Aldo Clementi’s System; and an original composition, Variazioni su AlDo ClemEnti for chamber orchestra A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Brandeis University Music Theory and Composition Yu-Hui Chang and Allan Keiler, Advisors In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy by Michele Zaccagnini August 2014 The signed version of this form is on file in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. This dissertation, directed and approved by Michele Zaccagnini’s Committee, has been accepted and approved by the Faculty of Brandeis University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of: DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Malcolm Watson, Dean Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertation Committee: Yu-Hui Chang, Music Allan Keiler, Music Eric Chasalow, Music Joshua Fineberg, Music, Boston University Copyright by Michele Zaccagnini 2014 Acknowledgements: I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Brandeis University music faculty in particular to Allan Keiler for his invaluable guidance in writing this dissertation; Yu-Hui Chang for the insights; Eric Chasalow for his positivity; Martin Boykan for the all the years of help and wisdom and David Rakowski for his competent humor. This project could not have been successful without the help of my uncle Guido Zaccagnini whose passion for Clementi’s work and message has inspired me to undertake this task. I would like to express my gratitude to Anna Clementi for granting me access to Aldo’s sketches, Garbiele Bonomo at Suvini Zerboni for the initial inputs, Maria Rosa De Luca at Università di Catania and Manuele Morbidini. On a personal level I am grateful to have had the support of my family, my parents Paolo and Antonella, my brothers Carlo, Davide and Giovanni and my partner Zeynep Soysal. iv ABSTRACT Aldo Clementi’s System A dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Brandeis University Waltham, Massachusetts By Michele Zaccagnini The composer Aldo Clementi left a significant body of work behind, which holds an important place in the musical landscape of the second half of the twentieth century. The research assesses the work of the composer within the musical landscape of the post-war avant- garde as he quickly parted from the aesthetics of his contemporaries to form a peculiar “third way” out of the musical impasse. In the transformed socio-cultural landscape of his times, Clementi articulated a clear musical thought loaded with eschatological implications about the new role of music. Clementi incorporated in his composition some of procedures derived from a visual approach. An important explanation of the workings of the “magic square,” a pseudo- cartesian compositional tool is, therefore, contained in the research. The research focuses on one piece, Aus Tiefer, composed in 2004 as an homage in memory of composer Luigi Nono, assessing possible implications of Clementi’s idiosyncratic approach in today’s computerized world and compatibility with the so-called algorithmic composition. In particular, the paper will point out the most compelling aspect of the composer’s oeuvre: its fascinating exploration of boundaries between simplicity and complexity at a perceptual level. A v seemingly far-fetched parallel with mathematician Stephen Wolfram and his work on “cellular automata” will describe Clementi’s particular approach to the simple/complex dichotomy. The original composition Variazioni su AlDo ClemEnti relates to Clementi’s aesthetic in its attempt at avoiding a linear-chronological flow of musical events. Both components of my dissertation, the essay and the original composition, are linked at their core in their dealing with the general idea of discursiveness in music. The original composition creates stasis in the form of repetitiveness as opposed to simple, verbatim repetition. The repeating musical elements are algorithmically organized and continuously rearranged to convey a sense of “dynamic stasis” or “static motion.” vi Table of Contents Aldo Clementi’s System 1. Chapter 1 1.1. Introduction p. 1 1.2. Biographical notes p. 2 1.3. Music’s loss of innocence p. 3 1.4. Clementi and Adorno p. 6 1.5. Survival of the craft p. 8 1.6. Going visual p. 10 1.7. Erasure of time p. 15 1.8. Conclusions: The (ir)relevance of the composer’s philosophical views p. 17 2. Chapter 2 2.1. Aus Tiefer: a case study p. 21 2.2. Saturating intervals through the “magic square” p. 27 2.3. Visual appeal of the magic square p. 33 2.4. The algorithm p. 36 2.5. Conclusions p. 54 3. Chapter 3 3.1. Un dolce naufragio p. 57 3.2. Repetition and musical narrative p. 59 3.3. Aus Tiefer: a narrative of deception p. 61 3.4. Different layers of repetition p. 63 3.5. Conclusions: Clementi’s sonic automata p. 73 4. Original composition: “Variazioni su AlDo ClemEnti” for chamber orchestra p. 80 vii List of illustrations Fig. 1 Chorale's theme, divided into fragments p. 22 Fig. 2 Second theme varied. p. 22 Fig. 3 Organ's chorale p. 22 Fig. 4 Canon levels (III) (courtesy of ed. Suvini Zerboni, Milano) p. 25 Fig. 5 An example of a sketch of the Magic Square p. 28 Fig. 6 First theme's numbering (pitch level 7) p. 28 Fig. 7 Transformation matrixes p. 29 Fig. 8 First theme represented in the square p. 30 Fig. 9 Layering of the 1st theme on levels F# and G p. 31 Fig. 10 Intervallic densities (from X to XIX they repeat as a palindrome) p. 35 Fig. 11 Gradual increase of density p. 36 Fig. 12 Translating a melody into a set of intervals with OM p. 38 Fig. 13 The self-intersection matrix algorithm p. 39 Fig. 14 First theme setting p. 43 Fig. 15 First theme and its inversion on F# p. 44 Fig. 16 Poly-intersection matrix's algorithm p. 46 Fig.17 Second theme's setting p. 53 Fig. 18 René Magritte, The Treachery of images. 1929. Oil on canvas. 63.5 cm p. 73 × 93.98 cm (25 in × 37 in) Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California Fig. 19 - Cellular automata p. 76 Fig. 20 - Aus Tiefer (courtesy of ed. Suvini Zerboni, Milano) p. 76 viii List of Tables Tab.1 Palindromic organization of themes p. 23 Tab. 2 Numeric system p. 28 Tab. 3 Self-intersection matrix (1st theme) p. 40 Tab. 4 Poly-intersection matrix: first theme and its inversions p. 47 Tab. 5 Self-intersection matrix 2nd theme p. 50 Tab. 6 Poly-intersection matrix 2nd theme p. 51 Tab. 7 Repetitive/deceptive constructions p. 64 Tab. 8 Sonic shape similarities p. 69 Tab. 9 mid-macro equalities p. 69 ix Aldo Clementi's System Chapter 1 1.1. Introduction Italian composer Aldo Clementi, who passed away in 2011, has left us with a substantial oeuvre. Though not a household name in the contemporary music scene, he maintains a solid reputation as a consistent and uncompromising composer whose musical thought never waivered through the decades. This work explores Clementi’s compositional process with an unprecedented attention to the minutia of its workings.1 It will also attempt an assessment of the composer’s oeuvre in today’s musical landscape. My research has been blessed with a crucial and unprecedented privilege. Anna Clementi has let me into her father’s studio,2 free to explore his sketches, the collection of which has been recently acquired by the Sacher Foundation in Basel. I will begin by describing the composer’s general aesthetic. Understanding the composer’s aesthetic, mainly through his own words, will be helpful in understanding his modus operandi. To 1 The existing scholarship that dealt with the composer’s process, mainly Gianluigi Mattietti’s monographic research (Gianluigi Mattietti,. Geometrie di Musica: il Periodo Diatonico di Aldo Clementi. Lucca: Libreria musicale italiana, 2001) have fallen short of correctly describing compositional techniques such as the “magic square,” which the composer often mentions as a go-to place to begin his work. This research makes up for the lack of scholarship on the matter. 2 Accessing the composer's workshop on the Via Cassia in Rome has been an exalting experience, rich in findings and discoveries a sort of “treasure island” moment for the contemporary music scholar. For such privilege my unlimited gratitude goes to the composer's daughter, Anna Clementi. I also wish to acknowledge and thank Guido Zaccagnini, one the composer's pupil and, incidentally, the uncle of who writes, for the crucial guidance throughout my research. 1 better observe the composer at work, I will focus on one particular piece, Aus Tiefer, an important work of the composer’s late period. To assess the composer’s legacy is possibly the most ambitious goal of this research, which will be articulated along two different lines of thought. Firstly, I will describe possible implications of Clementi’s idiosyncratic approach in today’s computerized world and compatibility with the so-called algorithmic composition. To do so I will recreate the composer’s compositional process through a software simulation3. Secondly, I will point out what I believe is the most compelling aspect of the composer’s oeuvre: its fascinating exploration of boundaries between simplicity and complexity at a perceptual level. A seemingly far-fetched parallel with mathematician Stephen Wolfram and his work on “cellular automata” will describe Clementi’s particular approach to the simple/complex dichotomy. 1.2. Biographical notes Aldo Clementi was born in Catania, Sicily, in 1925, where he received training in both piano and composition. He died in Rome on March of 2011. A gifted pianist, he pursued both the path of piano performance and composition, to eventually dedicate himself solely to the latter.