An Analysis of and Performance Guide to Lou Harrison's Suite for Piano
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Computational Methods for Tonality-Based Style Analysis of Classical Music Audio Recordings
Fakult¨at fur¨ Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik Computational Methods for Tonality-Based Style Analysis of Classical Music Audio Recordings Christof Weiß geboren am 16.07.1986 in Regensburg Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Doktoringenieur (Dr.-Ing.) Angefertigt im: Fachgebiet Elektronische Medientechnik Institut fur¨ Medientechnik Fakult¨at fur¨ Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik Gutachter: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. rer. nat. h. c. mult. Karlheinz Brandenburg Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Meinard Muller¨ Prof. Dr. phil. Wolfgang Auhagen Tag der Einreichung: 25.11.2016 Tag der wissenschaftlichen Aussprache: 03.04.2017 urn:nbn:de:gbv:ilm1-2017000293 iii Acknowledgements This thesis could not exist without the help of many people. I am very grateful to everybody who supported me during the work on my PhD. First of all, I want to thank Prof. Karlheinz Brandenburg for supervising my thesis but also, for the opportunity to work within a great team and a nice working enviroment at Fraunhofer IDMT in Ilmenau. I also want to mention my colleagues of the Metadata department for having such a friendly atmosphere including motivating scientific discussions, musical activity, and more. In particular, I want to thank all members of the Semantic Music Technologies group for the nice group climate and for helping with many things in research and beyond. Especially|thank you Alex, Ronny, Christian, Uwe, Estefan´ıa, Patrick, Daniel, Ania, Christian, Anna, Sascha, and Jakob for not only having a prolific working time in Ilmenau but also making friends there. Furthermore, I want to thank several students at TU Ilmenau who worked with me on my topic. Special thanks go to Prof. -
Out of Death and Despair: Elements of Chromaticism in the Songs of Edvard Grieg
Ryan Weber: Out of Death and Despair: Elements of Chromaticism in the Songs of Edvard Grieg Grieg‘s intriguing statement, ―the realm of harmonies has always been my dream world,‖1 suggests the rather imaginative disposition that he held toward the roles of harmonic function within a diatonic pitch space. A great degree of his chromatic language is manifested in subtle interactions between different pitch spaces along the dualistic lines to which he referred in his personal commentary. Indeed, Grieg‘s distinctive style reaches beyond common-practice tonality in ways other than modality. Although his music uses a variety of common nineteenth- century harmonic devices, his synthesis of modal elements within a diatonic or chromatic framework often leans toward an aesthetic of Impressionism. This multifarious language is most clearly evident in the composer‘s abundant songs that span his entire career. Setting texts by a host of different poets, Grieg develops an approach to chromaticism that reflects the Romantic themes of death and despair. There are two techniques that serve to characterize aspects of his multi-faceted harmonic language. The first, what I designate ―chromatic juxtapositioning,‖ entails the insertion of highly chromatic material within ^ a principally diatonic passage. The second technique involves the use of b7 (bVII) as a particular type of harmonic juxtapositioning, for the flatted-seventh scale-degree serves as a congruent agent among the realms of diatonicism, chromaticism, and modality while also serving as a marker of death and despair. Through these techniques, Grieg creates a style that elevates the works of geographically linked poets by capitalizing on the Romantic/nationalistic themes. -
Superimposed Subdivisions (Polyrhythm Hell) [Sallan Tarkistama]
HEIKKI MALMBERG Superimposed Subdivisions (Polyrhythm Hell) Polyrhythms or Polymeters? Usually when musicians talk about polyrhythms, they refer to rhythmic structures that are made of two or more simultaneous time signatures, in which the secondary (superimposed) time signature basically revolves around the dominant time signature. I suggest that we use the term polymeter in such cases, and use the term polyrhythm solely in situations where there are two or more subdivisions happening in the same time interval (e.g. eight note triplets over sixteenth notes). Here’s a simple example of a polymeter where the bass drum plays in 5/16 while the hands keep common (4/4) time. 3 3 3 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 3 5 5 5 5 And here’s a not so simple example of polyrhythms using eight notes, eight/quarter note triplets and sixteenth note quintuplets. So What Should I Do? In order to learn to play any two subdivisions against each other, or rather superimpose them if you will, you should get a reference of how they sound played simultaneously on one instrument (A good teacher and a sequencer are of paramount help here), and learn to phonetically mimic the result. You can make up halfwitted sentences or just blabber away with any foolish sounds that you come up with. as long as you’re mimicking the rhythm, it doesn’t matter. 3 3 3 3 or cold cup of tea blah bla da blah Here’s two subdivisions Here they have Here’s their daily dialog after waiting to get married. -
Bmus 1 Analysis Week 9 Project 2
BMus 1 Analysis: Week 9 1 BMus 1 Analysis Week 9 Project 2 Just to remind you: the second project for this module is an essay (c. 1500 words) on one short post-tonal work from the list below. All of the works can be found in the library; if they’re not available for any reason, ask me for a copy. (Most can be found online as well.) Béla Bartók, 44 Duos for Violin, no. 33: ‘Erntelied’ (‘Harvest Song’) Harrison Birtwistle, Duets for Storab, any two movements Ruth Crawford-Seeger, String Quartet, movt. 2: ‘Leggiero’ or movt. 3: ‘Andante’ György Kurtag, Játékok Book 6, ‘In memoriam András Mihály’ Elisabeth Lutyens, Présages op. 53, theme and variations 1-2. Olivier Messiaen, Préludes, no. 1: ’La Colombe’ Kaija Saariaho, Sept Papillons, movements 1 and 2 Arnold Schoenberg, 6 Little Piano Pieces, Op.19: No. 2 (Langsam) Igor Stravinsky, 3 pieces for String Quartet, no. 1 Anton Webern, Variations op 27: no. 2 What to cover You may format your essay as you wish, according to what best suits the piece you’ve selected. However, you should aim to comment on the following (interrelated) features of your chosen work: • Formal Design o How is this articulated? This may involve pitch / tempo / changes of texture / dynamics / phrasing and other musical features. • Pitch Structure o Use of interval / mode(s) / pitch sets / 12-note chords and other techniques • Nature and Handling of Melodic and Harmonic Materials o How is the material constructed, treated, developed and/or elaboration in the work? Do not forget the importance of rhythm as well as pitch. -
Vocality and Listening in Three Operas by Luciano Berio
Clare Brady Royal Holloway, University of London The Open Voice: Vocality and Listening in three operas by Luciano Berio Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Music February 2017 The Open Voice | 1 Declaration of Authorship I, Patricia Mary Clare Brady, hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed: February 1st 2017 The Open Voice | 2 Abstract The human voice has undergone a seismic reappraisal in recent years, within musicology, and across disciplinary boundaries in the humanities, arts and sciences; ‘voice studies’ offers a vast and proliferating array of seemingly divergent accounts of the voice and its capacities, qualities and functions, in short, of what the voice is. In this thesis, I propose a model of the ‘open voice’, after the aesthetic theories of Umberto Eco’s seminal book ‘The Open Work’ of 1962, as a conceptual framework in which to make an account of the voice’s inherent multivalency and resistance to a singular reductive definition, and to propose the voice as a site of encounter and meaning construction between vocalist and receiver. Taking the concept of the ‘open voice’ as a starting point, I examine how the human voice is staged in three vocal works by composer Luciano Berio, and how the voice is diffracted through the musical structures of these works to display a multitude of different, and at times paradoxical forms and functions. In Passaggio (1963) I trace how the open voice invokes the hegemonic voice of a civic or political mass in counterpoint with the particularity and frailty of a sounding individual human body. -
Kostka, Stefan
TEN Classical Serialism INTRODUCTION When Schoenberg composed the first twelve-tone piece in the summer of 192 1, I the "Pre- lude" to what would eventually become his Suite, Op. 25 (1923), he carried to a conclusion the developments in chromaticism that had begun many decades earlier. The assault of chromaticism on the tonal system had led to the nonsystem of free atonality, and now Schoenberg had developed a "method [he insisted it was not a "system"] of composing with twelve tones that are related only with one another." Free atonality achieved some of its effect through the use of aggregates, as we have seen, and many atonal composers seemed to have been convinced that atonality could best be achieved through some sort of regular recycling of the twelve pitch class- es. But it was Schoenberg who came up with the idea of arranging the twelve pitch classes into a particular series, or row, th at would remain essentially constant through- out a composition. Various twelve-tone melodies that predate 1921 are often cited as precursors of Schoenberg's tone row, a famous example being the fugue theme from Richard Strauss's Thus Spake Zararhustra (1895). A less famous example, but one closer than Strauss's theme to Schoenberg'S method, is seen in Example IO-\. Notice that Ives holds off the last pitch class, C, for measures until its dramatic entrance in m. 68. Tn the music of Strauss and rves th e twelve-note theme is a curiosity, but in the mu sic of Schoenberg and his fo ll owers the twelve-note row is a basic shape that can be presented in four well-defined ways, thereby assuring a certain unity in the pitch domain of a composition. -
Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Piano Tamara Stefanovich, Piano
Thursday, March 12, 2015, 8pm Zellerbach Hall Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano Tamara Stefanovich, piano The Piano Music of Pierre Boulez PROGRAM Pierre Boulez (b. 1925) Notations (1945) I. Fantastique — Modéré II. Très vif III. Assez lent IV. Rythmique V. Doux et improvisé VI. Rapide VII. Hiératique VIII. Modéré jusqu'à très vif IX. Lointain — Calme X. Mécanique et très sec XI. Scintillant XII. Lent — Puissant et âpre Boulez Sonata No. 1 (1946) I. Lent — Beaucoup plus allant II. Assez large — Rapide Boulez Sonata No. 2 (1947–1948) I. Extrêmement rapide II. Lent III. Modéré, presque vif IV. Vif INTERMISSION PLAYBILL PROGRAM Boulez Sonata No. 3 (1955–1957; 1963) Formant 3 Constellation-Miroir Formant 2 Trope Boulez Incises (1994; 2001) Boulez Une page d’éphéméride (2005) Boulez Structures, Deuxième livre (1961) for two pianos, four hands Chapitre I Chapitre II (Pièces 1–2, Encarts 1–4, Textes 1–6) Funded, in part, by the Koret Foundation, this performance is part of Cal Performances’ – Koret Recital Series, which brings world-class artists to our community. This performance is made possible, in part, by Patron Sponsor Françoise Stone. Hamburg Steinway piano provided by Steinway & Sons, San Francisco. Cal Performances’ – season is sponsored by Wells Fargo. CAL PERFORMANCES PROGRAM NOTES THE PROGRAM AT A GLANCE the radical break with tradition that his music supposedly embodies. If Boulez belongs to an Tonight’s program includes the complete avant-garde, it is to a French avant-garde tra - piano music of Pierre Boulez, as well as a per - dition dating back two centuries to Berlioz formance of the second book of Structures for and Delacroix, and his attitudes are deeply two pianos. -
INVARIANCE PROPERTIES of SCHOENBERG's TONE ROW SYSTEM by James A. Fill and Alan J. Izenman Technical·Report No. 328 Department
INVARIANCE PROPERTIES OF SCHOENBERG'S TONE ROW SYSTEM by James A. Fill and Alan J. Izenman Technical·Report No. 328 Department of Applied Statistics School of Statistics University of Minnesota Saint Paul, MN 55108 October 1978 ~ 'It -: -·, ........ .t .. ,.. SUMMARY -~ This paper organizes in a ~ystematic manner the major features of a general theory of m-tone rows. A special case of this development is the twelve-tone row system of musical composition as introduced by Arnold Schoenberg and his Viennese school. The theory as outlined here applies to tone rows of arbitrary length, and can be applied to microtonal composition for electronic media. Key words: 12-tone rows, m-tone rows, inversion, retrograde, retrograde-inversion, transposition, set-complex, permutations. Short title: Schoenberg's Tone .Row System. , - , -.-· 1. Introduction. Musical composition in the twentieth century has been ~ enlivened by Arnold Schoenberg's introduction of a structured system which em phasizes.its serial and atonal nature. Schoenberg called his system "A Method of Composing with Twelve Tones which are Related Only with One Another" (12, p. 107]. Although Schoenberg himself regarded his work as the logical outgrowth of tendencies inherent in the development of Austro-German music during the previous one hundred years, it has been criticized as purely "abstract and mathematical cerebration" and a certain amount of controversy still surrounds the method. The fundamental building-block in Schoenberg's system is the twelve-tone !2!!, a specific linear ordering of all twelve notes--C, CU, D, Eb, E, F, FU, G, G#, A, Bb, and B--of the equally tempered chromatic scale, each note appearing once and only once within the row. -
Edinburgh International Festival 1962
WRITING ABOUT SHOSTAKOVICH Edinburgh International Festival 1962 Edinburgh Festival 1962 working cover design ay after day, the small, drab figure in the dark suit hunched forward in the front row of the gallery listening tensely. Sometimes he tapped his fingers nervously against his cheek; occasionally he nodded Dhis head rhythmically in time with the music. In the whole of his productive career, remarked Soviet Composer Dmitry Shostakovich, he had “never heard so many of my works performed in so short a period.” Time Music: The Two Dmitrys; September 14, 1962 In 1962 Shostakovich was invited to attend the Edinburgh Festival, Scotland’s annual arts festival and Europe’s largest and most prestigious. An important precursor to this invitation had been the outstanding British premiere in 1960 of the First Cello Concerto – which to an extent had helped focus the British public’s attention on Shostakovich’s evolving repertoire. Week one of the Festival saw performances of the First, Third and Fifth String Quartets; the Cello Concerto and the song-cycle Satires with Galina Vishnevskaya and Rostropovich. 31 DSCH JOURNAL No. 37 – July 2012 Edinburgh International Festival 1962 Rostropovich and Vishnevskaya in Edinburgh Week two heralded performances of the Preludes & Fugues for Piano, arias from Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, the Sixth, Eighth and Ninth Symphonies, the Third, Fourth, Seventh and Eighth String Quartets and Shostakovich’s orches- tration of Musorgsky’s Khovanschina. Finally in week three the Fourth, Tenth and Twelfth Symphonies were per- formed along with the Violin Concerto (No. 1), the Suite from Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, the Three Fantastic Dances, the Cello Sonata and From Jewish Folk Poetry. -
Andrián Pertout
Andrián Pertout Three Microtonal Compositions: The Utilization of Tuning Systems in Modern Composition Volume 1 Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Produced on acid-free paper Faculty of Music The University of Melbourne March, 2007 Abstract Three Microtonal Compositions: The Utilization of Tuning Systems in Modern Composition encompasses the work undertaken by Lou Harrison (widely regarded as one of America’s most influential and original composers) with regards to just intonation, and tuning and scale systems from around the globe – also taking into account the influential work of Alain Daniélou (Introduction to the Study of Musical Scales), Harry Partch (Genesis of a Music), and Ben Johnston (Scalar Order as a Compositional Resource). The essence of the project being to reveal the compositional applications of a selection of Persian, Indonesian, and Japanese musical scales utilized in three very distinct systems: theory versus performance practice and the ‘Scale of Fifths’, or cyclic division of the octave; the equally-tempered division of the octave; and the ‘Scale of Proportions’, or harmonic division of the octave championed by Harrison, among others – outlining their theoretical and aesthetic rationale, as well as their historical foundations. The project begins with the creation of three new microtonal works tailored to address some of the compositional issues of each system, and ending with an articulated exposition; obtained via the investigation of written sources, disclosure -
Four Twentieth-Century Mass Ordinary Settings Surveyed Using the Dictates of the Motu Proprio of 1903 As a Stylistic Guide
The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Dissertations Summer 8-2008 Four Twentieth-Century Mass Ordinary Settings Surveyed Using the Dictates of the Motu Proprio of 1903 as a Stylistic Guide Jonathan Candler Kilgore University of Southern Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations Part of the Catholic Studies Commons, Composition Commons, Liturgy and Worship Commons, and the Other Music Commons Recommended Citation Kilgore, Jonathan Candler, "Four Twentieth-Century Mass Ordinary Settings Surveyed Using the Dictates of the Motu Proprio of 1903 as a Stylistic Guide" (2008). Dissertations. 1129. https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/1129 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The University of Southern Mississippi FOUR TWENTIETH-CENTURY MASS ORDINARY SETTINGS SURVEYED USING THE DICTATES OF THE MOTU PROPRIO OF 1903 AS A STYLISTIC GUIDE by Jonathan Candler Kilgore A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Studies Office of The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts August 2008 COPYRIGHT BY JONATHAN CANDLER KILGORE 2008 The University of Southern Mississippi FOUR TWENTIETH-CENTURY MASS ORDINARY SETTINGS SURVEYED USING THE DICTATES OF THE MOTU PROPRIO OF 1903 AS A STYLISTIC -
UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations
UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Performing Percussion in an Electronic World: An Exploration of Electroacoustic Music with a Focus on Stockhausen's Mikrophonie I and Saariaho's Six Japanese Gardens Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9b10838z Author Keelaghan, Nikolaus Adrian Publication Date 2016 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Performing Percussion in an Electronic World: An Exploration of Electroacoustic Music with a Focus on Stockhausen‘s Mikrophonie I and Saariaho‘s Six Japanese Gardens A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts by Nikolaus Adrian Keelaghan 2016 © Copyright by Nikolaus Adrian Keelaghan 2016 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Performing Percussion in an Electronic World: An Exploration of Electroacoustic Music with a Focus on Stockhausen‘s Mikrophonie I and Saariaho‘s Six Japanese Gardens by Nikolaus Adrian Keelaghan Doctor of Musical Arts University of California, Los Angeles, 2016 Professor Robert Winter, Chair The origins of electroacoustic music are rooted in a long-standing tradition of non-human music making, dating back centuries to the inventions of automaton creators. The technological boom during and following the Second World War provided composers with a new wave of electronic devices that put a wealth of new, truly twentieth-century sounds at their disposal. Percussionists, by virtue of their longstanding relationship to new sounds and their ability to decipher complex parts for a bewildering variety of instruments, have been a favored recipient of what has become known as electroacoustic music.