Class 8

1
Class 8

• Contemporary Music

2
Class Announcements

• Dont forget to turn in second reaction paper on
  Monday!
• Exam review 600 PM on Thursday, July 31, in
  Mandeville 127 (one floor up). Be sure to bring
  specific questions!
• Next class Greg Stuart discusses the music of
  Michael Pisaro

3
The Overtone Series

• We learned about the overtone series when we
  discussed Harry Partch
• Every pitch is made up of a series of other,
  higher, pitches
• Called overtones (or partials)
• (This isnt someones pet idea, this is a fact)

4
Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894)

• Not a composer
• Writes book called On the Sensations of Tone
  (1863)
• Discusses how arrangement of upper partials
  dictates differences in timbre
• So the difference between a C on the flute and
  the same C on the clarinet is a difference in
  timbre, which has to do with which partials are
  emphasized

5
Helmholtz (continued)

6
Helmholtz

• Also proposes theory of consonance and dissonance
  based on these overtones

7
Overtone series

• A few composers explore overtone series early in
  20th century
• Including Harry Partch
• But the spectralists turn exploration of the
  overtone series into a full-fledged movement

8
Spectralism

• Begins in 1970s, as a number of composers begin
  exploring sound with scientific fervor
• With its connections to science, spectralism is
  basically modernist, but it stands apart from the
  modernism of the 1950s

9
Heres what I mean

• The mathematical approach to music embraced by
  the serialists (from Schoenberg to Boulez) was,
  in a way, arbitrary
• That is, it had no connection to what music
  actually sounds like
• Spectralists apply scientific principles to their
  music, but the science actually has some
  relationship to the sound of the music

10
Spectralist composers

• Explore overtone series through use of harmony
• Also use both electronics and instruments to
  explore boundaries between pitch and noise

11
Gerard Grisey

• 1946 (France)-1998

12
Grisey

• The spectral movement tried to find a better
  equation between concept and percept--between the
  concept of the score and the perception the
  audience might have of it.
• What does he mean?

13
Listening log Grisey, Partiels (1975)

• Based on an analysis of a trombone note
• Can you hear the overtones?
• Can you imagine the overtones as being part of
  the repeating trombone sound?
• Does the piece sound like it might be a good
  soundtrack for something? If so, what?

14
Tristan Murail

• 1947 (France)-

15
Murail

• Along with Grisey, chief spectralist composer
• Explores electronics to learn more about the
  physical properties of sound, and applies those
  principles to his instrumental music
• Currently teaches at Columbia University

16
Murail, Territoires De LOubli (1978)

• For solo piano
• Sustain pedal held down throughout
• This allows the low notes (which are
  overtone-rich) to clash with higher notes
• So the work involves a great deal of attention to
  not only the attacks (the noises made immediately
  after notes are struck) but also their resonances

17
Listening log Territoires De LOubli

• In a presentation about this piece, I compared it
  to faders, like on a mixing board. Can you guess
  why?
• Do some notes sound out of tune?

18
Spectralism

• The spectralists ideas about sound are mostly
  new, but many of their tastes are very
  traditional
• Fits in nicely with the blurriness of Debussy,
  for example
• Noise and microtones used not so much to create
  dissonance or ugliness, but to blur traditional
  consonance

19
Alvin Lucier

• 1931 (New Hampshire)-

20
Alvin Lucier

• Not a spectralist--influenced more by John Cage
  than anyone else--but shares spectralists
  interest in the physical properties of sound
• Began composing at a relatively young age, but
  began writing the sorts of pieces for which he
  became best known in 1965

21
Music for Solo Performer (1965)

• Places electrodes on his head, which detect alpha
  brain waves
• These waves are sent to amplifiers, which are
  positioned next to percussion instruments
• The amplifiers thus cause the percussion
  instruments to resonate

22
Lucier

• Many of his pieces are based on a concept like
  this, but most of them also have something to do
  with the science of how sound is made

23
I Am Sitting in a Room, 1970

• This is process music, much like Reich described
• Lucier records the sound of his own voice
• The recording is then played back into a room,
  and that is recorded
• This is done again and again, until the sounds of
  the room overwhelm Luciers voice
• Lucier stutters, and this was a way to smooth
  out the stuttering
• The piece thus explores the resonance of the
  room, sort of like how Murail explored the
  resonance of the piano

24
Listening log I Am Sitting in a Room

• Does this process produce interesting results?
  Why or why not?
• After how many repetitions do you become aware
  that Luciers voice has been compromised?