Techniques of the Contemporary Composer.pdf

CHA FOU HA CO AN H EXAM 4.3. In varied contex one chord (the secon in each meas is heard as (a) rel~y loca an inte wit the ()'y EXAM 4.4. Five basic gmups of interva (a) open/ (b) ambi rrnl as ihe bot 2f~ od (t f a sixt Ro~ of com int th sa a; ro o c does not fit any categor and ~ almos entirel ~..and conte for its me~n its stro inte tha int low no (C is (h rq of th c ( 4 W& The interval of the third group, majQr are consi foun upp not (C) is rhu the roo of rh ch (E 4. T s in e agai has the fou as its stro int so th fo up n is a C .dtspJac tendt~ we;r(en dis;ona a m seven separ by sever ajar J~ o lo;e~ ir; ha;4l1; ~d can ctave~ b~ oversh by a m secon now heard as ajar onance relation Two oboes 10udJ; e~ e~ perc~iv as more disson asily chao two flutes softl~ playin a m secan ina EXA 4.6. Roo pos C-m tria (m C) EXA 4.7. Firs C-m tri (m C) E 4.5, Spacing as an aspect of conson XAMP relatio EXA 4.8. Sec Ctri (m C) ~ atends to weaken interva rarían srreng so,me In extrem cases interv garesuo conson tend to sound hke rhe mterv mtO wlllc rhey ryp40

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icaIl);. resolve. For example, widely spaced and fairly weak minar sixths might sound like widely spaced and very strong perfect fifths. Likewise, widely spaced majar sevenths can sound like perfect octaves.

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Roots

atively consonant,

(b) relatively neutral,

or (c) relatively

dissonant.

closer

j!lJclq~iQnshjp_~o

thdu!}d~m.smqLaS-thqti!l~tYats...root

(Hindemith

1937).

~!;~

For insrance, rhe perfect fifth's root is its lower note, since the first fifth that appears in rhe overtone series has as irs lower note an octave doubling of the fundamental. The opposite is rrue of the fourtb, whose upper note is an octave doubling of the fun-

(c) consonant,

(d) relatively dissonant,

and (e) harshly dissonant.

..

1- chis

chapter) , it 1s sometimes considered a dissonant interval reqlliring resolution," although style and context can contradict chis definidon. The second group has one member. The Q.ugmented fourtb (diminished fifth), which divides the octave in hal~

I

damental

and tbus is (he interval's root. The roots of simple intervqls can be easily

sevenths)

and the top note of a1l even-numbered

Those

~represent

~

. ~acing

of the

fourth

and

fifthgroups,

With

knowledge

of interval

strengths

and roots,

e majar

The e majar criad in fírst inversion

¡n¡¡joL.3.lliLminoLseconds.and..se"v-

(seconds, fourths, and

intervals within the octave. Forexample, the root of a ninth isits top note, as it reduces to a secando for its root. Because a root position

con~onan

Contrasting

texture

overview.

8vL~)~~

FIGURE 9.2.

become so complex as to be literally meaningless. Often,-only sharp timbres and spedal effects penetrate such massive clusters. .' . Figure 9.3 combines the fluidity ol Figure 9.1 and the angularity of Figure 9.2. Here the diag~amsuggests thar the dense textures thin by the subtraction of various pitches and timbres. The simplidty of direction of Figure 9.1 is replaced by a ser of transitions. The addition of an introduction and coda would further soften the texrural contrasts. These

~nd

cure

three

overviews

thin[vspaced

was

not

liDes

a considered

~¡y;-¡cme:

demonstrate

how texture

can be e:raphed

iQ.terms

of wide-

of dens¡ty~Such graphs should be analyzed and reanalyzed

Jactordy!,in.&

compositions

that

ner, the music would most likely be ineffective. These examples, though simple, emphasize the need for rhe composer's control and analysis of texture during composition.

com~sition.

sustain

a sin,gle

texture

become

~~~Ü:lgJlQ

Micropolyphony

single-focused

~re

works,

variabl~

can supp"ort other

textJ;.es

parameters

Ils1díillrp-IID'",¡uig¡:lifi¡;aI)t..rQI~jn

~QroP'QsitiQ.n.

QIJ.emai.t:!...e.ntir.cly...5,e.patate.

Either

approach

small excerpts for piano. In the fíese, although the texture is constantly varying, the choices of register, dynamics, and other elements support the changes of textyre to

phtmie. is retained

~tJone

~(twelv'::..ir1

in English).

~ca~e),

of these

This thick

texture

~.(~~dal~Ltriplets~

polyphonic

li~es

results from a simultaneirv

of different

~intllpl~~ir.h~~,

is p~rticu~~r'!y

wd.tim;

iI1}po!!~~!..asjtSQD.![ibut~..!Q

the crearion.,Q.fa rhick, active con1posite. Micropolvphony resembles cluster chords, but

root progressions, and rhe orher musical elements all help produce a direcred phrase of music. The texture, however, contradicts chis direcredness. chis contradicrory

approach,

rhen

chis combinarían

mar succeed.

in its use-:clill9v!pg

ratherili;n~tatic..!!D~.

Micropolvphonic

textures

ha;:d1y

resemble. for example, the palm and forearm keyboard cIusters discussed in chapter 5. While micropolyphony is masr easily achieved in large ensembles, it also can be creared on a single insrrumenr such as rhe piano. The dense rexrure in Example °9.3

Conrext

4f

.~

demanded

differs

,;

¡!

CHA NINE TEX AN MO sation boxes that provide raw materi from which perfor create fase and even . EXAMP 9.5. Improv microp Orc can alg pla sig tal in th cr D t E o e a~ring w as to produce am texture Ha.!W ay ,\:Qns achie odula b.YJd vertical sonorit with each entran or exit. Here the chord rema fairly ~s a¡:;" ove of a c bro 'de fro on (h po oE vi o t e wor of com EE. and EN Th dis is fo by am to ala 104

105

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Example

9.5

shows

a more

subtle

approach.

This

example

presents

small

improvi-

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A

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Tpt.!

(EN.)

rhythms.

The arder

of the pitches

shown

is unim-

portant.The likelihood of traditionally notating effective rhythms for either of these figures is slight indeed. Furthermore, even if it were possible, the resulting notarían

would be extremely difficult to perform and probably produce studied and stiff regules;

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