Articulating Time corrected

273 Pages·2017·10.44 MB·English

Articulating Time
Listening to Musical Forms
in the Twenty-First Century
Richard Luke Powell
PhD
University of York
Music
September 2016
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Abstract
This study sets out to explore concepts of musical time by developing two
complementary strands of discussion, one practical and the other theoretical. The
practical strand is concerned directly with instrumental works from the Western
art music tradition. Underpinning the thesis are ?ive analytical case studies; in
each, a piece written by a living composer (George Benjamin, John Adams, Hans
Abrahamsen, Kaija Saariaho and Thomas Adès) is paired with a work by a
historical ?igure (Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, Beethoven and Sibelius). Emphasis
falls upon the contemporary works, with the more familiar canonic repertoire
serving as a lens through which more recent music might be viewed. United by a
broad conception of form as a duration that draws listeners to engage creatively
with an organising impulse, these pieces facilitate discussions of broader issues of
aural structure: continuity, repetition, energy and perspective. An overriding
concern will be the effect that these perceptual qualities have upon experiences of
time in music, and the ways in which this might enable different kinds of meaning.
Through this process, it is intended that more ‘dif?icult’ new works can be
rendered more accessible, while familiar ‘masterpieces’ might by the same token
be viewed in a new light.
This musicological endeavour will be informed by an investigation into the
ways in which time is perceived. This supporting theoretical strand will synthesise
philosophical and psychological conceptions of temporality, and their
contributions to subjective perspectives, to provide a framework for the
experiences discussed. Whilst the ‘twenty-?irst century’ aspect of the thesis title
serves as a nod towards an emphasis upon contemporary composition, it also
refers to the diversity facing audiences today. The juxtaposition of new and old is
re?lective of more recent cultures of reception: listening habits are formed less by a
socially-driven system of canons, and increasingly according to individual
preference. This is an attempt to analyse the temporality of musical works at a
point when their compositional chronology has perhaps never seemed so
irrelevant. Rather than offering overarching theories of perception or prescribing
speci?ic methods of analysis and interpretation, this study embraces the plurality
of experienced musical time in the acknowledgement that articulating these
phenomena might enrich an appreciation of a variety of musical styles.
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Contents
Abstract........................................................................................................................................................3
Contents.......................................................................................................................................................4
List of ?igures.............................................................................................................................................7
Acknowledgements.................................................................................................................................9
Author’s declaration............................................................................................................................10
1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................12
Trees and ?lags...........................................................................................................12
Something old, something new..........................................................................14
Keeping score.............................................................................................................20
Mutual bene?its..........................................................................................................24
2. Alternative Paths – George Benjamin & Mozart..................................................28
About time...................................................................................................................28
Narrative impulses..................................................................................................29
Grasping time.............................................................................................................32
Losing time..................................................................................................................34
Cycles and spirals.....................................................................................................36
Temporal dualities...................................................................................................40
Disintegration............................................................................................................45
Timelessness..............................................................................................................50
3. Directing Time....................................................................................................................56
Clutching at metaphors..........................................................................................57
Time, space and change.........................................................................................61
In search of direction..............................................................................................64
Going with the ?low.................................................................................................67
4. Perception and Perspective – John Adams & Schubert................................71
Placing perspective.................................................................................................73
Simplicity and continuity......................................................................................76
Discontinuity..............................................................................................................80
Moving beyond spectacle......................................................................................86
Moving beyond contrast........................................................................................89
Form and function...................................................................................................95
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Contents
5. Perceiving Time.................................................................................................................99
Objective and subjective time.............................................................................99
Order and consciousness...................................................................................102
Processing musical time.....................................................................................104
Affect and attention..............................................................................................109
Diversions and subversions..............................................................................113
6. Dynamic Continuities – Hans Abrahamsen & Brahms.................................119
Developing variation............................................................................................119
Multiple forms – Abrahamsen..........................................................................122
Innovation within tradition – Brahms..........................................................128
Tracing boundaries – Fourth Symphony: Finale......................................131
Finding dynamism.................................................................................................134
Ebb and ?low............................................................................................................136
Layers of time – Schnee: Canon 1a.................................................................140
Horizontal perspectives – Schnee: Canon 1b............................................144
Temporal dimensions – Schnee: Canon 2a.................................................146
Shifting focus – Schnee: Canon 2b..................................................................148
Disintegration – Schnee: Canons 3–5............................................................151
Dynamic continuities...........................................................................................155
7. Experiencing Time........................................................................................................157
Perceiving forms....................................................................................................157
Continuity and narrative potential................................................................160
Questioning continuity........................................................................................164
Dynamic forms........................................................................................................168
8. Narrative Possibilities – Kaija Saariaho & Beethoven.................................172
Surface balance.......................................................................................................174
Internal narratives................................................................................................177
Fulcra..........................................................................................................................181
In search of stability.............................................................................................187
Self-destruction......................................................................................................193
Fresh perspectives................................................................................................195
Renewed focus........................................................................................................199
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Contents
9. Understanding Time....................................................................................................201
Formal impulses.....................................................................................................201
Autonomy..................................................................................................................204
Unity............................................................................................................................205
10. Energy and Equilibrium – Thomas Adès & Sibelius.....................................209
Symphonic renewal..............................................................................................211
Symphonic resolution?........................................................................................214
Tonal energy............................................................................................................216
Temporal multiplicity: Sibelius.......................................................................221
Temporal multiplicity: Adès.............................................................................225
Disruption.................................................................................................................231
Attaining equilibrium..........................................................................................234
Sonority and memory..........................................................................................236
11. Epilogue: Open endings.............................................................................................242
List of primary materials.................................................................................................................247
Bibliography.........................................................................................................................................249
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List of Uigures
2.1 Mozart, Violin Sonata in E minor K. 304 (2) , structural table..........................................41
2.2 Mozart, Violin Sonata in E minor K. 304 (2), bars 1–16 (piano)......................................42
2.3 Mozart Violin Sonata in E minor K. 304 (2), bars 70–81.....................................................43
2.4 Benjamin, Viola, Viola, three-part structural plan..................................................................44
2.5 Benjamin, Viola, Viola, bars 1–19 (reproduced from Benjamin 1997)..........................44
2.6 Benjamin, Viola, Viola, list of events.............................................................................................48
2.7 Benjamin, Viola, Viola, bars 92–97 (reproduced from Benjamin 1997).......................49
2.8 Mozart, Violin Sonata in E minor K. 304 (2), bars 94–102 (piano).................................51
2.9 Mozart, Violin Sonata in E minor K. 304 (2), themes, bars 1–4, 94–101......................52
2.10 Benjamin, Viola, Viola, bars 98–105 (reproduced from Benjamin 1997)....................53
4.1 Schubert, Sonata in B-Slat D. 960 (1), bars 1–23.....................................................................81
4.2 Schubert, Sonata in B-Slat D. 960 (1), trill derivation, bars 1 and 8................................83
4.3 Adams, Shaker Loops (1): harmonic reduction, bars 1–104..............................................87
4.4 Schubert, Sonata in B-Slat D. 960 (1), table displaying structural plan.........................90
4.5 Schubert, Sonata in B-Slat D. 960, binary form diagram......................................................93
4.6 Adams, Shaker Loops (3), solo cello melody, bars 3–26.......................................................96
4.7 Adams, Shaker Loops, table displaying gestural interpretation of form.......................97
4.8 Adams, Shaker Loops, excerpts showing rhythmic motif reversal..................................98
6.1 Abrahamsen, Schnee, canonic parings across the formal scheme................................124
6.2 Abrahamsen, Schnee, detuning process across the three intermezzi..........................125
6.3 Abrahamsen, Schnee, ‘four movement’ formal scheme.....................................................126
6.4 Abrahamsen, Schnee, ‘diminishing structure’ formal scheme .......................................126
6.5 Brahms, Fourth Symphony (4), structural interpretations of form.............................126
6.6 Brahms, Fourth Symphony (4), reduction of ostinato, bars 1–8...................................130
6.7 Brahms, Fourth Symphony (1), reduction of bars 393–403...........................................132
6.8 Brahms, Fourth Symphony (3), harmonic reduction, bars 317–26.............................133
6.9 Brahms, Fourth Symphony (4), reduction, bars 97–104..................................................137
6.10 Brahms, Fourth Symphony (4), selected reduction of bars 129–36............................138
6.11 Brahms, Fourth Symphony (4), ‘two gestures’ formal scheme......................................139
6.12 Abrahamsen, Schnee (1a), bars 1–6 (reproduction of Abrahamsen 2008)..............141
6.13 Abrahamsen, Schnee (1b), bars 1–3 (reproduction of Abrahamsen 2008)..............144
6.14 Abrahamsen, Schnee (2a), reduction, bars 1–4.....................................................................146
6.15 Abrahamsen, Schnee (2a), piano excerpts, bars 22–23 and 34–35..............................147
6.16 Abrahamsen, Schnee (3b), pianos (bars 1–4)........................................................................151
6.17 Abrahamsen, Schnee (4a), bars 1–3 (reproduction of Abrahamsen 2008)..............152
6.18 Abrahamsen, Schnee (5a & 5b), piano parts, bars 1–4.......................................................153
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List of Sigures
8.1 Saariaho, Je sens un deuxième coeur, formal scheme..........................................................175
8.2 Beethoven, ‘Eroica’ Symphony (1), formal scheme.............................................................175
8.3 Saariaho, Je sens un deuxième coeur (2), bars 54–57..........................................................182
8.4 Saariaho, Je sens un deuxième coeur (2 & 4), closing sonority reductions.................183
8.5 Saariaho, Je sens un deuxième coeur, table detailing fulcra shifts..................................183
8.6 Saariaho, Je sens un deuxième coeur (3), bars 1–3................................................................184
8.7 Saariaho, Je sens un deuxième coeur (4), piano, bars 1–4..................................................185
8.8 Saariaho, Je sens un deuxième coeur (4), piano, bars 40–42, (piano)...........................185
8.9 Saariaho, Je sens un deuxième coeur (1 & 5) viola and cello openings.........................186
8.10 Beethoven, ‘Eroica’ Symphony (1), strings, bars 1–14......................................................188
8.11 Beethoven, ‘Eroica’ Symphony (1), E-minor theme derivation.....................................189
8.12 Beethoven, ‘Eroica’ Symphony (1), harmonic reduction, bars 248–84......................190
8.13 Beethoven, ‘Eroica’ Symphony (1), tonal leanings, bars 284–338...............................191
8.14 Saariaho, Je sens un deuxième coeur (1), piano, bars 26–28............................................197
8.15 Saariaho, Je sens un deuxième coeur (2), bars 9–17.............................................................197
8.16 Saariaho, Je sens un deuxième coeur (3), viola and cello, bars 4–7................................198
8.17 Saariaho, Je sens un deuxième coeur (4), reductions of selected bars..........................198
8.18 Saariaho, Je sens un deuxième coeur (5), piano, bars 1–3..................................................198
10.1 Sibelius, Symphony No. 7, reduction of bars 1–4.................................................................210
10.2 Adès, Tevot, reduction of bars 1–4..............................................................................................210
10.3 Adès, Tevot, harmonic reduction, bars 1–13..........................................................................219
10.4 Sibelius, Symphony No. 7, table displaying tempo changes............................................222
10.5 Sibelius, Symphony No. 7, trombone theme, bars 60–70.................................................224
10.6 Adès, Tevot, table detailing tempo changes............................................................................226
10.7 Adès, Tevot, cello, bars 65–68, and violin 1, bars 92–99...................................................228
10.8 Adès, Tevot, trumpet melody, bars 142–44............................................................................228
10.9 Adès, Tevot, counterpoint motifs utilised in bars 53–91..................................................229
10.10 Sibelius, Symphony No. 7, strings and horns, bars 106–08.............................................232
10.11 Adès, Tevot, reduction of bars 302–323...................................................................................237
10.12 Sibelius, Symphony No. 7, strings and horns, bars 500–10.............................................240
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Acknowledgements

I would not have been able to undertake this project without the ?inancial backing
of a Doctoral Studentship from the Arts and Humanities Research Council; I feel
very fortunate to have been given so much time and space to explore, well, time
and space, and I am immensely grateful to the AHRC for its support in this regard.
The Department of Music at the University of York has provided an incredible
listening and performing environment in which to carry out this study. Whilst I
have felt very blessed to have been able to treat it as something of a second home
for the past eight years, I feel luckier still that after all that time it still provides so
stimulating, so challenging, and yet so warm and friendly a place to work. This is
mostly thanks to a whole host of people who have inspired and affected the course
of this thesis in a variety of ways. Special thanks go to Daniel March, Mark &
Vanessa Hutchinson, Martin & Zoë Scheuregger, John Stringer, James Whittle,
Sarah Goulding, George & Annie Wissen, Ian Hoggart, Sophie Simpson, Benjamin
Gait, Thomas Simaku, Christopher Leedham, Daniel Swain, Imogen Clarke, Patrick
Jones and Claire McGinn.
Thanks also go to a number of friends, mentors and family members who
have at various points offered invaluable support: David & Elspeth Dutch, Justin
Evans, Eva Warren, my uncle Paul, my grandfather Pat and his wife Linda,
Maryjane & Tony Clifford, Cathy Denford, Andrew Vickers, Lesley Smith, Mark &
Jane Lewis and all the ‘red herrings’. Particular thanks go to Paul Dryhurst for his
friendship, conversation and tea-drinking companionship.
I would especially like to thank Bella Clifford for her constant love and
encouragement, her ability to keep me calm and grounded, and her endless
patience (if it had limits, I think I would have found them during the writing of this
thesis!). Far from freaking out when I announced I wanted to study music, my
parents Andy and Carey have been an incredible source of generosity, advice and
support throughout, and there is no adequate way to show just how grateful I am.
My siblings – Katie, Beth and Ben – have continued to inspire me with the amazing
lives they lead. Shadow, the golden retriever, has also been ever-consistent.
Finally, special thanks go to my supervisor Tim Howell. I feel incredibly
privileged to have been able to rely on his guidance and insight throughout this
project. I will always be grateful for his friendship and support.
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Author’s declaration

I declare that this thesis is a presentation of original work and I am the sole author.
This work has not previously been presented for an award at this, or any other,
University. All sources are acknowledged as References.

Chapter Four contains written material and ?igures (4.3, 4.7 and 4.8) taken from
my article ‘Accessible Narratives: Continuity in the Music of John Adams’ (listed in
the Bibliography). Copyright is held by the publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd.
Shaker Loops – Music by John Adams
© Copyright 1978 Associated Music Publishers, Inc.
Chester Music Limited trading as G Schirmer.
All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.
Used by Permission of Chester Music Limited trading as G Schirmer.
Tevot – Composed by Thomas Adès
© 2007 Faber Music Ltd, London, WC1B 3DA
Reproduced by permission of Faber Music Ltd
All Rights Reserved.
Schnee – Music by Hans Abrahamsen
© Copyright 2008 Ed Wilhelm Hansen.
Chester Music Limited.
All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.
Used by Permission of Chester Music Limited.
Viola, Viola – Composed by George Benjamin
© 1998 Faber Music Ltd, London, WC1B 3DA
Reproduced by permission of Faber Music Ltd
All Rights Reserved.
Je Sens Un Deuxième Coeur – Music by Kaija Saariaho
© Copyright 2003 Chester Music Limited.
All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.
Used by Permission of Chester Music Limited.
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