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Contemporary Composition Seminar Fall 2012

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

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Contemporary Composition Seminar Fall 2012

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  1. Contemporary Composition SeminarFall 2012 Instructor: Prof. SIGMAN Thursday 14:00-16:00 Lecture VII

  2. 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?

  3. Italian Aristocratic Mystics: Scelsi + Sciarrino

  4. 0. Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613) • Prince of Venosa • Experiments with tuning and harmony • Mannerism (마내리즘) • Composer of madrigrals • Influential upon both Scelsi and Sciarrino

  5. Example: Gesualdo, “Io parto”

  6. I. Giacinto Scelsi: The Third Dimension

  7. 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

  8. 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

  9. Byzantine chant example • Microtonal inflection • Focus upon single pitch centres/drones • Slow evolution • Narrow register • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr4mAIibx50 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ7LGWbxumI&feature=related

  10. 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

  11. 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

  12. 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

  13. E. Improvisation and Transcription: Aitsi and String Quartet No. 5

  14. 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

  15. 2. String Quartet no. 5 (1984) • Transcription of Aitsi • Microtonal re-mapping

  16. II. Salvatore Sciarrino

  17. A. Bio • (b. 1947, Palermo) • Lived in Rome, Milan, and Umbria • Assistant to Luigi Nonoon La lontananzanostalgicautopicafutura

  18. B. Microvariation of a Sound-Structure

  19. 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

  20. 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

  21. 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

  22. E.The Mechanical World: L’Arceologiadel Telefono (2005) • For 13 instruments • “archeology of the telephone” • Traces history of telephone in sound: from Alexander Graham Bell to dial phones, to touch-tone phones to the mobile phone

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