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And Micro-Level Processes in John Adams's Phrygian Gates Eastern Kentucky University Encompass Online Theses and Dissertations Student Scholarship January 2013 An Examination of the Role of Macro- and Micro- Level Processes in John Adams's Phrygian Gates James Edward Evans Eastern Kentucky University Follow this and additional works at: https://encompass.eku.edu/etd Part of the Music Commons Recommended Citation Evans, James Edward, "An Examination of the Role of Macro- and Micro-Level Processes in John Adams's Phrygian Gates" (2013). Online Theses and Dissertations. 163. https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/163 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at Encompass. It has been accepted for inclusion in Online Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Encompass. For more information, please contact [email protected]. An Examination of the Role of Macro- and Micro-Level Processes in John Adams’s Phrygian Gates By James Edward Evans Bachelor of Music Campbellsville University Campbellsville, Kentucky 2011 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Eastern Kentucky University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of MASTER OF MUSIC May, 2013 Copyright © James Edward Evans, 2013 All Rights Reserved ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my professor, Dr. Thomas Couvillon, for his guidance and patience as I’ve pursued my studies in music theory and as I’ve written this thesis. I would also like to thank Dr. Richard Byrd and Dr. Karin Sehmann for invaluable assistance over the past two years. Thanks go out to Amber Gray and the faculty and staff of the graduate school; they help to make documents like this one a success. I would like to express my thanks to my fiancée, Heather O’Daniel, for her understanding and patience as I’ve pursued this dream. Finally, I would like to thank my family, Jimmie, Diane, and Kelli Evans, who support me in all I do and continually help me to know that the light at the end of the tunnel is probably not a freight train. PHRYGIAN GATES By John Adams Copyright © 1983 by Associated Music Publishers, Inc. (BMI) International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted by Permission • Measures: 13-20, 41-44, 53-56, 69-76, 109-116, 133-140, 262-265, 392-400, 498-509, 944-956 iii ABSTRACT The research presented in this thesis is an examination of processes at work on multiple levels within Phrygian Gates by John Adams. Previous analyses have presented detailed insights in specific areas, including proportion and temporality, closure, and the roles of process and intuition. This analysis draws from elements of other studies, expands upon them, and presents new research in pitch relationships and formal design in order to explore the interaction of those elements with regard to process and to present a comprehensive view of Phrygian Gates. Chapter 1 discusses Phrygian Gates in the context of John Adams’s compositional output and presents a survey of relevant literature. Chapter 2 delves into processes at work on the macro level within the piece, focusing on relationships of sections and modules as well as those procedures that govern key areas. Chapter 3 discusses processes that operate on the micro level within Phrygian Gates, emphasizing phrase relationships, procedures that determine pitch content, and secondary parameters. The final section of chapter 3 presents deviations from Adams’s own procedural scheme within the work and offers insights into the role of those deviations. Chapter 4 summarizes insights gleaned in this analysis and places processes at work in Phrygian Gates within the context of Adams’s body of work. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE 1. Introduction and Literature Review ............................................................................. 1 2. Macro-Level Analysis ................................................................................................... 7 Introduction to Large Sectional Divisions ..................................................................... 7 The Circle of Fifths as a Determinant of Form and Progression of Modal Areas ......... 9 Progression of Modal Areas via a Modulating Two-State Trajectory ......................... 14 The Two-State Trajectory Model and Placement of Large-Scale Divisions ................ 17 A System of Weights and Measures ........................................................................... 28 3. Micro-Level Analysis ................................................................................................... 31 Features that Further Define the Module .................................................................. 31 Divisions Within Modules and Defining of Phrases .................................................... 34 Constructing Phrases Through Pitch and Process ...................................................... 38 Process as a Determinant of Pitch Content and Phrase Construction ....................... 41 Some Inconsistencies .................................................................................................. 47 4. Summary and Concluding Statements ........................................................................ 54 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Section lengths in the three- and four-section readings of Phrygian Gates ................ 8 2. Pitch centers used by Adams in Phrygian Gates ........................................................ 10 3. Durations of modal areas throughout Phrygian Gates .............................................. 13 4. Example of a square wave .......................................................................................... 16 5. Example of a stochastic two-state trajectory ............................................................. 16 6. Two-state trajectory map of sections 1 and 2, considering unadjusted durational content ........................................................................................................................ 18 7. Durations of modal areas in sections 1 and 2 ............................................................. 18 8. Two-state trajectory map of the lengths of sections 1 and 2, assuming the metric modulation is correct .................................................................................................. 20 9. Durations of modal areas through section 3 .............................................................. 22 10. Measures 944-956, the center of the palindrome in section 3 .................................. 24 11. Two-state trajectory map of section 3 ....................................................................... 26 12. Measures 109-116, modular transition incorporating vertical elements .................. 33 13. Measures 133-140, drastic changes in secondary parameters at the modular transition ..................................................................................................................... 34 14. Measures 53-56, interaction of two lines analogous to first species counterpoint ... 36 15. Combining of material to create a new waveform pattern ........................................ 37 16. Measures 13-20, in which a waveform pattern with a distinctive contour emerges from alternating pitches ............................................................................................. 38 vi 17. Segments of waveform patterns that are related to the pattern originally constructed in measure 19 by intervallic content (see figure 13) .............................. 39 18. Segments of waveform patterns that are related to that pattern originally constructed in measure 19 by intervallic content but break with the ordering of intervals found in other related waveform patterns .................................................. 40 19. Measures 13-20, in which additive process is used to construct a waveform pattern with a distinctive contour .............................................................................. 42 20. Measures 41-44, transition between sixth and seventh phrases of the first module ................................................................................................................. 44 21. Measures 392-400, in which a phasing process is used to align clusters in the left and right hands........................................................................................... 46 22. Measures 69-76, in which pitch class B♭ appears as a non-collection tone ............... 48 23. Measures 262-265, in which modular elision occurs ................................................. 50 24. Measures 498-509, in which breaks in the eighth note stream occur ....................... 53 25. Significant deviations from overarching process and from established material in Phrygian Gates listed by measure number ................................................................ 56 vii Chapter 1 Introduction and Literature Review Although John Adams is best known for his orchestral and operatic endeavors, his first two piano works had a profound effect on the composer’s stylistic development. Together, Adams considers Phrygian Gates and China Gates his “opus one” by virtue of the fact that they appeared in 1977-78 as the first coherent statements in a new language.1 These two compositions are similar not only in title, but in conception, as both works adhere to a strict harmonic plan and are based on repetitive cell structures. Furthermore, the title of both works contain the word “gates,” a metaphor for moments of abrupt change of state used in electronics.2 They are, according to Adams,
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