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Awareness by Means of Aural Sonology

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The development of form- awareness by means of aural Sonology Miriam M. M. Hlavatý The Masters Degree program in applied music theory The Norwegian Academy of Music Oslo 2009 Contents 1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………..3 1.1 Understanding, interest and perception....................................................6 1.2 Concerning Sonology and aural Sonology.................................................12 2. Three composers 2.1 George Crumb...........................................................................................20 2.1.1 George Crumb: Master of colours..............................................20 2.1.2 Black Angels. Thirteen images from a dark country...................25 2.2 Bent Sørensen...........................................................................................40 2.2.1 Bent Sørensen: Looking beneath the surface.............................40 2.2.2 The Lady of Shalott.....................................................................47 2.3 Rolf Wallin.................................................................................................65 2.3.1 Rolf Wallin: Calculated unpredictability.....................................65 2.3.2 Solve et coagula.........................................................................72 3 Conclusion 3.1 Form-based choices (Black Angels)...........................................................89 3.2 The musician as presenter (The Lady of Shalott)......................................92 3.3 The balance of detail and unity (Solve et coagula)...................................94 4 Appendix 4.1 Graphical analyses....................................................................................98 4.1.1 George Crumb: Black Angels......................................................98 4.1.2 Bent Sørensen: The Lady of Shalott..........................................104 4.1.3 Rolf Wallin: Solve et coagula.....................................................106 4.2 The Lady of Shalott. Poem.......................................................................108 4.3 Key terms and definitions........................................................................111 4.4 Interviews................................................................................................126 4.4.1 Interview with George Crumb...................................................126 4.4.2 Interview with Bent Sørensen...................................................129 4.4.3 Interview with Rolf Wallin.........................................................132 4.5 References ...............................................................................................135 2 1 Introduction In this Master thesis I wish to examine the benefit that performance students and musicians can have from the ability to use aural sonological analysis as an aid in the approach and presentation of contemporary music to an audience. The original idea of this thesis was born from the personal experience of the chasm that often seems to exist between contemporary music and the audience with which it seeks to communicate. As a performer of contemporary music shamelessly dragging friends and family to listen to my concerts I was often intrigued by the lack of understanding and communication which sometimes occurred in the concert between music and audience despite the obvious willingness of the audience to understand. I became interested in the concert situation itself and if maybe the presentation of contemporary music demanded something particular in this situation. Using the term “contemporary” music poses a bit of a problem as any definition is sure to be either too wide or too narrow according to the agenda of the person using it and because the term technically only points to the fact that the music is written by composers who are contemporary with one self or who belong to the same time. In this case I will focus mainly on music belonging to the 20th and 21st century which brings us to another problem. First of all the sheer magnitude of expressions and styles of composition from the beginning of the 20th century and onward makes it an impossible task to point to any single stream of development or common language as has to some degree been possible (or at least tried) in the music of earlier times. The plurality of options, techniques and styles which has been tried out and remained open to further development and experimentation has created a musical landscape of our time which spreads out like a delta, overflowing with different aims, expressions and means. I must therefore specify that in this thesis the term “contemporary music” will be used merely to denote repertoire mainly from the last half of the 20th century and up to the present day, and will therefore encompass several different expressions and styles. Students of today who wish to work with contemporary repertoire faces several challenges that were not relevant even as late as the beginning of the 20th century. In addition to the increased demands for new instrumental techniques and the knowledge of un-traditional notation, the classical musician of today needs to, among other things, relate to elements like chance- procedures, improvisation and a mixture of musical genres, theatrical elements and the use of electronic devices ranging from amplification to the interaction with computer generated sound. Coincidentally with these new demands placed on the performer a redefining of the relationship between musician and audience has gradually taken place. This is a result of the increased demand that a lot of contemporary music places on the listener to contribute in a much more active way than what we are generally used to when confronted with works from the classical repertoire. In works belonging to the traditional classical canon the musical language is often well known or at least recognizable and the listener has the possibility to retreat into a relaxed, passive-receptive state of mind. Many listeners of today therefore relate to music-listening as a one-way communication between an active sender versus a passive receiver. Consequently a lot of listeners have established a relationship to music where the attitude seems to be that the music has to agree with certain preferred anticipations within themselves in order for them to like it or 3 be able to gain anything from it. In other words: “the music has to be in a particular way for me to be able to enjoy it”. A more uncommon idea is that maybe "I" as a listener have to be in a particular way (in this case meaning: listen in a certain way) in order to be able to fully experience music of this particular kind. Aural Sonology consists of an analytical system where the object of analysis is the aural aspect of music; music as heard as supposed to the written aspect (the score). The musical object experienced through listening will never be an objective fact like a score but will always change according to how we listen. Therefore the subject of listening intentions or listening behaviors1 is central in aural sonology as a means to achieve a systematic approach to the object one is analyzing. The subject of listening intentions is also relevant when it comes to understanding what takes place in a concert situation because it helps to place the focus equally on the listener and the musician. The knowledge of the different listening behaviors we may encounter in an audience is an important knowledge for musicians who wish to work with the presentation of music of a more contemporary date (it may indeed be just as important a tool for the presentation of the traditional classical repertoire as well but that is not the topic of this thesis). In the concert situation the expectations of the audience meet with the conscious intent of the musician to communicate and present a meaningful expression. However, when it comes to concerts with contemporary music there is no denying that the sense of communication is often less that hoped for in comparison with concerts comprising repertoire from the traditional classical musical canon. If our wish is to improve the communication of contemporary music in the concert situation we have the choice between two alternatives of focus. One is to focus on the audience; the listener, and the way he or she listens. Here knowledge of how the human mind in general perceives music or temporal objects is an important factor and the knowledge of listening intentions found within Sonology can be an asset when it comes to developing different concert settings or concepts of presentation. Our other choice is to focus on the performer; as musicians we can look at our own understanding of the music we are performing and how, by increasing this understanding, we can contribute in giving a clearer and more precise presentation musically. In this master thesis I will concentrate on the last alternative; my focus will be primarily on the performer and I will show how this focus also includes knowledge from the first alternative; how an increased understanding of our own work (knowledge of “what we are saying” in our music) requires knowledge of how our audience listens. In the opening chapter Understanding, interest and perception I will explain this further. One of my main intentions here is to show that contemporary music in particular demands a highly developed form-awareness in the musician. The term “Form” in this context is meant to be understood as emergent organic form and is a vital concept in the process of making interpretational
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