Transcript DAT 335: Music Perception and Cognition

Contemporary Composition Seminar
Fall 2012
Instructor: Prof. SIGMAN
Thursday 14:00-16:00
Lecture IX
0.0 Important Dates
• 11/29: NO CLASS
• 12/13: FINAL PRESENTATIONS
• 12/20: FINAL EXAM (시험)
0.1. Final Projects
• If your name is not on this list, you owe me a
proposal:
• 1. Kim Min-Jeong: Cage
• 2. Kim Sung-Hyun/Jang Ju-Il: Lucier
• 3. Si Jeon Ah/Lee Yu-Mi: Adams
Topics: English “New Complexity”
Composers
• I. Brian Ferneyhough (continued)
• II. Michael Finnissy
• III. Richard Barrett
I. Brian Ferneyhough, cont’d
A. Terrain (1992)
1. Title Reference
• Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty
• “land art”: changes form, accumulates
geological layers, and erosion (부식) over
time
• Geological stratification (층화), fracturing
(파손)/rupture, and sedimentation (침적)
• Both stable/monolithic/static and unstable
(shifting and changing of layers)
• Changes in perception of time and motion:
static, continuous, and interrupted
Smithson on Geology and Text:
• “Words and rocks contain a language that
follows a syntax of splits and ruptures. Look at
any word long enough and you will see it open
into a series of faults, into a terrain of
particles each containing its own void (진공) .”
Geological Erosion Demo
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwcmzcsY
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2. Terrain Model: Edgard Varèse,
Octandre (1923)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8FcxVKIA
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3. Global Form
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I: Violin cadenza I
II: Violin + “stratified” ensemble
III: Violin cadenza II
IV: Violin + “plate shifting” ensemble
5. Opposing Forces in Terrain
• 1) violin (Romantic instrument) and ensemble
(anti-Romantic) “erode” each other’s material
• 2) stratification: ensemble divided into fixed
duos (Section II)
3) “plate shifting”: ensemble divided into
constantly changing sub-ensembles (Section
IV)
4) “interruptive polyphony” between 2 layers
in violin part
6. Compositional Tools (도구)
• Sections I-III: Rhythmic structure worked out
by hand
• Section IV: Ferneyhough uses Patchwork
software to organise rhythm for the first time
7. Terrain Score and Recording:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChUcGzjln
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• [performed by Graeme Jennings and Elision
Ensemble]
L. Les Froissements des Ailes de
Gabriel (2003)
1. Shadowtime (1999-2004)
a. Premise
• “Opera” in 7 scenes on the death of
philosopher Walter Benjamin
• Libretto: Charles Bernstein (poet)
• References to Benjamin’s theories of history,
time, angelology, and Jewish identity
• Encounters with historical and mythical figures
• Descent into underworld
b. Scenes
• I. New Angels/Transient Failures (voices and
ensemble)
• II. Les Froissements des Ailes de Gabriel (guitar solo
and ensemble)
• III. The Doctrine of Similarity (chorus)
• IV. Opus Contra Naturam (speaking pianist)
• V. Pools of Darkness (voices and ensemble)
• VI. Seven Tableaux Vivants Representing the Angel of
History as Melancholia (narrator and ensemble)
• VII. Stelae for Failed Time (chorus and electronics)
2. Les Froissements des Ailes…
• Title = “The Beating of the Wings of the Angel
Gabriel”
• For solo guitar and large ensemble
• “shadow guitar” in ensemble: tuned down ¼
tone
• 124 small sections
• Each section = new instrumentation
• False connections between sections
W. Benjamin on the Angel of
History
• “His face is turned toward the past. Where a
chain of events appears before us, he sees one
single catastrophe, which keeps piling
wreckage upon wreckage and hurls it at his
feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken the
dead, and make whole what has been
smashed. But a storm is blowing from
Paradise and has got caught in his wings; it is
so strong that the angel can no longer close
them.”
Les Froissements: Score and
Recording
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzSJTCaln
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• [Ensemble ELISION]
II. Michael Finnissy
A. Bio
• (b. 1946, London)
• Studied composition and piano @ Royal
Academy of Music (London)
• Also studied graphic design
• Has worked in UK, Australia, and Belgium
• Currently teaches @ University of
Southampton (UK)
• Active as a performer in solo and ensemble
contexts
“Short” Bio:
• “My biography? Doesn’t ‘fit in.’ From the
wrong side of the tracks all the way. Virtual
failure in commercial terms, but who the hell
cares either way?” --Michael Finnissy
B. Major Works
• English Country Tunes (1977-85) for solo piano
• The History of Photography in Sound: cycle of
works for solo piano (1995-2001) (320
minutes [!])
• Gershwin Arrangements (1975-78) for solo
piano
• Verdi Transcriptions (1972-2005)
• Red Earth (1988) for orchestra
• Lost Lands for mixed chamber ensemble
C. Common Themes
• Transcription (Verdi Transcriptions, English
Country Tunes, Gershwin Arrangements)
• Folk/indigenous music near extinction (English
Country Tunes, Red Earth, Lost Lands)
• English society and politics
• Musical culture (Verdi Transcriptions, WAM
[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
• Keyboard Virtuosity
• Visual art and film
D. Compositional Traits
• Extremely prolific (다작의)
• Diverse output: variety of instrumentation and
musical styles
• Highly subjective (
• Has performed his own music
• http://www.michaelfinnissy.info/works/
E. Compositional Approach:
Ferneyhough vs. Finnissy
• Ferneyhough = “additive” complexity: layers
individually constructed and juxtaposed
• Finnissy = “subtractive complexity”: begins
with many layers, and filters
F. Film Technique Metaphors
• Fades
• Cuts
• Montage (몽타주)
G. English Country Tunes:
“Midsummer Morn”
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR4PZDsv
LWk&feature=relmfu
H. Red Earth
• Orchestra + 2 didgeridoos
• Based upon Finnissy’s experience of landscape
of Central Australia
• References to Aboriginal music
• Explosive forces of nature
• Use of heterophony
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYA3N9
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