Download - Contemporary Composition Seminar Fall 2012 Instructor: Prof. SIGMAN Thursday 14:00-16:00 Lecture VII
0. Administrata
• Assignment II: review • Assignment III (Cardew, Kagel, Scelsi, and
Sciarrino): to be posted 내일 ; due Friday ( 금 ), 10/26 VIA EMAIL
• Midterm Exam: 11 월 01 일• Review: 10 월 25 일• ?’s?
0. Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613)
• Prince of Venosa• Experiments with tuning and harmony• Mannerism ( 마내리즘 )• Composer of madrigrals• Influential upon both Scelsi and Sciarrino
A. Biography
• (1905-1988) • Aristocratic ( 귀족의 ) background • Studied with Schönberg in Vienna• 1930’s: Neoclassical period; promoted work of Shostakovich,
Hindemith, Stravinsky in Italy• Traveled extensively (alone) in Egypt,India, Nepal…• Met John Cage, Feldman, and other American
experimentalists in Rome • Reclusive ( 은둔하는 ) • Wore fur coats and hats in summer
B. Venice: East Meets West
• In the 1950s, Scelsi developed an interest in Eastern mysticism ( 신비주의 )
• He attributed this interest to living in Venice (베니스 ), an important crossroads of the Roman and Byzantine empires
• His music reflects a Western interest in form and material development/rigour with an Eastern (and particularly Byzantine) sense of temporality and aesthetic
Byzantine chant example
• Microtonal inflection• Focus upon single pitch centres/drones • Slow evolution• Narrow register • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr4mAIibx
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• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ7LGWbxumI&feature=related
C. The “Third Dimension” of Sound
• Scelsi used the term “sphericity of sound” to describe his approach to music since ca. 1950
• Sound as 3D object, viewed from different angles
• Third dimension = continuum between pitch, timbre, rhythm, and harmony
Example: String Quartet no. 4 (1964)
• Microstructure of single tones• Unique string scordatura for each instrument• Notation: 1 staff/string• Local process: harmony (quarter-tone clouds) -> vibrato->
bisbigliando (timbral trills) -> trill/tremolo -> steady tone• Global process: slowly unfolding arc, rising in register• Middle/upper register emphasis; no “bass” • “Virtual fundamental” • Very slow and very fast music at the same time
D. Music and Ritual: Okanagon (1968)
• Several versions• For tam-tam, harp, and contrabass• Contrabass = scordatura• Harp = microtonal tuning• Harp and tam-tam played with resonator
(tuning key) • No exact repetition • Ensemble as single instrument
1. Aitsi (1974)
• For amplified piano• Distortion = transients = ++ microtonal pitch content• Formal proportions/climaxes: structured according to
Fibonacci series and golden mean• Durational notation (in seconds)• Attack-resonance exploration• Distilled to its essence: short and concentrated work
A. Bio
• (b. 1947, Palermo)• Lived in Rome, Milan, and Umbria • Assistant to Luigi Nono on La lontananza
nostalgica utopica futura
Example: L’orologio di Bergson (1999)
• For solo flute• Part of his Opera per flauto (works for flute)• Highly structured• Shifting sense of time• Role of silence/negative space• Exposed flute mechanism: harmonics, whistle tones, key-
noise• Microvariation of basic, unstable elements over time• Intense listening: threshold of audibility
C. Ensemble Works I: Introduzione all’oscuro (1981)
• Literally “Introduction to the Dark (Side)” • For ensemble of 12 instruments• Threshold of silence • Unstable sonorities: no exact repetition• Iambic/heart-beat element
D. Sciarrino and Gesualdo: Luci mie traditrici (1996-98)
• Opera in 2 acts • 3 characters• Plot: Gesualdo murders his wife and her lover• 17th century libretto (Il tradimento per l’onore)• Transcriptions/re-interpretations of Gesualdo
madrigals • Baroque ornamentation in vocal parts