalist composition to a certain extent must involve simply describing what happens; it should be stressed though that this alone does not constitute analysis . . . the terminology outlined here can and should be used to reveal not, as is commonly assumed, the paucity of their imagination, but rather the enormous sophistication and elegance of their music” (Warburton 1988, 158). This terminology may effectively describe

“the enormous sophistication and elegance” of minimalist music, but it is yet another way of describing the events in the music. The question remains, how does one surpass description? In recent decades, scholars have begun to investigate and analyze minimalist works by adapting current methodologies to fit their needs, much like postminimalist composers have adapted minimalist techniques to fit their own unique compositional styles. These valuable studies can be organized into two main categories: pitch and meter. In the realm of pitch, Ian Quinn (1997) examines Steve Reich’s The Desert Music from the methodological perspective of contour theory and fuzzy sets. His article provides an excellent example of how to successfully combine two analytical tools to provide a meaningful understanding of a piece of music. Julian Hook (2008) applies his theory of signature transformations (reinterpretations of diatonic figures within the context of other key signatures) to explain the gradual pitch class shifts imposed upon the short, repeating motives in Michael Torke’s Yellow Pages. His theoretical application efficiently and convincingly accounts for the constant key changes throughout the piece. In the metrical domain, Richard Cohn (1992), Roberto Saltini (1993), and John Roeder (2003a) all adapt the concept of pitch-class sets to “beat- class” sets to help explain Steve Reich’s early phase shifting music. This analytical technique expertly illuminates the ways in which different metrical layers interact. Gretchen Horlacher (2001-2) investigates the metrical “dissolutions and emergences” caused by the superimposition of patterns in Reich’s 1984 piece, The Desert Music. Her approach sheds light on some cognitive issues of metrical ambiguity through a useful discussion of perceived cues at multiple metric levels. Stanley Kleppinger (2001) examines metrical issues in the music of John Adams, hypothesizing the differing perceptions of conservative versus radical listeners. He shows that

in Adams’s Short Ride in a Fast Machine, “different phenomenological elements work in tandem to blur the perception of the tactus, the (periodic) measure, the hypermeasure, and metrical subdivisions” (Kleppinger 2001, 65). His study is a good example of how interactions of various musical parameters affect metrical perception. Although each of these articles enriches our understanding of the music through their descriptions of structural events, most of them focus solely on a single musical parameter—pitch or rhythm. John Roeder (2003b) discusses both tonality and meter in his analysis of Michael Torke’s Adjustable Wrench, focusing on accent patterns within vamps. His analysis also explores the tension created by popular and art music heard throughout the piece and provides a convincing example of the depth achieved by Torke’s compositional methods.

Minimalist Heritage

Before discussing the effect of minimalism on postminimalism, it will be useful to discuss the origins of the minimalist movement and to provide some background on its pioneers: La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. All four of these composers were born between 1935 and 1937 and were classically trained at prestigious American universities and conservatories in the 1950s. At the time they were studying, composers such as Babbitt and Stockhausen had taken serialism to an extreme. Young, Riley, Reich, and Glass turned completely away from this complex style and instead embraced a return to simplicity. La Monte Young, who was raised on the west coast and educated at UC Berkeley, moved to New York around 1960. He is known both for his word pieces (like Compositions 1960 which feature imaginative instructions such as building a fire or releasing butterflies in the room), and for

composing works of indeterminate length that consist mainly of indefinitely sustained pitches. Because Young’s early works often focus on the durations of single tones and therefore minimize rhythmic motion, their musical focus is limited to slight variations in tuning. Still, the reduced resources and lack of goal-directed motion as well as his association with other minimalist composers place his pieces in the minimalist aesthetic. Also a student at UC Berkeley in the late 1950s, Terry Riley was heavily influenced by the ideas of La Monte Young. After studying in Paris in the early 1960s, Riley moved to New York and began performing with Young in his group, The Theatre of Eternal Music. Riley’s early music is well-known for its use of fragmented, repeated, melodic modules, or cells. His famous 1964 ensemble piece In C, shown in part in Figure 1.1, consists of 53 different cells that are played in conjunction with continuously repeated octave Cs on the piano, which serve as a steady pulse to regulate all the parts. The performers are instructed to repeat each cell as many times as they choose before moving on to the next cell. They enter at different times and may play whatever instrument they like, as long as the instrument is capable of playing the notated pitches. Performers must keep to the form and are not allowed free improvisation of pitches or rhythms, but they choose when and how many repetitions to play. While the resulting texture features interesting harmonic and rhythmic pattern combinations, this piece is more notable for the gradual process of performers weaving new melodic modules into the musical fabric.

Figure 1.1: Terry Riley, In C, cells 1-16

Steve Reich, formally trained at Cornell, Juilliard, and later at Mills College in Oakland, CA (where he studied with Darius Milhaud and Luciano Berio), was particularly interested in time and rhythm as it pertained to musical sound. Like Young and Riley, Reich was interested in jazz, and his studies in jazz drumming as well as African drumming help explain his fascination with musical time. His early music is best known for its phase shifting, his free use of textual fragments, and his growing interest in repetition. To create the effect of gradual phase shifting, he played tape loops simultaneously at slightly different speeds in pieces such as It’s Gonna Rain (1965) and Come Out (1966).3 Reich then applied this technique to instrumental music, as can be heard in his 1967 compositions Piano Phase

3 Reich actually discovered this effect by accident while trying to line up the loops.

(shown in Figure 1.2) and Violin Phase. With their unchanging internal patterns yet constantly shifting superimpositions, these works exhibit the duality of stasis and movement that is so characteristic of minimalist music.

Figure 1.2: Steve Reich, Piano Phase, patterns 1-3

Also a student of the Juilliard School (where he met Steve Reich), Philip Glass continued his studies on a Fulbright Scholarship in Paris with Nadia Boulanger from 1964-66. In addition to his Western art music training, he also studied with the renowned Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar, and became fascinated with “the cyclic rhythm patterns of north Indian music” (Schaefer 1987, 68). Perhaps because of this Indian influence, the most characteristic feature of his early music is the use of additive processes, which involves the generation of larger units from smaller ones. Four of his compositions written in 1969 make use of this additive and subtractive process: Two Pages, Music in Fifths (shown in Figure 1.3), Music in Contrary Motion, and Music in Similar Motion. Glass’s early music helped shape the minimalist style with its limited number of melodic fragments and generative processes.

Figure 1.3: Philip Glass, Music in Fifths, excerpt

The early minimalist works by these four prominent composers have several defining characteristics. Many of the pieces apply unconventional notation, such as In C’s brief segments of musical patterns with instructions for the performers, while other pieces, like Young’s word pieces, use no musical notation at all. Because performers were responsible for making many of the musical decisions, live renditions of these pieces could vary greatly. The composers were also actively involved in the performance of their pieces, and most had their own performing ensembles.4

International Influence

Although minimalism had its roots in America, its influence can be traced to Europe and the Far East. While the investigation of representative composers and their work lies outside the scope of this dissertation, there are those that are no less significant and deserve mention here. Louis Andriessen (who hates the term minimalism and describes his music as “maximal”) employs complex, dissonant harmonic materials while

4 “Steve Reich and Musicians”, “The Philip Glass Ensemble”, and Young’s “The Theatre of Eternal Music” (aka “The Dream Syndicate”)

incorporating the minimalist technique of repetitive rhythmic and melodic patterns (e.g. De Staat, 1976). Henryk Górecki’s Symphony No. 3 (1977) assimilates diatonic and modal harmonies within a canonic, organic texture, resulting in a minimalistic slow development. Several of György Ligeti’s pieces, such as Continuum (1968), produce a sense of equilibrium through a steady stream of rapid activity resulting in a large-scale, formal unfolding shaped by slowly changing blocks of sound. Arvo Pärt uses the entrances of diatonic sounds to create resonance and shimmer (a style known as tintinnabuli,or “bells ringing”) in pieces such as Tabula Rasa (1977). Even the music of Japanese composer Tōru Takemitsu, in works like Rain Tree Sketch (1982), produces a meditative quality that could be considered minimalistic.

Postminimalism

The postminimalist works of recent decades are indebted to these earlier concepts, but with significant changes. K. Robert Schwarz notes that there is a “shift from process to intuition, from an aesthetic that demands rigorous systematization of structure to one that picks and chooses from an eclectic range of historical and vernacular styles, minimalism being only one” (1990, 246-7). The compositional approaches of younger, postminimal composers have blended minimalist methods with their own distinctive styles. Older composers as well are fusing former conventions with new trends. In the middle-period works of Steve Reich such as The Desert Music (1984) and Tehillim (1981), the pitch collections shift much more rapidly than in his earlier music, and he blends recurring rhythmic and melodic patterns with sprawling melodies. The Desert Music (shown in Figure 1.4) is a five-movement arch form that uses metric modulation to produce the

varying tempos between sections.5 While this piece retains the repetitive, syncopated rhythmic patterns characteristic of his earlier works, Reich incorporates a wider range of dynamics, chromaticism and harmonic motion.

Figure 1.4: Steve Reich, The Desert Music, mm. 62-67

Many of Reich’s more recent pieces (Different Trains, City Life, Three Tales) carry social and political commentary, while retaining minimalist elements such as pattern repetition, gradual changes, and phasing. City Life (1995), which has a completely notated score, uses samples taken from the streets of New York City (voices, steam, car doors, horns, etc.) that are programmed into a sampler keyboard and triggered by pressing a key during

5 The influence of composers such as Béla Bartók and Elliott Carter on Reich’s structural design is evident here.

live performances (see Figure 1.5). He uses the recorded sample “check it out” to generate a rhythmic motive of the piece, and employs instruments to imitate the city sounds, a technique that he experimented with in his earlier piece Drumming (1970-71).6

Figure 1.5: Steve Reich, City Life, mm. 37-39

6 In Drumming, female voices imitate the timbre of the drums. Drumming was also his last piece to use pure phase shifting as a compositional technique—his later uses of phase shifting are not as exclusive or exhaustive.

John Adams, born in 1947, often employs minimalist techniques in his music, although most of his pieces depart substantially from early minimalism by either varying elements or by incorporating other compositional characteristics. In works such as Harmonium (1981) and Harmonielehre (1985), Adams exploits brief, repetitive melodic patterns, but modifies their recurrences. The pulsating effects of Harmonium differ from traditional minimalism by their lack of a constant presence, their varying nature, and their ability to shift between prominent and background roles within the piece (see Figure 1.6).

Figure 1.6: John Adams, Harmonium, mm. 128-135

Michael Torke

Born in 1961, Michael Torke is one of the most prominent postminimalists. Trained as a classical pianist, he attended the Eastman School of Music, where he connected with both minimalist music and popular music for the first time. After some graduate study at Yale, he left for New York City at the age of 23 to pursue his professional career. He was soon signed by Boosey and Hawkes and Argo/Decca Records, and shortly after that began his five-year collaboration with Peter Martins and the New York City Ballet (Torke 2009). Torke has received numerous commissions, and has composed several works for dance. A synesthete, Torke has also written a number of orchestral pieces that explore particular colors. His famous Color Music collection (1985-89) includes Ecstatic Orange, Bright Blue Music, The Yellow Pages, Green, Purple, Black and White, Charcoal, Copper, Ash, Rust and Slate.7 Torke distinctly applies traditionally minimalist processive techniques to playful pop-inspired motives. David Murray notes, “What makes the label ‘post-minimalist’ apt [for Torke] . . . is that while his musical constructions have recognizably minimalist elements and a minimalist sound, a tone of voice, they pursue none of the ideals of Reich, Glass, or Terry Riley. The 60s-ish fascination with slow, gradual change through dogged repetitions plays no role in Torke’s work” (1992, 3). His harmonies, while more intricate than those of the earlier minimalist style, still depend mostly upon simple, diatonic collections. Instead of traditional formal development, his music more often exhibits ordered successions of patterns. Timothy Johnson observes that Torke’s “use of the minimalist technique blends so smoothly

7 The Yellow Pages, written in 1985 while Torke was still a student at Yale, later became part of a larger work entitled Telephone Book (1995), with two additional movements: “The Blue Pages” and “The White Pages.”

into his compositional style that its influence is often almost imperceptible” (1994, 768). Torke’s buoyant, approachable music deserves deeper investigation; the intent here is to explore the role that process plays in a representative selection of his repertoire.

CHAPTER 2

PROCESS TYPES

This chapter will identify and explain various sorts of processes encountered in minimal and postminimal music. I will first discuss audible processes of early minimalism, including phase shifting, additive and subtractive techniques, and augmentation and diminution. I will then discuss ways in which these processes have evolved and how composers have begun to make them more complex. Finally, I will describe what can happen when more than one process is used at once, and demonstrate how process interactions can influence our perception of a particular piece. In order to investigate the interactions of multiple processes in Michael Torke’s compositions, it is helpful to identify different process types as discrete entities. His musical processes engage several domains including tonal, rhythmic, textural, timbral or a combination of multiple parameters. Acting independently or jointly, processes can greatly affect the aural perceptions of music because of the patterns or structures that result. Below I have outlined some of the more frequently used processes in minimal and postminimal music.8

Phase Shifting

Phase shifting—most closely associated with Steve Reich—occurs when a rhythmic figure moves in and out of phase with itself. This process can happen gradually (by slowly accelerating a repeated motive against the

8 This is by no means an exhaustive list, and it should be noted that variations or adaptations of these processes are not uncommon.

same motive held at a constant tempo), or all at once (by suddenly shifting one part against the other). Reich first used this technique with tape loops— e.g., It’s Gonna Rain (1965) and Come Out (1966)—and then applied it to acoustic instruments in Piano Phase (1967), Violin Phase (1967), and Clapping Music (1972). In Piano Phase, the beginning of which is shown in Figure 2.1, player two is instructed to play in unison with player one for a given number of repetitions, then to gradually increase the tempo for a given number of repetitions before returning to the original tempo when he or she is a full eighth note out of phase with player one. This process is repeated until the two players are back in phase, a common cyclic feature of phase music. Although the internal activity is not teleologically directed, several interesting rhythmic and melodic patterns emerge from the various alignments. With their unchanging internal patterns yet constantly shifting superimpositions, these pieces exhibit the duality of stasis and movement that is so characteristic of minimalist music.

Figure 2.1: Steve Reich, Piano Phase, patterns 1-3

Additive or Subtractive Process

Additive or subtractive process, which involves the generation of larger units from smaller ones or vice versa, is mainly linked with the early music of Philip Glass. Four pieces written in 1969 make use of this generative process: Two pages, Music in Fifths, Music in Contrary Motion, and Music in Similar Motion. The excerpt of Music in Fifths shown in Figure 2.2 clearly demonstrates this technique. The running eighth notes continually accumulate by using fragmented repetitions of their own material: 4+4, 2+4+4, 2+4+2+4, and so on. A result of these constantly evolving passages is the continuously changing sense of meter, which shows the interesting way Glass experimented with musical time in these early pieces.

Figure 2.2: Philip Glass, Music in Fifths, excerpt

Diminution or Augmentation

The technique of diminution or augmentation refers to the shortening or lengthening of a motivic event. Variations of this process have been used throughout music history, appearing long before minimalism and

postminimalism. In classical works, for example, the main theme might be reiterated with note values that are twice as long or short as in the original statement. Durational proportion is normally kept intact, allowing the theme to be recognizable as either an accelerated or decelerated version of itself. In minimalist and postminimalist music, however, the process of diminution or augmentation often takes place as a gradual change over time. Several of Arvo Pärt’s pieces exhibit this feature, as do the prolation canons of Conlon Nancarrow. Minimalist composers often choose unusual or complicated formulas to achieve diminution and augmentation (such as e:pi in Nancarrow’s Study No. 40 or the Fibonacci series in several of William Duckworth’s Time Curve Preludes) as opposed to more traditional ratios (2:1, 3:1, etc). Consider the ninth piano prelude of Duckworth’s minimalist collection, The Time Curve Preludes (1979), excerpts of which are shown in Figure 2.3. The left hand plays a succession of half notes, quoted from the cantus firmus of Erik Satie’s Vexations (1893). Upon each repetition of the cantus (a total of seventeen notes, the first six of which are shown in Figure 2.3a), Duckworth shortens the length of each note by one sixteenth note. This creates interesting metrical dissonance against the right hand part (not shown), which is involved in its own separate process. Torke frequently employs the process of diminution or augmentation as a means of expanding or contracting phrases. A good example of this can be seen in “The Blue Pages”, which is explored in detail in Chapter 3.

Figure 2.3: William Duckworth, The Time Curve Preludes, No. 9, a) mm. 18-23, b) mm. 35-40a, c) mm. 49b-54a, d) mm. 62b-66a, left hand diminution

Key Signature Transformations

While early minimalist composers seemed to favor rhythmic processes over tonal ones, Torke freely employs tonally motivated techniques in his pieces. In his 1995 composition Telephone Book, he progressively adds sharps to short, repeating motives to simulate the alphabetical ordering of last names with the same first letter in directory listings. Julian Hook (2008) formalized this technique, coining the term “signature transformations”, which refers to the reinterpretations of diatonic figures within the context of other key signatures. This process is demonstrated in Figure 2.4, taken from the first movement of Telephone Book, entitled “The Yellow Pages.” The cello repeats a one-bar motive, to which Torke adds a sharp every two measures, traveling clockwise around the circle of fifths. The notated key signature of G major never changes, and the motive is never transposed, but the frequent, implied change in key signature results in a gradual upward drift of the

motive one pitch at a time, creating a sense of forward motion and building intensity.

Figure 2.4: Michael Torke, Telephone Book, “The Yellow Pages,” key signature transformations in cello

Text-Pitch Relationships

When writing for voice, composers of the common-practice period frequently chose to emphasize the meaning of the text via musical elements. This can be carried out by a variety of means, including the intentional pairing of stanza endings with harmonic cadences, and the emphasis of important words through register, dynamics, duration, metric placement, and so forth. In the serial music of the 1950s however, language was sometimes treated like any other sound, becoming yet another musical

element to manipulate. Rather than preserving the meaning and integrity of the original text, composers such as Stockhausen and Babbitt applied serial procedures to entire stanzas or individual words, often resulting in fragmented syntax. In extreme cases, the emphasis was placed on the sonic component of the text rather than the meaning. The technique could be employed to varying degrees of strictness. Figure 2.5 shows Part I of Babbitt’s Play on Notes (1966), written for children’s voices and bells. Here, Babbitt employs serial procedures to manipulate a six-note tone row. The

original row form (P0) appears in the first two measures of the voice and is accompanied by a version of its aggregate (R6) in the bells (shown by brackets in the example). Babbitt then systematically exhausts all

permutations of the six-note row in both parts (voice: I0, RI0, R0; bells: I6,

P6, RI6) while keeping the relationship between the text and notes intact. Grammatically, the words always make sense, but the reordering changes the meaning ever so slightly.

Figure 2.5: Milton Babbitt, Play on Notes, mm. 1-8 Colored blocks show fixed text-pitch relationship despite serial manipulations

Torke demonstrates a similar technique in his treatment of text in Four Proverbs (1993) and Book of Proverbs (1996), both of which I will investigate in more depth in Chapter 5. Using texts from Biblical proverbs, he joins individual syllables with specific notes, establishing a fixed relationship between textual elements and pitch. Preserving the text-pitch association, Torke then employs various musical processes to reorganize the notes, resulting in arrangements of text with altered or detached meanings. The excerpt from Book of Proverbs in Figure 2.6 is a good example of how fragmentation can affect meaning. Torke introduces a complete proverb in the soprano and alto voices. He then extracts every other word of the proverb (shown by circles in Figure 2.6a) maintaining the original pitches and note values, and places the extracted words in the alto and tenor voices a few measures later (shown by the arrows leading to Figure 2.6b). The result is a shorter phrase that retains musical elements from the original but lacks syntactical meaning.

Figure 2.6: Michael Torke, Book of Proverbs, “Boast Not of Tomorrow,” a) soprano and alto, mm. 5-8, b) alto and tenor, mm. 11-13 Circles show every other word, arrows show placement of extracted words.

Conclusions

These short examples illustrate just a few of the many processes used by minimalist and postminimalist composers. In postminimalist music, particularly the music of Michael Torke, similar processes can vary in both technique and function depending on their treatment. A fragmentation procedure, for example, may extract new meaning from a given text, or it may delineate formal structure. Torke masterfully employs and combines musical processes in creative ways to achieve a wide range of objectives. The following chapters will offer detailed analyses of four pieces that use a variety of these techniques. My analyses will examine how the various processes operate and interact within the larger structure of the music, keeping discussion of specific pitch content and internal rhythmic structures to a minimum.

CHAPTER 3

TELEPHONE BOOK, “THE BLUE PAGES”

“The Blue Pages,” a chamber work for flute, bass clarinet, violin, cello, and piano, is the second movement of Torke’s Telephone Book. It was written in 1995 along with “The White Pages” under a commission from Present Music (a performing ensemble that specializes in new music) to expand his ideas from “The Yellow Pages,” a piece he had written a decade earlier while a composition student at Yale. The following analysis will investigate some of the ways in which Torke organizes time by exploring the many subtle processes at play in this jazzy movement.9 I will show that its form is structured neither by sectional divisions nor by a single linear process, but rather that it is a product of several interacting musical processes. In minimalist music, the use of conventional formal models can be problematic. As Wim Mertens states, “[minimalism] discards the traditional harmonic functional schemes of tension and relaxation and disapproves of classical formal schemes and the musical narrative that goes with them” (1983, 17). In the absence of familiar boundaries such as cadences and large structural divisions, it becomes necessary to seek other criteria for describing musical form. One general trend in minimalist music is for form to result from the continuous unfolding of a single idea, rather than having large, sectional groups with clear beginnings, endings and formal functions. This gradual directed change, or process, becomes the main focus of the

9 A tempo marking of “moderate swing” as well as an indication in the score that dotted-eighth- sixteenth figures should be performed as quarter-eighth triplets places this movement in a jazzy style.

work, which requires listeners to attend carefully to gradually changing content. Throughout “The Blue Pages,” a lyrical melody is interspersed with lively syncopated interludes. Figure 3.2 illustrates this layout in the flute (melody) and violin (accompaniment) parts from rehearsal letter C through the beginning of rehearsal letter D. The movement is notated in 4/4 time and each rehearsal letter is comprised of a nine-bar unit, but the proportion of melody length to interlude length gradually shifts: at each repetition, the melody diminishes in length while the syncopated interludes expand (shown in Figure 3.1). To achieve this effect, several processes are in motion simultaneously, particularly involving the elements of pitch and phrase length. “Phrase” or “phrase length” in this sense refers to a short segment of the lyrical melody (which can be divided into two segments). While lacking clear cadences, the pair of phrases in the melody has somewhat of a “call and response” periodic structure, likening them to phrases of the common practice period. The processes in this movement are subtle and develop very gradually, creating the illusion that little is happening, but the continual changes warrant a closer listening.

A B C D E |//////|++++++++| - |+++++++| - - |++++++| - - - |+++++| - - - - |++++| - - - - - |

F G H I J K |+++| ------|++|+| // |++++++++| ------|++++++++|\\\\\\\\||

X = Rehearsal letters + = Lyrical phrase measures - = Interlude measures / = Intro material \ = Ending material Figure 3.1: Diminishing phrases, expanding interludes, “The Blue Pages”

Figure 3.2: Lyrical melody and syncopated interlude in the flute and violin at rehearsal letter C, “The Blue Pages”

Pitch

In the score notes to Telephone Book, Torke describes the overall pitch process: “Referring to the alphabetical listings found in these familiar directories, I devised a kind of musical equivalency: bars of music repeat, but I continually introduce new key signatures. The result (going through the complete cycle of fifths but not transposing anything) is the feeling of much activity over gradual changes, much like the way alphabetical order works” (Torke 2009). The lyrical melody of “The Blue Pages,” characterized by sustained tones and mostly stepwise motion, is supported by recurring rhythmic and harmonic patterns in the bass clarinet, strings, and piano (see the violin part in Figure 3.2). At each repetition of the melody (denoted on the score by rehearsal letters), two sharps are added without otherwise transposing it, a technique Jay Hook (2008) formalized as “signature

transformations.” The circled pitches in Figure 3.3 show the added sharps of each transformation. Rehearsal letter A includes only those sharps already designated by the key signature: F# and C#. Rehearsal letter B introduces G# and D#, and as one might expect, rehearsal letter C introduces A# and E#, although there are no Es in the flute melody, so no E#s appear until the interlude following the melody.

Figure 3.3: Repetitions of flute melody by rehearsal letter, “The Blue Pages” Circles show key signature transformations; brackets indicate changes in duration.

Table 3.1 charts this progression in each of the parts, tracking the starting pitches at each rehearsal letter. The flute (doubled for much of the piece by the left hand of the pianist) provides continuity to the piece by beginning the first three repetitions on the same note, B4 (until a shift to C5 at rehearsal letter D), while the bass clarinet, violin, cello and the pianist’s right hand ascend one whole step in their accompaniment patterns at each

repetition. The cycle is complete at rehearsal letter G, and at letter H the original lyrical melody is repeated at the octave, this time with a fuller texture and louder dynamics. The simultaneous processes of gradually introducing accidentals to a repeated melody and the steady stepwise ascent of the accompanying parts operate together to build intensity.

Table 3.1: Starting pitches by rehearsal letter in “The Blue Pages”

Rehearsal letter: A B C D E F G Accidentals: 2 sharps 4 sharps 6 sharps 4 flats 2 flats none 2 sharps Flute B B B C C (C) (C#) Bass Clarinet; E F# G# Bb C D E Cello Violin D, G E, A F#, B Ab, Db Bb, Eb C, F D, G

Piano F#, D, G G#, E, A A#, F#, B C, Ab, Db D, Bb, Eb E, C, F F#, D, G

Phrase Length

The melody begins as two four-bar phrases, but with each repetition Torke systematically reduces the phrase length by a quarter note at the beginning and a quarter note at the end. There are two phrases per repetition, so this process results in a one-measure truncation at each rehearsal letter. The pitch B4 that begins each phrase occupies the span of five quarter notes at rehearsal letter A, four quarter notes at rehearsal letter B, three at C, and so forth, as shown by the brackets in Figure 3.3. Similarly, the last sustained note of each phrase loses a quarter note at each repetition: the A4 that occupies six beats at the end of the first phrase at rehearsal letter A is contracted to five beats at rehearsal letter B, four at

letter C, and so on. The A4 that ends the second phrase decreases in duration from four beats at letter A, to three beats at letter B, two at C, and so on. The accompanying parts, which all begin as two-bar phrases, acquire smaller durations only at the end—not at the beginning—of each of their short phrases. Figure 3.4 shows the first three repetitions of the initial bass clarinet pattern. The pattern occupies eight beats at rehearsal letter A, seven beats at rehearsal letter B, six at C and so forth. The circled pitches at the end of each grouping are the ones that are dropped at the next rehearsal letter. The piano and string patterns are contracted in the same way.

Figure 3.4: Repetitions of bass clarinet motive by rehearsal letter, “The Blue Pages.” Circles show eliminated pitches, brackets indicate decreasing phrase durations.

Interludes

The jazzy, syncopated interludes that appear between each repetition of the melody in all voices deserve closer inspection. Torke gradually expands these interludes, effectively reversing the process by which he contracts the lyrical portions. Material is added rather than subtracted at each repetition: two beats of music are added to the beginning of the original one-bar interlude, and two beats are added to the end. As these interludes expand on either end, the material from the previous interludes becomes more deeply nested, as shown by the boxes in Figure 3.5. The interludes audibly retain their quadruple metric structure because two beats are always inserted as a pair to the beginnings and ends of measures. However, the metric placement of the original interlude alternates between beginning a measure and falling at the middle of a measure due to the symmetrical, generative process at work. The interludes undergo the same signature transformations as the lyrical melody (two sharps added at each rehearsal letter), although the transformations are less apparent than in the melody because the interludes are highly chromatic. More noticeable is the stepwise ascent at each occurrence of the interludes—the same technique employed in the accompaniment parts of the melody. Torke draws from limited rhythmic values in these interludes, using a combination of dotted- eighth-sixteenth patterns and triplet figures, although the contour is constantly rising and falling.

Figure 3.5: Nested interludes by rehearsal letter, “The Blue Pages”

Interactions

After a careful examination of the underlying pitch and phrase length processes of both the lyrical phrases and the interludes, it seems appropriate to consider two broader issues: How do these simultaneously occurring processes affect listeners’ perceptions of the piece and how can these connections help identify a cohesive formal structure? In this short piece, one of the most salient process interactions is between the key signature transformations and the phrase contractions in the lyrical melody. These two processes are shown together in Figure 3.3. Because the phrases are decreasing in length while the pitches undergo an upward chromatic drift, the melody undergoes a gradual intensification. This effect is made even more dramatic by the sudden stepwise ascent of the starting pitches in each of the repetitions (as shown in Table 3.1). Although these processes are occurring independently of one another, their combined effect can strongly influence one’s perception of the piece.

Another interesting observation involves the shifting perception of meter that results from the diminishing lyrical phrases. Although the entire movement is notated in 4/4 time, it is not always perceived that way. The first occurrence of the melody at rehearsal letter A does sound quadruple, which may set up an expectation for the later repetitions to follow suit. However, due to the truncation process, the second phrase of the melody does not consistently begin on the first beat of a measure each time it is heard. Many accentual cues align to influence perceived downbeats of these phrases: the entrances of the sustained flute note, the long, low bass clarinet note (articulated even more strongly by the performer), and the accompanying chords in the piano and strings. These metrically “strong” phrase beginnings shift their placements to the fourth beat, third beat, second beat, and finally back to the first beat of the measure, creating a flexible metrical structure. Speaking speculatively, there are several reasons, why Torke may have structured the movement to behave in this way. Perhaps this shifting can be viewed as the notated and perceived meter moving in and out of phase, and is Torke’s way of paying homage to earlier phasing pieces.10 It could also be his way of highlighting the contrast between relatively smooth and rather lopsided realizations of the tune. The interludes, on the other hand, are always clearly in 4/4, which is a salient contrast to the lyrical phrases. Because Torke never alters the notated time signature, the preserved number of measures at each rehearsal letter makes the sliding proportions of melody to interlude lengths even more aurally apparent. This variability of proportion within a strict temporal frame shifts attention away from a rigid quadruple time structure and instead toward the salient surface features and processes of the music.

10 For additional discussion of notated versus perceived meter, see Joel Lester’s 1986 article, “Notated and Heard Meter,” Perspectives of New Music, 24.2:116-128.

When considering the form of the piece, the harmonic structure deserves a closer inspection. The piano and violin oscillate between two chords, neither of which provides a convincing tonal center or a sense of directed functional motion (see the violin part in Figure 3.2). Rather, they behave more as a slowly oscillating drone. Formal divisions, therefore, are not marked by key areas or harmonic function, but rather by the processes at play. In other words, the processes themselves—in this case the slowly sliding ratio of melody lengths to interlude lengths—generate the form.

Conclusions

Torke’s “The Blue Pages” is a model of how a postminimalist composer can successfully fuse the technique of “process music” with his own stylistic conventions. The musical processes at play in this piece are quite clear, which makes it an excellent case study for process as form in postminimalist music. This analysis shows that the large-scale form of Torke’s piece cannot be reduced to a single linear process. Rather, its form results from the gradually shifting durational proportions that are the product of several simultaneously occurring musical processes. One of the appeals of this jazzy piece lies in hearing the contrast between the lyrical phrases and the syncopated interludes, and experiencing the entire movement unfolding as a result of the processes in motion. By analyzing not only individual processes but also the interactions of those processes, a deeper understanding of significant connections and formal structures in postminimalist works can be reached.

CHAPTER 4

RAPTURE

Introduction

Michael Torke cites the W.B. Yeats poem “News for a Delphic Oracle,” which describes a “mythic and transcendent sexual state”, as characterizing the feeling he wants to represent in his 2003 percussion concerto Rapture (Torke 2009). Commissioned by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra for percussionist Colin Currie, Rapture serves as a showpiece for the soloist. Torke collaborated closely with Currie while composing the work to learn the idiosyncrasies of writing for percussion. Torke notes, “A brute beating of drums may connote an earthly violence, but when it is organized and insistent, it begins to have a ritualistic effect, and incite a kind of rapture. It is that kind of transcendence that I am interested in discovering in this composition” (Torke 2009). Rapture is organized into three movements, each featuring a different family of percussion instruments: 1) drums and woods, 2) mallets, and 3) metals. Because he was writing for non-pitched percussion instruments, Torke devised a way to organize the music without the use of melodies, his standard compositional structural segments. His solution involved making the soloist the leader and having the orchestra shadow the soloist. The soloist initiates every rhythmic pattern in each movement, and the orchestra echoes these patterns. Each percussion instrument is paired with a specific orchestral instrument or group of instruments to mirror the variety of percussive timbres. Sometimes Torke also assigns specific pitches to orchestral instruments to match the high and low registers of the percussion. This chapter explores Torke’s uses of shadowing in this piece,

paying particular attention to the processes found in the percussion patterns and how they influence larger formal structures.

Movement 1: drums and woods “Those Innocents re-live their death… Through their ancestral patterns dance…” (Yeats)

Overall Organization

On the score, Torke marks four sectional divisions (called “groups”) of this movement. All four groups are constructed from fragments of the same pattern; the fragments can be embellished (sixteenth notes replacing some eighth notes) or unembellished. Each rehearsal number is devoted to the exploration of a single fragment, which is first introduced by the solo percussionist in the measures directly preceding each rehearsal number. The fragments are repeated four times in what I will call a “staircase formation.” I use this to denote passages where the fragments are ascending or descending by register through different percussion instruments, visually invoking a staircase on the score (see Figures 4.5, 4.7, 4.9, 4.11). The orchestra joins in at the start of each rehearsal number, the instrumentation shadowing the percussionist’s registral staircases. Table 4.1 shows the overall layout of the groups. As the chart shows, Torke always pairs the original pattern with a descending staircase and the augmented pattern with an ascending staircase. Groups 1 and 2 both feature the unembellished versions of the patterns while Groups 3 and 4 use the embellished ones. In other words, Torke devotes a complete “descent- ascent” sequence to the unembellished fragments in Groups 1 and 2 followed by a complete “ascent-descent” sequence using the embellished fragments in Groups 3 and 4. This chapter begins by discussing the movement in detail: first considering the rhythmic construction of the main

pattern, then the segmentation procedure, and finally the pitch relationships between the percussion and the orchestra.

Table 4.1: Organizational structure of Rapture, Movement 1

Introduces the pattern and creates registral relationships Intro Thru R5 between the unpitched solo percussion instruments and the pitched orchestral instruments. Group 1 R6 – R12 Descending staircase Original Pattern Unembellished Group 2 R13 – R19 Ascending staircase Augmented Pattern Unembellished Group 3 R20 – R26 Ascending staircase Augmented Pattern Embellished Group 4 R27 – R32 Descending staircase Original Pattern Embellished Highly embellished version of the pattern played in the toms Closing R33 – R35 without fragmentation. Last six bars play the unembellished pattern across all solo percussion.

Rhythm

All the material in this movement is based upon an initial pattern that serves as a generating motive. The movement opens with the loud, fast pattern stated in the high and low tom-toms (the tempo marking reads “Aggressive, in 2, half note = 100”). This initial pattern (henceforth IP) lasts ten-and-a-half beats and is repeated four times in ten-and-a-half measures (see Figure 4.1).11 Because the phrase length is asymmetrical, the pattern shifts among various metrical placements each time it recurs, masking the obviousness of the repetitions.

11 The introduction and the material at rehearsal numbers 2 and 4 each last exactly ten- and-a-half measures, notated as ten measures of 4/4 time and one measure of 2/4. Rehearsal numbers 1 and 3 comprise two sets of ten-and-a-half measures, and rehearsal number 5 lasts ten-and-a-half measures before the entrance of “Group 1.”

Figure 4.1: Rapture, mvt. 1, two statements of the Initial Pattern (IP) stated in the high tom-toms

The low toms play an augmentation of the IP: each of its values is precisely twice as long as the original. Because it is an exact augmentation of the IP, the low tom pattern is 21 beats long and is repeated twice in ten and a half measures, although the augmented pattern begins with the third note of the high tom pattern. This pattern is shown in Figure 4.2.

Figure 4.2: Rapture, mvt. 1, two statements of the augmented IP in the low tom-toms

The tom parts are played simultaneously creating a composite rhythm, shown in Figure 4.3. While it is possible to discern the IP and the augmented IP as separate entities due to registral differences between the high and low toms, the composite rhythm is aurally salient, especially when the drums play unaccompanied.

Figure 4.3: Rapture, mvt. 1, composite rhythm of the toms Upward stems show IP, downward stems show augmented IP

Segmentation Procedure and Grouping Structure

The IP and augmented IP described above generate all of the material used in this movement. Torke uses fragments from the IP as the basis for Groups 1 and 4, and segments from the augmented IP in Groups 2 and 3 (as shown in Table 4.1 above). Throughout the movement, each rehearsal number features a single fragment. Torke does not use a precise process for the segmentation, nor does he segment each group in the same way, although he does sort the fragments by odd and even rehearsal numbers rather than consecutively. A step-by-step tour through the segmentation of each of the groups should help clarify this process. Torke segments Group 1 such that the patterns at the even rehearsal numbers (R6, R8, R10) collectively comprise a complete, unembellished IP, as shown in Figure 4.4. The patterns at the odd rehearsal numbers in this group are not as precisely fragmented, even including some overlap between R9 and R11. Figure 4.5 shows how Torke uses the R6 fragment to create a descending staircase formation throughout the percussion (arrows show the registral progression of the fragment). The brackets in the example are copied directly from Torke’s published score. The notes not bracketed are from the augmented IP as it appears with the original IP at the beginning of the movement. Therefore, those notes line up vertically with the bracketed material above them rather than serve as introductions to the bracketed material that they precede.

Figure 4.4: Rapture, mvt. 1, Group 1 fragmentation of IP by rehearsal number

Figure 4.5: Rapture, mvt. 1, Group 1 descending staircase at R6

The clearest example of Torke’s segmentation procedure appears in Group 2. Here, the fragments at the odd rehearsal numbers (R13, R15, R17) comprise a complete, unembellished augmented IP, as shown in Figure 4.6. The segments at the even rehearsal numbers (R14, R16, R18) also comprise a complete, unembellished augmented IP, although the fragments are different than those used for the odd rehearsal numbers. Still, all of the pitches are accounted for in each of the segmentations, making this a very straightforward illustration. Figure 4.7 traces the staircase pattern in R13, shown by arrows. Again, the brackets are from Torke’s published score and material not bracketed is from the IP aligned with the augmented IP at the beginning of the movement.

Figure 4.6: Rapture, mvt. 1, Group 2 fragmentation of augmented IP by rehearsal number

Figure 4.7: Rapture, mvt. 1, Group 2 ascending staircase at R13

In Group 3, the odd rehearsal numbers (R21, R23, R25) collectively contain a complete, embellished augmented IP, as shown in Figure 4.8.12 Unlike the other groups, this group includes only two even rehearsal numbers (R22 and R24) instead of three. As a result, many of the notes of the IP are not included in the even segmentation. Figure 4.9 shows the ascending staircase formation at R21. Again, the brackets are from Torke’s score and the material outside of the brackets is taken from the original IP, but this time any notes that sound simultaneously with the augmented IP are omitted.

Figure 4.8: Rapture, mvt. 1, Group 3 fragmentation of embellished, augmented IP by rehearsal number

12 Three sixteenth notes are omitted between the fragments at R23 and R25, but because those sixteenth notes are merely embellishments, the essence of the augmented IP is still preserved.

Figure 4.9: Rapture, mvt. 1, Group 3 ascending staircase at R21

Torke segments Group 4 similarly to the other groups. Here, the patterns at the odd rehearsal numbers (R27, R29, R31) collectively encompass a complete, embellished IP while the material at the even rehearsal numbers (R28, R30, R32) comprises a close approximation of the IP, as shown in Figure 4.10. Figure 4.11 illustrates the use of a single fragment (brackets are from Torke’s published score) to create a descending staircase pattern at R28. The notes outside the brackets are taken from the augmented IP as it appears with the IP at the beginning of the movement, although as in Group 3, any notes that sound simultaneously with the embellished IP are omitted.

Figure 4.10: Rapture, mvt. 1, Group 4 fragmentation of embellished IP by rehearsal number

Figure 4.11: Rapture, mvt. 1, Group 4 descending staircase at R28

Between each of the groups, the solo percussionist switches to the tubular bells for a short segue. Rehearsal numbers 5, 12, 19, and 26 use partial statements of the IP, where the IP material omitted at R5/R19 is present at R12/R26 and vice versa (see Figure 4.12). These statements break up the staircase patterns and signal that a new group is on its way. The change in timbre further clarifies the pattern break.

Figure 4.12: Rapture, mvt. 1, composite IP at R5 and R12 Boxes contain overlapping material where one part enters and the other exits.

Over the final six measures of the movement, the four main registral percussion groupings play the composite, unembellished IP spread out across the parts, shown in Figure 4.13. The low bongo and the snare drum play the lowest note of the IP and they are always accented. That leaves the high and low toms with the middle and high notes of the IP. Because drums higher than the toms sound the lowest note of the IP, the IP has a much different sound at this place than in the rest of the movement. The orchestral instruments further emphasize the registral displacement of the lowest note with high, accented pitches outside the range in which they had been playing.

Figure 4.13: Rapture, mvt. 1, composite IP at end of movement Blue blocks indicate lowest note of IP, performed in the higher-sounding drums.

Pitch

Although the main focus of this piece is the solo, unpitched percussion, Torke still manipulates pitch in the orchestral accompaniment of the first

movement in both general and specific ways. He assigns specific pitches to the orchestral instruments that correlate with the different audible registers of the tom-toms. Table 4.2 shows these relationships and Figure 4.14 shows them employed at the beginning of the movement.

Table 4.2: Pitch classes correlated with tom-tom registers, Rapture, Movement 1

High toms Pitch High Bb Middle Ab Low G Low Toms Pitch High G Middle F Low Eb

Figure 4.14: Rapture, mvt. 1, original orchestral/tom-tom pairings

These relationships do not remain constant as the movement progresses, however. For example, at R2, the percussionist plays the wood

blocks, a significantly higher register than the tom-toms. To mirror this change in register, the orchestral accompaniment shifts the IP up a perfect fourth to Eb, D and C (compare Figures 4.14 and 4.15). When the percussionist switches back to the toms at R4, the orchestral instruments likewise shift back to the original pitches.

Figure 4.15: Rapture, mvt. 1, orchestral shift up a perfect fourth at R2

More generally, the different registers of the solo percussion are imitated in the orchestral parts through the use of instrumentation. For example, the wood block and high bongo are paired with high-register instruments: piccolo, oboe, English horn and soprano saxophone (as shown in Figure 4.15). The low bongo, congas, snare drum, timbales and high toms are matched with mid-range instruments including flutes, clarinets, tenor saxophone, trumpet and bassoon. Finally, the low toms are coupled with the trombones, piano and strings. The paired tessituras between the percussion and the orchestral accompaniment are most evident during the staircase patterns of Groups 1-4.

While the bracketed IP segments in the percussion are very detached and distinct, their orchestral counterparts often contain some overlap, providing continuity and fluidity to the otherwise choppy sections. The pairings, both general and specific, that Torke employs between the unpitched percussion and the orchestral accompaniment help define the relationship between soloist and ensemble in this movement.

Overall Effect

In this movement, Torke uses the combination of rhythmic patterning and instrumentation pairings to establish and define the roles of the percussion soloist and the orchestra. The registral staircase formations used throughout highlight both parameters: different segments of the main rhythmic pattern shape each staircase, while specific instrumentation pairings are preserved in every iteration. Looking at the movement as a whole, it seems that Torke had a structure in place from the very beginning. Rather than allowing process to generate form (as he did in “The Blue Pages”), the structure of this movement has very clear sectional divisions that each follow a particular sequence of events. Using a single rhythmic pattern, Torke maps a precisely organized path through this movement. From an aural standpoint, it is not immediately apparent that all the movement’s material is generated from one pattern, but a close examination of the score reveals the processes Torke employs to create an extremely systematic formal structure. The strategies that he uses are relatively simple (augmentation of a motive, exploitation of musical fragments, orchestral-percussion registral pairings, rhythmic embellishments), but he implements these elements in elaborate and methodical ways. Torke’s ability to manipulate a single pattern to create material for an entire movement is seen again in Movement 2, which

maintains this facet of Movement 1’s construction while incorporating new ways of using pitch.

Movement 2: mallets “…Slim adolescence that a nymph has stripped…”

Overall Organization

The second movement is softer and much slower than the first movement (tempo marked as “Moderately, in 2, half note = 80”), and creates a dreamlike atmosphere with its lilting, repetitive motive (see Figure 4.16). This pattern, much like the IP in the first movement, generates all the movement’s motivic material. Marimba and vibraphone are the featured solo mallet instruments, and because they are both pitched percussion, this movement incorporates pitch in ways the other movements do not. Not merely a rhythmic motive, the opening two-note gesture also suggests that a subtly inflected pitch pattern will be used throughout the remainder of the movement. Like the first movement, the second movement falls into four large groups, but this time Torke does not specifically label them. Instead, they are delineated on the score by brief (one-measure) departures from the notated time signature of 4/4. Table 4.3 charts the overall organization.13 The chart shows that Sections One and Three both end with a measure of 3/4, while Sections Two and Four both end with a measure of 2/4. These section pairs have more in common than the time signature of their final measure, attributes that will be discussed later in the chapter. After each time signature change, a brief transition takes place before the next section.

13 Rehearsal numbers typically fall every four to seven measures.

The following part of the chapter provides a window into the specific motivic construction and echo process that drives this movement.

Table 4.3: Sectional divisions of Rapture, Movement 2

Section Rehearsal No. Time Sig. Final Measure Transitional Material Section 1 R1 - R7 4/4 3/4 R8 Section 2 R9 - R15 4/4 2/4 R16-R17 Section 3 R18 – R24 4/4 3/4 R25 Section 4 R26 – R32 4/4 2/4 R33 Closing R34 – R35 4/4

Motivic Construction

The initial three-bar, stepwise motive is stated in the marimba and is comprised of eight segments that alternate between two short patterns:

1) A two-beat pattern (eighth note, dotted quarter note on C#) which I will refer to as Segment One 2) A one-beat pattern (two eighth notes on D#) which I will refer to as Segment Two

These two segments alternate four times for a total of eight segments. Figure 4.16 shows the complete marimba motive, with the alternating segments marked in brackets. Because the alternating segments respectively last two beats (Seg.1) and one beat (Seg.2), the entire movement could be perceived in triple meter, even though it is notated in common time, a central metrical ambiguity that will be addressed later in greater depth.

Figure 4.16: Rapture, mvt. 2, marimba motive

Echo Process

Each time the marimba completes its motive, the other players in the orchestra echo the idea. During the introduction (mm. 1-6), the solo motive is echoed exactly in pitch and length by the clarinet, French horn, tubular bells, violin 1, and viola 1.14 In subsequent repetitions (designated by rehearsal number), the motive decreases by one segment each time, creating solo statements of diminishing lengths. The processes of shortening and echoing the solo motive continue throughout the movement, but each section is treated slightly differently. The solo motive is always shortened by removing one segment at a time from either its beginning or its end. In Sections One and Three, segments are removed from the beginning of the motive; in Sections Two and Four, segments are removed from the end. The orchestral echoes always begin on the same segment that began the marimba solo. This means that the echoes in Sections One and Three alternate starting segments (because their segments are removed from the beginning), while the echoes in Sections Two and Four always begin on Segment One (because their segments are removed from the end). The instrumentation Torke chose further emphasizes the connections between sections: the clarinet, French horn, tubular bells, violin 1 and viola 1 play the echoes in Sections One and Three; in Sections Two and Four, the echoes are played by the trumpet, trombone, glockenspiel, and harp. The following examples provide a closer look at how this echo process plays out in each of the four sections. In Section One, the pitches of the marimba solo and its echo are constant (C# and D#). While the solo motive diminishes in length by one segment (taken from the beginning of the motive) at each rehearsal

14 The violins and violas actually play sustained tones instead of the exact rhythm of the motive, further emphasizing the long-short lilting oscillation pattern of the segments.

number, the echoes are always consistently nine segments long (the equivalent of three and a half measures). Because the pitches are constant, the reduction process of the solo motive and thus the alteration of starting segments become very apparent, as shown in Figure 4.17. 15

Figure 4.17: Rapture, mvt. 2, Section 1, R1-R3, alternating starting segment, constant pitch

In Section Two, the solos always start with Segment One (and therefore so do the echoes), because segments are removed from the end of the motive in the reduction process rather than from the beginning. The

15 The orchestral echo is heard in many instruments and therefore many registers. For the sake of clarity, I have notated only one of these registers (C#5 and D#5) in Figures 4.17-4.20. This octave stands out the most to my ears when I listen to the movement.

echoes in this section are always eight segments long (the equivalent of three measures). This time, the pitches of the motive are not constant; instead they are lowered by a diatonic step at each rehearsal number, creating a slow descent over time from D#6 to D#5. The change in pitch is made very evident because each repetition of the solo and echo begin on Segment One, thus keeping that parameter constant. Figure 4.18 shows Section Two’s slow pitch descent with constant starting segments in both the solo marimba and orchestral echoes.

Figure 4.18: Rapture, mvt. 2, Section 2, R9-R11, constant starting segment, gradual stepwise pitch descent

Of all the sections, Section Three seems most unstable because none of the parameters stay constant. At each rehearsal number, the starting segments and the pitches change. The reduction process of the solo marimba is the same as in Section One: the motive decreases by a segment at its beginning, causing an alteration of the starting segments. The echo length of nine segments is also consistent with Section One. As in Section Two, however, the pitches are altered by one step at each rehearsal number, although this time the pitches create a slow ascent (from C#4 to C#5) rather than a descent. Figure 4.19 shows these two processes as they appear in Section Three.

Figure 4.19: Rapture, mvt. 2, Section 3, R18-R20, alternating starting segment, gradual stepwise pitch ascent

In contrast to Section Three, Section Four is the most stable. Neither the starting segments of the solo nor the pitches change. As in Section Two, all repetitions played by the solo marimba begin on Segment One, but the pitches stay constant on C# and D# as in Section One, although two octaves higher. The echo lengths are eight segments long, as they are in Section Two. Figure 4.20 shows the combination of these stable characteristics.

Figure 4.20: Rapture, mvt. 2, Section 4, R26-R28, constant starting segment, constant pitch

These four sections each have a different combination of constant or changing parameters, illustrated in Table 4.4. With both parameters held constant, Section Four is the most stable, whereas Section Three is the least

stable because both elements are changing. Sections One and Two fall midway between these two extremes, as they each have one parameter constant while the other is changing. Formally, the organization of the four sections suggests a straightforward introduction-tension-resolution structure. Sections One and Two introduce each variable element separately (alternating starting segments and changing pitches), Section Three combines both parameters to create a high amount of tension, and Section Four acts as the formal resolution, containing unchanging versions of each. The closing section (R33-R35) effectively summarizes the movement, with each rehearsal number evoking characteristics of specific sections of the piece. During a brief transition at R33, sixteen segments of descending solo with no echo recall the changing pitches of both Sections Two and Three. At R34, there are eight segments of solo, all on C#5 and D#5, followed by eight segments of echo in the trumpets, trombones, glock and harp, as in Sections Two and Four. Finally at R35, the eight segments of solo and eight segments of echo (now back in the clarinet, French horn, tubular bells, violin 1 and viola 1) provide registral closure by returning to the starting pitches: C#4 and D#4.

Table 4.4: Structural outline of Rapture, Movement 2 Arrows indicate starting segment: = Segment 1, = Segment 2

Section 1: Alternating starting segment; constant pitch Rehearsal No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Starting Seg.        Solo Length 8 segs 7 segs 6 segs 5 segs 4 segs 3 segs 2 segs Echo Length 9 segs 9 segs 9 segs 9 segs 9 segs 9 segs 10 segs C#4 C#4 C#4 C#4 C#4 C#4 C#4 Pitches D#4 D#4 D#4 D#4 D#4 D#4 D#4

Section 2: Constant starting segment; slow descent Rehearsal No. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Starting Seg.        Solo Length 8 segs 7 segs 6 segs 5 segs 4 segs 3 segs 2 segs Echo Length 8 segs 8 segs 8 segs 8 segs 8 segs 8 segs 8 segs C#6 B5 A#5 G#5 F#5 E5 D#5 Pitches D#6 C#6 B5 A#5 G#5 F#5 E5

Section 3: Alternating starting segment; slow ascent Rehearsal No. 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Starting Seg.        Solo Length 8 segs 7 segs 6 segs 5 segs 4 segs 3 segs 2 segs Echo Length 9 segs 9 segs 9 segs 9 segs 9 segs 9 segs 10 segs C#4 E4 E4 G#4 G#4 B4 B4 Pitches D#4 D#4 F#4 F#4 A#4 A#4 C#5

Section 4: Constant starting segment; constant pitch Rehearsal No. 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Starting Seg.        Solo Length 8 segs 7 segs 6 segs 5 segs 4 segs 3 segs 2 segs Echo Length 8 segs 8 segs 8 segs 8 segs 8 segs 8 segs 8 segs C#6 C#6 C#6 C#6 C#6 C#6 C#6 Pitches D#6 D#6 D#6 D#6 D#6 D#6 D#6

Ending: Registral closure Rehearsal No. 34 35 Starting Seg.   Solo Length 8 segs 8 segs Echo Length 8 segs 8 segs C#5 C#4 Pitches D#5 D#4

Registral and Harmonic Considerations

Because Torke uses pitched percussion in this movement, I will briefly examine the roles of register and harmony within the marimba solo itself. Register is used as another element in delineating the larger sectional divisions, shown above as the “pitches” row in Table 4.4. The solo marimba motive in Sections One and Three begins on C#4, while the motive in Sections Two and Four begins two octaves higher on C#6. These aurally noticeable changes in register make the beginnings of the sectional divisions especially clear. Because the orchestral instruments play in various simultaneous registers, they provide a noticeable contrast between the changing registers of the solo marimba and the more consistent registers of the echo. In addition to the oscillating main motive, the marimba plays a supporting line. This highly chromatic accompaniment is also echoed in the orchestra, but lasts only as long as it did in the solo marimba statement. Because of this, the extended echoes are especially emphasized: the accompaniment drops out, allowing the listener to focus on the echo itself. Like the marimba motive, the supporting line sometimes features gradual ascents and descents. In Sections Two and Three, the direction of the main motive is the same as the direction of the accompaniment (descending in Section Two; ascending in Section Three). In Sections One and Four, the main motive’s pitches are constant while the accompaniment’s pitches are much less stable. Figure 4.21 shows the entire marimba part at R1 and R2. The planed chords in the accompaniment are stripped of harmonic function and instead operate as background color.

Figure 4.21: Rapture, mvt. 2, gradual chromatic ascent of accompaniment at R1 and R2

In this piece, and especially in this movement, harmonic structure does not function as it does in tonal harmony. Instead, what is more significant is the overall motion of the music set into action by different processes. The echoes of the solo marimba, the registral shifts, and the chromatic ascents and descents are much more salient than any harmonies.

Metrical Implications

As mentioned earlier, it is possible to perceive this movement in triple meter because of the oscillating construction of the original motive (two beats of Segment One followed by one beat of Segment Two). Also, because the segments are eliminated from the motive segment by segment instead of beat by beat, the motive contracts alternately by two beats or one beat, retaining the triple meter quality.16 Additionally, the simultaneous changing

16 I find it helpful to think in terms of segments rather than measure numbers because the segments emphasize the triple meter quality of the movement, a perception that conflicts with the notated meter.

of pitch and rhythm makes a very strong case for triple meter. The pitches change consistently with the segments: the longer segment is paired with the lower pitch (C#) while the shorter segment is coupled with the higher pitch (D#). This correspondence between pitch and rhythm causes the motive to sound like a long downbeat followed by a short two-eighth-notes upbeat. Figure 4.22 shows the marimba motive as written juxtaposed with how it would appear in triple meter. In the 3/4 version, Segment One always falls on the downbeat, eliminating the need for a tie.

Figure 4.22: Rapture, mvt. 2, contrasting metrical interpretations of marimba motive

I can imagine several reasons why Torke may have decided to notate the movement in 4/4 even though it can be perceived in 3/4. Perhaps he was trying to further mask the processes and make them less apparent than they would be if the audible triple meter matched the score. It is also possible that he chose the time signature for performance reasons – performers might emphasize elements differently in four (as written) than in three, and therefore it sounds “less” triple than it would if the bar lines were simply adjusted, creating a certain level of metrical dissonance.17 And perhaps he merely used the notated meter as a grid or framework on which

17 For example, in 3/4 the pair of D# eighth notes always functions as an anacrusis, whereas in 4/4 the rhythmic function varies.

to compose. Whatever his reasons, these kinds of unresolved conflicts hold listeners’ attention, and the multiple ways of perceiving meter provide an added layer of complexity and depth to this movement.

Overall Effects

Throughout this movement, no overlaps or gaps exist between the solo and the echo; it is an uninterrupted motion. Because of the processes at play, however, the continuity does not always produce a constant oscillation between Segments One and Two. For example, the five-segment solo at R4 begins and ends with Segment Two. The echo begins immediately after the solo with Segment Two (because the marimba started on Segment Two), effectively sounding Segment Two twice consecutively. This is shown by the boxes in Figure 4.23. This disruption of the oscillation is one of the most aurally salient features of the piece.

Figure 4.23: Rapture, mvt. 2, oscillation disruption at R4

Because the types of pitch and echo processes in this movement do not coincide by section (pitch processes are similar in Sections One and Four and Sections Two and Three while echo processes are similar in Sections

One and Three and Sections Two and Four), the differences are not as striking as they would be if they happened simultaneously. These staggered processes seem to provide more continuity between sections because not everything changes at once. Still, the meticulously organized sectional divisions are markedly distinguished through Torke’s use of process, register, and instrumentation. The substantial amount of motivic repetitions combined with the planed chords of the accompaniment creates a hypnotic, dreamy effect, while the somewhat ambiguous meter adds another layer of complexity to the movement. In combining metrical incongruity with slow, gradual changes of the lilting motive, Torke has created a mesmerizing second movement of this percussion concerto.

Movement 3: metals “…Flash fishlike; nymphs and satyrs Copulate in the foam.”

Overall Organization

The third movement of Rapture returns to the bright, fast tempos of the first movement while retaining the triple meter feel of the second movement. This time, however, Torke designates the metrical divisions quite precisely: along with the tempo indication of Molto Vivace (half note = 120), he specifies on the score to “conduct in 3/2 (group in 3 bar units).”18 The entire movement is notated in 2/4, but because the tempo is so quick, the larger hypermetrical groupings become necessary and in fact are essential to the generative nature of the movement. Like the first two movements, this one is organized into large divisions (five of them, this time), and Torke labels them as “Sections” in the score

18 “Unit” in this sense refers to hypermeasure, and 3/2 is the hypermeter.

(rather than “Groups” as in the first movement).19 Also like the first two movements, Torke generates all material from an initial pattern but features different parameter combinations in each section. In this movement in particular, each section repeats the same basic sequence of events but with modifications. The sequence of events becomes the common thread between the sections, and is the essence of the entire movement. The following discussion details some ways in which Torke organizes the material in this movement: the pattern constructions, the sequence of events and the pitch relationships between the soloist and the orchestra.

Pattern Construction

The original pattern (henceforth Pattern A) is initially stated in the cowbells and consists of two three-bar segments with exactly the same rhythm but inverted contour, which can be expressed with reference to two different unspecified pitches, “Lo” and “Hi” (Figure 4.24 shows that Lo-Hi-Lo- Hi-Lo becomes Hi-Lo-Hi-Lo-Hi). This high-low pitch inversion is a strong theme throughout the movement. Three other patterns are generated from Pattern A, all related to the original pattern by length and proportion, but featuring different instrumentation. Torke stretches the original idea to fit the hypermeter in three different ratios as shown in Table 4.5. The following examples examine how each of the subsequent three patterns (what I call Patterns B, C, and D) are generated from Pattern A.

Figure 4.24: Rapture, mvt. 3, Pattern A

19 When asked about heading designations, Torke replied, “I could have, and maybe should have removed those headings ‘Groups,’ and ‘Sections.’ They were my personal and insignificant way of organizing the material. Then I thought maybe it might help the musicians and the conductor to learn the piece. The choice of words is meaningless” (from a personal email dated October 5, 2008).

Table 4.5: Pattern ratios and lengths, Rapture, Movement 3

Pattern Ratio Length A Original Pattern 6 bars B 1.5A 9 bars C 2A 12 bars D 3A 18 bars

Pattern B is played initially on the pipes, and is a lengthened, stretched-out version of Pattern A. The eighth notes that begin each segment remain the same, but each rest is doubled from one eighth rest to two, and each Hi-Lo portion is lengthened to one-and-a-half times the original value. In other words, each Hi-Lo portion in Pattern A was one beat long, and in Pattern B they are 1.5 beats long. The tied notes remained tied, only longer, and with the exception of the first two eighth notes of each segment, the eighth notes of Pattern A expand to a quarter note followed by an eighth note in Pattern B. This creates two 4.5-bar segments for an overall pattern length of nine bars. Figure 4.25 shows the generation of Pattern B from Pattern A.

Pattern A

Pattern B

Figure 4.25: Rapture, mvt. 3, Pattern B Blue blocks show added rests, arrows show one-beat Hi-Lo portions in Pattern A lengthened to 1.5 beat Hi-Lo portions in Pattern B (marked in red).

Pattern C, first played on the brake drums, consists of two inversionally related six-bar segments, broken down into two three-bar sub- segments with opposing rhythmic structures. By “opposing,” I mean that the first sub-segment of each six-bar segment features a long-short rhythmic orientation and sounds more “square” compared with the syncopated short- long orientation of the second sub-segment. Pattern C is twice as long as Pattern A, which is achieved by lengthening the Hi-Lo portions from one beat (in Pattern A) to two beats (in Pattern C), with the exception of the beginning of each segment, which remains one-and-a-half beats long. Additionally, a new Hi-Lo portion is added to the end of each 6-bar segment to extend the phrase even further. Figure 4.26 shows the generation of Pattern C from Pattern A.

Pattern A

Pattern C

Figure 4.26: Rapture, mvt. 3, Pattern C Blue blocks show added material, arrows show one-beat Hi-Lo portions in Pattern A lengthened to 2 beat Hi-Lo portions in Pattern C (marked in red).

First stated in the cymbals, Pattern D is comprised of two lengthy 9- bar segments, each divided into two 4.5-bar sub-segments (which mesh well with Pattern B, the only pattern with which D is ever paired). Because this pattern is three times the length of Pattern A, the expectation is for each Hi- Lo portion to last for three beats, and most of them do (the second Hi-Lo portion of each segment is just shy of three beats at two-and-a-half-beats, represented by a striped red box in Figure 4.27). Pattern D differs from the others in that it starts with a Hi rather than a Lo portion. Like Pattern C, this pattern has an additional Hi-Lo portion at the end of each segment which effectively stretches its length. The generation of Pattern D from Pattern A is shown in Figure 4.27.

Pattern A

Pattern D

Figure 4.27: Rapture, mvt. 3, Pattern D Blue blocks show added material, arrows show one-beat Hi-Lo portions in Pattern A lengthened to 3-beat (solid red) or 2.5-beat (striped red) Hi-Lo portions in Pattern C.

Because the lengths of Patterns A-D are all evenly divisible by three and/or by one-and-a-half, they all easily fit into the triple hypermeter employed throughout the movement. This is particularly important because two of the patterns are almost always being played simultaneously, and their proportions allow the hypermeters to align. The numbers of repetitions of these patterns and the ways Torke employs them are the same or similar across the different sections, though the combinations of patterns varies section to section. I refer to this phenomenon as the “sequence of events,” which merits a detailed explanation.

Sequence of Events

The chart in Table 4.6 shows parallel events occurring across sections. In this context, an “event” is a brief passage of musical patterns that is repeated in a similar way elsewhere in the movement. Torke’s placement of rehearsal numbers (shown on the chart within each section’s column) makes the order of these events especially clear. The first four sections follow the same sequence of events almost identically, but the fifth section differs—it functions as more of a conclusion—while still retaining the overall order and flow of the other sections. For clarity’s sake, I will refer to events as E1, E2, E3, etc, and sections as S1, S2, S3, and so on. As the chart shows, there are thirteen events per section. Each of these events has similar characteristics across each section, with the exception of S5 (as mentioned earlier). For example, some manifestation of E1 serves as an introduction for each of the sections. All of the patterns and all of the percussion are introduced by this event, but in different combinations: S1 and S3 both commence with a single statement of Pattern A before pairing it with another pattern (C in S1 and B in S3), while S2 and S4 both start with a single statement of Pattern B before pairing it with another pattern (C in S2 and D in S4). The instrumentation also varies

between the four sections, and none of the combinations are repeated. Figure 4.28 shows E1 as it appears in S1.

Table 4.6: Sequence of events across sections, Rapture, Movement 3

Figure 4.28: Rapture, mvt. 3, Section 1, Event 1 Pattern A in cowbells, Pattern C in brake drums

A complete journey through the sequence of events reveals a deeper understanding of this movement’s structural organization. The first several events can be grouped in pairs. E1 and E2 use the same patterns and instrumentation within each section (as stated above, the patterns and instrumentations generally vary by section). E3 and E4 both focus on a particular pattern, grouped by section (listed vertically on the chart): S1 and S3 focus on Pattern A while S2 and S4 focus on Pattern B. The instrumentation of E3 and E4 is grouped by events (listed horizontally on the chart): E3 uses the tin/pipe combination followed by the cymbal/gong combination; E4 uses pipe/brake drum followed by cowbell/cymbal. E5 and E6 use the same combination of patterns per section as E1 and E2, but the instrumentation is more consistent: S1 and S3 use pipes and tins while S2 and S4 use cowbells and brake drums. Skipping E7 just for a moment, it appears that E8 is very similar to E5 and E6, but the pattern lengths have been extended.

On the score, E7 and E9 are marked with the expression “ecstatic.” Here, Torke spices up the original patterns by replacing some rests with pitches (and vice versa) and eliminating tied notes, creating a more excited, “ecstatic” version of the original. Figure 4.29 shows the ecstatic version of Pattern A (used in E7 in both S1 and S3) below the original version of Pattern A with the changes circled. The ecstatic versions of the original patterns seem to provide a volatile energy at these moments in the movement which initiates the climax of each large section.

Figure 4.29: Rapture, mvt. 3, comparison of “ecstatic” and original versions of Pattern A. Circles show differences between the two.

E10 and E11 produce the climactic and also some of the most interesting moments of the entire movement. Torke creates what I call “fragment arches” of the original patterns by breaking them up over multiple instruments in low-to-high registral order rather than sounding them in the same voice. The patterns used here are the same combinations that began each section (S1 uses A/C, S2 uses B/C, S3 uses A/B and S4 uses B/D). Torke employs three instruments for each pattern, and these are standard across the event: cowbells  pipes  tins  pipes  cowbells play the bottom pattern in each section while brake drums  gongs  cymbals  gongs  brake drums play the top pattern in each section.20 Figure 4.30

20 Arrows convey ordering of the instruments: cowbells then pipes then tins, etc.

shows the fragment arch in S1, E10. Ovals represent the top pattern, in this case Pattern C, and rectangles represent the bottom pattern, in this case Pattern A. In E10, the percussionist plays without accompaniment, showcasing this fragment arch effect before being joined by the orchestra in E11.

Figure 4.30: Rapture, mvt. 3, fragment arch in Section 1, Event 10 Rectangles show Pattern A, ovals show Pattern C

E12 and E13 wrap up each section using techniques that provide dramatic closure: E12 uses the patterns in imitation while E13 incorporates sixteenth-note embellishments. In E12, S1 and S3 use three repetitions of Pattern A in the pipes and cowbells at a one-beat imitation level; S2 and S4

use two repetitions of Pattern B in the tins and pipes at a two-beat imitation level. Figure 4.31 shows the imitation in E12 as it appears in S2 and S4.

Figure 4.31: Rapture, mvt. 3, imitation in Section 2, Event 12 Brackets show point of imitation at one full measure

Pitch

In this movement, pitches are not specifically assigned to the accompaniment as in the first movement. Instead, Torke sets up percussion/orchestral “shadows” or “mirrors” by matching each of the six solo percussion timbres with an orchestral grouping.21 Table 4.7 shows the pairings. Within each grouping, the low-high changes in the percussion are reflected in their orchestral counterpart, but unlike in the first movement, several low and high pitches are used (in Movement 1, there was only one low and one high pitch). Figure 4.32 shows the percussion/orchestral pairings of the cowbells and brake drums playing Patterns A and B in S1, E2. In this example, the rhythms of the brake drums and the trombone parts are not exactly the same—the trombones are playing all the same strong attack points without the eighth note upbeats—but the timbral relationship of the pairing is still unmistakably preserved.

21 The terms “shadow” and “mirror” have been taken from Torke’s program notes on his website, michaeltorke.com, and presumably reflect the composer’s own description.

Table 4.7: Percussion/orchestral shadow pairings, Rapture, Movement 3

Tins Flutes & piccolo Pipes Clarinets Cowbells Oboes, bassoons, English horn & soprano sax Gongs Horns Cymbals Trumpets Brake drums Trombones

Figure 4.32: Rapture, mvt. 3, percussion/orchestral groupings in Section 1, Event 2. Green block shows brake drum pairing; blue blocks show cow bell pairing.

Throughout the movement, Torke relies on instrumentation to support the varied timbres of the solo percussion. Pitch is used not as a focal point, but as an accessory, highlighting the highs and lows of the percussion patterns. It is interesting to note that during the “ecstatic” moments of the movement, the entire woodwind section plays in unison, further emphasizing the rapturous nature of the events.

Overall Effects

The use of metal percussion instruments played at a fast tempo give this final movement the brightest, brashest sound of the entire concerto. From a purely aural standpoint, it may at first seem that the rapid, aggressive sounds are haphazard, but detailed listening and a close study of the score reveals the degree to which the sections of this movement are organized. By precisely lengthening a single six-measure rhythmic pattern, Torke generates three others (nine measures, twelve measures, and eighteen measures) in specific ratios to adhere to a triple hypermetric structure. This allows Torke to combine these patterns in various combinations to achieve a wide range of sounds while still following the organizational configuration. The instrumental shadows in this movement seem to take on more of a background role than in the first two movements, but they effectively highlight the unrelenting rhythms of the percussion soloist. Through a detailed sequence of events and a variety of instrumental and pattern combinations, Torke creates a fiery finale to this percussion concerto.

Conclusions

Although most pronounced in the third movement, Torke’s use of a specific sequence of events that is repeated and varied structures each of

the movements of Rapture. In movement one, while the combinations of parameters are different in each section, the sectional boundaries (R5, R12, R19, and R26) always happen in the same placement within each grouping (refer to Table 4.1). In the second movement, the sequence of events manifests itself through the decreasing motive lengths common in all sections (eight segments dwindling to two segments) despite the varying combinations of parameters employed (shown in Table 4.4). Movement three features thirteen events with similar characteristics across each section, but with varied instrumentation and unique pattern combinations (see Table 4.6). Also consistent from movement to movement is the way Torke uses pitch to accentuate and color the percussion patterns. The registral pairings he creates between the orchestra and the percussion instruments highlight the processes at play in this piece. Torke redefines the role of orchestral accompaniment in this concerto—instead of playing merely a supporting role, they are inextricably linked to the soloist and add vibrancy to the unpitched driving rhythmic patterns initiated by the percussion. Torke’s carefully constructed concerto convincingly portrays the surrender and submission of rapturous desire inspired by Yeats’ poem. He transforms the “brute beating of drums” into an insistent, ritualistic source of rapture (Torke 2009). By precisely organizing the percussion patterns and fusing them with orchestral shadows, he creates an intriguing, integrated texture—a rich fabric that offers interesting and varied analytical landscapes.

CHAPTER 5

FOUR PROVERBS AND BOOK OF PROVERBS

While Chapter 4 was a thorough investigation of a complete work, this chapter is more episodic in nature. I have selected processes from two large works, Four Proverbs (1993) and Book of Proverbs (1996), to demonstrate some of the most salient features in each. The texts are drawn from the New American Bible translation of the book of Proverbs. In these pieces, Torke employs a fixed relationship between textual elements and pitch, attaching particular syllables to particular notes. He then rearranges the notes while maintaining the text-to-pitch relationship, which allows each proverb’s meaning to move in and out of focus. While certainly not a new technique (see Chapter 2 for a discussion of text-pitch relationships used by serial composers), Torke’s treatment of text in these two pieces is sophisticated and pervasive. I will examine these processes, comparing the relatively simple Four Proverbs with the more complex Book of Proverbs. I will begin by narrating a step-by-step journey through one complete movement from Four Proverbs to show how Torke’s processes can shape and define formal structures. After that, I will more succinctly describe the different processes he uses throughout the two pieces.

Part I: Four Proverbs

Four Proverbs is scored for soprano and small ensemble including two clarinets, two saxophones, two keyboards (piano and synthesizer), and five strings. The sparse instrumentation allows Torke’s processes to be easily perceived and clearly followed. Through an examination of the first

movement, “Better a Dish,” I will introduce the text-pitch technique, show how Torke creates the aural impression of phasing with only one voice, and then reveal how the use of different processes can create an overall formal design. After completing an analysis of the first movement, I will highlight additional processes Torke uses in the subsequent movements. The last movement, in particular, features a longer text and facilitates a demonstration of how the technique makes certain phrases more prominent to the ear.

“Better a Dish” Analysis

“Better a dish of herbs where love is than a fatted ox and hatred with it.” (Proverbs 15:17)

In this short movement, Torke compositionally manipulates durations to draw attention to the proverb’s meaning. The syllables and pitches are fixed and because the proverb is so short (see Figure 5.1), Torke repeats it, sometimes varied, many times throughout the four-minute movement. The fixed relationship of words and notes combined with the amount of repetition really gives the listener something to grasp, and makes the manipulated durations especially noticeable.

Figure 5.1: Four Proverbs, “Better a Dish,” original setting of proverb

Torke uses three processes to organize this movement into sections, resulting in a loose arch form designated by color blocks in Table 5.1. In the

first process (green in the table), he keeps all of the words of the proverb in order, but stretches certain syllables. The second process (blue in the table) creates the illusion of phasing by incorporating echoes into the proverb. Finally, the third process (purple in the table) builds the proverb backwards, from the last word to the first word. Torke frames the entire movement with similar opening and closing material (red in the table). Each of these three processes will be shown and described below.

Table 5.1: Overall layout, Four Proverbs, “Better a Dish”

mm 1-4: clarinet duet states melody Intro mm 5-8: voice sings proverb (16 beats) over full ensemble mm 9-12: ensemble echoes it mm 13-18 (5 bars of 4/4, 1 bar of 2/4): voice sings proverb (22 beats) A mm 19-24 (5 bars of 4/4, 1 bar of 2/4): ensemble echoes it mm 25-33 (8 bars of 4/4, 1 bar of 2/4): voice sings proverb (34 beats) B mm 34-42 (8 bars of 4/4, 1 bar of 2/4): ensemble echoes it mm 43-46: echo sequence #1 – quarter note mm 47-50: echo sequence #2 – dotted quarter note C mm 51-54: echo sequence #3 – half note mm 55-58: echo sequence #4 – dotted half note mm 59-62: echo sequence #5 – whole note mm 63-66: echo sequence #6 – two whole notes D mm 67-70: complete, original statement of proverb mm 71-74: instrumental retrograde of original statement E mm 75-87: backwards generation of proverb F mm 88-107: backwards generation of proverb, continued G mm 108-113: instrumental only (5 bars of 4/4, 1 of 2/4) – similar to A mm 114-122: same as B (8 bars of 4/4, 1 of 2/4) with more embellishments H mm 123-128: same as A (5 bars of 4/4, 1 of 2/4) with more embellishments mm 129-132: original statement returns I mm 133-136: clarinet duet ends piece exactly like intro

First Process

The first process Torke uses in this movement keeps the order of the proverb intact, but extends the durations of certain syllables. By starting

with this particular process, Torke allows the listener to hear the entire proverb three times in a row, albeit with some syllables longer than in the original statement. This immediate and complete repetition clarifies the meaning of the proverb so that in subsequent sections of the movement when Torke does manipulate the order, the changes are instantly striking. Table 5.2 shows the relationship between the syllables and the pitches that are fixed throughout the movement as well as the durational lengthening that results from the process at rehearsal marks A and B.22 The rows highlighted in green specify the syllables that Torke lengthens.

Table 5.2: Syllable pitches and durations, Four Proverbs, “Better a Dish” Rows highlighted in green show lengthened syllables

22 One small exception to the fixed pitches is the word “than,” which is sometimes set with C, and other times C#.

A closer look at the structure of the proverb itself provides clues to the syllables that Torke chose to lengthen. If divisions are placed within the proverb before prepositions and conjunctions, and underlines are placed on the first syllable of each resulting division, the proverb looks like this:

Bet-ter a dish | of herbs | where love is | than a fat-ted ox | and ha-tred with it

Figure 5.2: Four Proverbs, “Better a Dish,” divisions of original proverb

These divisions are further articulated musically: they all appear directly after long durations (the rest after “dish” and the dotted quarter notes on “herbs,” “is,” and “ox). A glance back at Table 5.2 reveals that the underlined syllables above are the same ones that Torke lengthens at rehearsal letters A and B. These syllables each start out with eighth-note durations in the original statement of the proverb before Torke lengthens them by a quarter note at A and again by a half note at B (see figure 5.3). In addition to the five syllables underlined above, Torke also lengthens the word “ox,” (one of the longest durations in the original statement, and also the lowest pitched syllable) so that it always falls on the third beat of a measure—a metrically strong placement in common time. Torke’s manipulation of a syllable other than the ones underlined above unveils a clear compositional desire to place “ox” on beat three, and so this section of the piece might be described as partially processive. Because “ox” is highlighted in the form of agogic, registral, and metrical accent, the syllable especially stands out over the others.

Figure 5.3: Four Proverbs, “Better a Dish,” rehearsal letters A and B Green blocks show lengthened syllables.

Through the first process in this movement, the divisions in Figure 5.2 become even more salient. By increasing the prominence of these divisions, Torke successfully segments the proverb into small, easily digestible portions. This allows the listener to grasp the order and meaning of the proverb before both are manipulated later in the movement.

Second Process

The second process Torke carries out in this movement (at rehearsal marks C and D) cleverly creates the aural impression of phasing with only

the solo voice. To achieve this effect, Torke first eliminates roughly every other beat of the proverb, starting over midway through (see Figure 5.4). He then repeats each of the remaining beats in place of the eliminated material, producing an echo effect, shown in Figure 5.5.

Figure 5.4: Four Proverbs, “Better a Dish,” original statement with every other beat eliminated. Grey blocks represent eliminated material; dashed line indicates the point where Torke restarts the elimination process



Figure 5.5: Four Proverbs, “Better a Dish,” first iteration of echo process at rehearsal C

The process repeats every four bars, each time increasing the duration of the eliminated portions (and therefore the echoes). As the proverb builds, the echoed words keep shifting as a result of the elimination pattern, which creates the sensation of phasing. Figures 5.5 and 5.6 show the complete progression of the process (marked by blue blocks): the first duration echoed is a quarter note, then a dotted quarter, then a half, then a dotted half, then a whole note, and finally one eighth note shy of two whole notes. The process ends when the first half of the proverb (“Better a dish of herbs where love is”) is completed, and is directly followed by a complete statement of the proverb.

. 



. 



..  ( 

Figure 5.6: Four Proverbs, “Better a Dish,” entire echo process Blue blocks show the accumulation of words

Third Process

While the second process focused on the first half of the proverb, the third process especially highlights the second half. Rehearsal letters E and F build the proverb backwards (from the last word to the first word) one word at a time. The pitch-text relationship remains fixed (with the occasional accidental as in the other processes), as do the note values. Torke handles

the last word of the proverb, “it,” in an exceptional way: he shortens it from a quarter note to an eighth note to provide a gap between the end of the proverb and the next new word. Additionally, Torke usually places an accent on the newly added words to make them more prominent. As the proverb is progressively constructed, the dynamics gradually increase from pianissimo to fortissimo, further contributing to the building sensation. The latter part of the proverb, especially the segment “and hatred with it” really stands out as a result of the quarter-note pitch pattern and frequency of repetition. The process ends with the second word of the proverb, “a,” leaving off the first, “better.” The beginning and end of the process are shown in Figures 5.7 and 5.8. Significant features include the rest after the word “it,” the accents on the newly added words, and the increase in dynamics as the proverb builds itself backwards.

Figure 5.7: Four Proverbs, “Better a Dish,” beginning of third process

Figure 5.8: Four Proverbs, “Better a Dish,” end of third process

Formal Implications

As I stated in the introduction, Torke’s organization of this movement resembles a loose arch form (Table 5.1). The lengthening process of rehearsals A and B returns at H in reverse order (B then A), eventually reaching the original setting of the proverb, an aurally discernable event.23 At the end of the second process, Torke inserts a four-bar instrumental interlude where the accompaniment plays a retrograde of the opening proverb, signaling the apex of the arch and setting up the backwards generation of the proverb. After the third process and the reverse repetition of the first process, the entire movement ends as it began, with a simple, sung statement of the proverb followed by an instrumental repetition.

Conclusions

This short movement straightforwardly introduces the fixed pitch-text relationship that Torke employs throughout Four Proverbs. He uses three processes throughout the movement, all staying within the parameters of the fixed relationship. In the first process, the order of the complete proverb is retained but the durations of some of the syllables are adjusted, allowing listeners to familiarize themselves with the sequence and text-note relationship of the proverb. In the second process, Torke creates the impression of phasing with echoes. Finally, in the third process, the proverb is built from the last word to the first, producing an expectation on the part of the listener to eventually achieve the completed proverb. These three easy-to-follow processes acquaint the listener with the fixed pitch-text relationship technique, which Torke then uses in more complex ways in the remainder of the movement.

23 Rehearsal G is a brief instrumental interlude that sounds like a more embellished version of the interlude following the proverb at A, mm. 20-24, which is why it is included in the green section of Table 5.1.

Additional Processes

Forward Text with Backward Melody

“One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.” (Proverbs 13:7)

In the third movement of Four Proverbs, “One Man Pretends,” Torke strays from the fixed text-note relationship. Instead, he treats the words and notes as building blocks, adding the words of the proverb one at a time forward (i.e., new words are added to the end of the proverb; these are highlighted in red in the examples below), while constructing the melody of the proverb one note at a time backward (i.e., new notes are added to the beginning of the melody; these are highlighted below in blue). With this technique, syllables are attached to different notes each time except for the addition of two prominent words in the proverb, “rich” and “poor” (see figures 5.9 and 5.10). By repeating the same text-pitch melody twice before the addition of these words, their meanings are especially emphasized.

Figure 5.9: Four Proverbs, “One Man Pretends,” generation of first phrase. New notes in blue, new words in red

Figure 5.10: Four Proverbs, “One Man Pretends,” generation of second phrase. New notes in blue, new words in red

Alternating Segments

The fourth and final movement of Four Proverbs, “There is Joy,” has three stanzas of text, each taken from a different Proverbs verse. Torke divides the first two stanzas into five segments each (marked in Figure 5.11 with vertical lines), which he then manipulates in various ways throughout the movement. The final stanza does not appear until the very end of the movement where it is stated once in full.

“There is Joy” (Proverbs 15:23; 15:30; 14:13)

Stanza 1: There is joy | for a man | in his utterance; a word in season | how good it is!

Stanza 2: A cheerful glance | brings joy | to the heart; good news | invigorates the bones.

Stanza 3: Even in laughter the heart may be sad, and the end of joy may be sorrow.

Figure 5.11: Four Proverbs, “There is Joy,” complete text. Segmentations of the first two stanzas are marked with vertical lines.

The first process Torke employs in this movement is a simple alternating of segments from the first stanza. The complete stanza is stated at rehearsal letter A, as shown in Figure 5.12. At rehearsal B, Torke slices the stanza into the five segments shown above in Figure 5.11, emphasizing every other segment. In the first repetition of the proverb, the voice sustains the initial word of the first, third, and fifth segments (“there,” “in,” and “how”, respectively) and sings the complete second and fourth segments (“for a man” and “a word in season”). In the second repetition, the opposite takes place: the voice holds the initial word of the second and fourth segments (“for” and “a”) and sings the complete first, third, and fifth segments (“there is joy,” “in his utterance,” and “how good it is!”). In Figure 5.12, the blue blocks show the alternating segments and the circles demarcate the first word of each. By using this straightforward process at the beginning of the piece, Torke definitively sets up the segmentation that he uses throughout the movement.

Figure 5.12: Four Proverbs, “There is Joy,” rehearsal letters A and B. Rehearsal A shows the complete first stanza. Blue blocks at Rehearsal B show the five alternating segments which show the complete stanza text when read from left to right. Circles show the first word of each segment; these are where the divisions occur.

Although this process yields some unusual verbal combinations that may carry interesting or simply alternate meanings, it does not seem that arriving at new and possibly coherent sentences is really the goal here. Fundamentally, this appears to be a compositional game rather than a way to derive new meaning.

Parenthetical Process

The short segments Torke introduces in the first part of the movement become even more pronounced through the parenthetical process that he employs at rehearsal letters D (Stanza 1) and E (Stanza 2). Both stanzas are treated the same way: the first segment is stated a total of four times with the remaining segments occurring in reverse order (marked by parentheses) in between each statement. For example, the original order of Stanza 1 is as follows:

“There is joy | for a man | in his utterance; | a word in season, | how good it is!”

The parenthetical process changes the order to:

“there is joy (how good it is!) | there is joy (a word in season,) | there is joy (in his utterance;) | there is joy for a man”

The stanza begins with its first segment, “there is joy.” Immediately following this initial statement is the final segment of Stanza 1, “how good it is!” which Torke sets off from the first segment by parentheses as shown in Figure 5.13 below. This is followed by another statement of “there is joy,” and then the fourth segment of Stanza 1, “a word in season,” again separated by parentheses. A third statement of “there is joy” is followed by the third segment, “in his utterance,” also marked by parentheses. Finally the last statement of the first segment is followed by the second segment,

“for a man,” this time with no parentheses because the original order is preserved from the first to the second segment. Figure 5.13 shows this process as it appears in both Stanzas 1 and 2 at rehearsal letters D and E.

Figure 5.13: Four Proverbs, “There is Joy,” parenthetical process at rehearsal letters D and E. Text in parentheses includes the final three segments of each stanza in reverse order.

As usual, Torke fixes the syllables with their original pitches and durations throughout the rearranging process. This allows the listener to aurally recognize the separate segments he introduced in the beginning of the movement. Unlike the alternating process described earlier, this process may produce the effect of new meaning. In some cases, the reordering of segments creates new phrases that could be interpreted as carrying their own meaning. An example from the first stanza is “there is joy (in his

utterance;),” which is a bit different than the original “there is joy for a man in his utterance.” Another example is from the second stanza: “a cheerful glance brings joy to the heart” becomes “a cheerful glance (invigorates the bones).” In the original order, “good news invigorates the bones” rather than “a cheerful glance”, but both pairings make grammatical sense and carry meaning. By rearranging the individual segments, additional interpretations can be inferred. Despite the textual element and its recombinations, the musical process itself still seems to be the primary focus here, and the newly derived meanings merely secondary.

Stutter Process

For the next process in this movement, which I will refer to as the “stutter process,” Torke uses the same segment divisions, but slices them up even further into individual words. The first time this process appears at Rehearsal G (Figure 5.14), only the initial words of each segment—shown below in red—are used:

There is joy for a man in his utterance; a word in season, how good it is!

Keeping text, pitch, and duration constant from the original setting of the proverb, Torke weaves words together from the beginning of each segment. He begins with “how” from the last phrase, and then progressively adds the first word from each phrase in reverse order. The word “how” returns between each repetition, so that the resulting woven line reads like this: “How a how in a how for in a how there for in a how” (italics mine). The final repetition includes all five initial words of the segments in order: “There for in a how.” This is shown in Figure 5.14. The same process is used at rehearsal letters H and J (rehearsal I is an instrumental interlude), but Torke incrementally increases the number of

words used in the process. At rehearsal H, two words from each segment are used at a time, so that “how good” returns between each repetition, and two words from the beginning of each segment are added. At rehearsal J, the process uses the entire segment. Figure 5.14 shows the beginning few repetitions of rehearsal letters H and J.

Figure 5.14: Four Proverbs, “There is Joy,” stutter process at rehearsal letters G, H, and J. Text in brackets shows the progression of words added in each repetition.

Deriving new meanings is obviously not the goal of this process, especially when the segments are broken down into single words at G. On the contrary, the process divorces meaning from the words, both de-

contextualizing them and using them in repetitive and nonsensical constructions. What results instead is a lively, playful, stuttering effect. At this point in the movement, the listener has heard the original proverb segmented the same way so many times that this process serves as yet another reminder of Torke’s segmentation.

Zipper Process

The last process I will discuss from this movement is one in which Torke alternates words between Stanza 1 and Stanza 2. Much like the teeth of a zipper interlace and lock together to form one long line, the words from each of the stanzas intertwine:

Stanza 1: There is joy for a man in his utterance….. Stanza 2: A cheerful glance brings joy to the heart……

The process begins at rehearsal K, where Torke alternates one word from each of the two stanzas, as shown in Figure 5.15. As always, pitch, text and note duration are taken from the original setting of the proverb. Because Stanza 1 has a lengthier text than Stanza 2, the first iteration of the process ends with a complete phrase from Stanza 1: “How good it is!” (these are the leftover words after all the text from Stanza 2 have been included in the alternation). Continuing at letter K, Torke repeats the process, this time alternating two words at a time from each stanza. Finally, at letter L, the process is repeated again, exchanging four words at a time between stanzas. The three versions of the process are shown in Figure 5.15 (the complete first iteration, and partial second and third iterations).

Figure 5.15: Four Proverbs, “There is Joy,” zipper process Blue blocks are from Stanza 1, red blocks are from Stanza 2.

In the previous processes I described from this movement (alternating segments, parenthetical process, and stutter process), the focus was on deconstructing the proverbs and rearranging the pieces. In the zipper process, however, the goal is to slowly repair the complete stanzas of the proverbs. By alternating one word, then two words, and finally four words from each of the stanzas, Torke gradually reconstructs the proverbs.

Part 2: Book of Proverbs

Three years after he composed Four Proverbs, Torke extended the same text-pitch technique to a larger-scale work. Book of Proverbs is written for chorus and orchestra with solo soprano and solo baritone. He again used text from the Biblical book of Proverbs, but the fuller instrumentation allowed a grander use of the technique. After an instrumental opening movement, the remaining seven movements gradually expand the use of the chorus until the full chorus is presented in the last movement (see Table 5.1). In this part of the chapter, I will highlight five different processes Torke employs throughout the piece. The third movement, “Better a Dry Crust,” provides a clear example of how rearranging the text can affect meaning and it also introduces an ascending pitch process. Movement seven, “Like the Man Who Seizes,” presents a section organized in order of pitch duration, from smallest to largest. The final movement, “Boast Not of Tomorrow,” demonstrates Torke’s extension of the technique to full chorus, including a composite process and an imitative texture.

Table 5.3: Use of chorus in Book of Proverbs

1. Opening Instrumental 2. The Door Turns Altos and Tenors 3. Better a Dry Crust Sopranos and Alto 4. The Whip for the Horse Tenors and Basses 5. The Way of an Eagle Soprano Solo; Sopranos and Altos 6. Drink Our Fill of Love Baritone Solo; Tenors and Basses 7. Like the Man Who Seizes Sopranos, Altos, and Tenors 8. Boast Not of Tomorrow Full Chorus

Rearrangement of Text to Affect Meaning

In previous examples, I have shown cases in which Torke rearranged the text of proverbs without purposefully affecting meaning to remain true to the process at hand. If any alternate meanings could be inferred from the new order of text, it was purely coincidental (cf. the parenthetical process shown in Figure 5.13). However, in the third movement of Book of Proverbs, “Better a Dry Crust,” Torke’s textual rearrangements are syntactical and coherent, which might suggest that he was intentionally constructing new meanings. No other processes are at play here, only the reorganization of the proverb from its original form, which places further emphasis on the meaning of the reordered text. Figure 5.16 shows the original setting of the proverb, stated in the soprano and alto voices: “Better a dry crust with peace than a house full of feasting with strife.” (Proverbs 17:1)

Figure 5.16: Book of Proverbs, “Better a Dry Crust,” original setting

At rehearsal letter C, Torke slightly rearranges the text of the proverb while retaining all the original pitches and note durations.24 The result is shown in Figure 5.17 below: “Better a house full of feasting than a dry crust?” The question mark at the end of the reordered text strongly implies that Torke has intentionally rearranged the words to imply a different meaning. The omissions of the prepositional phrases “with peace” and “with strife” further add to the somewhat humorous reorganization (now focusing purely on having enough to eat while disregarding the harmony of the household). This example seems to demonstrate Torke’s playfulness with no apparent process in mind other than to change the connotation of the proverb.

Figure 5.17: Book of Proverbs, “Better a Dry Crust,” rearrangement of text to affect meaning at rehearsal letter C

Ascending Pitch Process

In the same movement, Torke introduces a new process: organizing the text by ascending pitch order. The text-note relationship is preserved in both voices, but the order is chosen by the soprano line.25 He systematically

24 The only exception is in the alto line on the word “crust”—its setting is changed from F#4 to A3, which creates a sustained octave with the soprano at the end of the phrase. 25 The only exception here is the final word of the alto line, “a”—in the original statement, this word is sung to a C4, but Torke moves it up an octave to a C5 to match the ascent of the soprano line.

extracts words from the original setting of the proverb (see Figure 5.16), starting with the lowest pitch, until all the notes are accounted for (see Figure 5.18). If more than one word is on the same pitch (“a” and “strife” are both on D4, for example), he places them in left-to-right order as read in the original setting, so that “a” proceeds “strife”. Also, he never splits multisyllabic words, so when a word (such as “Bet-ter”) is set to two different notes, the first syllable is used to determine the pitch placement order. In this case, the second syllable of “Bet-ter” is on F#4, which temporarily disrupts the pitch order because it is followed by another E4.

Figure 5.18: Book of Proverbs, “Better a Dry Crust,” ascending pitch order in the soprano line at rehearsal letter D

The alto line does not follow the ascending pitch process, but instead its text matches that of the soprano. This ensures that the two parts continue to sing the same words with the same rhythm. Torke stresses the rising pitches with staccato and accent markings, and further emphasizes the process with a continuous crescendo from piano to forte. Meaning seems irrelevant in this process; instead the most salient feature is the growing intensity of the ascending line.

Increasing Duration Process

“Like the man who seizes a passing dog by the ears is he who meddles in a quarrel not his own.” (Proverbs 26:17)

In the seventh movement of Book of Proverbs, “Like the Man Who Seizes,” Torke introduces an organizational technique very similar to the ascending pitch process just described. This time, instead of pitches, the text is ordered from the shortest durational note value to the longest (shown in Figure 5.20). Figure 5.19 shows the original setting of the proverb in the soprano and alto voices; the text is entirely comprised of either one- or two- syllable words. In the case of two-syllable words, Torke considers the sum of the durational values for the ordering process. For instance, “seiz-es” could be split into two separate categories (an eighth note and a quarter note) but instead, Torke treats the entire word as one unit whose total duration is a dotted quarter note.

Figure 5.19: Book of Proverbs, “Like the Man Who Seizes,” original setting Red shows eighth notes, blue shows quarter notes, green shows dotted quarter note, gold shows half notes

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Retaining the text-pitch relationship from the original setting, Torke extracts words from the proverb in order of lengthening note durations, beginning with the shortest: eighth notes.26 Reading through the proverb from left to right, the words that fall on eighth notes are as follows: “a, by, the, in, a” (these are shaded red in Figure 5.19). Although both syllables of “med-dles” are eighth notes, the word as a whole is grouped with the quarter-note durations. The process is repeated with the next largest duration: quarter notes. In temporal order, the proverb text Torke sets with quarter-note durations is “the, man, who, dog, ears, is, he, who, meddles, his” (shown in blue in Figure 5.19). The process continues until all the words have been reordered. As Figure 5.20 shows, Torke inserts rests equal to the durational unit after each word to further emphasize the process. The separation created by the rests makes the process especially clear. Again, the text in this process is detached from its meaning. Because this process entails moving from short notes to long notes and because rests are inserted, the overall effect is a written-out deceleration.

26 The only exception is the very last word, “own.” Here, Torke simply swaps the soprano and alto pitches from the original statement.

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Figure 5.20: Book of Proverbs, “Like the Man Who Seizes,” rehearsal C Text organized by increasing values of note duration.

Composite Process

“Boast not of tomorrow, for you know not what any day may bring forth.” (Proverbs 27:1)

The final movement of Book of Proverbs, “Boast Not of Tomorrow,” is scored for full SATB chorus—the fullest texture of the entire piece. The original setting of the proverb across all four voices is shown in Figure 5.21. Throughout the movement, Torke’s compositional techniques take advantage of the full texture. Instead of manipulating individual voices as he

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did previously, Torke uses processes that rely on the interactions of several simultaneous voices.

Figure 5.21: Book of Proverbs, “Boast Not of Tomorrow,” original setting

An example of interacting voices, which I will refer to as the composite process, appears in mm. 17-20. Here, Torke recreates the original setting of the proverb by dividing it among multiple voices. The two altos together create a composite of the original soprano line: each alto sings every other word (shown in red blocks in Figure 5.22). Similarly, a composite of the original alto line is formed through the soprano and tenor voices (shown in blue blocks in Figure 5.22). In both cases, the original setting’s text-note relationship is preserved, as are the rhythmic attack points (emphasized by accent markings). In the individual voices, the durations of each word are altered to fill the space between attacks, eliminating any rests and creating a

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much fuller texture. Independently, each voice makes little sense, but in combination, the voices form composite renditions of the original.27

Figure 5.22: Book of Proverbs, “Boast Not of Tomorrow,” composite process. Blue blocks show composite of original alto line; red blocks show composite of original soprano line.

Imitative Process

Another process in this movement where Torke makes notable use of polyphony appears in mm. 21-28.28 Torke pairs the sopranos with the first altos and couples the second altos with the tenors to form two large groups. Both groups sing the complete proverb in its original order, but have staggered entrances, creating an imitative texture (see Figure 5.23). The sopranos and first altos enter with the third word of the proverb, “of,” (the proverb’s first two words, “Boast not,” are rotated to the end of this musical

27 The same process recurs at mm.34-37 with different voicing: alto and bass create a composite of the original soprano line, and tenor 1 and 2 form the original alto line. 28 A similar process recurs in mm. 38-45.

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segment) while the second altos and tenors sing the original text straight through from beginning to end.

Figure 5.23: Book of Proverbs, “Boast Not of Tomorrow,” imitative process. Green (soprano, alto 1) and purple (alto 2, tenor) lines show the imitation between the voices.

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Unlike many of Torke’s other processes, this one does not seem to follow consistent procedures. The text-note relationship is retained from the original setting, with the altos singing the pitches of the original soprano line and the soprano and bass singing the pitches of the original alto line. The durations, however, have been altered from the original though loosely correspond to those used in the composite process described earlier. Table 5.4 shows the durations from both the composite process shown in Figure 5.22 and the imitative process represented in Figure 5.23. The purple blocks indicate common note values between the two processes; even the durations that are not exact are still very close, such as dotted quarter notes and quarter notes. Due to the variations in note values between the two imitation groups, the points of imitation (usually about one measure) continuously shift throughout the process. Because this process is less exacting than others, Torke is able to emphasize some salient moments in the proverb. The only multisyllabic words in the text, “tomorrow” and “any,” are always treated the same way: the first syllable(s) retains the note values from the original setting, despite the length of the final syllable, which makes the words very recognizable every time they are sung. Also, because Torke varies the note values, he can more freely manipulate the attack points, often placing them on off- beats, which retains the proverb’s syncopated quality. Although this process is much looser than many of Torke’s processes, listeners are unlikely to notice such slight imprecision, and the primary impression from both the texture and textual/melodic alignment is that this section of the chorus is imitative.

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Table 5.4: Composite process durations compared with imitation process durations, Book of Proverbs, “Boast Not of Tomorrow” Purple blocks show the durations in common with the composite.

Conclusions

In both Four Proverbs and Book of Proverbs, Torke manipulates text in a variety of ways while preserving a fixed text-pitch relationship. The combination of a strict rule (the fixed correlation between words and music) with the freedom to adjust and rearrange the proverbs facilitates Torke’s

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appealing array of aural effects. In some ways, the pieces showcase Torke’s creative diversity in using these compositional techniques—he rarely repeats a process once he has explored it. Not only does he deploy a range of diverse processes, but he is able to use process as a formal building block. The first movement of Four Proverbs is a great example of just this sort of structuring. This chapter provides a sample of the various processes Torke uses in these two pieces—I have included only those that seem to punctuate the movements in especially significant ways. Using a variety of processive techniques, Torke seemingly expands and contracts time, creating a narrative journey through these proverbs. “Better a Dish” from Four Proverbs features lengthened syllables, echoes, and a reverse reconstruction. In “One Man Pretends,” Torke gradually builds the proverb one word at a time. Because the proverbs in “There is Joy” are quite long, Torke divides them into smaller sections and then manipulates them with a variety of techniques: segments alternate, repeat, stutter, and join together. In “Better a Dry Crust” from Book of Proverbs, Torke presents an intentional, meaningful rearrangement of text before he intensifies the drama with an ascending pitch pattern. The listener is challenged to make sense of the word order in “Like the Man Who Seizes” when Torke organizes the proverb by note value. Finally, in “Boast Not of Tomorrow,” Torke distributes the proverb across several voices, and features an imitative texture. All of these changes are potentially audible, making it possible to identify sensible orderings while appreciating the diversions. Torke’s inventive play with words encourages listeners to focus on the unfolding of the movements; because of this, the pieces strongly support multiple hearings. The processes range from relatively simple (adjusting duration lengths or creating echoes in Four Proverbs) to more complex (using multiple voices to create imitation or composite structures in Book of

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Proverbs). Despite the range of complexity, Torke’s processes in these pieces always have the remarkable effect of slowly adjusting the focus of each proverb’s meaning.

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CHAPTER 6

CONCLUSIONS

The aim of this dissertation has been to explore the role that process plays in postminimalist repertoire. Through close readings of Michael Torke’s “The Blue Pages,” Rapture, Four Proverbs, and Book of Proverbs, I have shown a variety of ways that process can function in compositional design. This chapter summarizes the analytical results, responds to the fundamental questions posed in the first chapter, and suggests some avenues for further research.

Analytical Summary

“The Blue Pages” is a prime postminimal example of process as form: the entire movement unfolds as a result of the processes in motion. The analysis showed that the large-scale structure of the movement is organized neither by sectional divisions nor by a single linear process, but rather that form derives as the product of several simultaneously occurring musical processes. The processes themselves generate the form, in this case the gradually shifting proportions of melody length to interlude length. Analyzing the interactions of these individual elements revealed connections that helped identify a cohesive formal structure. In Rapture, Torke begins each movement with a single pattern that is manipulated using various processes, generating material for the remainder of the movement. Thorough analysis revealed that each movement is structured in a similar way: several large sections follow a specific yet varied sequence of events. In the first movement, the sectional boundaries are in

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the same position within each grouping, although the combinations of parameters are different. In movement two, each section features decreasing phrase lengths, but with different parameter combinations. The most detailed application of the sequence of events structure appears in the third movement, where thirteen ordered musical episodes repeat in each section, but with varied instrumentation and unique pattern combinations. Throughout the piece, Torke highlights the processes at play with registral pairings between the orchestra and the percussion instruments. By precisely organizing the percussion patterns and fusing them with orchestral counterparts, Torke creates a sophisticated, integrated texture that is especially emblematic of the postminimal style. Four Proverbs and Book of Proverbs are both designed around the principle of a fixed text-pitch relationship. Within this parametric restriction, Torke creatively manipulates text, allowing each proverb’s meaning to shift in and out of focus. The analyses illustrated the variety of processes that he employs throughout these two pieces and showed the enormous range with which Torke utilizes the technique. A detailed analysis of the first movement of Four Proverbs also revealed how the combination of different processes can create an overall formal design. These two pieces beautifully exhibit Torke’s postminimal fusion of at least one traditional minimalist element (in this case, the fixed text-pitch relationship) with his own unique approach to composition.

Fundamental Questions

The introduction posed three fundamental questions that are now worth revisiting: How can analysts go beyond merely describing the processes at play in postminimal music? What can process reveal about the structure of a piece? When process or other typically minimalist

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compositional techniques appear to be absent, what musical features still preserve the impression of postminimalism? The first question remains the most difficult to answer. In postminimal music, especially processive music, considerable description seems necessary. The goal is to reach a point in the analytical process where descriptions turn into explanations, revealing a deeper understanding of musical events. I believe that analysis can provide an outlet for examining and describing our intuitive response to a musical performance. When listening to many of Torke’s pieces, for example, intuitions might lead one to explore the surface in greater detail to try to find more meaningful connections. Analysis, beginning with description and moving toward explanation, is a way to achieve (or at least progress toward) this goal. The analyses in this study show varied responses to the second question (about what process can reveal about structure). In “The Blue Pages,” the form of the piece directly resulted from the interacting musical processes at play. In each of Rapture’s three movements, several processes were applied to a single rhythmic pattern to determine a sequence of events that would then be followed across several large structural groupings. In the first movement of Four Proverbs, the ordering and repetition of certain processes created an overall formal design. Of course, these examples represent only a small fraction of the many ways processes can be and have been used to shape musical structure, but this dissertation does explore some of the more common techniques that Torke employs. This study has dealt almost exclusively with the use of process in postminimal music, so it is difficult to answer the third question within the context of this dissertation. I would hypothesize that even when typically minimalist compositional techniques appear to be absent, postminimal music can still be recognized by the following musical features: a relatively simple harmonic palate that avoids traditional functional tonal harmony, but still

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generally draws upon diatonic collections; repetition of melodic or rhythmic patterns, though not as pervasively or blatantly as in earlier minimalism; and limited or gradual change of meter, key, and/or dynamics.29 The pieces chosen for this study all included these features, but also used process as their driving force.

Avenues for Further Research

This dissertation explored the use of process in a very small subset of postminimal repertoire—a necessarily narrow scope for the project at hand. Concentrating on this selection of repertoire facilitated specific, detailed analyses of the various ways musical process is incorporated in Torke’s pieces. It also enabled a demonstration of a wide range of processive techniques and an exploration of the effects these processes have on the overall perception of time and form. Certainly one avenue for further research would be to expand the repertoire to include additional pieces by Michael Torke, works by other postminimal composers, or any piece that uses process as an integral compositional device. Future studies could continue to investigate links between process and form, perhaps extending to large-scale form across multiple movements of the same piece. Also relevant would be an exploration of the harmonies used in non-processive accompanimental parts to determine how those sounds contribute to the impression of postminimalism. On a more detailed level, further consideration could be given to the specific pitches that comprise some of Torke’s processes—why did he choose the pitches he did? It was outside the scope of this study to include a detailed pitch analysis within each process (which can be

29 My hypothesis is based on a comparison between features of postminimalist music with which I am familiar (drawing heavily on Torke’s works) and those qualities traditionally associated with minimalism.

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considered as a fundamentally separate question), but I think this sort of investigation could reveal an even deeper understanding of his music. Musical process has certainly progressed since its origins in early minimalism. Contemporary composers like Michael Torke have put their own spin on process, seamlessly fusing the technique with their own individual styles. Unlike early processive pieces, some of the processes used in postminimal pieces are not obvious upon hearing—these are often the most interesting and the ones I have most wanted to subject to close analysis. This study has only scratched the surface of what is possible in the exploration of postminimal music, and it is my hope that additional research continues in this analytically rich genre.

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APPENDIX: COPYRIGHT PERMISSION LETTER

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Kathleen Biddick Smith was born on June 29, 1976 in San Diego, California. She began her musical training at age nine when she learned to play the trumpet. After graduating from Governor Livingston High School in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, she attended Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in physics with a minor in music in 1998. Kathleen began her graduate studies at Florida State University in the fall of 2001, earning the Master of Music degree in Music Theory in 2003. She continued at Florida State for her doctoral work, holding both research and teaching assistantships during her time there. While at FSU, she taught undergraduate music theory and aural skills courses, and received a university-wide Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award in 2006. From 2007-08, she served on the music faculty at George Washington University. Kathleen has presented her research at the national meeting of the Society for Music Theory, the Look and Listen Conference at New York University, the John Cage Conference at the University of Calgary, and The 1980s: Popular Music and Culture, Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference at New York University.

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