Terry Riley’s In C, ‘the founding work of the musical movement called minimalism’ (Carl, 2009, p.4), is written out on a single page of score that consists of 53 isolated units. It is intended for group performance, during which each member is to repeat one of the 53 aforementioned modules at will. Each performer is free to move on to the next module whenever he/she wishes, and the essence of the music as a whole is derived from the harmonies that superimposed modules give rise to.
Pierre Schaeffer’s Etude aux Chemins de Fer [Study on Railways], which ‘is widely recognized as the first piece of musique concrète’ (Horus Kemwer, 2007, para.2), exhibits recordings of trains that have been spliced, manipulated, and then structured in a way similar the method exhorted by classical convention.
When analysing any Schaeffer work, it is useful to align what one is hearing with some of Schaeffer’s musical philosophies. In his work Solfège de l'objet sonore he illustrates one of these musical philosophies by presenting to the listener two realisations of a small excerpt from Bach’s Musical Offering, one from a harpsichord (which is marked ‘Schaeffer's Bach Commentary Part 1’ on the accompanying CD), and the other from an orchestra (which is marked ‘Schaeffer's Bach Commentary Part 2 on the accompanying CD) (The reader should note that on the original tape, Schaeffer reads out his writings after each musical excerpt finishes. These narrations have been deliberately removed, as the points he puts forward will be covered in the following). Schaeffer (1967) as translated by Reibel (2005), points out that ‘we become aware of the fact that one dimension is missing from the conventional score, that of “timbre”’ (p.17). This statement falls in ...
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Bibliography
Books
Schaeffer, P. and Reibel, G. (2005) Solfége de l’objet sonore [Music Thoery of the Sound Object]. France: Les Éditions de Dreslincourt
Carl, R. (2009) Terry Riley’s In C. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press
Music Scores
Riley, T. (1989) In C [Music Score] New York: Celestial Harmonies
Weblogs
Kemwer, H. (2007) Case Study: Pierre Schaeffer. Against the Modern World. Weblog [Online] 11th November. Available from: http://againstthemodernworld.blogspot.co.uk/2007/11/case-study-pierre-schaeffer.html [Accessed 29/01/14]
Lectures
Emmerson, S. (2013) Musique concrète, spectromorphology, sound sculpting & transformation from MUST2003:Ideas in Music and Sonic Arts. De Montfort University, Clepham Building on 11th October [Accessed 29/01/14]
Journals
Gopinath, S. (2011) Terry Riley’s In C (review). American Music, Vol.29 no.3. pp.388-391
A human being begins from one of the smallest cells in the body. We then, grow and evolve into extremely complex mechanisms made up of individual parts, such as the brain, the bones, and the heart. However, no matter how complex, a human is only one work, with individual parts working together to make it functional. Similarly, a work of art is composed of individual elements collaborating to create the overall work. Beginning with the colors chosen, to the way the artist swipes their brush in specific directions creating distinct textures, the work would not be complete without its most minute component. The same concept can be applied to musical pieces. A great musical work would not be complete without the original combinations of musical instruments, voices, lyrics, and meaning. Two examples of this idea are “Classical Gas” by California Guitar Trio and “Cat’s in the Cradle” by Harry Chapin.
...f. Th.Reinach, La musique grecque, Payot, Paris, 1926; C.Sachs, The Rise of Music in the Ancient World, W.W.Norton & Comp. Inc. New York, 1969.
The human ability to perceive sound is often taken for granted and is erroneously considered, by most, to be secondary in importance to sight. It is true that our primary understanding of the world develops through sight, but sound is responsible for our ability to communicate with one another through both concrete and abstract means, as well as for defining the nuances that shape our surroundings. Without sound, humans would be alienated in their own uncertainty; unable to express the fears and aspirations which are common to our condition. Sound has the unique ability to transcend boundaries, cultures, and ideologies through speech, music, and the noises which we distinguish categorically through memory and experience. It is this transcendental quality of sound which Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck chose as a central theme in the film “The Lives of Others”. The film expresses beautifully the effect that music and language have upon our ability to feel empathy and compassion. The use of sound in the film explores the human potential for change and transformation from our basest instincts toward nobler causes.
The evolution of music, from the single note plainchants of the Middle Ages to the complex multiple instrumental symphonies of the Classical Era, was a long process. Each age built on the advances of the previous age, even as some parts were rejected by the following age. In the end the advancements and changes to the ways and means to combine rhythm, melody and harmony makes for a rich music heritage and a foundation for future musicians to build on.
Connor is concerned with how Sound Art is a vehicle for change in the gallery, in particular how sound can extend beyond the walls of the gallery to ventilate it with the sounds of what lies outside it, or to temporalise place. Connor discusses The Sonic Boom Exhibition held in London in 2000 which featured 23 sound artists who exhibited at The Hayward Gallery. The show featured an emphasis on sculptures or objects that produced sound. David Toop, the curator for the Sonic Boom Exhibition was faced with ‘a positively suburban problem of sound pollution’ says Connor. When one enters the exhibition one is immediately overwhelmed by a dense cloud of noise and sounds. How many sounding objects can one put into one space? David Toop defends his approach with the help of a w...
There is a growing body of work in the philosophy of music and musical aesthetics that has considered the various ways that music can be meaningful: music as representational (that is, musical depictions of persons, places, processes, or events); musical as quasi-linguistic reference (as when a musical figure underscores the presence of a character in a film or opera), and most especially, music as emotionally expressive. Here I will focus on the last topic, for I believe it will be useful for researchers in music perception and cognition to avail themselves of the distinctions that aestheticians have worked out regarding the musical expression of emotion.
11. Kim-Cohen, S. 2009. In the Blink of an Ear: Toward a Non-Cochlear Sonic Art
My composer is known as an influential minimalist and has written a variety of works such as opera, musical theater, symphonies, chamber music, and film scores and much more. This composer’s identity is none other than Philip Glass. The major focus in this paper are to give a moderately brief background on Philip Glass, examining his style of music along with how others view it and describe one of Philip Glass’s musical pieces. The background or bio about Philip Glass has information primary associated with events surrounding his career. When we reach examining Philip Glass’s style of music, people’s opinions on his music and who he sounds similar too is discussed. The final part of paper basically discuss one of Philip Glass’s works and how it serves as an example to his other music.
The proliferation of graphic scores emerging in Europe and America from the mid-1950s has had a profound impact on musical thought, broadening links between performers and composers, audiences and art forms. Exploration of notational methods based on graphics flourished rapidly and diversely during the fifties and sixties, primarily as a trend amongst young radicals. So many composers producing scores of this kind used a personal vocabulary of symbols – often creating different notation systems for each work – that the effectiveness of their approaches in realising a sonic concept can be assessed only on a case-by-case basis. But the significance of early graphic scores does not depend entirely on how they sound; rather it lies in their capacity to accommodate or even to generate new forms, techniques and mediums, and to challenge notions of what constitutes a musical composition. In addition, these works demonstrate that notation can extend beyond instructional functionality to allow for prominent interpretive and aleatoric elements, and can harbour an intrinsic aesthetic value of its own, apparent before a single note is sounded.
To fully understand any musical style, one must be able to analyze the various elements of music as they exist in that particular style. In this first musical close-up, we shall briefly describe these elements of music. In subsequent musical close-ups, we shall examine one or another of these elements in greater detail as it pertains to a given style or topic.
The book is divided into four chapters: 1) Humanly Organized Sound, 2) Music in Society and Culture, 3) Culture and Society in Music, and 4) Soundly Organized Humanity. In chapter one, Blacking discusses the analysis of sound. He begins by describing music as humanly organized sound. His overarching theme is that “the function of tones in relation to each other cannot be explained adequately as part of a closed system” (30). In other words, music can’t be analyzed simply by one set of rules. This is because every single culture has a different system that they use to structure and compose their music. In order to adequately analyze a society’s music we have to study their “system.” We must learn what music means to them. Then, and only then, can we accurately and completely analyze what a particular type or piece of music means to a particular society and culture.
Pollack, Alan W.. “Notes on "Revolution" and "Revolution 1".” soundscapes.info. 1997. 3 October 2009 .
The Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Opus 26 is one of the most famous violin concertos over the musical history. It is also considered to be the most renowned work by the German composer Max Bruch. I will begin with a short explanation of why I choose to analyse this piece followed by what makes this piece so remarkable. I will then present the musical context – German Romantic period – in which this piece was composed and discuss how it is representative of this period. Also, I will present briefly the biography of the composer and relate his life and style with this particular piece of music. After, I will explain the basic structure of a concerto, associate it with this violin concerto, and analyse how each movement is related. Then, I will analyse some psychoacoustic parameters of this piece (pitch, dynamics, rhythm, and texture). Finally, I will give my appreciation of this piece in term of beauty, musical expression, and mood.
...hools of Music and Visual Arts, edited by Steven Johnson, 57 - 74. New York: Routledge, 2002.
Music and the relationships of music have changed drastically in our society. The course of studies and the evaluations of the applications of the technology of music, the making and the listening of music have changed in the way we listen to music, the styles of music in our society and in the media. The importance of the technology in music today, has, over the past century been charted through the study of musical examples and through viewing how human values are reflected in this century's timely music. There are very many different types of music that are listened to. There are readings, writings, lectures and discussions on all the different types of music.