The Oratorio The Marvelous Seed by Constantin Rîpă Poetic Synaesthesiae and Algorithms of Musical Language

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1 The Oratorio The Marvelous Seed by Constantin Rîpă Poetic Synaesthesiae and Algorithms of Musical Language Prof. NELIDA NEDELCUŢ, PhD. The Gheorghe Dima Music Academy Cluj-Napoca, 25 I.C. Brătianu Street ROMANIA Assistant Prof. LUCIAN GHIŞA, PhD. The Gheorghe Dima Music Academy Cluj-Napoca, 25 I.C. Brătianu Street ROMANIA Abstract: - The oratorio The Marvelous Seed for soprano, tenor, reciter, mixed chorus and orchestra based on verses by Lucian Blaga, written by Constantin Rîpă is a work composed in 2011, made up of two distinct parts bound by the general idea of germination, the seed, starting point for each individual phenomenon. In order to capture the synaesthetic aspects of the poem which create relationships in the realm of visual, auditory and tactile sensations, the composer resorts to a series of musical algorithms which particularize the compositional language of the piece. The synaesthetic content of the poem is translated by means of such elements as: diverse modal structures, chord configurations deriving of tone overlapping, the use of various forms of aleatoricism and heterophony, distinct sound effects and specific instrumentations. Key words: - oratorio, synaesthesia, compositional algorithms, sound effects, musical language 1 Introduction A contemporary oratorio appears as an ample musical work with two possible hypostases: a moderate and a radical one, offering substantial scores. In this context, the experiment is not excluded, but rather subordinated to the necessity of renewing the musical content, whereas the composers develop personal systems of musical writing [1]. The oratorio The Marvelous Seed, written for soloists, chorus and orchestra, pertains to the vocalsymphonic genre and was inspired by Lucian Blaga s poem which concentrates very complex feelings connected to the idea of seeds, ranging from very direct ones (such as tactile contacts) to highly elevated philosophical metaphors and concepts related to them. In order to sketch the oratorio s libretto, the composer sought the anteriority of this feeling in man s attitude towards harvests and, in the last instance, towards bread, thus tracing it back to the ritual of grain harvesting and to the celebration of harvest garlands. The oratorio is made up of two clearly contoured parts. The first part makes use of folk verses the Pluguşorul (literally, little plough) and Cântecele cununii (literally, songs of wreath) consisting of five units: the musical motto of the piece The Marvelous Seed (the first eight measures), Pluguşorul, an orchestral moment (the germination), a motto and Cântecele cununii at the end. Part two uses as libretto Lucian Blaga s poem The Marvelous Seed and is made up of three segments: the motto, a second unit dedicated to the soloist tenor and the finale representing an ode to seeds Laudă seminţelor celor de faţă şi în veci tuturor/in praise of these seeds here and to all seeds for eternity. On the macrostructural level, the musical discourse is led predominantly by the chorus (the main sonorous character of the piece), supported by the orchestra. The elements pertaining to color and the environment are assigned to the soprano and the solo instruments, while the presentation of Lucian Blaga s text is assigned to the tenor, closely accompanied by the reciter. The libretto uses on the one hand the folk verses we have mentioned (Pluguşorul, Cântecele cununii), and Lucian Blaga s poem on the other hand; the two types of text mould onto the libretto s two types of writing. The first part uses a generally diatonic musical writing with stylized Romanian folkloric quotations, with isons produced either directly by the vocal compartment, or mimetically by the instrumental one by imitating birds or the buhai. The second part brings a new, predominantly ISBN:

2 polyphonic, chromatic method of composition with varied modal scales (Lydian ones in particular), with multiple alternations between aleatoric and rigorously notated moments. The metro-rhythmic cues unify the whole work, creating a global fluency that establishes the character of a highly specific and original tempo rubato called melismatic rubato of the doina type. [2] Fig. 1 structure of the oratorio The Marvelous Seed Ex. 1 anhemitonic pentatonic structures (violin I); Lydian tetrachord structures (violin II); trichord structures (violin III) The modal oscillations which characterize composer Constantin Rîpă s neomodal descent emerge along the melodic development, as we can notice at the point where the soloist tenor articulates the solo Am văzut nu o dată sămânţa mirabila cenchide în sine supreme puteri/more than once have I seen the marvelous seed enclosing supreme powers Ex. 2 modal oscillation 2 Elements of compositional language in the oratorio The Marvelous Seed On analyzing the melodic evolution within the oratorio The Marvelous Seed we notice the composer s obvious tendency towards a polyphonic writing wherein the vertical aspects are most frequently a result of the overlapping melodic lines. He chooses various tetrachordal and pentachordal structures, nevertheless with an evident preference for Lydian configurations. The oratorio begins with the motto The Marvelous Seed consisting of a chromatic scale belonging to the sphere of the Lydian mode E. This sequence, particularly the Lydian tetrachord, will build the basis for the subsequent melodic structures. Fig. 2 aspects in the evolution of the chromatic scale of the motto The anhemitonic pentatonic structures emerge in diverse ascending or descending forms, with added notes or in elliptical forms, which may be reduced to the size of the Lydian tetrachord. Chord structures configuring overlaps of melodic lines are frequently employed, whereas homophone moments are scarcely present along the piece. We have nevertheless noticed such a case starting with measure 264, where the chord structures with added steps alternate with seventh chords. Ex. 3 chord structures The metro-rhythmic cues are present on a large scale, spread over short surfaces, starting from aleatoric elements free declaiming, senza misura, narante, recitativo then filtered through the folkloric heritage ceremonious, rubato towards extremely precise metro-rhythmic cues. We may conclude that the whole work develops in an evolved rubato form in which the ceremonious folkloric character on the one hand and the textual expressiveness on the other are the two motor elements that lead the general development of the oratorio. The elements of heterophonic writing are always present, being used by composer Constantin Rîpă in various forms. A first hypostasis can be noticed in the moment of the overlapping of the rhythmed reciting at a difference of one eighth-note between the voices: ISBN:

3 Ex. 4 heterophony A new heterophonic segment appears in the fugatto moment at the end of the piece In Praise of the seeds in which the orchestra provides a heterophonic accompaniment for the melodic lines in the chorus. The syntactic plan points out various points of reference (sounds, intervals, chords) which focus the melodic-harmonic interest, without establishing relationships and connections specific to the major-minor tonality, as they remain in the modal sphere. [3] Ex. 5 heterophonic elements of the orchestral accompaniment By synthesizing the main language elements to be found within the oratorio The Marvelous Seed by Constantin Rîpă, we point out the predominantly polyphonic writing, the anhemitonic modal structures, the modal oscillations, the chord overlaps with complex structures, the use of heterophonic and aleatoric elements. 3 The synaesthetic relationship between the verse and the compositional language in the oratorio The Marvelous Seed The image of the seed, with its entire arsenal of symbols, can be found in multiple hypostases in Romanian literature. The idea of seed appears in the oldest strata of the Romanian folklore, from where it was adopted by Vasile Alecsandri in his Pastels ( The Sowers), but it may also be found in Mihai Eminescu s works (The Poor Dionis, Emperor and Proletarian) and in Tudor Arghezi s poems (The Plow, Abundance). Blaga s poem is meant to be a modern eulogy to transformation, to material and spiritual fertility, a sacred and patriotic ode with a subtext of literary ideas resembling folkloric poems connected to the seasons customs, namely to Cântecele cununii. This feature is suggested through the use of epithets functioning as folk superlatives mândra/my sweetheart, rodnice/fruitful, dulce/sweet, etc. The resemblance was noticed by composer Constantin Rîpă, who introduced in the libretto of The Marvelous Seed folkloric verses specific to the New Year s customs Pluguşorul but especially verses of harvesting songs. The synaesthetic aspects the phenomenon in which the stimulation of a mode of sensory perception creates a sensation specific to another mode of sensory perception [4] can be encountered along Blaga s entire poem, addressing, in this particular case, the visual, auditory and tactile sensations. The third strophe, for instance, evokes the idea of the seed enclosing supreme powers, with their spectacle of colors yellowish or red, greenish, bluish, golden completed by the sensation of coolness and the melodic one accomplished through the gesture of raising them in the palms of the hands Seminţele-n palme de le ridici, răcoroase, un sunet auzi precum ni l-ar da.../if you raise the cool seeds in the palms of your hands, you hear a sound like the one offered. In music, the author stresses this moment by means of a simple, oligochordic writing, with a rhythmic structure following the prosodic development of the text, addressed to the soloist tenor, overlapping improvisational moments of the entire orchestra. Ex. 6 oligochordic structures of the soloist tenor An image endowed with intense plastic force emerges in the penultimate strophe, when evoking the feelings of childhood and the special tactile sensations caused by the touch of the wheat: Copil, îmi plăcea, despuiat de veşminte, să întru-n picioare în cada de grâu.../as a child I liked to stand naked in the tub full of wheat The composer captures this image in his music, once again resorting to oligochordic structures specific to children s songs. Ex. 7 oligochordic structures ISBN:

4 The synaesthetic aspects that capture the auditory sensations are of a particularly interesting nature. We would like to point out only a few, namely the joining in the first strophe of two auditory elements which exclude each other mândra grădină, în preajma căreia fulgere rodnice joacă să-nalţe tăcutele seve-n lumină/the fair garden arround which fruitful flashes of lightning are playing to raise the silent saps towards the light. We find a new auditory synaesthetic moment in the fourth strophe: the suggestion of the sound produced by the seeds - seminţele-n palme de le ridici, răcoroase, un sunet auzi precum ni l-ar da pe-un ţărmure-al Mării de Est mătăsoase nisipuri/if you raise the cool seeds in the palms of your hands you hear a sound like the one offered by silky sands on a shore of the Eastern Sea. In music, the moment is rendered by the introduction of an instrument of color due to its specific timbre [5] the glockenspiel which leads the following melodic development of the tenor part. Ex. 8 elements of color the glockenspiel The glockenspiel is also the instrument which permanently stresses the chromatic aspect of Blaga s text, as each of its interventions accompanies a moment that evokes colors in their various hypostases. Thus, rhetorically speaking, the use of the instrument stands for an epithet, corresponding to the use of epithets in Blaga s text. We encounter one of the most complex synaesthetic metaphors at the end of the poem amiezile de grădină/the garden midday hours - a metaphor rendering the image of orchards, meant to unite the multitude of colors, the smell, the silence, the coolness, the richness of the fruit residing in the general human memory. The musical rendering of this moment is a very simple one, by means of a musically static moment - the overlapping of two major seconds - senza misura, mormorando, while the text is presented freely by the reciter together with the sopranos and the altos of the chorus. Ex. 9 static moment, senza misura, mormorando This way the composer captures in his oratorio the synaesthetic moments of Lucian Blaga s poem, stressing them by means of a specific writing: the use of instrumentation with distinct timbre, improvisational frames, oligochordic scales, and particular sound effects. 4 Algorithmization of the musical language in the oratorio The Marvelous Seed Composer Constantin Rîpă proposes a series of musical algorithms for the musical materialization of the oratorio The Marvelous Seed: Lydian modal structures, chord configurations resulting mainly from the overlap of tones, using aleatoricism and heterophony in their diverse forms of expression and stressing the synaesthetic aspects extracted from Lucian Blaga s poem through the use of a specific instrumentation. The oratorio employs extremely diverse musical structures, from oligochordic modes, through tetraand pentatones and tetra- and pentachords to complex chromatic scales. The chains of major seconds - Lydian tetrachords and anhemitonic pentatones - build the basis of the oratorio s musical construction. These modal structures are correlated to the poetic ideas in various hypostases: the association of oligochordy and textual suggestions connected to childhood; the Lydian modes are bound to ideas of seed-worshipping, etc. In the same manner, the composer employs a series of instruments with coloristic role especially from the percussion compartment as well as specific sound effects most frequently assigned to the string instruments. Their correlation to Blaga s text is accomplished in the moment when the music approaches chromatic ideas. The visual elements are likewise highlighted in the composition by means of complex aleatoric moments. The synaesthetic aspects of Lucian Blaga s text which stress acoustic effects are rendered in Constantin Rîpă s music through the use of percussion instruments especially the glockenspiel - and through mimetic effects - murmuring mormorando. A relevant example appears in measure 24, where the melodic structures made up of major seconds are interpreted, this time, in a harmonic manner, resulting in chord overlaps made up of tones, a moment plastically suggesting germination, an aspect highlighted by the successive entrance of the instruments with tremolo and accents. ISBN:

5 Ex. 10 tone overlaps The aleatoric moments represented by the improvisational frames, by whispering, speaking or singing ad libitum, the senza misura segments with time measured in seconds, etc. are permanently encountered during the musical discourse, being meant to highlight some important literary aspects. The finale of the work proposes a model of controlled aleatoricism, in which the improvisational moments (rhythmic-melodic motives with the mimetic role of suggesting sounds of nature) are precisely notated on the staff. conferring the composition an original symbolistic code [6]. The frames with execution details are employed on a large scale, being used in two hypostases: in the moments of the chorus recitingscanning and in the segments reserved for instrumental improvisations: Ex. 12 frames with elements of sprechgesang Ex. 13 improvisational frames Ex. 11 controlled aleatoricism - improvisations Heterophony is another algorithm of creation to be found in the oratorio, treated on the timbral, as well as on the rhythmic-melodic level. In this way the composer accomplishes a creative algorithm by using the above mentioned structures all through the piece. These compositional patterns, initially correlated to Blaga s synaesthetic text, represent the technical solutions of musical materialization. Fig. 3 algorithms of creation in the oratorio The Marvelous Seed One must notice the moments at the end of the piece, where the chorus improvises freely according to melodic formulas accompanied by specific rhythmic cues doina rubato rhythm with murmuring effect - mormorando. The mimetic effects are often employed in order to create the desired atmosphere for each individual moment. We notice how the cello and the double bass imitate the buhai for the parts in the beginning, when the songs of the Pluguşor are performed and the imitation of bird song by the soprano voice (the melodic line of the coloratura soprano is written without text, only with the vowel a) and by three solo violins. Ex. 14 the imitation of the buhai Ex. 15 the imitation of bird songs 4.1 Sound effects The piece uses traditional notation procedures, nevertheless rendering diverse sound effects: cluster, sprechgesang, free declaiming, aleatoric frameworks, mimetic effects, etc. The frames, used in order to offer performers improvisational liberties, contain cues with rhythmic, agogic and dynamic references, A remarkable moment, from the viewpoint of diversifying sonorities, is the one where the description of the surrounding nature Un foşnet de câmp şi amiezi de grădină, un veac pădureţ, popoare de frunze/a rustle of fields and garden ISBN:

6 midday hours, century-old woods, crowds of leaves is associated to the division of the recited text into clusters, notated like this: the whispered text of the chorus in a frame, senza misura, followed by the reciting of the text with precisely notated rhythm, the moment closes with a freely notated aleatoric segment (performed ad libitum). Ex. 16 sprechgesang ad libitum piece; the inclusion of the aleatoric technique expressed in various forms (frames, free reciting, senza misura, improvisational moments); the use of color instruments in order to highlight the synaesthetic features of Lucian Blaga s poem. These procedures of diversifying timbre belong to the innovations of contemporary music, which represent, along with the new methods of stimulating creativity in the musical field [7], synthesizing aesthetic categories implemented in the realm of concepts. 5 Conclusions In the oratorio The Marvelous Seed the composer Constantin Rîpă achieves excellence in musically rendering the synaesthesias of the Romanian poet Lucian Blaga, by means of configuring compositional algorithms which can be encountered all through the piece. On performing a synthesis, we notice the following construction: the oratorio opens with the motto based on the poem title (The Marvelous Seed) and continues with the ritual of the wheat harvesting celebration. The first part of the piece is thus built, with a massive use of folkloric Transylvanian tunes connected to wheat harvesting. The second part develops along the lines of Blaga s verses, presented by the soloist tenor and by the reciter, followed by a long musical commentary, where the chorus and the orchestra express with various feelings the praise of the seeds. This is how, starting from the most direct feelings of anonymous (folkloric) art, in a huge crescendo that reaches the aesthetic and philosophical concepts of the poet and philosopher Lucian Blaga, the oratorio becomes a unitary whole. When studying the compositional language from this perspective, we can systematize a considerable number of sonorous algorithms such as: oligochordic structures, (Lydian) anhemitonic tetraand pentachords and tetra- and pentatones; chord configurations deriving of the verticalization of the modal aspects giving birth to overlapping chords or to structures made up of tones, reaching agglomerations of clusters; the use of heterophony as a way of emphasizing the folkloric sources of the 6 Acknowledgements The present paper was carried out within the research project type PD, code 468/2010, The Research, Systematization and Promotion of the Genre of Oratorio in Romanian Music of the 20 th Century, project director Lucian Ghişa, financed by C.N.C.S.I.S. References [1] Sandu-Dediu, Valentina, Muzica românească între (Romanian music from 1944 through 200), Editura Muzicală, Bucharest, 2002, p [2] Rîpă, Constantin, Teoria superioară a muzicii (The superior theory of music), vol II Ritmul (Rhythm), Editura MediaMusica, Cluj-Napoca 2002, p [3] Duţică, Gheorghe, Universul gândirii polimodale (The universe of polymodal thinking), Editura Junimea, Iaşi 2004, p [4] Ştefănescu, Lucian Cornel, Sunetul colorat şi imaginea muzicală. Un studiu al metaforei ca fenomen sinestetic (The colored sound and the musical image. A study of the metaphor as a synesthetic phenomenon), doctoral thesis supervised by PhD. Prof. Ştefan Angi, Cluj-Napoca, printed in 2004, p [5] Niculescu, Ştefan, Reflecţii despre muzică (Reflections on music), Bucharest, Editura Muzicală, 1980, p [6] Nedelcuţ, Nelida, Semiografia pianistică în creaţia românească a secolului XX (Pianistic semiography in Romanian works of the 20 th century), Editura Mediamusica, Cluj-Napoca, 2003, p [7] Pop, Ciprian, Virtualization - a Stimulus of Creativity in the Musical Realm, in ICT in musical field, vol. II, nr. 1/2011, Editura MediaMusica, Cluj- Napoca, 2011, pp ISBN: