How, in the absence of tonal harmony and counterpoint, do post-tonal compositions create a sense of progression, of directed change? How do they organize time into memorable experiences, so that listeners form expectations and sense their fulfillment or denial? In some pieces, perhaps, how do moment-to-moment changes coordinate into a coherent temporal experience to which every event seems necessary? Yet to the extent that we value those works, this inadequate label provokes productive questions, especially about their temporal qualities. If “tonal” is construed, as usual, to denote the special synergy of pitch and rhythm processes that shape 18th- and 19th-century Western art music, then “post-” seems to conflate and depreciate many highly crafted works of the last century as vestiges of a bygone era. The descriptor “post-tonal” hinders appreciation of a vital musical repertoire. Keywords: post-tonal music, temporality, form, process, transformational theory, graph, Kurtág, Adams, Adès, Sheng The demonstrations proceed through detailed analytical consideration of compositions by Kurtág, Adams, Adès, Sheng, Haas, and Saariaho. This article identifies four specifically temporal aspects of transformational theory that have been neglected in the recent literature and demonstrates how they can inform understanding of a variety of post-tonal music much more recent than the modernist works to which the theory has mostly been applied. Not only does its notion of a transformational graph offer a powerful, hierarchical view of musical relationships, but it also embraces a processive attitude toward musical form that has broad applicability. Of the diverse theories for explaining this music, the theory of musical transformations is especially productive. Post-tonal music (loosely, most Western art-music compositions since the turn of the 20th century) manifests many organizational techniques but not the processes of harmony and counterpoint that direct and articulate time in tonal music.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |