(Ligeti) Transformation of Coloration and Density in György Ligeti's Lontano

Transformation of Coloration and Density in György Ligeti's Lontano Bruce Reiprich Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 16, No. 2. (Spring - Summer, 1978), pp. 167-180. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0031-6016%28197821%2F22%2916%3A2%3C167%3ATOCADI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R Perspectives of New Music is currently published by Perspectives of New Music.

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TRANSFORMATION O F

COLORATION AND DENSITY

IN GYORGY LIGETI'S LONTANO

BRUCE REIPRICH

In Gyorgy Ligeti's Lontano for orchestra (1967), extremely dense canonic counterpoint sustains a sound-mass continuum of fluctuating coloration and density." The gestation of micro-level events as discrete elements tends to be obscured within the mass complex to such an extent that attention is directed primarily toward its more global dimen; sions. So, although micro-level events generate the mass, they do not function exclusively nor even necessarily as precisely identifiable projections within some sort of pitch/rhythmic scheme, but rather as withdrawn elements, interrelated to stimulate qualitative and quantitative changes of the totality. Unity here can best be expressed in terms of the degree to which all perceptual levels are compositionally controlled to foster global transformation.

Lontano can be divided into three lengthy sections (A, A', A 2 ) , each containing ( a ) multiple pitch canons at the unison followed by ( b ) sustained clusters, and thus represented schematically as shown below : A a b mm. 1-41 41-56

A' a'

56-1 12

A2 b1 111-20

a2 120-45

b2 145-65.l

This paper, now revised, was originally delivered at the Spring 1977 Midwest Chapter meeting of the American Musicological Society. I n the case of the second and third canonic sections, the advent of canonic activity proper does not coincide with the beginning of the section but, following a sustained sonority, starts in mm. 60 and 122, respectively.

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I shall deal here with the canonic sections only, focusing primarily on the first of the three. As the major generative element, canonic lines are rhythmically complex, lack immediate rhythmic similarity to all other lines, mainly employ motion in seconds but with some thirds and a few larger intervals, and are so restricted in range that segments typically weave around one pitch (see Ex. 1 ). Such linear definition does not exhibit foreground traits that potentially might articulate any single line into immediate relief. While the identity of each line is not obliterated, such diminishing of identity, combined with the large number of canonic parts sounding at the same time, force linearity into a mass conglomerate and endow that linearity with a new perspective: that is, the grouping of lines of identical pitch into unique and self-contained layers rather than the projection of single lines. With the unique orchestration of each canon, the flanking of its lines by rests, and with the differences of bowings, octave and unison doublings, and complexity of part-writing between different canons, various factors of coloration, time, and density also interact with pitch to delineate layers. Even so, layers are not projected as sharply profiled events. Due to temporal overlapping, color linkage resulting from general timbre similarities, and duplication of pitch-order content, as for example between Canons I V through VIII,2 the lines of each layer do not become independent from those of preceding and succeeding layers but rather merge with them to sound like organic continuations (see Ex. 2, pp. 170-7 1 ) .3 It seems then that the individuality of each canonic layer is never so pronounced as to upset the predominately homogeneous character of the mass. Nonetheless, layering provides much more than simple generation of that mass, for owing to the nature of canonic activity, all 2 Though these canons overlap considerably in respect to pitch-order content, they are nevertheless individualized by a symmetrical process of imbrication. Starting with Canon V, the lines of each canon repeat the last four notes associated with those of the immediately preceding canon and add two new pitches a second apart. T h e final canon adds seven pitches. 3 Although canonic activity is the primary generator of the mass in the canonic sections, not all parts are always engaged in the statement of a canonic line. Some parts sustain only one pitch or a limited succession of pitches over a long period of time. This pitch material may be unrelated to simultaneously presented canons or it may result from the doubling of the entrance of canonic pitches without continuation in canonic movement. In either case, it usually functions to increase density and is assimilated into the mass transformation without being perceived as an individually contributing agent (see Ex. 3 ) .

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Ex. 2 Lontano mm. 17-20

Ex. 2 ( c o n t . )

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coloration changes occur gradually as individual parts successively employ the timbres and pitches associated with new canonic layers. In addition, the introduction of bowing changes and tremolos is most often camouflaged by originating at or near the lowest point of a crescendo. Successions of different canonic layers, consequently, impose regulated changes upon the mass coloration and density that appear to evolve naturally as very slow textural transformations: almost imperceptibly the mass becomes a new composite of color and pitch.

With perception focused upon a complex field of musical stimuli rather than upon individualized melodic, rhythmic, and motivic foreground configurations, pitch manipulation to vary density becomes integral to the structuring of the sound-mass. In Lontano, I have considered the pitch content found within the temporal unit of a beat to be useful in determining and defining the general constitution of the mass with its concomitant process of change. Yet taken alone, pitch content is an inadequate measure of pitch density; one aspect among others that must also be evaluated is the degree of predominance of each pitch. By ascertaining the number of times that each pitch appears within a beat, one may in a limited sense compute values of predominance, henceforth referred to as pitch-count predominance (see Ex. 3 ) .4 Paralleling the graduated pace of coloration transformation, changes of mass pitch-class content in the canonic sections of Lontano occur slowly. In the beginning of the piece, twenty-three beats followed by six, five, and eight pass before new pitch-classes are admitted. Even then variation in mass content is extremely subtle for pitch change usually entails the addition or omission of only one pitch-class, with or without concurrent changes in the status of octave doublings (see Ex. 3 for mm. 11-15). Moreover, each pitch enters the texture through an accumulative process where its number of occurrences is gradually increased and later retracted in a type of "ebb and flow" from beat to beat. The mass appears then to subsist on various structural levels. For while pitch-class content of the totality approaches 4 T h e data of pitch-count predominance represents an attempt to identify one aspect of density. So, the results, like those of all analytical procedures, must be subject to interpretation in any given circumstance as to their validity, usefulness, and degree of variability.

Ex. 3 Arabic numerals arranged horizontally under pitches of the staff indicate those pitches sounded within each beat. The value of the numeral shows the number of occurrences of a pitch, including unison doublings. Numerals in parentheses identify pitches belonging to non-canonic layers. Solid horizontal lines indicate changes in mass pitch-class content, dotted lines show changes in octave doublings. ** Pitch-count predominance of F# temporarily lessened while lagging parts and viola extension emphasize the end of Canon I .

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moments of quantitative stasis, content on lower levels, as from beat to beat, is always in a state of qualitative flux due to the doubling changes. This type of pitch fluctuation and the slow variations taking place in mass content are obtained by means of the canons. One result of such canonic activity is the formation, on a background level, of an asymmetrically spaced succession of stressed pitch-classes generated by the greater number of occurrences of some pitches and subsidence of others within a given timespan. With a few exceptions, this succession of stressed pitch-classes follows the content and order of the canons underlying the mass, though in the case of Canons IV through V I I I it does not follow exactly the content of each of these canons but omits upon repetition the duplications of pitch-order content between them (i.e., the imbricated segments) .5 Moreover, the duration and degree of stress given to each canonic pitch is different and some reach their peak at the same time as others (see Ex. 3 for mm. 11-15) .6 Specifically, quantitative and qualitative changes in mass density yield oscillations between dense and less dense states on a multitude of levels. Thus, within a large-scale growth of density that peaks (mm. 3 1/2-32/ 1 ) and then recedes, the omission of Gh in m. 12 and the gradual accumulation of Eb begun a measure later, combined with the omission of Bb and the appearance of C# in m. 15, transform the mass temporarily to a less dense and eventually diatonic-like content producing a lower level oscillation complementary to the large-scale density contour (see Ex. 3 ) . Though density change here is a product of both qualitative and quantitative factors, more subtle variegations to less dense states within extended periods of quantitative stasis are initially dependent upon qualitative factors alone. As shown in Ex. 4, Bh in mm. 19/3-20/3 gradually increases in number of occurrences to join C# and D# as the pitches most weighted by pitch-count, all other pitches being more or less equally subdued. In a context where maximal density is in part dependent upon an equality among sounding See footnote 2. "igeti does not indicate the precise size of the string section. By defining each non-solo part as usually being performed by at least two players, and by observing the maximal number of solo parts utilized in each string choir, I have based my calculations of pitch-count predominance upon a string section of fourteen first violins, twelve second violins, ten violas, ten cellos, and six basses. Variances in this scheme may modify specifics of pitch-count predominance but will not alter the general principle, as outlined above, of stressed pitches following the order of canonic pitches nor any of the concepts introduced henceforth. 7 This notation indicates measure number/beat. 5

kleawre 20/1

21/1

21/2

Ex. 4 Italicized pitches indicate where octave doubling occurs.

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components, the weight of Bh, C#, and D# (and the later addition of G#) has the qualitative effect of triggering another dip to a less dense area (mm. 19/3-20/4),' especially since these pitch-classes are accentuated further by ( 1 ) their appearance in upper register flutes within an almost exclusively string texture, ( 2 ) the greater extent to which all other pitches are subdued in number beginning in m. 19/3, ( 3 ) the change from octave statements of all pitches to only these pitches plus Ch,9 and ( 4 ) the contrast of the less dense or "consonant" character of these pitches-when sounded together-to the more dense total mass. With the arrival of Bb in octaves in m. 21/ 1 coupled with its increasing number of occurrences thereafter, the process of increasing mass density is resumed. It appears, then, that the sound-mass in Lontano is distinctively colored by a kind of qualitative/quantitative density fluctuation that redefines "consonance" and "dissonance" as regulated by the number of half-steps embodied within a vertical structure and by the predominance of pitches that suppress or highlight the half-step organization. Regulation of density at various levels, moreover, is at times a product of cadential punctuations that involve parts of the mass or the mass as a whole. Beginning in m. 14, the parts of Canons I11 and IV gradually and successively come to a rhythmic halt by m. 18, thereby fusing their pitches with those sustained by the basses into a cadential cluster (see Ex. 2 ) . The deletion of clarinets 1, 2, and 3 in mm. 16-17 combined with the simultaneous deletion of the violins, clarinet 4, and horns 1, 2, and 3 in m. 18 (beat 2 ) yield a punctuation within the cadential cluster while other cadential parts continue to sustain their pitches until the third beat of m. 19. But due to the stabilization of pitch within the cadential cluster from mm. 18/ 1-19/2 and pitch-class content within the mass as a whole from mm. 16/1-20/2, cadential activity here is primarily a transformational stimulus and one which in two stages creates a variegation, not in pitch content, but in mass coloration, rhythm, and density resulting from changes in instrumentation, rhythmic activity, and doubling, respectively. The effect is remarkably subtle. Cadential structure is disguised by its concurrent appearance with noncadencing canonic lines and by the usually immediate resumption of canonic motion in the deleted parts. Quantitative change also comes into play with the deletion of C4 in m. 20Q. Qince the octave doubling of Ch occurs in only one cello part, its appearance does not radically affect the predominance of B4, C#, and D#. 8

Multi-leveled processing of essentially textural aspects is reflected further in the shaping of sonic space itself. Not only are each of the three canonic sections characterized by a wedge-shaped design that expands outward from a more narrow ambitus, but the three sections, when taken together, produce an even broader wedge-shape that climaxes in m. 140 (see Ex. 5 ) . The perceptual effect of Lontano is dependent upon elements that, at times, contribute more to foreground than to background features of the mass. Crescendi are attached to individual pitches and groups of pitches within canonic lines resulting in a profusion of non-coincident dynamic activity. And combined with the range and timbral characteristics of each orchestral participant, these phenomena cause particular instruments to sporadically pierce through the overall texture, and in so doing project pitches that can overshadow emphases such as those illustrated by pitch-count predominance. Given the canonic generation of the mass, these pitch projections emerge as foreground fragmentations of canonic lines, the same lines that are perceived together as an evolving musical entity. Furthermore, cadences into, and initiation of textural expansions from, single pitch-classes or a small number of predominating pitchclasses are notable as articulative elements of formal design: each canonic and sustained cluster section is bounded by these means. Cadences of limited pitch-class content are also of special consequence to the climactic accumulations of density found in each canonic section: at or near the point where extremely dense pitch saturation peaks within a process of expanding textural space and extended dynamic crescendo, approaches to such cadences subtly transform mass saturation into less dense constructions (see Exx. 5 and 6 ) . Most significantly, isolated pitch projections and cadences of limited pitch content give rise to the emergence of focal points contained on various structural levels and spread over an irregular timespan. Thus, the temporary appearance of brass as canonic parts in mm. 73-76 is not solely coloristic. Rather, their combining of a dynamic crescendo with their doubling of the woodwinds' three-note pitch set (Bb, Ab, F ) promotes the effect of a more "consonant" sonority being projected from a larger and denser mass of tones; hence, a type of focus materializes. But this projected sonority is not sufficiently differentiated to supply a clear focal point; instead, it lies in a middleground region and reinforces the same pitch set which occurs simultaneously and subsequently in the strings. Focus upon this pitch set, linked with its earlier

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Ex. 6 Pitch count in mm. 30-33 Differentiation is not made between canonic and non-canonic layers. Starred ( * ) pitches are cadential pitches.

and later occurrences within canonic lines and in the foreground construction of a previous brass cadence (mm. 53-56), gives rise to the ultimate appearance of the set as a sustained sonority on a distinctly foreground level (mm. 120-22) and so reflects the gradual emergence of textural elements as a unifying process over an extreme timespan. Appearances of focal points are apparently governed by formal considerations within a density transformation plan and by a relationship in which foreground projections reinforce parts of the background mass, but not by a pitch/rhythmic scheme of serialized proportions. Long range progression, then, is engendered by extended contours of textural space and accumulations of density while at the same time quantitative and qualitative changes of the mass, whether regulated by canonic activity, cadential punctuations, or space manipulations, promote an impression of textural transformation rather than a series of different and separable events. Ultimately, mass complexity in Lontano does not entirely consume the contrapuntal movement nor does the mass ever become totally homogeneous. Instead, interaction of canonic activity perceived at a number of levels produces a contextual hierarchy within the mass. The structural integrity of the

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whole is perceivable in terms of the activity of continuously shifting concentration between background and foreground: that is, between a complex totality and locally projected pitches. As one slowly turns a diamond, varied hues and flashes of light, all of different strengths, catch the eye; yet at the same time one is always aware of the overall shape of the gem. And so it is in Lontano. With the unfolding of the mass, a kaleidoscope of sonic hues is projected in an ever-varying transformation with structural cohesion determined by the peculiarities of that transformation. The realization that mass transformation is able to entail more than a simple compounding of surface events and a naive assemblage of colors is indispensable for a true understanding of this work.