Whitehouse DMA Document

Pleiades Visions for Organ Solo: A Composition Supported by Documented Research

Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation

Authors Whitehouse, Matthew Robert

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PLEIADES VISIONS FOR ORGAN SOLO: A COMPOSITION SUPPORTED BY DOCUMENTED RESEARCH

Matthew Robert Whitehouse

A Document Submitted to the Faculty of the

SCHOOL OF MUSIC

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of

DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS

In the Graduate College

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

2012

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE

As members of the Document Committee, we certify that we have read the document prepared by Matthew Whitehouse entitled Pleiades Visions for Organ Solo: A Composition Supported by Documented Research, and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the document requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts.

Pamela Decker Date: 30 October 2012 Pamela Decker

John Brobeck Date: 30 October 2012 John Brobeck

Jarita Holbrook Date: 30 October 2012 Jarita Holbrook

Craig Walsh Date: 30 October 2012 Craig Walsh

Final approval and acceptance of this document is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the document to the Graduate College.

I hereby certify that I have read this document prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the document requirement.

Pamela Decker Date: 30 October 2012 Document Director: Pamela Decker

STATEMENT BY AUTHOR

This document has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library.

Brief quotations from this document are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgement of the source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder.

SIGNED: Matthew Robert Whitehouse

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Special thanks to Dr. Pamela Decker for her guidance in the composition and performance of Pleiades Visions.

Special thanks to Dr. John Brobeck, who provided invaluable assistance in developing a project that both honored the spirit of Pleiades Visions and met the guidelines of the School of Music Graduate Committee and proposal process.

Special thanks to Dr. Craig Walsh for his support and encouragement.

Special thanks to Dr. Janet Sturman for her guidance in the research that led to Pleiades Visions, and her assistance in developing a doctoral minor program combining aspects of both ethnomusicology and cultural astronomy.

Special thanks to Dr. Jarita Holbrook for her guidance in the research that led to Pleiades Visions, for introducing me to the field of cultural astronomy, and for continuing to serve on my committee even after the conclusion of her affiliation with The University of Arizona.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES ...... 8

LIST OF FIGURES ...... 11

ABSTRACT ...... 12

I. INTRODUCTION ...... 13

1. Introduction to Pleiades Visions ...... 13

Overview of Pleiades Visions ...... 13

Basis for Pleiades Visions: The Field of Cultural Astronomy ...... 14

2. The Pleiades as an Astronomical Object ...... 15

Cultural Conceptions of the Pleiades ...... 15

The Pleiades as a Unifying Element in Pleiades Visions ...... 17

3. Statement of Primary Thesis ...... 17

II. BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW ...... 18

1. Music and Astronomy: Historical Background ...... 18

2. Pleiades Visions’ Place in the Organ Literature ...... 19

An Example from the Established Organ Literature ...... 19

Recently Composed Examples ...... 20

3. An Important Non-Organ Example ...... 21

4. Ethnomusicology Background and Literature Review ...... 22

5. Use of Indigenous Music as Source Material for Composition ...... 24

6. Summary and Conclusion ...... 25

TABLE OF CONTENTS – Continued

III. RESEARCH BACKGROUND OF PLEIADES VISIONS ...... 27

1. Research Methodology ...... 27

2. Dataset ...... 28

3. Source Material for Movement I ...... 28

Dreamtime Cosmology ...... 29

Songlines ...... 30

The Pitjantjatjara Seven Sisters Dreaming ...... 30

Australian Screen Video Clip ...... 32

Totemic Melody ...... 32

4. Source Material for Movement II ...... 33

5. Source Material for Movement III ...... 35

6. Extramusical Concepts as Source Materials ...... 37

7. Summary and Conclusion ...... 37

IV. COMPOSITION OF PLEIADES VISIONS ...... 39

1. Cultural Sensitivity ...... 39

A Case Study in Musical Appropriation ...... 39

A Compositional Framework for Pleiades Visions ...... 40

2. Compositional Techniques in Pleiades Visions ...... 42

Movement I: “Uluru” ...... 42

Movement II: “…life on other worlds” ...... 58

Movement III: “Mauna Kea” ...... 71

TABLE OF CONTENTS – Continued

3. Summary and Conclusion ...... 97

V. Conclusion ...... 98

APPENDIX A: ORIGINAL PROPOSAL TO THE SCHOOL OF MUSIC GRADUATE COMMITTEE ...... 102

1. Proposed Title ...... 102

2. Intent and Scope of Study ...... 102

3. Statement of Primary Thesis ...... 108

4. Justification ...... 109

5. Organization ...... 112

6. Methodology ...... 114

APPENDIX B: SCORE OF PLEIADES VISIONS ...... 126

APPENDIX C: PERMISSIONS ...... 164

REFERENCES ...... 167

LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES

Musical Example 3.1. Transcription of Music Heard on the Australian Screen Video Clip...... 34

Musical Example 4.1. Excerpt from Opening of “Uluru.” ...... 44

Musical Example 4.2. Unusual Manual Registration...... 46

Musical Example 4.3. Pleiades Motive...... 48

Musical Example 4.4. Passage Representing Expansion of Pleiades Motive...... 48

Musical Example 4.5. The Indicated Registration Creates a Sparkling, Otherworldly Effect...... 50

Musical Example 4.6. Basic Toccata Figuration...... 52

Musical Example 4.7. Motivic Material for Middle Section of Toccata...... 52

Musical Example 4.8. Excerpt from Final Section of Toccata...... 54

Musical Example 4.9. Climactic Passage near Conclusion of Toccata...... 54

Musical Example 4.10. Excerpt from Final Section of “Uluru.” ...... 56

Musical Example 4.11. “Seed” Motive for opening pedal melody of “...life on other worlds.” ...... 60

Musical Example 4.12. Expansion of “Seed” Motive...... 60

Musical Example 4.13. Remainder of Opening Pedal Melody...... 61

Musical Example 4.14. Transitional Material in “...life on other worlds.” ...... 63

Musical Example 4.15. Beginning of Pedal Ostinato in Second Section of “...life on other worlds.” ...... 65

Musical Example 4.16. Intervallic Compression of “Seed” Motive...... 65

Musical Example 4.17. Entrance of the Right Hand with Polyphonic Melodic Material...... 67

LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES – Continued

Musical Example 4.18. Final Measures of Middle Section of “...life on other worlds.” ...... 67

Musical Example 4.19. Pedal Solo Melody and Manual Flourishes in Final Section of the Movement...... 69

Musical Example 4.20. Excerpt from Opening of “Mauna Kea.” ...... 74

Musical Example 4.21. Subito Registration Change and Beginning of Transitional Passage...... 76

Musical Example 4.22. Beginning of Toccata...... 78

Musical Example 4.23. Toccata Transitional Material...... 79

Musical Example 4.24. Third Harmony of Toccata...... 79

Musical Example 4.25. Toccata Interjection...... 81

Musical Example 4.26. Excerpt from Final Interjection...... 81

Musical Example 4.27. Return of Original Toccata Figuration, with Increase in Harmonic Density...... 82

Musical Example 4.28. Excerpt from Final Passage of Toccata...... 84

Musical Example 4.29. Expansive, Lyrical Middle Section of “Mauna Kea.” ...... 86

Musical Example 4.30. Brief Passage with Cluster Chords...... 88

Musical Example 4.31. Opening of Dance/Toccata...... 90

Musical Example 4.32. Piling Motives Occurring in Dialogue...... 90

Musical Example 4.33. Repeating Chords Combined with Held Chords...... 92

Musical Example 4.34. First Five Measures of Concluding Section of “Mauna Kea.” ...... 94

Musical Example 4.35. Conclusion of “Mauna Kea.” ...... 96

LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES – Continued

Musical Example A.1. Transcription of Totemic Melody Associated with the Seven Sisters...... 106

Musical Example A.2. Example of Opening Material for “Uluru.” ...... 118

Musical Example A.3. Another Example of the Use of a Specific Registration to Support the Program of the Movement...... 120

Musical Example A.4. The Pleiades Motive...... 122

Musical Example A.5. Extension of the Pleiades Motive...... 122

Musical Example A.6. Toccata Figuration and Pedal Melody for Central Section of “Uluru.” ...... 124

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1. Two Views of the Pleiades...... 16

Figure 5.1. Night View from the Summit of Mauna Kea...... 101

ABSTRACT

Pleiades Visions is a three-movement work for organ solo inspired by indigenous music and mythology associated with the Pleiades (Seven Sisters) star cluster. Three cultural groups are represented in Pleiades Visions. The first movement, entitled “Uluru,” draws from Australian Aboriginal music and mythology. The second movement, entitled

“...life on other worlds,” is based loosely on a Quechan (Yuman) Indian song. The concluding movement, entitled “Mauna Kea,” is inspired by the opening lines of the

Kumulipo, a creation chant of the Native Hawaiian culture. The source material for

Pleiades Visions was identified through research incorporating techniques from the fields of cultural astronomy and ethnomusicology. This research represents a new line of inquiry for both fields. This document situates Pleiades Visions in the context of the organ literature, and suggests that Pleiades Visions might be the first organ work with a cultural astronomy inspiration. It also describes the research undergirding Pleiades

Visions, demonstrates the manner in which that research informed the composition of the work, and addresses issues surrounding the use of indigenous source material in a culturally sensitive manner.

I. INTRODUCTION

1. Introduction to Pleiades Visions

! Pleiades Visions is a three-movement work for solo organ with a duration of approximately twenty-five minutes. Each of the three movements is inspired by folklore and traditional music from specific indigenous cultures; this folklore-related and traditional material is in each case connected to pertinent cultural representations of the

Pleiades. Also known as the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades is a prominent star grouping located in the northern hemisphere winter constellation of Taurus (the Bull).

Overview of Pleiades Visions

The first movement of Pleiades Visions focuses on the Pleiades-related folklore of the Pitjantjatjara people, an Australian Aboriginal group native to the area around Uluru.

Also known as Ayers Rock, Uluru is a large sandstone rock formation located in the central desert of Australia. Situated approximately 200 miles southwest of Alice Springs, the second-largest city of Australia’s Northern Territory, Uluru is a sacred site to the

Pitjantjatjara people. In recognition of this, the first movement is entitled “Uluru.” The second movement, entitled “…life on other worlds,” is based on Quechan (Yuman)

Indian mythology surrounding the Pleiades, and features loose connections with a song identified by ethnomusicologist George Herzog as being associated with the Quechan

Pleiades song series. The third movement, entitled “Mauna Kea” (after a mountain of the

14 same name located on the Big Island of Hawai’i), takes as its inspiration a reference to the Pleiades in the Kumulipo, a creation chant of the Native Hawaiian culture.

Basis for Pleiades Visions: The Field of Cultural Astronomy

! Pleiades Visions represents the incorporation into an original creative work of the author’s research on indigenous music and indigenous astronomy. This research draws upon techniques from the field of ethnomusicology and applies them in the context of a discipline known as cultural astronomy. Nicholas Campion (Sofia Centre for the Study of

Cosmology in Culture, University of Wales Trinity Saint David) defines cultural astronomy as follows:

Cultural astronomy: the use of astronomical knowledge, beliefs or theories to inspire, inform, or influence social forms and ideologies, or any aspect of human behavior. Cultural astronomy also includes the modern disciplines of ethnoastronomy and archaeoastronomy.1

Ethnoastronomy and archaeoastronomy are two of the three major subdisciplines of cultural astronomy; the third major subdiscipline is the study of the history of astronomy. Archaeoastronomy is the study of the relationship between built structures and celestial objects. For example, investigations of possible alignments with the sun at summer and winter solstices at Stonehenge fall under the aegis of archaeoastronomy.

Ethnoastronomy is the study of mythology related to celestial objects in a given culture.

The research undergirding Pleiades Visions falls under the aegis of ethnoastronomy.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1 Nicholas Campion, “Editorial,” Culture and Cosmos 1 (Spring/Summer 1997): 1–2.

2. The Pleiades as an Astronomical Object

The Pleiades (Messier Object 45) is an open star cluster located in the northern- sky winter constellation of Taurus, the Bull (Figure 1.1). When viewed under normal sky conditions, six stars are visible, ranging in magnitude from 2 to 5.2 From the perspective of modern astronomy, the Pleiades is an open star cluster located at a distance of approximately 400 light years from Earth. The cluster contains at least 500 stars, most of which are young and hot (and thus white or blue in color).3

Cultural Conceptions of the Pleiades

Most folklore connected with the Pleiades, however, makes reference to seven stars. Explanations for this “missing” seventh star vary among cultural groups. Among the Australian Aborigines, for instance, the seventh star is said to represent the youngest of the sisters. She shines less brightly because she is lost; she fell behind and is trying to catch up with her older sisters. Aboriginal lore surrounding the Pleiades indicates that it is in fact possible to see the seventh star if one looks very closely.4 The traditional homelands of the Aborigines are located far from major cities and thus exhibit some of

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 In astronomy, the magnitude scale is used to indicate the brightness of a celestial object. Smaller numbers indicate brighter objects, and larger numbers indicate dimmer objects. ! 3 Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, “Messier 45,” The Messier Catalog, http://messier.seds.org/m/m045.html (accessed September 8, 2012).

4 Munya Andrews, The Seven Sisters of the Pleiades: Stories from Around the World (North Melbourne, Australia: Spinifex, 2004), 2.

16 the darkest sky conditions on Earth. This absence of light pollution would facilitate observation of the fainter stars of the Pleiades.

Figure 1.1. Two Views of the Pleiades. The first image shows an unaided-eye view of the Pleiades, which is visible in the top center and indicated by a red arrow. The second image shows the Pleiades as photographed through a small telescope.

Image credits: European Southern Observatory (left) and Tad Denton/Adam Block/NOAO/AURA/NSF (right).

The Pleiades as a Unifying Element in Pleiades Visions

Because of its location relatively near the celestial equator, the Pleiades is a prominent feature in the night skies of both the northern and southern hemispheres. As a result, the Pleiades has influenced the folklore and mythology of peoples the world over, and has inspired many artists and writers as well.5 From a programmatic standpoint, the use of the Pleiades as the basis for an original work provides a sense of unity and focus.

! From a musical standpoint, Pleiades Visions is a demonstration of the manner in which the organ’s vast sonic resources can be used to evoke ways in which indigenous peoples have been inspired by astronomical phenomena. The grandeur of the night sky, particularly as seen from the remote and light pollution-free homelands of the

Aborigines, Quechan, and Native Hawaiians, finds a natural corollary in the dynamic range of the pipe organ. Pleiades Visions takes full advantage of this corollary, employing both the power of the organ and the many unique tone colors of which the instrument is capable.

3. Statement of Primary Thesis

The author will attempt to demonstrate via an original organ solo composition that the organ, by virtue of its wide-ranging textural and sonic possibilities, is capable of achieving a coloristic evocation of astronomical phenomena by incorporating music and text employed by indigenous peoples when referring to the night sky and associated physical landscapes.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 5 Andrews, The Seven Sisters of the Pleiades, 7-8.

II. BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW

1. Music and Astronomy: Historical Background

The connection between the fields of music and astronomy has deep historical roots. William Herschel (1738–1822), a German/British astronomer known as the “father of modern astronomy,” began his career as a musician. Herschel was a prominent member of the musical community of Bath, England, during the late eighteenth century, and was active in that city as a conductor, teacher, organist, and composer. Herschel biographer Michael Hoskin argues that Herschel’s primary ambition was to be remembered as a composer.6

Herschel is known primarily, however, for his contributions to the field of astronomy. Herschel discovered the planet Uranus and was a master telescope builder.

His observational and philosophical work revolutionized the science of astronomy.

Before Herschel, the universe was viewed as mechanical. The Creator was seen as the great clockmaker, who oversaw a vast machinery which was largely unchanging in its operation. Herschel’s work led to the modern conception of the universe, in which the universe is seen as evolutionary, even biological, in nature. Stars, for instance, are not unchanging. Rather, stars exhibit life cycles; they are born, develop and mature, and die.

It is this evolutionary view of the universe on which modern astronomical research is based.7

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 6 Michael Hoskin, Discoverers of the Universe: William and Caroline Herschel (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011), x. !

Herschel’s catalog of compositions includes a small number of organ works.

These works do not exhibit any sort of astronomical basis or inspiration. Rather, they are freely-composed works (i.e., preludes, fugues, and allegros) of relatively short duration.

French astronomer and organist Dominique Proust has recorded the organ works of

Herschel on the 1887 Cavaillé-Coll organ at the Eglise Notre Dame de l’Assomption in

Meudon, France.8

2. Pleiades Visions’ Place in the Organ Literature

Works inspired by astronomical concepts and phenomena are not without precedent in the organ literature, though they are limited in number. Pleiades Visions breaks new ground in organ composition by its synthesis of astronomical concepts and ethnomusicological materials.

An Example from the Established Organ Literature

Perhaps the best example from the established repertoire of an organ composition inspired by astronomical phenomena is Nova (1973) by American organist and composer

Myron Roberts. Nova is a musical evocation of a supernova, a colossal explosion that occurs at the end of a massive star’s life. In its opening section, Nova employs the organ’s coloristic capabilities to depict the seething instability of a star just before the star explodes in a supernova. The work’s large middle section, depicting the supernova itself, !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 7 Ibid., ix.

8 Pièces d’orgue de William Herschel interprêtées par Dominique Proust, Dom CD 1418, 1992.

20 comprises a buildup to a series of powerful, intensely dissonant chords played on full organ. The final section of the work juxtaposes the highest sounds of the organ against the organ’s lowest sounds, evoking the remnants of the now-dead star dispersing into space.

Recently Composed Examples

The University of Arizona’s excellence in astronomy has in recent years served as a springboard for the creation of new works with astronomical bases. In 2005, as part of

The University of Arizona’s Astrobiology and the Arts program, School of Music faculty member Pamela Decker was commissioned to set poetry by the American poet Diane

Ackerman, with a focus on poems that were clearly influenced by astronomical phenomena. The resulting composition, life aromatic with red-hot pizazz (2006) for organ and mezzo-soprano, is a setting in four movements of a portion of Diane Ackerman’s poem “Ode to the Alien.” In the first, second, and fourth movements, the mezzo-soprano presents Ackerman’s text, undergirded by a highly evocative organ part that functions as an equal partner to the vocal line. The third movement is a virtuosic showpiece for solo organ utilizing the full power of the instrument.

Another work with University of Arizona connections is Nebulae (2008), a solo organ piece composed by the author of this document. Nebulae is a musical journey through the stages of star formation. The opening section depicts a dark, cold interstellar cloud before the onset of active star formation. In the second section, played on full organ and incorporating rapid passagework for both manuals and pedal, is evocative of a

21 supernova shock front blasting the interstellar cloud and triggering the star formation process. After a brief, quiet interlude, a dance ensues. This dance, which depicts the protostar stage of star formation, builds in both registration and rhythmic complexity.

This steady buildup of intensity represents the protostar collapsing out of fragments of the interstellar cloud, as well as the protostar’s accretion of matter and resulting gradual increase in the temperature of its core. Eventually the core of the protostar becomes hot enough to initiate nuclear fusion, the process by which all stars shine. Large chords played on full organ mark the initiation of nuclear fusion and the birth of the star. A concluding toccata depicts the brilliance of the newly-formed star and the visual splendor of the nebula that gave it birth.

3. An Important Non-Organ Example

What appears to set Pleiades Visions apart from the aforementioned examples is that – to the best of the composer’s knowledge – it is the first organ work with a cultural astronomy inspiration. While Pleiades Visions represents a continuation of the strand represented by the three compositions just mentioned, it takes as its basis a cultural, rather than scientific, conception of astronomy.

Works with a cultural astronomy basis are not without precedent in the contemporary music literature. A particularly notable non-organ example is Symphony no. 4: Star Chant (2001) by contemporary Australian composer Ross Edwards.9 Star

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 9 Ross Edwards, Star Chant: Symphonies 1 and 4, ABC Classics 476 6161 (CD), 2007.

Chant is a large-scale two-movement composition for symphony orchestra and chorus.

The text of Star Chant is by Australian astronomer Fred Watson (Anglo-Australian

Observatory), and pairs Western star and constellation names with their Aboriginal counterparts. The text traces a journey from the stars in the far northern sky – through prominent constellations such as Orion, Taurus, Scorpius, and the Southern Cross – and culminates with the very dim stars located near the south celestial pole.

Pleiades Visions in some respects shares more in common with Star Chant than with the works by Roberts, Decker, and Whitehouse mentioned earlier. This is certainly true with respect to the inspiration of Pleiades Visions. Furthermore, parallels can also be drawn between the language and compositional techniques found in these two works.

Star Chant, particularly in its choral parts, employs repetitive, chant-like writing.

Pleiades Visions also makes use of repetitive writing and includes passages that could be seen as quasi-minimalist in nature, creating a ritualistic, mystical, atmospheric sound- world. In any event, Pleiades Visions, by virtue of being possibly the first organ work with a cultural astronomy inspiration, represents an expansion of the organ literature as a whole.

4. Ethnomusicology Background and Literature Review

The ethnomusicology and cultural astronomy research undergirding Pleiades

Visions represents what is likely the first effort at elucidating deep-level connections between traditional music and indigenous astronomy. In recent years, a great deal of research has been conducted on indigenous lore associated with celestial objects and

23 night sky phenomena. This research falls under the aegis of ethnoastronomy, one of the primary areas of the field of cultural astronomy.

Investigation of relationships between indigenous knowledge of celestial objects and indigenous music traditions is a largely unexplored area that may provide new resources to both the disciplines of ethnoastronomy and ethnomusicology. Scholars such as the Australian cultural astronomer Ray Norris have noted that indigenous songs often exhibit connections to indigenous astronomy systems.10 These statements, however, tend to be general in nature, with little specific information on song text, the celestial objects involved, and ceremonial significance. Additionally, it seems that the scholarly literature has given only minimal attention to the musical aspects of such songs. The research on which Pleiades Visions is based thus represents a new area of inquiry for the fields of ethnomusicology and ethnoastronomy.

There is, however, precedent for scholarship on relationships between musical traditions and natural environments of indigenous peoples. The work of American ethnomusicologist Steven Feld is perhaps the best-known example of such scholarship.

Feld carried out extensive field research among the Kaluli people of Papua New Guinea.

In his seminal ethnography Sound and Sentiment: Birds, Weeping, Poetics, and Song in

Kaluli Expression, Feld explores the role of the natural environment in shaping Kaluli musical traditions. Feld’s research focuses primarily on relationships between Kaluli

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 10 Ray Norris, “Searching for the Astronomy of Aboriginal Australians,” in Astronomy and Cosmology in Folk Traditions and Cultural Heritage, edited by Jonas Vaiskunas (2007), 1-8.

24 musical traditions and impressions regarding bird life endemic to the rainforest environment of the Kaluli homeland.11

In the foundational research for Pleiades Visions, the principal focus is on the role of the night sky in guiding indigenous musical expression. Both the author’s research and

Feld’s work are connected by the same underlying concept: that of the natural environment playing an important role in shaping indigenous musical traditions. Thus, while the research forming the basis for Pleiades Visions represents a new area of inquiry, this research can also be seen as exhibiting parallels to Feld’s ethnographic scholarship.

5. Use of Indigenous Music as Source Material for Composition

There is a time-honored tradition in Western art music of using indigenous and folk materials as sources for composition. The Hungarian composer and ethnomusicologist Béla Bårtok (1881-1945) is often viewed as the founder of this tradition, and is recognized for successfully and sensitively incorporating folk materials into many of his compositions. From the perspective represented by Pleiades Visions, the work of Australian contemporary composer Peter Sculthorpe (b. 1929) is particularly relevant. Sculthorpe’s work is heavily influenced by Aboriginal musical traditions; it could be argued that no Australian composer had made more extensive use of Australian indigenous musical materials than has Sculthorpe.12 Much of Sculthorpe’s music explores

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 11 Steven Feld, Sound and Sentiment: Birds, Weeping, Poetics, and Song in Kaluli Expression (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982).

25 relationships between the Australian landscape and Australian indigenous cultures.13 His orchestral work Kakadu (1988), for instance, takes inspiration from the landscapes of

Kakadu National Park in the far north of Australia. Its opening section exhibits influences from Aboriginal chant, and contains percussion writing reminiscent of the repeating

“clapping” beat characteristic of much Aboriginal music.14 Kakadu also incorporates an extensive part for solo didgeridoo (a wind instrument developed by Aboriginal peoples of the northern coast of Australia).

Sculthorpe’s creative and scholarly work is important in shaping the compositional methodology of Pleiades Visions in that it forms the basis of a framework for incorporating indigenous musical materials in a culturally sensitive manner. Pleiades

Visions, like any composition employing indigenous music as source material, raises complex issues surrounding cultural sensitivity and the ethics of appropriating non-

Western musical traditions in a Western music context. More will be said on the subject of cultural sensitivity later in this document.

6. Summary and Conclusion

Pleiades Visions thus represents in many respects an expansion of the organ literature. It is one of only a small number of organ works inspired by astronomical !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 12 Anne Boyd, “Landscape, Spirit and Music: An Australian Story,” in The Soundscapes of Australia: Music, Place, and Spirituality, ed. Fiona Richards (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2007), 21. ! 13 Graeme Skinner, Liner Notes, Peter Sculthorpe: Songs of Sea and Sky, The Queensland Orchestra dir. Michael Christie, ABC Classics CD 476 192-1, 2004, 4. ! 14 Ibid., 7.

26 phenomena, and is likely the first organ work with a cultural astronomy background.

From a programming standpoint, Pleiades Visions occupies a sizeable fraction of a concert program.

The scholarship supporting Pleiades Visions represents on many levels a new area of inquiry. To the composer’s knowledge, there is no systematic study of relationships between indigenous musical traditions and indigenous knowledge of the night sky and celestial objects. The closest precedent for the research associated with Pleiades Visions is the work of Steven Feld. The area of inquiry opened by the research on which Pleiades

Visions is based has the potential to provide new resources for the fields of ethnomusicology and cultural astronomy.

Pleiades Visions also represents a continuation of the tradition of employing indigenous music as source material for Western composition. It provides another example of ways in which indigenous musical materials can be used as source material without borrowing or appropriating those materials directly. Finally, Pleiades Visions is a demonstration of the manner in which performance and innovative pathways of inquiry can be linked by means of an original composition.

III. RESEARCH BACKGROUND OF PLEIADES VISIONS

1. Research Methodology

The three cultural groups represented in Pleiades Visions (Australian Aborigines,

Quechan Indians, and Native Hawaiians) were selected after an extensive search of the ethnomusicology and cultural astronomy literature for leads on songs associated with the

Seven Sisters. Promising leads often pointed to searches in online video and audio archives for actual recordings or video footage of the songs in question. In both the searches of the literature and the searches of video and audio archives, the terms

“Pleiades” and “Seven Sisters” were used, as well as the indigenous names associated with the Pleiades in each respective cultural group.

For the Aborigines, the work of cultural astronomers Roslynn Haynes, Dianne

Johnson, and Ray Norris provided important background information. Ethnomusicologist

George Herzog’s work proved to be an invaluable source of data on Quechan music associated with the Pleiades.15 For the Native Hawaiians, Martha Warren Beckwith’s writings on the Kumulipo, a creation chant of the Native Hawaiian culture, proved to be a most helpful resource.16

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 15 George Herzog, “The Yuman Musical Style,” The Journal of American Folklore 41 (April-June 1928): 208.

16 Martha Warren Beckwith, The Kumulipo: A Hawaiian Creation Chant (Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai’i Press, 1972), 58.

2. Dataset

The search methodology just described led to a dataset comprising a video clip of

Pitjantjatjara song and dance associated with the Pleiades, a transcription by George

Herzog of an example song from the Quechan Pleiades song series, and the opening lines of the Kumulipo. The Pitjantjatjara video clip is from the Australian national film archive

Australian Screen, and the Kumulipo excerpt is translated from Hawaiian by Martha

Warren Beckwith. This dataset forms the basis of the source material for Pleiades

Visions.

One aspect of this dataset is that it represents three contrasting types of source material: a video excerpt (movement I), a notated transcription (movement II), and a text with no associated melody (movement III). To provide a greater level of consistency though the dataset, the composer created his own transcription of the music heard in the

Pitjantjatjara video clip. Traditional melodies lend inspiration to the first two movements; the third movement arises from a text with no associated melody. As a result, the compositional approach for the third movement is different from that of the first two movements. More will be stated about these differences later in the document.

3. Source Material for Movement I

As stated earlier, “Uluru” (movement I) uses as its compositional basis a melody associated with Pitjantjatjara reenactments of stories associated with the Seven Sisters.

The indigenous peoples of Australia possess what is arguably one of the richest heritages of cosmology and ethnoastronomy in the world. Current research suggests that the sky

29 knowledge of astronomy-related practices of the approximately 400 individual

Aboriginal peoples in Australia date back as far as 50,000 years. Some researchers, including Australian astronomer Ray Norris, have gone as far as to suggest that the

Australian Aborigines may be the world’s first astronomers.17

Dreamtime Cosmology

Stories and ceremonies connected with the night sky and celestial objects are commonplace among Aboriginal cultures. Much of this heritage is directly traceable to the Dreamtime, the fundamental cosmological concept common to all Australian indigenous peoples. According to Dreamtime creation mythology, totemic ancestors traveled the landscape at the beginning of time, creating landforms, animals, and bringing into existence all aspects of human society.18 As these spirit beings crossed the land, they are said to have left trails of stories and songs along their routes of travel. These trails are known as songlines. Songlines frequently extend over large areas of the continent, connecting far-flung peoples and places.19

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 17 Norris, “Searching for the Astronomy of Aboriginal Australians,” 1.

18 Ibid., 2. ! 19 Catherine Ellis, Aboriginal Music – Education for Living: Cross-Cultural Experiences from South Australia (St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1985), 59, 70.

Songlines

! Aboriginal ritual, ceremony, and music are linked fundamentally to the

Dreamtime, in that the Dreamtime stories recounted in songlines form the basis for all

Aboriginal music.20 Songlines consist of many small songs that recount the myths and stories of the totemic ancestors as they traversed the landscape.21 Aboriginal peoples believe that the Dreamtime is eternal, and that communication with Dreamtime spirits via ritual, ceremony, and music is essential in preserving societal well-being. The Dreamtime is thus more than simply a creation story; it is ongoing and participatory.22 Aboriginal cosmology asserts that the mythical world of the Dreamtime lies just underneath the surface of the visible landscape, and Aboriginal peoples believe that the performance of songs from any given songline accesses the power of the Dreamtime and brings that power into the present. In essence, when Aboriginal peoples perform songs from a songline, they are performing their worldview and cosmology.

The Pitjantjatjara Seven Sisters Dreaming

In some cases, songlines traverse long distances of the Australian landscape and then extend into the night sky. One such songline is that of the Seven Sisters, or Pleiades.

Most Aboriginal groups identify the Pleiades with a group of young women being

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

20 Ibid., 71 ! 21 Ibid., 70. ! 22 Dianne Johnson, Night Skies of Aboriginal Australia: A Noctuary (Sydney: The University of Sydney, 1998), 13.

31 pursued by a hunter. The women begin their journey in the deserts of Western Australia, and travel through several geographical and cultural areas to the territory of the

Pitjantjatjara people.23 In the Pitjantjatjara version of the Seven Sisters Dreaming, a lustful man named Nyiru pursues the Seven Sisters. The sisters attempt to run from

Nyiru, but Nyiru continues to follow the sisters across the desert. In some versions of the

Pitjantjatjara Seven Sisters Dreaming, the Seven Sisters become birds and fly into the night sky. Nyiru becomes the constellation Orion, and continues his pursuit of the Seven

Sisters across the sky.24

Among the Pitjantjatjara, the reenactment of the Seven Sisters Dreaming is known as the Inma Kungkarangkalpa.25 In the Pitjantjatjara language, inma is the word most commonly used to describe music. However, inma encompasses not just music, but dance and design as well.26

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! 23 Seven Sisters, “Pitjantjara,” Nancia Guivarra, http://www.kitezh.com/sevensisters/7sisters.htm (accessed 14 December 2011).

24 Roslynn Haynes, “Dreaming the Sky,” Sky and Telescope 94 (September 1997): 74. ! 25 Seven Sisters, “Pitjantjara.”!

26 Ellis, Aboriginal Music, 70.

Australian Screen Video Clip

A 1991 video clip from the film Satellite Dreaming depicts indigenous performers reenacting part of the Inma Kungkarangkalpa (Moreton 1991).27 This video clip is available from the website Australian Screen, an Australian national audiovisual archive, and the music heard throughout the clip provides inspiration for the musical materials of the first movement of Pleiades Visions. Throughout the video clip, a tribal elder provides commentary that establishes context and gives insight into the choreography of the Seven

Sisters reenactment. Through the songman’s commentary, the viewer learns that the part of the Inma Kungkarangkalpa being reenacted is the part in which the songline travels through the area of a sacred site known as Kuru Ala. As the video clip unfolds, the viewer learns that the songman is Noli Roberts, who is in fact the traditional custodian of

Kuru Ala; this is supported by film curator Romaine Moreton’s online description of the video clip. Nyiru and the Seven Sisters are clearly identified by Roberts’ narration, and the end of the video clip clearly shows Nyiru pursuing the Seven Sisters.

Totemic Melody

For the purposes of the composition of the opening movement of Pleiades

Visions, the most important ethnomusicological concept is that of totemic melody.

According to Australian ethnomusicologist Catherine Ellis, each named songline has a

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

27 Romaine Moreton, “Satellite Dreaming,” Australian Screen, 1991. Online video clip, http://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/satellite-dreaming/clip3/ (accessed 14 December 2011).

33 specific melody with which that songline is associated.28 Based on Ellis’ research, it seems that the music heard in the Australian Screen video clip represents the totemic melody, or aspects of the totemic melody, associated with the Seven Sisters Dreaming.

The composer’s transcription of the music heard on the video clip is shown in Musical

Example 3.1.

This transcription (Musical Example 3.1) shows both a basic melodic outline and rhythmic characteristics of the music from the clip. The three stemless, cue-sized notes at the beginning represent music heard in the background, underneath the narration of the video clip. The transcription depicts an overall downward shape to the melody. This melodic shaping is common to much Pitjantjatjara music. Another important aspect is the steady beat played by clapping sticks, another characteristic of much Pitjantjatjara music.

It is this transcription that provides the inspiration for many of the melodic and rhythmic characteristics of “Uluru.”

4. Source Materials for Movement II

We shall now turn to the source material for “…life on other worlds,” the second movement of Pleiades Visions. “…life on other worlds” is loosely based on a melody from the Pleiades song series from the Quechan (Yuman) Indians. Native to far southwestern Arizona and southeastern California, some Quechan believe that their

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! 28 Ellis, Aboriginal Music, 90.

Musical Example 3.1. Transcription of Music Heard on the Australian Screen Video Clip.

35 ancestors came from the Pleiades.29 In his 1928 article “The Yuman Musical Style,” the

American ethnomusicologist George Herzog gives his transcription of a song from the

Pleiades song series.30 Herzog’s transcription of this song is shown on p. 208 of the above-mentioned article (it is not shown here for purposes of copyright compliance).

Motives inspired by this song provide the musical material for “…life on other worlds.”

The movement’s title refers to the Quechan belief, mentioned earlier, that their ancestors have their origins in the Pleiades.

5. Source Materials for Movement III

The third movement of Pleiades Visions takes as its inspiration the text of the opening lines of the Kumulipo, a creation chant of the Native Hawaiian culture. The title of the movement, “Mauna Kea,” refers to a dormant volcano of the same name located on the Big Island of Hawai’i. Mauna Kea is the highest mountain in Hawai’i and the highest point in the Pacific Ocean basin. It is in fact a larger mountain than Mt. Everest, though much of Mauna Kea is situated underwater. Mauna Kea is the site of an international astronomical observatory at which some of the largest telescopes in the world are located.

It is also a sacred mountain to the Native Hawaiian peoples.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 29 David H. Kelley and E. F. Milone, “The Descent of the Gods and the Purposes of Ancient Astronomy,” Exploring Ancient Skies: An Encyclopedic Survey of Archaeoastronomy (New York, NY: Springer, 2005), 473.

30 Herzog, “The Yuman Musical Style,” 208.

The American folklorist Martha Warren Beckwith conducted an extensive analysis of the Kumulipo. Her English translation of the chant’s opening lines is as follows:

At the time when the earth became hot At the time when the heavens turned about At the time when the sun was darkened To cause the moon to shine The time of the rise of the Pleiades The slime, this was the source of the earth The source of the darkness that made darkness The source of the night that made night The intense darkness, the deep darkness Darkness of the sun, darkness of the night Nothing but night. The night gave birth…31

As mentioned earlier, one notable difference between the third movement and the previous two movements is that the third movement uses a written text as its inspiration, rather than indigenous melodic material. This text is an especially appropriate basis for the final movement of Pleiades Visions in that it evokes powerful imagery related to the creation of the world. The composer thus uses the cosmological action depicted in the text as a springboard for the creation of the musical materials on which “Mauna Kea” is constructed. There is a resonance between the creation imagery of the above text and scientific knowledge related to the Pleiades, in that the stars of the Pleiades are extremely young. While the third movement does not go out of its way to highlight this connection, it could be seen as on some level referring back to the modern astronomical conception of the Pleiades, thus bringing Pleiades Visions full circle. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! 31 Beckwith, The Kumulipo, 58.

6. Extramusical Concepts as Source Materials

In addition to the source materials just described, there are two extramusical concepts that drive Pleiades Visions and serve as unifying forces. The first is the idea of physical landscape. The first movement evokes the great rise of Uluru over the vast landscape of the Australian outback. The second movement can be seen as influenced by the wide-open desert landscape of the Quechan homeland. In the third movement, the cosmological action of the opening lines of the Kumulipo is linked with both the landscape of Mauna Kea and the volcanism of that mountain’s past.

The second idea is that of origins. The source material for Pleiades Visions is all linked in some manner to the concepts of origins, beginnings, and creation. The first movement is loosely connected with Dreamtime cosmology, the creation mythology of the Aborigines. The second movement makes reference to Quechan ideas regarding their origins as a people. The mythology associated with the second movement also keys into historical notions of the plurality of worlds, the idea that there could be many planets throughout the universe that support life, even intelligent life. The plurality of worlds is an intellectual strand that has its roots deep in antiquity, and this plurality led to the modern scientific field of astrobiology. The third movement is influenced by Native

Hawaiian ideas regarding the creation of the world.

7. Summary and Conclusion

Each of the three movements of Pleiades Visions is thus based on its own specific set of materials. These materials were identified as a result of research that combines

38 aspects and techniques from the fields of cultural astronomy and ethnomusicology. The themes and motives found in movements I and II are loosely derived from indigenous musical materials. Movement III, by contrast, is inspired by a text, and depicts the dramatic action of that text.

In addition to the musical and text-based materials specific to each movement, there are extramusical concepts common to all three movements. These extramusical concepts have an important influence on the structure and narrative of the composition, and serve as a unifying force for Pleiades Visions as a whole.

Finally, the research on which Pleiades Visions is based represents a new area of inquiry for both cultural astronomy and ethnomusicology. At the time of this writing, the composer’s efforts at continuing this line of investigation are ongoing, and include an online survey on traditional music and indigenous astronomy for the organization

Astronomers Without Borders. Astronomers Without Borders is an international astronomy education and cultural organization that grew out of the 2009 International

Year of Astronomy, a worldwide effort sponsored jointly by the International

Astronomical Union and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural

Organization (UNESCO). It is the composer’s hope that this survey will provide a larger sample of data and include a wider spectrum of cultural groups and geographical areas.

IV. COMPOSITION OF PLEIADES VISIONS

1. Cultural Sensitivity

Pleiades Visions, like any composition employing indigenous music as source material, raises complex issues surrounding cultural sensitivity and the ethics of appropriating non-Western musical traditions in a Western music context. It is not uncommon for indigenous groups to consider large portions of their cultural material proprietary and off-limits to outsiders. Particularly in the popular music arena, the appropriation of recordings and samples of indigenous music has been the source of a great deal of controversy, especially when such music is incorporated directly into a popular song without credit being given to the original source.32

A Case Study in Musical Appropriation

In his essay “A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery” (from the book Strange Sounds:

Music, Technology, and Culture), American ethnomusicologist Timothy Taylor outlines a particularly telling and controversial case study involving the appropriation of indigenous musical materials in a popular music context. Taylor’s case study involves the song

“Return to Innocence” by the German band Enigma. In “Return to Innocence,” a portion of a live recording of an indigenous Taiwanese song is used, unaltered, as the song’s refrain. In the liner notes to the recording, no information is given regarding the source of the Taiwanese recording. As a result, several reviews of “Return to Innocence” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 32 Timothy D. Taylor, “A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery.” Strange Sounds: Music, Technology, and Culture (New York, NY: Routledge, 2001): 117-135.

40 misidentify the geographical region and cultural group with which the Taiwanese song is associated.33

“Return to Innocence” became the most successful single on Enigma’s album The

Cross of Changes. The song attained the number two position on European charts, the number three position on UK charts, and the number four position on charts in the United

States. Five million copies of The Cross of Changes were sold, and the album remained on Billboard’s Top 100 chart for a period of thirty-two weeks.34 “Return to Innocence” became one of the official songs of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.35 The song’s popularity, coupled with the lack of attribution of the source of the Taiwanese musical material, gave impetus for a lawsuit filed by the Taiwanese singer heard on the recording appropriated by Enigma.36 The lawsuit was resolved in an out-of-court settlement.37

A Compositional Framework for Pleiades Visions

For the purposes of Pleiades Visions, the music and writings of Australian contemporary composer Peter Sculthorpe (b. 1929) provide a framework guiding the composer’s use of indigenous musical materials in a culturally sensitive manner.

Sculthorpe’s work is heavily influenced by Aboriginal musical traditions; as indicated !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! 33 Taylor, “A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery,” 120-122, 128. ! 34 Ibid., 121. ! 35 Ibid., 122. ! "#!$%&'()!*++(!! ! ",!$%&'()!*+-(!

41 earlier, it could be argued that no Australian composer has made more extensive use of indigenous music than has Sculthorpe.38

In Sculthorpe’s music, Aboriginal melodic material is almost never quoted directly. There is no direct borrowing in his work; when Sculthorpe employs Aboriginal materials, they are always transformed in some way.39 Sculthorpe describes his approach as being one “of cultural representation, not cultural appropriation,”40 a notion supported by Australian ethnomusicologist Steven Knopoff (University of Adelaide).41 In Anne

Boyd’s discussion of Sculthorpe’s work, she indicates that this approach to incorporating

Aboriginal musical materials “has earned the approbation of Aboriginal elders who recognize the deep respect and regard that Sculthorpe has for their culture.”42

In light of insights gained from Sculthorpe’s work, the movements of Pleiades

Visions that incorporate indigenous musical materials employ those materials in an abstract manner. In this case, the indigenous melodies influence original motives and themes. Additionally, particularly in the first movement, depiction of indigenous mythology is indirect and subtle, in the interest of compliance with the conventions of cultural sensitivity.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

38 Boyd, “Landscape, Spirit and Music,” 21.

39 Peter Sculthorpe, “Ethical Issues in my Music,” Seeing Ethics 67 (Autumn 2007): 1.

40 Ibid., 1

41 Ibid., 1

42 Boyd, “Landscape, Spirit and Music,” 23.

2. Compositional Techniques in Pleiades Visions

We will now consider in detail compositional techniques employed in Pleiades

Visions. This discussion will include two major components: the use of indigenous melodic material as a springboard for the development of motives and themes, and the creative ways in which the organ is used to support the program of each movement. One aspect of Pleiades Visions is that many of the registrations indicated differ from those commonly found in the standard organ literature. Also included will be discussion of ways in which the extramusical concepts of physical landscape and place influenced the composition of Pleiades Visions.

Movement I: “Uluru”

In terms of overall program, the first movement can be thought of as a reflection on observing the Pleiades – and the spectacular Southern Hemisphere night sky – from

Uluru. The opening of the movement is evocative of the vastness of the central desert of

Australia. Following the opening is a passage featuring extremely colorful registrations, evoking images of the Pleiades themselves and the brilliant Southern Hemisphere night sky. This passage leads into a large toccata that comprises the bulk of the movement; this toccata evokes the majestic rise of Uluru over the surrounding landscape. The conclusion reprises the opening material, but on full organ, reinforcing the movement’s depiction of the endless outback landscape and brilliant desert night sky.

Opening “Uluru” is an extended slow section featuring complex chords in the manuals over repeated quarter notes in the pedal. An example of the opening material

43 from “Uluru” is shown in Musical Example 4.1. The C-A-F-G melodic line found in the right hand in measures 7-10 is derived from the cue-sized notes at the beginning of

Musical Example 3.1. Additionally, the repeated quarter-note figures recall the regular clapping stick beat shown in the concussion stick line of Musical Example 3.1. This clapping stick beat is common to most Pitjantjatjara music.

This example represents the first case of the use of a specific registration to support the program of the movement. The manual registration indication is for a Celeste combination at 8-foot pitch on the Swell, to which is added a 4-foot Principal.

Combinations including the 8’ Celeste are common registrations in much of the contemporary organ literature and produce an ethereal, almost otherworldly tone color.

This otherworldly effect is a result of the tuning of the Celeste; most Celeste stops are tuned slightly sharp. The 4-foot principal adds brightness and intensity to the mysterious color of the Celeste combination. This unusual registration combination is intended to reflect the vast, harsh quality of the landscape surrounding Uluru, and also of the brilliance of the southern hemisphere night sky. !

Musical Example 4.1. Excerpt from Opening of “Uluru.”

The next excerpt, shown in Musical Example 4.2, represents another case of the use of an unusual registration to support the program of the movement. In this example, the indicated registration for the right hand melody (Flute 8’, Principal 4’, small Mixture, small Reed 8’) produces an exceptionally colorful and keen sound, particularly with the

Mixture’s contribution of a substantial number of upper harmonics. This tone color could be considered evocative of the harshness of the desert landscape, as well as the intense colors produced by the sunlight reflecting off of Uluru, particularly at sunset.

Additionally, the syncopated rhythmic profile of the right-hand melody is derived from similar such rhythms in the Aboriginal melody shown in Musical Example 3.1.

As noted earlier, the Seven Sisters are considered to be Dreamtime heroes in

Aboriginal lore and mythology. The two examples given above, in addition to being evocative of the landscape around Uluru and the brilliant night skies of that area, can also be seen as suggesting the mysterious nature of the Dreamtime. These two examples comprising material for the opening section of “Uluru” thus operate on multiple levels.

On a surface level, the two examples are intended to represent the vast Australian desert landscape and night sky. On a subsurface level, they suggest in an abstract sense the cosmology underlying Aboriginal views with respect to the landscape and night sky.

Musical Example 4.2. Unusual Manual Registration.

The following section of “Uluru” is based on a seven-note motive, shown in

Musical Example 4.3, which can be seen as representing the Pleiades themselves. The number of notes in this motive is significant in that seven stars are visible in the Pleiades when viewed from a location – such as Uluru – with very clear skies that are free of light pollution. This motive is abstracted from the A-C-D-C figure found near the end of the second line of the Aboriginal melody shown in Musical Example 3.1.

This seven-note motive is expanded into a passage comprised of a relatively disjunct right hand melodic line over a quintuplet ostinato figure in the left hand. An example from this passage is shown in Musical Example 4.4. In this passage, the left- hand ostinato derives from the melodic contour of the first five notes of the Pleiades motive just shown. The pitches of the right-hand melody are taken directly from the

Pleiades motive. The syncopated rhythms of the right hand melody are influenced by the rhythmic profile of the Aboriginal melody shown in Musical Example 3.1.

Musical Example 4.3. Pleiades Motive.

Musical Example 4.4. Passage Representing Expansion of Pleiades Motive.

The following brief passage, an example of which is shown in Musical Example

4.5, is even more mysterious in effect. The indicated registration for this passage, with flutes at 16-foot and 4-foot pitch on the Swell and a 2-foot solo flute or principal combination for the Pedal melody, creates a sparkling, otherworldly effect; this effect can be seen as a reference to the brilliant nature of the stars of the Pleiades. From a motivic standpoint, the melody in the Pedal is freely composed, but influenced by the contour of the Pleiades theme (Musical Example 4.3). Note once again the use of syncopated rhythms.

At the conclusion of this otherworldly passage, and approximately halfway through the movement, the focus shifts from the mystery and vastness of the overall landscape and night sky to the great bulk of Uluru itself. Uluru’s rise over the surrounding desert is depicted by an intense, rhythmically complex toccata that comprises the centerpiece of the movement. This toccata begins on a colorful registration (Flute 4’,

Flute 2’, and Larigot 1 1/3’ in the manuals over a 4’ solo reed in the pedal), and increases suddenly to a registration approaching full organ. The registration drops in intensity for an extended middle section comprising contrasting motivic material. The opening material of the toccata then returns, and the registration builds once again. This registration buildup leads to the conclusion of “Uluru,” which reprises the opening material on a full organ registration that includes the largest reeds of the organ.

Musical Example 4.5. The Indicated Registration Creates a Sparkling, Otherworldly Effect.

The following example (Musical Example 4.6) shows the first ten measures of the toccata and gives the basic toccata figuration. In this figuration, the right hand motives grow out of a transposition of the Pleiades motive (Musical Example 4.3). The pedal melody takes influence from the downward-trending figures of my transcription of the

Pitjantjatjara melody (Musical Example 3.1). This downward-trending pedal melody line continues through much of the toccata, anchoring it and providing a subsurface connection to the Pleiades.

Much of the middle section of the toccata is performed on a subsidiary manual.

The basic motivic material for the middle section is shown in Musical Example 4.7. The repeated-note figures relate to the repeated-note pedal line found in the opening of

“Uluru” (Musical Example 4.1). The figures tend to circulate around one pitch (C in this example); this is also a characteristic derived from the pedal line in the opening of the movement. These repeated-note figurations in the middle section of the toccata, like their counterparts in the pedal line at the opening of the movement, can be seen as references to the concussion-stick clapping beat common to much Pitjantjatjara music.

Musical Example 4.6. Basic Toccata Figuration.

Musical Example 4.7. Motivic Material for Middle Section of Toccata.

The third and final section of the toccata reprises the toccata’s opening material, as shown in Musical Example 4.8. There are several compositional aspects of this passage that result in a marked increase in intensity. First, the left and right hand parts are separated by two octaves, instead of one octave as in the passage’s earlier occurrence.

Second, the rhythmic accent points receive highlights in the form of dyads (rather than single notes) in the right-hand part. Third, there are instances where extreme harmonic tension results from the use of highly dissonant intervals. For example, in the third measure, an A-natural in the right hand clashes with an A-flat in the pedal; these two pitches are separated by a minor second. This clash intensifies with the appearance of the

A-natural in the right hand two octaves higher. These compositional aspects create an effect of singular power, particularly given the massive registration attained at this stage of the toccata.

Near the conclusion of the toccata, a particularly dramatic effect surfaces in the presence of the descending melodic figure (heard for much of the toccata in the pedal) in the right hand in octaves. In this brief, climactic passage, the descending melodic figure soars over complex sonorities occurring in rhythmic unison in the left hand and pedal, as shown in Musical Example 4.9. This passage leads to a virtuosic pedal solo based on motivic material from the right-hand part of the basic toccata figure.

Musical Example 4.8. Excerpt from Final Section of Toccata.

Musical Example 4.9. Climactic Passage near Conclusion of Toccata.

The above-mentioned pedal solo effects a transition into the concluding section of

“Uluru,” a recapitulation of the opening material with larger, more complex manual chords and the repeated note pedal figure accentuated by the use of double pedal. The indicated registration is for full organ, including the largest manual reeds and the pedal reeds at 32-foot pitch. The first six measures of the final section of the movement are shown in Musical Example 4.10. This final section, with its massive chords performed on a colossal registration, concludes “Uluru” in grand style. It represents a dramatic, final evocation of the intense vastness of the Australian outback landscape and the spectacular desert night sky.

The first movement of Pleiades Visions thus makes creative use of the resources of the pipe organ to paint a sonic picture of Uluru, its surrounding landscape, and the night sky of the Australian desert (with, of course, an emphasis placed on the Pleiades).

The first movement thus couples an abstract evocation of indigenous astronomy knowledge with a depiction of the physical landscape with which that knowledge is associated. This linking of astronomy and physical landscape is a theme that pervades

Pleiades Visions.

Musical Example 4.10. Excerpt from Final Section of “Uluru.”

From a compositional standpoint, “Uluru” uses an indigenous melody as a loose inspiration for a small number of themes and motives. These motives serve as cells in the generation of a large, complex musical structure. For instance, the seven-note “Pleiades” motive forms the basis for the ethereal second section of the movement, and also generates the figuration for the movement’s large toccata. “Uluru” can thus be seen as a study in the propagation of small motives and musical ideas through a structure of substantial size and complexity.

Earlier in the chapter, reference was made to the Australian composer Peter

Sculthorpe, and the influence of the work of that composer on the composition of

“Uluru.” “Uluru” is in some ways similar in inspiration to Sculthorpe’s orchestral work

Kakadu (1988). Kakadu, like “Uluru,” is inspired by a sense of landscape and place. In the case of Kakadu, the landscape of Kakadu National Park in the far north of Australia serves as the primary source of inspiration.43 The musical material of Kakadu reflects the melodic contours and rhythmic structure of Aboriginal song, just as Aboriginal musical materials inspired the composition of “Uluru.” One major difference between the two works, however, lies in Kakadu’s incorporation of an actual indigenous instrument

(Kakadu has a major part for didgeridoo). The other fundamental difference between the two works is of course the role that indigenous astronomical concepts played in the composition of “Uluru.”

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 43 Skinner, Liner Notes, 4. !

Movement II: “…life on other worlds”

The compositional methodology supporting “…life on other worlds,” the second movement of Pleiades Visions, is similar to that of “Uluru.” The motivic and thematic material of “…life on other worlds” is inspired by the Quechan Pleiades song shown on p. 208 of Herzog’s article, but derived in a more abstract manner than that of “Uluru.”

The registrations indicated in “…life on other worlds” are unusual and highly coloristic.

Particularly noteworthy is the middle section, which presents polyphonic melodic material on a 16- and 2-foot combination, accompanied by harmonic fourths and fifths played on a 4- and 2 2/3-foot combination. A pedal ostinato played on 16- and 8-foot flutes supports these two lines. This ostinato has the effect of blurring any sense of regular beat, disorienting the listener and giving the sense that time has somehow been suspended. The movement concludes with brief figures (played on a similar coloristic manual registration) over a restatement of the opening solo melody (played on a 4-foot pedal flute). The closing section has the effect of disconnecting the entire instrument from its lower register, while at the same time emphasizing its highest registers. This effect, used frequently by Olivier Messiaen in his organ works, heightens the

“otherworldly” sense of the movement.

“…life on other worlds” is connected to indigenous lore associated with the

Pleiades by both its thematic inspiration and Quechan ideas regarding their people’s origins. Additionally, the opening and closing sections in particular, with solo melodies evocative of Native American flute music, make oblique reference to the wide-open landscape of the Quechan homeland.

The opening pedal flute melody stems from a “seed” motive based on the interval of an ascending perfect fourth, as shown in Musical Example 4.11. This motive derives from the rising fourth interval separating the first two notes in the Quechan Pleiades melody (p. 208 of Herzog’s article). The interval of a perfect fourth – both ascending and descending – occurs several times in the Quechan Pleiades melody, hence its selection as the base interval in the “seed” motive of the opening pedal melody. The syncopated rhythmic profile of the “seed” motive arises from a similar rhythmic pattern found at the beginning of the second measure of the third line of the Quechan Pleiades melody.

As the opening pedal flute melody unfolds, the “seed” motive expands into progressively longer phrases, as shown in Musical Example 4.12. As can be seen in

Musical Example 4.12, the “seed” motive’s syncopated rhythmic profile is an important feature in its expansion (note, however, the use of a non-syncopated rhythmic pattern in m. 10). The perfect fourth interval also plays an important role, though it expands to a tritone in m. 8.

Later in the opening pedal melody, more complex rhythmic elements such as triplets and quintuplets come into play. The balance of the opening pedal melody is shown in Musical Example 4.13. In the remainder of the pedal melody, the perfect fourth interval from the “seed” motive transforms into a tritone in almost every instance in which it occurs. In one case (m. 15), it is expanded even further; the interval between the last two notes of the second triplet in m.15 is a descending perfect fifth. In mm. 16-17, the syncopated rhythmic profile of the “seed” motive recurs as the opening pedal melody winds down.

Musical Example 4.11. “Seed” Motive for Opening Pedal Melody of “…life on other worlds.”

Musical Example 4.12. Expansion of “Seed” Motive.

Musical Example 4.13. Remainder of Opening Pedal Melody.

The entire opening pedal melody appears in Musical Examples 4.11-4.13. We will now consider the overall melodic contour of the melody. The melody begins in the tenor range of the organ pedalboard, builds to a high point in m. 15, and works its way down into the low register of the pedalboard in mm. 16-17. This low-high-low melodic contour reflects a similar melodic shaping found in the Quechan Pleiades song (p. 208 of

Herzog’s article). In the Quechan song, each phrase tends to begin in a fairly low register, move to a central high point, and return to a low register near the end. The overall shape of the opening pedal melody thus takes influence from characteristics of the melodic contour of the Quechan Pleiades song. Because of its melodic shaping, the opening pedal melody has an effect not unlike that of solo flute music of the American Indian tribes of the southwestern United States. The opening pedal melody’s registration indication of a flute at 4-foot pitch heightens this effect.

As the opening pedal melody concludes, a brief transitional passage ensues. In this transitional passage, the pedal melody continues, accompanied by the left hand with a Swell 8-foot flute. In m. 23, the right hand enters with a florid melody played on a solo

8-foot flute from the organ’s Great division. An example of this transitional material is shown in Musical Example 4.14.

Musical Example 4.14. Transitional Material in “…life on other worlds.”

This transitional passage marks the conclusion of the first section of “…life on other worlds.” The second section comprises melodic material (played by the right hand) based on motives derived from the opening pedal solo melody. The right-hand part makes extensive use of two-voice polyphony, and is accompanied by a left-hand part based on harmonic fourths and fifths. A pedal ostinato undergirds the two manual parts, the beginning of which is shown in Musical Example 4.15. One noteworthy aspect of this ostinato is its palindromic characteristics. The first two measures are in 3/4 time, the third in 4/4 time, and the fourth in 5/4 time. In the fifth measure, the time signature returns to

4/4, and in the final measure of the example the time signature returns to 3/4. The overall effect of the ostinato is to blur the listener’s sense of a regularly weighted beat. This pedal passage, and in fact the entire second section of “…life on other worlds,” seems to have the effect of suspending time.

In m. 33, the left hand enters (on a 4- and 2 2/3-foot flute combination on the

Swell) with the aforementioned harmonic fourth-based accompaniment. The melodic contour of the accompaniment takes indirect influence, albeit indirectly, from motives found in the opening pedal solo melody. For instance, the first three sonorities of the accompaniment represent an intervallic compression of the “seed” motive, as shown in

Musical Example 4.16.

Musical Example 4.15. Beginning of Pedal Ostinato in Second Section of “…life on other worlds.”

Musical Example 4.16. Intervallic Compression of “Seed” Motive.

The three left hand sonorities in Musical Example 4.16 also exhibit rhythmic connections to the “seed” motive. The “seed” motive comprises a longer middle note framed by two shorter notes; the same is true of the three sonorities in the above example.

The note values in the Musical Example 4.16, however, are longer than those of the

“seed” motive and thus represent an augmentation of the “seed” motive. Also, the sonorities change on the final beat of each respective measure. The shifts from one sonority to the next thus occur on weak beats, enhancing the effect of rhythmic “blurring” mentioned earlier.

In m. 36, the right hand enters with polyphonic melodic material played on 16- and 2-foot flutes, as shown in Musical Example 4.17. At first, the right hand part is monophonic, with the addition of a second voice in m. 41. The right hand melody in mm.

36-40 is a transposition up a fifth of mm. 4-5 of the opening pedal solo melody, with the rhythmic values augmented and the addition of a syncopated figure in m. 38. In mm. 41-

44, the same melodic figure is stated again, with the addition of a descant based on figures related to the “seed” motive.

As the middle section of “…life on other worlds” unfolds, the polyphonic writing in the right hand becomes more complex and active. The final measures of the middle section, showing this increase in activity, are displayed in Musical Example 4.18. In this passage, the “seed” motive appears in the lower right hand voice in mm. 49-52, followed by a figure derived from the ninth measure of the opening pedal solo melody in mm. 53-

56. The upper voice sounds a florid descant. Note the use of syncopated rhythms in both right hand parts, and in the accompanying harmonic fourth sonorities in the left hand.

Musical Example 4.17. Entrance of the Right Hand with Polyphonic Melodic Material.

Musical Example 4.18. Final Measures of Middle Section of “…life on other worlds.”

In the final section of “…life on other worlds,” the opening pedal solo flute melody recurs, transposed initially up a whole tone. Late in the closing section, the melody returns to the original tonal center of D. In this final section of the movement, the pedal solo melody is accompanied by flourishes in the manuals, as shown in Musical

Example 4.19. These flourishes are to be played on the same coloristic manual registrations indicated for the middle section of the movement. An additional feature of the closing section of the movement is the incorporation in the pedal solo melody of rhythmic figures similar to those found in the manuals. An example of such a figure can be found in m. 67 of Musical Example 4.19.

“…life on other worlds” is thus similar to “Uluru” in that it uses an indigenous melody as source material for motives and themes. However, the manner in which the indigenous melody is used is less direct, and more abstract, than that of “Uluru.” In

“…life on other worlds,” an interval from the Quechan melody serves as the basis for a

“seed” motive that in turn is propagated throughout the movement. This “seed” motive thus provides a loose connection between the musical material of “…life on other worlds” and the Quechan Pleiades song. This loose, abstract connection is in keeping with the all-important norms of cultural sensitivity outlined earlier.

Musical Example 4.19. Pedal Solo Melody and Manual Flourishes in Final Section of the Movement.

A central feature of “…life on other worlds” is the use of highly coloristic registrations; the registration indications are key to establishing the overall atmosphere of the movement. The opening pedal solo melody’s registration indication of a 4-foot flute is integral in giving that melody a quality similar to that of Native American flute music.

The use of flutes at 16- and 2-foot pitch for the polyphonic writing in the right hand part of the middle section produces a piquant atmospheric effect; this effect is heightened by the use of 4- and 2 2/3-foot flutes for the accompanying harmonic fourths and fifths in the left hand. Another contributor to this atmospheric effect is the sense of rhythmic blurring produced by the pedal ostinato. As the movement concludes, the pedal solo melody recurs, again on a 4-foot flute, combined with flourishes played on the same registrations indicated for the manual parts of the middle section. As stated earlier, this particular set of registration combinations has the effect of disconnecting the organ from its lower register while simultaneously emphasizing its highest registers. All of these aspects of registration and creative use of the organ’s tonal resources lend the movement an

“otherworldly” atmosphere. This atmosphere is reflective of the movement’s title, and of the Quechan belief that the tribe’s ancestors have their origins in the Pleiades. The

“otherworldly” atmosphere of “…life on other worlds” can also be seen as making oblique reference to historical notions of the plurality of worlds and the modern scientific field of astrobiology.

Movement III: “Mauna Kea”

“Mauna Kea,” the concluding movement of Pleiades Visions, differs in compositional methodology in that it uses a text as its primary inspiration. In “Mauna

Kea” the imagery of the opening lines of the Kumulipo (see p. 36) informs the construction of original themes and motives. The thematic material of “Mauna Kea” thus exhibits no direct connections to indigenous musical material.

“Mauna Kea” is loosely programmatic, in that the sequence of images evoked in the chant text influences the overall structure of the movement. For instance, the intense, sinister opening is evocative of the text “at the time when the earth became hot…” The opening section is also influenced by the multiple references to “darkness” in the chant text. The large toccata that ensues is in response to the line “at the time when the heavens turned about.” Later in the movement, a transitional section comprising angular lines in the manuals over a cluster chord in the pedal refers to the “slime” imagery situated near the middle of the chant text.

The overall trajectory of “Mauna Kea” is marked by a gradual progression from a dark, closed harmonic language to a harmonic language characterized by very bright sonorities. This is reflective of images in the chant such as “rising” (as in “the time of the rise of the Pleiades”), and of the building cosmological drama, evoking the creation of the world, in the chant text. The powerful conclusion of the movement, with its vast chordal passages, wild pedal solos, and explosive repeating chords, represents the concluding line of the text: “the night gave birth.”

The musical evocations in “Mauna Kea” in many ways serve multiple functions.

Another major inspiration for the movement is the physical landscape of Mauna Kea itself. Mauna Kea is the largest mountain in Hawai’i, the highest point in the Pacific basin, and is in fact a larger mountain than Mt. Everest (though much of Mauna Kea is situated underwater). It is also a dormant volcano, and its summit is the site of a major astronomical observatory. These characteristics of Mauna Kea inspire several images, all of which are important to the final movement of Pleiades Visions: the sheer size of

Mauna Kea, the vast view from the summit of the surrounding islands and ocean, the splendor of the night sky as viewed from the summit, the “submerged” nature of much of the mountain, and the mountain’s volcanic past (and future). For instance, the more lyrical middle section, marking a recurrence of the colorful registration indicated for the opening passage of “Uluru,” evokes the wide-open view from the summit. The melodic line from this section forms the basis for the expansive chords found in the movement’s closing passages, evoking again the grand view from the summit and the splendor of the night sky as viewed from Mauna Kea. The dance/toccata near the end of the movement suggests a sonic depiction of Mauna Kea itself. The massive power of the dance/toccata evokes the tremendous size of the mountain and its volcanic nature. These two aspects of

Mauna Kea also serve as inspiration for the explosive, hammered chords at the very end of the movement.

The powerful nature of aspects of “Mauna Kea” can also be seen as making an oblique reference to the modern astrophysical conception of the Pleiades. Astronomers understand the Pleiades to be an open star cluster comprising hot, massive stars that were

73 formed only very recently. The stars of the Pleiades are extremely powerful, with the largest being several times more massive, and thousands of times more luminous, than our own Sun. This understanding of the brilliant nature of the Pleiades themselves was an additional influence in the composition of “Mauna Kea.”

In the opening section of “Mauna Kea,” intense, dissonant sonorities result from the piling of held tones onto each other. The angular melody line is carried by the organ’s pedal division and makes extensive use of virtuosic thirty-second note figures. An excerpt from the opening section of “Mauna Kea” is shown in Musical Example 4.20. In this passage, the manual parts are played on the Swell. The registration indication is for a full Swell combination, but with the Swell box closed (as indicated by the piano dynamic marking in the score in m. 1). The complex sound produced by the full Swell registration is thus muffled by closed Swell shades. This registration effect bolsters the opening section’s evocation of the chant text “At the time when the earth became hot.” The opening section also points to the text “The intense darkness, the deep darkness.”

Musical Example 4.20. Excerpt from Opening of “Mauna Kea.”

Late in the opening section, the performer is instructed to move both hands to the

Great manual (with the Swell coupled to the Great), and to open the Swell box. A short- lived buildup thus results. Immediately after this buildup, a sudden registration change leads into a brief transitional passage, an example of which is shown in Musical Example

4.21.

In this passage, two manual contrapuntal lines are superimposed on each other; these two lines sound over a pedal point. This pedal point, on the pitch D-flat, creates a sense of instability and harmonic tension. In the manuals, the right hand line is played on a solo 4-foot flute, and the left hand line is played on an unusual combination comprising an 8-foot Principal and a small 16-foot reed. In this unusual registration combination, the left-hand line creates a dark effect, while the right-hand line creates an effect that is much brighter in character. This superimposition of bright and dark tone colors reflects the tension between light and darkness described in the chant text.

Musical Example 4.21. Subito Registration Change and Beginning of Transitional Passage.

The main body of “Mauna Kea” begins in m. 26 with a large toccata, which illustrates the chant text “At the time when the heavens turned about.” Musical Example

4.22 shows the beginning of the toccata and displays the basic toccata figuration. The melodic line, played in the pedal, is based loosely on motives from the melody in the opening section of “Uluru,” the first movement of Pleiades Visions. This use of motivic material from a previous movement assists in providing unity through the entire structure of Pleiades Visions.

This toccata is constructed in multiple sections, some of which contain contrasting musical material. In particular, the “moving” sections of the toccata are interrupted several times by brief interjections that combine florid melodic material in the right hand with sustained sonorities in the left hand. These interjections are important in that they contrast with the harmonically static “moving” sections and thus assist in heightening the dramatic tension of the toccata. We will consider these interjections in more detail shortly.

The “moving” sections of the toccata comprise three basic harmonies, the first of which is illustrated in Musical Example 4.22. Musical Example 4.23 shows the second basic harmony; this harmony is transitional in nature, and is used as a bridge between the first and third harmonic areas. The toccata’s third harmony is shown in Musical Example

4.24. The pedal melody line once again derives from melodic material from the opening section of “Uluru.”

Musical Example 4.22. Beginning of Toccata.

Musical Example 4.23. Toccata Transitional Material.

Musical Example 4.24. Third Harmony of Toccata.

As stated earlier, the “moving” sections of the toccata are interrupted by brief interjections comprising florid melodic figures accompanied by sustained sonorities. An example of such an interjection is shown in Musical Example 4.25. As the toccata unfolds, these interjections become longer and more developed. In the final such interjection, the sustained tones move to the pedal, which plays an open fifth pedal point.

The hands play a rhythmically complex melodic line in octaves. An excerpt from this final interjection is shown in Musical Example 4.26.

Immediately after this final interjection, the original toccata figuration returns, but in a lower register and with thicker harmonies (Musical Example 4.27). Additionally, a registration increase occurs; the performer is instructed to add the larger manual reeds.

The combination of lower register, increased harmonic density, and a larger registration produces an effect of great intensity. One notable characteristic of this passage is that it creates a sort of tension between bright and dark harmonies. The melodic outline of the manual figuration exhibits a distinct Lydian flavor. The brightness created by the melodic outline’s Lydian inflection is tempered, however, by the manner in which it is harmonized; in particular, tension is created by the alternation between A-natural and A- flat in the right hand part. “Mauna Kea” as a whole exhibits an overall trajectory from a dark harmonic language early in the movement to a bright harmonic language as the movement approaches its culmination. This passage represents the point at which the movement’s evolution from dark to bright harmonies begins to emerge.

Musical Example 4.25. Toccata Interjection.

Musical Example 4.26. Excerpt from Final Interjection.

Musical Example 4.27. Return of Original Toccata Figuration, with Increase in Harmonic Density.

In m. 66 of Musical Example 4.27, the manual parts move up in register, accompanied by an intervallic expansion of the toccata figuration in the final two sonorities of the measure. This move to a higher register, coupled with the intervallic expansion of the toccata figuration, establishes the movement’s trajectory towards a brighter harmonic language. In terms of the Kumulipo chant on which the movement is based, this passage represents the text “At the time when the sun was darkened/to cause the moon to shine.”

The toccata concludes with a virtuosic dance passage in which the manuals present declamatory figures in octaves over double pedal interjections. This final passage of the toccata creates a climactic effect by moving progressively higher in register. An excerpt from this final dance-like passage is shown in Musical Example 4.28.

This passage, with its movement in the manual parts to progressively higher registers, takes influence from the chant text “The time of the rise of the Pleiades.” As stated at the beginning of this discussion of “Mauna Kea,” the movement also makes oblique reference to modern astrophysical conceptions of the Pleiades. The final two sections of the toccata discussed above, with their dramatic increases in brightness and intensity, reflect astronomers’ understanding of the Pleiades as containing hot, young, massive, and luminous stars.

Musical Example 4.28. Excerpt from Final Passage of Toccata.

Following the toccata is a lyrical section comprising an expansive melody in the right hand over sustained sonorities in the left hand. This section reprises the registration indicated for the opening section of “Uluru,” and the pulsating pedal line is reminiscent of the pedal line in the opening section of “Uluru” as well. This section thus represents another example of the use of material from a previous movement to provide unity throughout the entire large-scale structure of Pleiades Visions. The opening of this expansive, lyrical section is shown in Musical Example 4.29

This passage is evocative of the vast view from the summit of Mauna Kea. The view from atop Mauna Kea is breathtaking in scope, with clouds and ocean extending seemingly to infinity. One is frequently able to see Mauna Loa, a massive neighboring volcano on the island of Hawai’i. Haleakala, a large volcano on the adjacent island of

Maui, is often visible as well. The view from the summit of Mauna Kea is particularly dramatic at sunset. The passage excerpted in Musical Example 4.29 represents an initial illustration of the view from atop Mauna Kea. In the final section of the movement, material from this lyrical section recurs in dramatic fashion on full organ, depicting the full splendor of the Mauna Kea summit environment.

Musical Example 4.29. Expansive, Lyrical Middle Section of “Mauna Kea.”

This lyrical section leads into a brief passage comprising angular lines in the manuals over a cluster chord in the pedal. The manual lines are played on a full Swell registration as the pedal cluster chord sounds in the background on 16- and 8-foot flues.

Later in the passage, the right hand moves to the Great as the left hand begins to hold an additional cluster chord. This passage, illustrated in Musical Example 4.30, reprises and expands material from the opening of the movement (Musical Example 4.20).

In this brief passage, the movement returns to its depiction of the imagery in the

Kumulipo chant, illustrating the following text:

The slime, this was the source of the earth The source of the darkness that made darkness The source of the night that made night The intense darkness, the deep darkness Darkness of the sun, darkness of the night Nothing but night…

The cluster chords in particular represent tone painting for the “slime” imagery that characterizes this excerpt from the Kumulipo. Additionally, the use of a full Swell registration, combined with the relatively low register of the manual parts, reflects the multiple references to “darkness” in the portion of the chant text quoted above.

Musical Example 4.30. Brief Passage with Cluster Chords.

At the conclusion of the passage discussed above, a brief transition ensues. This transition consists of rapid passagework in the manuals and angular pedal solos, and leads into the penultimate section of “Mauna Kea.” This penultimate section, a dance/toccata, constitutes one of the most innovative uses of the organ in all of Pleiades Visions.

Musical Example 4.31 shows the opening measures of the dance/toccata and illustrates the section’s basic motivic material. The right hand figure, consisting largely of sequences of repeated notes, stems from the melodic line of the expansive, lyrical middle section of the movement (Musical Example 4.29). This figure is accompanied in the left hand by sonorities that pile onto each other. The effect of this passage is heightened by the very large registration, giving a sense of the scale of Mauna Kea.

As the dance/toccata unfolds, the “piling” sonorities become in and of themselves a major motivic idea, as shown in Musical Example Example 4.32. In this example, the

“piling” motives occur in a dialogue between the low and high registers of the organ.

This juxtaposition of low and high registers reflects the fact that Mauna Kea represents the highest point of the Pacific Ocean basin, but that much of the mountain is underwater.

Musical Example 4.31. Opening of Dance/Toccata.

Musical Example 4.32. Piling Motives Occurring in Dialogue.

Held chords that share pitch classes with the repeated chords (as shown in

Musical Example 4.33) heighten the effect of “stacking motives” within the dance/toccata. In some cases, the held chords sound in the left hand, one octave lower than the repeating chords. In other cases the reverse is true, with the held chords one octave higher in the right hand. At this stage in the dance/toccata, a further registration increase has occurred; the performer has been instructed to add the larger manual reeds.

The effect of this passage, with both repeating and held chords performed on a massive registration, is one of great intensity, and is intended to reference the volcanic origins

(and future) of Mauna Kea. Also important is the sudden shift in both hands from the low register to the high register of the organ (m. 168). This juxtaposition of low and high register again reflects the fact that Mauna Kea’s summit soars high over the Pacific

Ocean, but that much of the mountain is under water. The dance/toccata, with its repeating notes and chords, “piling” sonorities, and juxtaposition of registral extremes, is a passage that appears to be singular in the organ literature. In any event, the musical depiction of Mauna Kea in the dance/toccata further reinforces the ideas of place and physical landscape, which are themes central to Pleiades Visions as a whole.

Musical Example 4.33. Repeating Chords Combined with Held Chords.

The final section of “Mauna Kea,” the first five measures of which are shown in

Musical Example 4.34, is evocative of the chant text “The night gave birth.” This concluding section begins with large chords alternating with rapid pedal solos. These chords are extremely bright in character, and the upper voice melodic line is taken directly from the opening of the melody of the movement’s lyrical middle section. As stated earlier, these large, majestic chords reinforce the movement’s depiction of the expansive view from the summit of Mauna Kea. The use of exceptionally bright sonorities is reflective of the final line of the chant text. Also contributing to both the depiction of the chant text and the overall sense of vastness is the registration indication; the performer is directed to add the largest reeds of the organ (with the exception of the

32-foot reeds in the Pedal). The effect created by the tempo indication (“Vast; colossal”) enhances further the sense of tremendous space.

Musical Example 4.34. First Five Measures of Concluding Section of “Mauna Kea.”

The final measures of “Mauna Kea” appear in Musical Example 4.35. The first four measures of the example represent another highly unusual use of the organ. The repeated chords in the manuals over descending harmonic fifths in the pedal are played in rapid succession. The combination of rapid repetition, extreme harmonic tension, and a colossal registration creates an explosive effect. This explosive effect harkens back to

Mauna Kea’s volcanic nature and represents a final allusion to the Kumulipo text. In the context of the cosmological action depicted by the chant text, the line “The night gave birth” suggests an explosive emergence of the world from the pre-creation darkness. The intensity of the repeated, hammered chords can be seen as suggesting this emergence.

The final seven measures of Musical Example 4.35, with their long sustained sonorities in the manuals, reestablish the expansive nature of the onset of the movement’s concluding section. These measures thus represent a final reference to the immense size of Mauna Kea. In m. 197, the performer is instructed to engage the 32-foot reeds in the pedal, allowing the complex rhythmic and melodic material of the pedal line to be audible over the sustained sonorities in the manuals. The addition of the pedal 32-foot reed also effects a final increase in intensity as the movement approaches its conclusion.

These final measures, with their massive registration, sustained sonorities in the upper range of the manuals, and complex, active pedal line, bring “Manua Kea,” and indeed the entire structure of Pleiades Visions, to a grand culmination. In conclusion, the unusual manner in which the organ is used in this final section – particularly the repeated, hammered chords – further establishes Pleiades Visions’ singular place in the organ literature.

Musical Example 4.35. Conclusion of “Mauna Kea.”

3. Summary and Conclusion

Pleiades Visions thus uses several compositional techniques to evoke indigenous conceptions of the Pleiades star cluster, night sky, and associated physical landscapes.

These techniques include creative use of register, unusual registration combinations, and full use of the organ’s complex overtone structure. Another compositional aspect central to Pleiades Visions is the use of indigenous musical and text material as the springboard for themes, motives, and textures. The issue of cultural sensitivity in the usage of motives inspired by indigenous materials played an all-important role in the compositional process for Pleiades Visions. In observance of the norms of cultural sensitivity, indigenous musical material is never quoted directly, but is instead used as the basis for the composer’s own themes and motives. Additionally, direct depiction of indigenous mythology is indirect and subtle, playing only a minor role in the work.

The unusual compositional techniques used in Pleiades Visions make it arguably a singular work in the organ literature. Several of the registrations indicated represent variations from typical practice. Furthermore, there are several examples in the work of textures that appear to be unprecedented. The end result is a large-scale composition of great color and power, and what appears to be the first work in the organ literature with a cultural astronomy inspiration.

V. CONCLUSION

Pleiades Visions, by virtue of its being likely the first organ work with a cultural astronomy inspiration, represents an expansion of the organ literature. As such, it connects with the current growth of interest in interdisciplinary scholarship and creative activity linking astronomy and music. Because of this connection, Pleiades Visions is also associated with an ongoing movement to integrate the arts and sciences in education, research, and creative activity. The integration of the arts into efforts to increase public engagement in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields is an area that is gaining momentum, and projects connecting the arts and sciences have attracted funding from sources such as NASA and the National Science Foundation.

In this spirit, Pleiades Visions represents a creative avenue for fostering increased public awareness of indigenous cultures and their conceptions of the night sky, celestial objects, and astronomy in general. The concluding movement is especially noteworthy in this regard in that it references Mauna Kea, a sacred site to the Native Hawaiian people.

As mentioned earlier, Mauna Kea is also the location of a major astronomical observatory. The presence of telescope facilities on Mauna Kea is a source of marked cultural tension among the Native Hawaiian people, and efforts to improve relationships between the astronomical community and the Native Hawaiian population are ongoing.

Potential performances and/or presentation involving “Mauna Kea,” and indeed all of

Pleiades Visions, could play a role in facilitating such efforts, and in promoting greater understanding of indigenous groups and their relationships to their home environments.

This possible role for Pleiades Visions makes its careful observance of norms of cultural sensitivity all the more important.

The research background underlying Pleiades Visions represents a new area of inquiry for both the fields of cultural astronomy and ethnomusicology. In the field of ethnomusicology, precedent exists for investigation of relationships between an indigenous group’s musical traditions and its natural environment. Steven Feld’s pioneering ethnographic work with the Kaluli people of Papua New Guinea constitutes a prime example of such scholarship. However, to the best of the author’s knowledge, no scholar has undertaken research employing tools from both the fields of cultural astronomy and ethnomusicology. The research undergirding Pleiades Visions represents a first step along this line of inquiry; further investigation is warranted. As described earlier in this document, the composer’s efforts at continuing this line of inquiry are ongoing.

The results of such scholarship will likely present new opportunities for ethnomusicology, cultural astronomy, and the growing fields of astronomy education and public outreach.

Pleiades Visions also presents exciting programming opportunities. Its duration of approximately twenty-five minutes approaches the length of one half of a standard organ recital program. Because of its use of unusual registrations and textures, this work is an ideal vehicle for demonstrating the wide-ranging capabilities of the pipe organ.

Additionally, the inspiration and background of Pleiades Visions is atypical and opens possibilities for engaging audiences in an innovative way. One possibility for audience engagement is the use of projected images representing key aspects of each of the three

100 movements. Figure 5.1 shows an image that could be used to accompany “Mauna Kea.”

This image depicts the view from the summit of Mauna Kea at night.

Pleiades Visions thus employs the vast sonic resources of the pipe organ in calling to mind indigenous responses to the night sky and associated physical landscapes.

Its unusual uses of registration, texture, and the organ’s registral space are remarkable in the organ literature. Furthermore, the work’s scholarly background connects to a new line of inquiry for both the fields of ethnomusicology and cultural astronomy. Pleiades

Visions thus represents an expansion of the organ literature and an artistic creation that constitutes a point of convergence between interdisciplinary research and creative endeavors.

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Figure 5.1. Night View from the Summit of Mauna Kea. This image could be projected during a performance of the final movement of Pleiades Visions. The Pleiades are located up and to the right of the Moon (the bright object near the center of the image). Image: B. McGrath; NASA/ courtesy of nasaimages.org.

102

APPENDIX A: ORIGINAL PROPOSAL TO THE SCHOOL OF MUSIC GRADUATE COMMITTEE

*. Proposed Title

Pleiades Visions for Organ Solo: A Composition Supported by Documented Research

2. Intent and Scope of Study

Pleiades Visions: Indigenous Images of a Star Cluster will be a three-movement work for solo organ with a duration of approximately twenty-five minutes. Each of the three movements will be inspired by folklore and traditional music connected with the

Pleiades from specific indigenous cultures. Also known as the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades is a prominent star grouping located in the northern hemisphere winter constellation of

Taurus (the Bull). The first movement will focus on the Pleiades-related folklore of the

Pitjantjatjara peoples, an Aboriginal group native to the area around Uluru.44 The second movement will be based on Yuman Indian mythology surrounding the Pleiades, and will feature loose connections with the Yuman Pleiades song series. The third movement will take as its inspiration a reference to the Pleiades in the Kumulipo, a creation chant of the

Native Hawaiian culture.

Pleiades Visions represents the incorporation into an original creative work of its composer’s research on indigenous music and indigenous astronomy systems. This research draws upon techniques from the field of ethnomusicology and applies them in !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 44 Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone rock formation and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the central desert of Australia. Situated approximately 200 miles southwest of Alice Springs, the second-largest city of Australia’s Northern Territory, it is a sacred site to the Pitjantjatjara people.

103 the context of a relatively new scholarly discipline known as cultural astronomy.

Nicholas Campion (University of Wales, Lampeter) defines cultural astronomy as follows:

The use of the Pleiades as a basis for this composition will provide a source of unity and focus. Also, because of the Pleiades’ location relatively near the celestial equator,46 it is a prominent feature in the night skies of both the northern and southern hemispheres. As a result, the Pleiades has influenced the folklore and mythology of peoples the world over, and has inspired many artists and writers as well.47 The Pleiades is thus a particularly fruitful celestial object for researchers in ethnomusicology and cultural astronomy, and its prominence in the night sky makes it a particularly appropriate basis for an original composition.

From a musical standpoint, Pleiades Visions will be a demonstration of the manner in which the organ’s vast sonic resources can be used to evoke ways in which indigenous peoples have been inspired by astronomical phenomena. The grandeur of the night sky, particularly as seen from the remote and light pollution-free homelands of the !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 45 Campion, “Editorial,” 1-2.

46 The celestial equator can be thought of as a projection of Earth’s equator onto the sky. In astronomy, the sky equivalent of latitude is known as declination. Since the equator has a latitude of 0 degrees, the celestial equator has a corresponding declination of 0 degrees. The Pleiades are located at a declination of approximately 25 degrees north.

47 Andrews, The Seven Sisters of the Pleiades, 7-8.

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Aborigines, Yumans, and Native Hawaiians, finds a natural corollary in the dynamic range of the pipe organ. Pleiades Visions will take full advantage of this corollary, and will employ both the power of the organ and the many unique tone colors of which the instrument is capable.

The first movement of Pleiades Visions will use as its compositional basis a melody associated with Pitjantjatjara reenactments of stories associated with the Seven

Sisters. In the Pitjantjatjara musical tradition, and indeed the musical traditions of many

Aboriginal groups, large sequences of relatively brief songs comprise what are known as songlines.48 The songs comprising these songlines recount stories from the Dreamtime,49 which forms the conceptual basis for all of Aboriginal music making.50 The songs in a songline typically mention specific geographical locations. As a result, songlines can often be mapped across the Australian landscape, and many songlines connect places that are located great distances from one another.51 Some songlines, such as that of the Seven

Sisters, extend into the night sky.52

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 48 Ellis, Aboriginal Music, 90.

49 The Aborigines believe that the world was created by totemic ancestors who traveled the landscape, creating animals, natural features, and all aspects of human society. This time of creation is known as the Dreamtime (Norris 2007, 2).

50 Ellis, Aboriginal Music, 70-71.

51 Ibid., 59, 90

52 Haynes, “Dreaming the Sky,” 74.!

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According to the Australian ethnomusicologist Catherine Ellis, each named songline has a specific melody, known as a totemic melody, with which that songline is associated.53 Using a video clip from an Australian national film archive of a reenactment of part of the Seven Sisters story,54 the composer has identified and transcribed the totemic melody associated with the Seven Sisters songline, along with some of the rhythmic aspects of that melody. This transcription is shown in Musical Example A.1, and the melody depicted in the transcription will provide compositional material for the first movement of Pleiades Visions.

Before we consider the transcription in Musical Example A.1, a few explanatory notes are in order:

1. The time intervals between each concussion stick beat are not completely equal. The metronome marking is thus approximate.

2. The three stemless, cue-sized notes near the beginning of the transcription indicate pitches that are heard in the background, underneath the narration of the video clip.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! 53 Ellis, Aboriginal Music, 90.

54 Moreton, Satellite Dreaming.

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Musical Example A.1. Transcription of Totemic Melody Associated with the Seven Sisters.

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The second movement of Pleiades Visions will use as its inspiration a melody from the Pleiades song series of the Yuman Indians. Native to far southwestern Arizona and southeastern California, some Yumans believe that their ancestors came from the

Pleiades.55 In his 1928 article “The Yuman Musical Style,” the American ethnomusicologist George Herzog gives his transcription of a song from the Pleiades song series. It is this song, which is shown on p. 208 of Herzog’s article, which will provide the basis for the composition’s second movement (Herzog’s transcription is not shown here for purposes of copyright compliance).

The third movement of Pleiades Visions will take as its inspiration the text of the opening lines of the Kumulipo, a creation chant of the Native Hawaiian culture. The

American folklorist Martha Beckwith conducted an extensive analysis of the Kumulipo; her English translation of the chant’s opening lines is as follows:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 55 Kelley and Milone, “The Descent of the Gods,” 473.

56 Beckwith, The Kumulipo, 58.

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One notable difference between the third movement and the previous two movements is that the third movement uses a written text as its inspiration, rather than indigenous melodic material. However, the vivid imagery of the text given above will allow for the construction of completely original musical material. The opening lines of the Kumulipo are an especially appropriate basis for the final movement of the work, in that they evoke imagery related to the creation of the world. There is a resonance between the creation imagery of the above text and scientific knowledge related to the Pleiades, in that the stars of the Pleiades are extremely young. The third movement will highlight this connection.

Accompanying Pleiades Visions will be a written document discussing the musical, cultural, and astronomical background of the work. This document will also include an extensive discussion of the connections between the work’s background and the composition itself. The lecture recital will comprise a presentation summarizing the work’s background and composition, followed by a performance of the work given by the composer.

3. Statement of Primary Thesis

I will attempt to demonstrate via an original organ solo composition that the organ, by virtue of its wide-ranging textural and coloristic possibilities, is capable of evoking and depicting impressions relating to indigenous peoples' cultural and artistic responses to the night sky and associated physical landscapes.

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4. Justification

Many of the most significant works in the organ repertoire were conceived by musicians with career emphases in both performance and composition. Such major figures as Johann Sebastian Bach, Felix Mendelssohn, César Franck, Maurice Duruflé,

Marcel Dupré, and Olivier Messiaen were both organists and composers of organ literature. There is thus a long tradition, with deep historical roots, of organists who emphasize both performance and composition equally. This tradition continues into the present with artists such as the Lebanese/French organist and composer Naji Hakim and

University of Arizona faculty member Pamela Decker. Pleiades Visions will represent a continuation of this tradition. Additionally, the composer plans a dual-emphasis career in performance and composition, making this project a particularly appropriate capstone for doctoral studies.

Works inspired by astronomical phenomena are not without precedent in the organ literature, though they are limited in number and scope. Because of the small number of astronomically inspired organ works, Pleiades Visions will represent an expansion of the organ literature as a whole.

Perhaps the best example from the established repertoire of an astronomically inspired organ work is Nova (1973) by American organist and composer Myron Roberts.

Nova is a musical evocation of a supernova, a colossal explosion that occurs at the end of a very massive star’s life. In its opening section, Nova employs the organ’s coloristic powers to depict the seething instability of a star just before the star explodes in a supernova. The supernova itself is depicted by the work’s large middle section, which

110 comprises a buildup to a series of massive, intensely dissonant chords played on full organ. In the final section of the work, the highest sounds of the organ are juxtaposed against the lowest sounds, evoking the remnants of the now-dead star dispersing into space.

The University of Arizona’s excellence in astronomy has in recent years served as a springboard for the creation of new works with astronomical bases. In 2005, as part The

University of Arizona’s Astrobiology and the Arts program, School of Music faculty member Pamela Decker was commissioned to set poetry by the American poet Diane

Ackerman, with a focus on poems that were clearly influenced by astronomical phenomena. The resulting composition, life aromatic with red-hot pizazz (2006) for organ and mezzo-soprano, is a setting in four movements of a portion of Diane Ackerman’s poem “Ode to the Alien.” In the first, second, and fourth movements, the mezzo-soprano presents Ackerman’s text, undergirded by a highly evocative organ part which functions as an equal partner to the vocal line. The third movement is a virtuosic showpiece for solo organ utilizing the full power of the instrument.

Another work with University of Arizona connections is Nebulae (2008), a solo organ piece composed by the author of this proposal. Nebulae is a musical journey through the stages of star formation. The opening section depicts a dark, cold interstellar cloud before the onset of active star formation. In the second section, played on full organ and incorporating rapid passagework for both manuals and pedal, is evocative of a supernova shock front blasting the interstellar cloud and triggering the star formation process. After a brief, quiet interlude, a dance ensues. The dance, which depicts the

111 protostar stage of star formation, builds in both registration and rhythmic complexity.

This steady buildup of intensity represents the protostar collapsing out of fragments of the interstellar cloud, as well as the protostar’s accretion of matter and the resulting gradual increase in the temperature of its core. Eventually the core of the protostar becomes hot enough to initiate nuclear fusion, the process by which all stars shine. Once nuclear fusion begins, the star is born; this moment of birth is marked by large chords played on full organ. A concluding toccata depicts the brilliance of the newly-formed star and the visual splendor of the nebula which gave it birth.

Nebulae was featured in a live lecture-demonstration at a music/astronomy outreach event at Biosphere 2 in February 2010 and will be performed by Frank Shelton

(Colorado College) in recitals at Notre Dame Cathedral and St. Sulpice in Paris in

October 2010. Additionally, the composer has developed an astronomy education/public outreach activity based around Nebulae; this activity was the subject of a presentation by the composer at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific57 Making Connections in

Education and Public Outreach conference in Boulder, CO, in August 2010. Finally, both Nebulae and Nova will be the subject of a presentation by the author of this proposal at the VII Conference on the Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena (INSAP VII)58 in

Bath, UK, also in October 2010. The composer’s travel to INSAP VII is being funded by a grant from The University of Arizona Department of Astronomy/Steward Observatory !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 57 The Astronomical Society of the Pacific is an international professional organization focusing primarily on astronomy education, public outreach, and science communication.

58 INSAP is the leading international conference focusing on connections between astronomy, culture, and the arts.!

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($500), a Graduate and Professional Student Council Travel Grant ($500), and a College of Fine Arts Small Grant ($369). Additionally, the College of Fine Arts Small Grant will be supplemented by $200 in partial matching funds from the School of Music.

Pleiades Visions will be a continuation of the strand in the organ literature represented by Nova (Myron Roberts), life aromatic with red-hot pizazz (Pamela Decker), and Nebulae (Matthew Whitehouse). However, Pleiades Visions will represent an expansion of this strand, in that it will be a work with a background in cultural astronomy. Whereas the three works mentioned above are inspired by scientific conceptions of astronomical phenomena, Pleiades Visions will take as its basis a cultural conception of astronomical phenomena. According to the composer’s research, no such works exist in the organ literature.

5. Organization

I. Introduction A. Astronomy and music 1. Representative organ examples 2. Representative non-organ examples B. The field of cultural astronomy 1. Campion’s definition of cultural astronomy 2. Application of Campion’s definition to Pleiades Visions C. Overview of Pleiades Visions 1. Pleiades Visions as a demonstration of the organ’s sonic capabilities 2. Cultural astronomy background a. Australian Aborigines: The Pleiades and Dreamtime cosmology b. Yuman Indians: Ancestral origins in the Pleiades c. Native Hawaiians: The Pleiades and the Kumulipo creation chant 3. Brief description of individual movements a. Uluru (Aborigines) b. …life on other worlds (Yuman Indians) c. Mauna Kea (Native Hawaiians) II. Research background and methodology

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A. Establishment of dataset 1. Search methodology 2. Dataset characteristics a. The role of transcriptions b. Melody-based data: Aborigines and Yuman Indians c. Text-based data: Native Hawaiians B. Analysis of dataset 1. Australian Aborigines a. Ellis’ concept of totemic melody b. Application of totemic melody to transcriptions c. Cultural and astronomical implications 2. Yuman Indians a. The Pleiades song series: Herzog’s transcription b. Cultural and astronomical implications: Kelley and Milone 3. Native Hawaiians a. The Kumulipo creation chant: Beckwith’s translation b. Cultural and astronomical implications of the opening lines III. Application of research background to composition A. Cultural sensitivity issues 1. Taylor’s case study 2. Sculthorpe’s use of indigenous materials 3. Implications for composition of Pleiades Visions B. Uluru 1. General program of movement 2. Role of physical landscape 3. Role of Aboriginal melodic material 4. Use of the organ C. …life on other worlds 1. General program of movement 2. Cultural connections to modern scientific research 3. Role of traditional melodic material 4. Use of the organ D. Manua Kea 1. General program of movement 2. Role of physical landscape 3. Use of the Kumulipo text 4. Use of the organ E. Summary and conclusions IV. Score of Pleiades Visions A. Uluru B. …life on other worlds C. Mauna Kea

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The completed lecture recital document will give a detailed description of

Pleiades Visions’ research background (division II in the above outline). The viva voce presentation, however, will emphasize the composition’s cultural astronomy background, the use of indigenous materials in abstracting and deriving principal motives, and the use of the organ’s textural and coloristic capabilities. The viva voce presentation thus will compress the discussion of the composition’s research background and the general information on the field of cultural astronomy, presenting those topics in summary format.

6. Methodology

Two basic methodologies will be used in the composition of Pleiades Visions. In the first two movements, the indigenous melodic material mentioned earlier will be used as source material for basic motives and themes. The third movement will be based on completely original motives and themes inspired by opening lines of the Kumulipo (p.

107). Both methodologies will, as indicated in the thesis statement, employ the organ’s tonal colors to evoke physical landscapes and cultural conceptions associated with the

Pleiades. Additionally, there will be instances in which a combination of tone color and motivic association will be used to depict the Pleiades themselves.

115 music has been the source of a great deal of controversy, especially when such music is incorporated directly into a popular song without credit being given to the original source.59

There is, however, a time-honored tradition of Western composers successfully and sensitively incorporating folk and indigenous music into their works, Béla Bartók being arguably the best-known example. For the purposes of Pleiades Visions, the music and writings of Australian contemporary composer Peter Sculthorpe (b. 1929) will provide a framework guiding the composer’s use of indigenous musical materials in a culturally sensitive manner. Sculthorpe’s work is heavily influenced by Aboriginal musical traditions; it could be argued that no Australian composer has made more extensive use of indigenous music than has Sculthorpe.60

In Sculthorpe’s music, Aboriginal melodic material is almost never quoted directly. There is no direct borrowing in his work; when Aboriginal materials are employed, they are always transformed in some way.61 An example of this approach can be found in Sculthorpe’s orchestral work Earth Cry (1986). Earth Cry is almost entirely based on an Aboriginal melody collected by Australian ethnomusicologist Trevor Jones.

The melody in its original form is completely in the major mode. In Earth Cry, however,

Sculthorpe transforms the melody; each time it occurs, it is stated in the minor mode, and

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 59 Taylor, “A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery,” 117-135. ! 60 Anne Boyd, “Landscape, Spirit and Music: An Australian Story.” The Soundscapes of Australia: Music, Place, and Spirituality, ed. Fiona Richards (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2007), 21.

61 Sculthorpe, “Ethical Issues in my Music,” 1.

116 with a more complex rhythmic structure than in the original version.62 Sculthorpe describes his approach as being one “of cultural representation, not cultural appropriation,”63 a notion supported by Australian ethnomusicologist Steven Knopoff

(University of Adelaide).64 In Anne Boyd’s discussion of Sculthorpe’s work, she indicates that this approach to incorporating Aboriginal musical materials “has earned the approbation of Aboriginal elders who recognize the deep respect and regard that

Sculthorpe has for their culture.”65

In light of insights gained from Sculthorpe’s work, the movements of Pleiades

Visions that incorporate indigenous musical materials will employ those materials in an abstract manner. The indigenous melodies mentioned earlier will be used as generating materials for original motives and themes. Additionally, particularly in the first movement, which will be representative of Australian Aboriginal views regarding the

Pleiades, direct depiction of Aboriginal mythology will be largely avoided. While references will be made to Dreamtime stories involving the Seven Sisters, the first movement will not attempt a direct reference to Dreamtime folklore.

The third movement of Pleiades Visions represents an entirely different situation from the standpoint of the issues of cultural sensitivity outlined above. The third movement will be text-based in its inspiration, with all of the musical materials being !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

62 Ibid., 1

63 Ibid., 1

64 Ibid., 1 ! 65 Boyd, “Landscape, Spirit and Music,” 23.

117 completely original. There will thus be no incorporation, in any form, of indigenous musical material.

We will now turn to a detailed description of the manner in which the Aboriginal melody given in Musical Example A.1 will be used in the construction of the basic themes and motives of the first movement of Pleiades Visions. The discussion of the first movement will center on detailed descriptions of the ways in which the tonal resources of the organ will be used in support of the movement’s program, highlighting cases in which proposed registrations differ from those commonly found in the standard organ literature.

The first movement of Pleiades Visions will be titled “Uluru,” a reference to the sandstone rock formation with the same name located in the central desert of Australia

(see p. 102). Uluru is a sacred site to the Pitjantjatjara people and will play a major role in the structure and inspiration for the first movement. The first movement can be thought of as a reflection on observing the Pleiades – and the spectacular southern hemisphere night sky – from Uluru. This referencing of a significant landform and geographical location will be important in the inspiration for the third movement as well.

Opening “Uluru” will be an extended slow section featuring complex chords in the manuals over repeated quarter notes in the pedal. An example of the opening material for “Uluru” is given in Musical Example A.2. The C-A-F-G melodic line in this example is derived from the cue-sized notes at the beginning of Musical Example A.1.

Additionally, the repeated quarter-note figures in the pedal recall the regular clapping stick beat shown in the concussion stick line of Musical Example A.1. This clapping stick beat is common to most Pitjantjatjara music.

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Musical Example A.2. Example of Opening Material for “Uluru.”

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Musical Example A.2 represents the first example of the use of a specific registration to support the program of the movement. The manual registration indication is for a Celeste combination at 8-foot pitch on the Swell, to which is added a 4-foot

Principal. Combinations including the 8’ Celeste are common registrations in much of the contemporary organ literature and produce an ethereal, almost otherworldly tone color.

The 4-foot principal adds brightness and intensity to the mysterious color of the Celeste combination. This unusual registration combination seems reflective of the vast, harsh quality of the landscape surrounding Uluru, and also of the brilliance of the southern hemisphere night sky.

Another such example of the use of a specific registration is shown in Musical

Example A.3. In this example, the registration indicated for the right-hand solo melodic line (Flute 8’, Principal 4’, small Mixture, Solo Reed 8’) will produce an exceptionally colorful and keen sound, particularly with the Mixture’s contribution of a substantial number of upper harmonics. This tone color could be considered evocative of the harshness of the desert landscape, as well as the intense colors produced by the sunlight reflecting off of Uluru, particularly at sunset. Chords similar to those shown in Musical

Example A.3 accompany the right-hand melody. Additionally, the syncopated rhythmic profile of the right-hand melody is derived from similar such rhythms shown in Musical

Example A.1.

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Musical Example A.3. Another Example of the Use of a Specific Registration to Support the Program of the Movement.

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As noted earlier, the Seven Sisters are considered to be Dreamtime heroes in

Aboriginal lore and mythology (see p. 104). The two examples given above, in addition to being evocative of the landscape around Uluru and the brilliant night skies of that area, can also be seen as suggesting the mysterious nature of the Dreamtime. These two examples comprising material for the opening section of “Uluru” thus operate on multiple levels. On a surface level, the two examples are intended to represent the vast Australian desert landscape and night sky. On a subsurface level, they evoke in an abstract sense the cosmology underlying Aboriginal views regarding the landscape and night sky.

The seven-note motive shown in Musical Example A.4 is assigned to the Pleiades themselves. The number of notes in this motive is significant in that seven stars are visible in the Pleiades when viewed from a location – such as Uluru -- with very clear skies that are free of light pollution. This motive is abstracted from the A-C-D-C figure found near the end of the second line of the Aboriginal melody shown in Musical

Example A.1. The registration indication of flutes at the 4- and 2-foot pitch level will result in a bright, sparkling sound, a reference to the brilliant nature of these seven stars.

The Pleiades motive can be extended to form a longer melodic line, as shown in

Musical Example A.5. This melodic line, when played at a fast tempo, suggests in an abstract sense the image of running. This is a reference to the story of the Seven Sisters in

Pitjantjatjara Dreamtime folklore, which describes the Seven Sisters as being chased across the landscape and into the night sky by Orion.66

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 66 Haynes, “Dreaming the Sky,” 74.

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Musical Example A.4. The Pleiades Motive.

Musical Example A.5. Extension of the Pleiades Motive.

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“Uluru” will offer a large central toccata section with a figuration derived from the Pleiades motive shown in Musical Example A.4. The melody line, played in the pedal, is derived from the downward-trending figures of the Pitjantjatjara melody shown in Musical Example A.1. An example of this toccata figuration and pedal melody is shown in Musical Example A.6. This toccata, which will comprise a substantial portion of the duration of “Uluru,” will be conceived for a full-organ registration. This large registration reflects the massive rise of Uluru over the surrounding desert, and also references the grandeur and brilliance of the night sky as seen from the remote area in which Uluru is located. The pedal melody, being loosely derived from the indigenous melody shown in Musical Example A.1, serves as the toccata’s connection to the

Pleiades.

The same methodology will be employed for the second movement of Pleiades

Visions, with themes abstracted from the Yuman melody shown on p. 208 of Herzog’s article, and highly coloristic use of the tonal resources of the organ. The second movement’s title, “…life on other worlds,” reflects the belief held by some Yumans that their people’s ancestors have their origins in the Pleiades. This notion links the second movement, and indeed all of Pleiades Visions, to the contemporary field of astrobiology and could in fact be viewed as a connection between astrobiology and cultural astronomy.67

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 67 Kelley and Milone, “The Descent of the Gods,” 473.

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Musical Example A.6. Toccata Figuration and Pedal Melody for Central Section of “Uluru.”

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The third movement, “Mauna Kea,” will use the organ’s tonal resources to evoke the astronomical and cosmological nature of the opening lines of the Kumulipo (see p.

107). Unlike movements I and II, however, movement III will use entirely original motivic material. The use of the organ’s tonal resources will be similar in scope to that outlined in the description of movement I, so “Mauna Kea” will provide a demonstration of the organ’s capability to make reference to indigenous people’s impressions regarding the night sky despite the absence of indigenous melodic materials. The movement’s title refers to the massive volcano on the island of Hawai’i by the same name, itself a sacred site to native Hawaiians and the location of a major astronomical observatory. The third movement of Pleiades Visions, like the first movement, will thus incorporate aspects of the physical landscape as part of its program.

Pleiades Visions will thus employ the vast sonic resources of the pipe organ in calling to mind indigenous responses to the night sky. In so doing, it will represent an expansion of the organ literature in that it will likely be the first organ solo work with roots in the field of cultural astronomy. The composer considers creative and scholarly activity regarding connections between music and astronomy as a defining feature of his career. Pleiades Visions will thus serve as an ideal culmination to his doctoral studies at

The University of Arizona.

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APPENDIX B: SCORE OF PLEIADES VISIONS

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APPENDIX C: PERMISSIONS

European Southern Observatory (ESO) Image Use Policy (Figure 1.1)

(http://www.!eso.org/public/outreach/copyright.html)

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National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) Image Use Policy (Figure 1.1)

(http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/copyright.html)

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Nasaimages.org Image Use Policy (Figure 5.1)

(http://www.nasaimages.org/Terms.html)

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Beckwith, Martha W. The Kumulipo: A Hawaiian Creation Chant. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 1972.

Boyd, Anne. “Landscape, Spirit, and Music: An Australian Story.” In The Soundscapes of Australia: Music, Place, and Spirituality, edited by Fiona Richards, 11–33. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2007.

Campion, Nicholas. “Editorial.” Culture and Cosmos 1 (1997): 1–2.

Decker, Pamela. “life aromatic with red-hot pizazz.” Unpublished manuscript, 2006.

Edwards, Ross. Star Chant: Symphonies 1 and 4. Adelaide Symphony Orchestra dir. Richard Mills. ABC Classics CD 476 6161. 2007.

Ellis, Catherine. Aboriginal Music – Education for Living: Cross-Cultural Experiences from South Australia. St. Lucia, Queensland: University of Queensland Press, 1985.

Feld, Steven. Sound and Sentiment: Birds, Weeping, Poetics, and Song in Kaluli Expression. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982.

Haynes, Roslynn. “Dreaming the Sky.” Sky and Telescope 94, no. 3 (1997): 72–75.

Herschel, William. Pieces d’orgue de William Herschel interprêtées par Dominique Proust. Dominique Proust. DOM CD 1418.

Herzog, George. “The Yuman Musical Style.” The Journal of American Folklore 41 (1928): 183–231.

Hoskin, Michael. Discoverers of the Universe: William and Caroline Herschel. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011.

Johnson, Dianne. Night Skies of Aboriginal Australia: A Noctuary. Sydney: The University of Sydney: 1998.

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Kelley, David H., and E.F. Milone. “The Descent of the Gods and the Purposes of Ancient Astronomy.” In Exploring Ancient Skies: An Encyclopedic Survey of Archaeoastronomy, 473-502. New York: Springer, 2005.

Moreton, Romaine, curator. Satellite Dreaming, clip 3. Australian Screen video, http://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/satellite-dreaming/clip3. Accessed 31 May 2010.

Norris, Ray. Searching for the Astronomy of Aboriginal Australians. In Astronomy and Cosmology in Folk Traditions and Cultural Heritage, Oxford VIII International Symposium on Archaeoastronomy, 1-8. Klaipeda: Klaipeda University Press, 2009.

Roberts, Myron J. Nova. Melville, NY: Belwin-Mills, 1973.

Sculthorpe, Peter. “Ethical Issues in my Music.” Seeing Ethics 67 (2007): 1.

______. Songs of Sea and Sky. The Queensland Orchestra dir. Michael Christie. ABC Classics CD 476 192-1.

Students for the Exploration and Development of Space. “Messier 45.” The Messier Catalog. http://messier.seds.org/m/m045.html (accessed 8 September 2012).

Taylor, Timothy D. “A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery.” In Strange Sounds: Music, Technology, and Culture, 117–135. New York, NY: Routledge, 2001.

Whitehouse, Matthew. “Nebulae.” Unpublished manuscript, 2008.

Seven Sisters, “Pitjantjara.” Nancia Guivarra. http://www.kitezh.com/sevensisters/7sisters.htm (accessed 14 December 2011).