Fort/ Da for ensemble

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1 Boston University OenBU Theses Dissertations htt://oen.bu.edu Boston University Theses Dissertations 2017 Fort/ Da or ensemble De Souza Leite Barbosa, Luciano htts://hdl.handle.net/21/261 Boston University

2 BOSTON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS Dissertation FORT/ DA FOR ENSEMBLE by LUCIANO DE SOUZA LEITE BARBOSA B.M., Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de aneiro, 2009 Submitted in artial ulillment o the requirements or the degree o Doctor o Musical Arts 2017

3 2017 by LUCIANO DE SOUZA LEITE BARBOSA All rights reserved

4 Aroved by First Reader oshua Fineberg, D.M.A. Proessor o Music, Comosition and Theory Second Reader Martin Amlin, D.M.A. Proessor o Music; Chair o Comosition and Theory Deartment Third Reader Ketty Nez, Ph.D. Assistant Proessor o Music, Comosition and Theory

5 DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this work to my amily and to my love Lara. iv

6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to deely thank Pro. oshua Fineberg or his atience, dedication and incredibly thoughtul comosition lessons during my seven years o studies at Boston University. I would like to thank Pro. Martin Amlin or his suort and assionate teachings, and to Pro. Ketty Nez or her encouragement and insightul eedbacks. Additionally, I would like to extend this acknowledgment to the aculty at the School o Music, and the innumerous guest comosers and erormers who contributed to a very insiring environment or the study o music. Others that have heled me during the rocess o this work are erey Means and the musicians rom Sound Icon, with their excellent erormance o Fort/ Da. Finally, this work would not have been at all ossible without the suort o my grandmother Maria Graziela, my arents Luciano and Maria Luiza, my siblings Renato and Fernanda, and my artner Lara. v

7 FORT/ DA FOR ENSEMBLE LUCIANO DE SOUZA LEITE BARBOSA Boston University College o Fine Arts, 2017 Maor Proessor: oshua Fineberg, D.M.A., Proessor o Music, Comosition and Theory ABSTRACT The resent work consists o a comosition or ensemble, Fort/ Da, and a theoretical aer that will rovide insights on some o the ideas contained in the music. This work is thereore divided in three sections: concets and materials, analysis, and the score o Fort/Da. The irst chater resents a relection on the aesthetics behind the iece, in er to rovide an overview o the techniques used in the comosition. Among them, the concet o ormal rocess and instrumental synthesis elaborated by Gérard Grisey, and the notion o comlex sounds rom Tristan Murail are discussed. The second art resents an analysis o the iece, which will consist on a detailed commentary on the music and its elements. The third art o the work is the score o Fort/Da. vi

8 TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS... v ABSTRACT... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS... vii LIST OF TABLES... ix LIST OF FIGURES... x CHAPTER ONE: Concets and Materials... 1 The Didgeridoo Sound... 2 Continuity and Formal Process... The State Between the "Sonic Obect" and the "Sound Mass"... 8 Instrumental Synthesis CHAPTER TWO: Analysis Part One, First Section Second Section Third Section Part Two, First Section... 2 Second Section... 2 Part Three Conclusion and Future Proects vii

9 SCORE COVER AND INSTRUCTIONS... SCORE... 0 BIBLIOGRAPHY VITA viii

10 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Table o obects and their transormation throughout the iece. The end state reers to the oint o greater contrast. 7 ix

11 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Sonogram analysis o a didgeridoo sound on IRCAM s sotware AudioScult. Figure 2. The use o the harmonics glissando in the violin, viola and cello (m ). Figure. Examle o the metallic dros obect on the ercussion and iano (m.2 7). 8 Figure. Examle o the clarinet solo, the didgeridoo obect (m.1 17). 10 Figure. The saw obect in Resina, or string quartet (m.7 8). 12 Figure 6. Another version o the saw obect in Resina, in a less harmonic version (m.9 9). 1 Figure 7. Ch sequence analysis o the didgeridoo on AudioScult. 19 Figure 8. Ch sequence analysis extracted rom the sonogram above. The chs corresond with the beginning o the section until hal o second. 20 Figure 9. First accumulation o the iano and ercussion (m.22). 21 Figure 10. Oscillations around G on the double bass and cello (m.26 29). 22 Figure 11. Bass clarinet hal ste iguration, with the baritone sax doubling the C (m ). 2 Figure 12. Longer iguration on the metallic dros obect, on the ercussion (m ). 2 Figure 1. The metallic dros obect on its densest version (m ). 26 Figure 1. The alto lute solo (m.17 10). 27 Figure 1. The welding obect on the strings (violin, viola, cello and double bass), in the last section o the iece (m ). 28 x

12 CHAPTER ONE Concets and Materials Fort/ Da 1 is a iece or ensemble, insired by the sound o the Australian instrument didgeridoo. The idea o this work was to create a low, dee, and very continuous sound that had asects o the didgeridoo, but that had its own lie and identity at the same time. The intention was to work with the sound o an instrument that is not art o the ensemble, to use the instruments as much as ossible in er to evoke the didgeridoo and its unique timbre. This idea and the techniques used in the comosition o the iece are derived rom the instrumental synthesis technique 2, a term coined by Gérard Grisey to describe a rocess in which the orchestra synthesizes a sound. This rocess itsel was insired by the sound synthesis exeriments, which were raidly develoing during the irst decades o the second hal o the twentieth century, as well as the work Stimmung by Karlheinz Stockhausen. The iece thereore consists o a low drone that is gradually aected by a very bright ercussive metallic obect, erormed on the iano and the ercussion. The idea is 1 The term Fort/ Da was coined by Sigmund Freud in his book Beyond the Pleasure Princile. The term reers to a childhood game in which the child throws an obect away rom his sight and then inds it, reeating the game comulsively. The w Fort (gone away) and Da (there) relate to vocal noises that the little boy would seak as it layed with the obect. Freud believed that through the reetition o this game the child would master the anxiety caused by the absence o the obect. Regarding the iece, the Fort/ Da concet is borrowed rom Freud s theory to relect on the idea o reresentation o an obect, as well as the resence and absence o the didgeridoo in the ensemble. Sigmund Freud, C.. M. Hubback, and Ernest Ed ones, Beyond the leasure rincile (London: The International Psycho-Analytical Press, 1922), Gérard Grisey, A roos de la Synthèse Instrumentale, In Ecrits, ou, L invention de la Musique Sectrale, ed. Guy Lelong (Paris: MF éditions, 2008), -7. Paul Griiths. Modern music and ater. New York: Ox University Press, 2010,.. Richard Too, "Stockhausen, Karlheinz," Grove Music Online, Ox Music Online (Ox University Press), accessed Aril 0, 2017, htt:// 1

13 to distort the didgeridoo sound as the metallic obect reeats and intensiies, until the maximum tension o the didgeridoo is reached, ollowed by its dissolution. The end o the iece consists on a contrasting section, in which a very noisy and loud texture gradually reconstructs the didgeridoo. The choice o the didgeridoo sound is due to its owerul timbre and its very low register. The continuity o the sound was also an imortant characteristic o the didgeridoo gesture, since the instrument is strongly associated with the circular breathing technique. Asects o its social and historical background, although extremely imortant, are beyond the scoe o this work. The Didgeridoo Sound In the reliminary stages o the comosition o Fort/ Da I analyzed several samles o didgeridoo sounds with the aid o the IRCAM sotware AudioScult. Unlike my revious exeriences working with sound analysis, the goal was urely to understand the sound and its roerties, to use it as a model or a sonic obect that reresents the Australian instrument. In the iece, there are two ways o reresentation o the didgeridoo; a oetic one, which catures asects o the sound and transorms it into a new obect; and a realistic one, which is a more aithully rendered version o the instrument. The intention o these two aroaches was to exlore more and less evocative versions o the instrument. The ollowing igure (ig. 1) resents one o the samles analyzed, where it is ossible to see the energy o the higher artials increasing between seconds and, creating the glissando eect that is commonly heard on the didgeridoo. 2

14 Figure 1. Sonogram analysis o a didgeridoo sound on IRCAM s sotware AudioScult. The strongest energy is erceived at the undamental level, which oscillates between and Hz (D2 and C shar2). The second one being the octave, which is constantly strong throughout the samle, and is around 16 Hz. Between seconds and 7, it is ossible to see the vibrato eect, adding transient attacks to the sound, and creating a agged shae on the sonogram. The comarison o dierent versions o the instrument rovided an average o its sectral behavior, which insired the main eatures o the didgeridoo obect. In analyzing the samles, we can observe the curve o energy in the higher harmonic artials, as well as the density in the high register, a henomenon that results rom the mouth osition iltering o the harmonic content. For the comosition o the irst art o the iece, which attemts to reresent the aura o the didgeridoo, ewer eatures o the original instrument were used. Among The term aura is deined by Walter Benamin to exlain the essence o the work o art. In the case o the iece, the didgeridoo is not exactly reresented, but its essential eatures evoke the actual instrument.

15 them is the low register, the microtonal oscillations o the undamental, the octave doubling, and the wide vibrato. For the later reresentation o the instrument, the main dierence is that the glissando resulting rom the movement o the artials is also included in the sound, blending with the bass clarinet, which is itsel more rich in harmonics due to a variation o the embouchure osition, as well as the li ressure on the reed. Figure 2. The use o the harmonics glissando in the violin, viola and cello (m ). The igure above reresents the interior o the didgeridoo sound, with the harmonics in the strings simulating the movement o the artials rom the original sound. Dierences in extended techniques o the strings create a variety o colors in the higher register, simulating the richness o the original instrument. The deth o the low register is emhasized by the tam-tam in combination with the ianist taing the lower strings Walter Benamin, The Work o Art in the Age o Mechanical Reroduction, In Aesthetics: A Comrehensive Anthology (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2008),

16 inside the iano. Alto lute air sounds were also used in the texture in er to add a higher layer o noise to the didgeridoo sound. The comlete usion o the instruments with the bass clarinet sound becomes absolutely necessary or the didgeridoo eect to come across. Continuity and Formal Process Gerard Grisey s aroach to music comosition has insired my recent work and its inluence is signiicantly resent in the iece Fort/ Da. The idea that sounds are not ixed obects, that are ermutable among themselves and with other obects, have strongly transormed the way I aroach comosition and even listening itsel. For Grisey, sound is a orce oriented in time. These are mobile orces, in the same manner as a living cell, which have a birth, a lie, and a death. Accing to the French comoser, sounds are energy in continuous transormation. Furthermore, the comoser exlains his aroach to comosition as being the rocess o mutation o one sound into another sound 6. His material is extracted rom the becoming o sounds, i.e. rom the macro structure, rather than having the orm o his music deined by the develoment o motivic cells and small structures. The comoser also exlains that the idea o rocess is central or his work, and this rocess is what generates the transormations o the musical tissue. Since I became acquainted with Grisey s music and ideas in comosition, his aroach became strongly inluential in my work. Following a similar route, the 6 Gérard Grisey, Devenir du Son, In Ecrits, ou, L invention de la Musique Sectrale, ed. Guy Lelong (Paris: MF éditions, 2008), 28.

17 concetion o Fort/ Da started rom the macro structure, the overall orm, i.e. rom the general idea to the seciic. The elaboration o the large orm is at the very center o this work. During the irst stages o comosition o this iece, I concentrated on the larger movement o energy, on the transormation o the musical substance, and then arrived at the materials. The obects and materials in the iece were deined as the large orm was clariied. In his text Devenir du Son, Grisey exlains that in his music, the sound is never considered on its own, but in reerence to its ast and in relationshi with its uture 7. For him, the material doesn t exist in an autonomous orm, but is in a eretual state o mutation. The sound, thereore, can only be understood when laced in its temoral context. In my comositional method, I am interested in the network o elements in the context o a larger orm. In my work, I discover the seciicities o a iece, the material, and the nuances o the sound as I comose the larger icture, the shae o the work. In my iece Música Longínqua, the idea or the general orm was the exansion and comression o a descending line. From this dearture idea, I elaborated a descending line erormed by the clarinet and the sorano, and how the exansion would haen, as well as the comression rocess. Similarly, in Fort/ Da, the initial idea was to have a low didgeridoo sound that would be deconstructed by dros o metallic sounds and reconstructed in the end. From this idea, I was able to exlore the details o how this deconstruction rocess would take lace, arriving also at the nuances o the didgeridoo. In addition, another challenge in the iece was to establish the timing o the distortion/ 7 Ibid., 27. 6

18 deconstruction o the didgeridoo obect. The distortion eect is insired by the idea o harmonicity and inharmonicity deined by Tristan Murail. Thus, there are three main rocesses in the iece: Obect Initial state End state Measures Didgeridoo Obect Harmonicity Inharmonicity m Metallic Dros Obect Sarseness Accumulation m Welding Obect Inharmonicity Harmonicity m Table 1. table o obects and their transormation throughout the iece. The end state reers to the oint o greater contrast. Following the table above, it is ossible to see how the rocesses in the iece relate to each other. The didgeridoo obect and the metallic dros obect (ig. ) haen in arallel, and the didgeridoo is aected by the accumulation o the dros. As the dros accumulate throughout the iece, the harmony o the didgeridoo moves towards inharmonicity and greater density. The welding obect, on the other hand, is indeendent rom the other rocesses and, although it has the oosite direction o the didgeridoo obect, it is comletely dierent rom the other two. This rocess is shorter and its transormation is less gradual, bringing the didgeridoo sound out o a mass o noises, and thereore reconstructing the irst obect o the iece. In the context o my work, this iece is a urther ste in the develoment o a sonic continuum, a state o the sound in which the transormations are gradual, and in which sounds are in constant interaction. In the late 1970s, Gérard Grisey described the 7

19 continuous sound as being art o the beginning o a new era that integrates all sounds, and in which orm is derived rom the relationshis between them. Figure. Examle o the metallic dros obect on the ercussion and iano (m.2 7). The State Between the Sonic Obect and the Sound Mass On his article The Revolution o Comlex Sounds, Tristan Murail discusses how the use o tools such as sectrograms, digital recing, synthesis and the enrichment o 8

20 the material o sound itsel have led comosers, throughout the twentieth century, to rooundly rethink the comositional act. The oening to a comlex world o sounds, inluenced by electroacoustic music, had changed traditional listening as well, allowing comosers to exlore a new sense o time, in addition to subtleties o sounds and colors that were not taken into account reviously. Furthermore, Murail exlains how the attitude towards music comosition is shited with the notion o comlex sound: Rather than describe a sound by describing its arameters (timbre, register, volume, duration), it is more realistic, more in keeing with hysical reality and ercetion, to consider a sound as a ield o orces, each orce ursuing its own articular evolution. Such an aroach emowers us to work more recisely uon sounds, to erect instrumental techniques in the context o an understanding o sonic henomena. It allows us also to develo a comositional technique based on the analysis o sounds, and to make o their internal orces a starting oint or the comoser s task 8. The inluence o electroacoustic music has aected the comositional technique as a whole. The develoment o tae music allowed comosers to work with continuums and sound masses, as in the iconic work Atmoshères, by György Ligeti. Accing to Murail, the aroach to masses o sound relaced the traditional thinking o lines and counteroint, oening the ossibility or comosers to scult the sonic material, in an aroach similar to the technique o sound synthesis. Considering Tristan Murail s concet o comlex sounds, the iece Fort/ Da works with an idea that is in between the sonic obect and the sound mass. There are 8 Tristan Murail, "The Revolution o Comlex Sounds," Contemorary Music Review 2, no. 2 (200):

21 three main obects in the iece, that behave in accance with some seciic rinciles that unite them, such as the metallic dros obect. However, these obects are sustained or long eriods o time, behaving in the manner o a mass. The main sonic obect in the iece being the didgeridoo obect, which is resented mainly in two versions throughout the iece. For the most art o the iece the reresentation is subtle, as only a ew asects o the Australian instrument are eatured. Figure. Examle o the clarinet solo, the didgeridoo obect (m.1 17). In contrast with the didgeridoo obect, the metallic dros obect is erormed most o the time by a combination o ercussion and iano. This obect is very bright, and initially erormed very quietly, but erormed very loudly later in the iece. It sharly contrasts with the didgeridoo, due to its sarseness and unredictability. These dros are made by a combination o crotales, vibrahone, and glockensiel timbres, with occasional addition o triangle and almglocken. This obect is then accelerated, achieving moments o dense accumulation, in which the iano and ercussion blend in a very bright texture. The welding obect is only resent in the last section o the iece, and it is characterized by a comlex uxtaosition o noises that together simulate a welding machine sound. This obect is very loud and sudden, and it is receded by a very quiet 10

22 noise erormed on the strings on the bridge and with the strings blocked 9. Instrumental Synthesis One o the most imortant asects o my comositional work is the use o the instrumental synthesis technique. In revious ieces, I have worked with this aroach and reconstructed sounds rom wood saws, voices, and musical instruments such as cymbals and tam-tams. During the 1970s sectral comosers have become interested in the interior o sounds, inluenced by research in acoustics 10, as well as electronic music and its interest in music ercetion 11. For Grisey, the electronic music allowed the listening act to concentrate on the microscoic level o the sound, which contrasted with the aroach o the music o the revious centuries, described by the comoser as macroscoic. The discovery o this new ield o the microscoic sound, still unexlored, has reshaed music ercetion and roosed new ossibilities o musical orm. Thereore, accing to Grisey, the electronic synthesis o sound and the instrumental synthesis o sounds were the aths to the exloration o the newly discovered sound universe. The instrumental synthesis concet consists on having each instrument recreating a dierent comonent o the internal structure o the sound, and unlike the electronic synthesis, each atom o the synthesis is already a comlex sound with its own internal structure. Thus, instrumental 9 The eect o blocking the strings with the let hand results in a similar eect as erorming on the bridge, but with more itched sound. 10 Gérard Grisey, A Proos de la Synthèse Instrumentale, In Ecrits, ou, L invention de la Musique Sectrale, ed. Guy Lelong (Paris: MF éditions, 2008),. 11 onathan Harvey, "Sectralism," Contemorary Music Review 19, no. (2000):

23 synthesis became to Grisey a macro-synthesis, which aims or the elaboration o sound orms 12. This aroach to the internal structure o the sounds became imortant in my work as I irst learned the sotwares OenMusic and AudioScult, develoed at IRCAM, in addition to learning about the works by Grisey, Murail and Hugues Duourt, as well as works o other comosers inluenced by the sectral school. In my iece Resina, or instance (ig. and 6), I analyzed the sound o wood saws and recreated it with a string quartet. With this aroach, my intention was to work with dierent degrees o reresentation o the wood saws, varying the colors, the energy, the amount o noise, until resent it only with noise, in a more realistic aroach to the obect being reresented. The idea was to use the sound analysis and the understanding o the internal comonents o the sound to recreate a sound that had eatures in common with the target sound, but that not necessarily reroduced it realistically. Figure. The saw obect in Resina, or string quartet (m.7 8). 12 Gérard Grisey, A roos de la Synthèse Instrumentale,. 12

24 Figure 6. Another version o the saw obect in Resina, in a less harmonic version (m.9 9). Another iece that exlores a similar concet is Still-lie, which I wrote in This is a iece or solo har, and thereore the idea o orchestral synthesis is only remotely linked to how the iece is conceived. The iece is insired by the sound, and also by the timing and movement, o the wind chimes. In this case, it would be imractical to work with sound analysis, thereore the target sound is only analyzed aurally. In Fort/ Da the question o instrumental synthesis is resent, even though the relationshi between sound analysis and reresentation has taken even more oetic reedom. The use o sound analysis has only inormed the content o the sound, which is not erectly reresented in the music. Instead, asects o the sound were observed and recreated in the music, reserving a relationshi with the target sound. However, although the instrumental synthesis doesn t take lace in the iece in the same way as in 1

25 sectral music works, the idea o having a sound target and the reroduction o this sound with the ensemble is at the center o the work. Moreover, the notion o instrumental synthesis in Fort/ Da is aected by inluences o other aesthetic movements that have emerged in the contemorary music scene during the irst decade o the twenty irst century. The last section o the iece, seciically, is inluenced by the aesthetics o the saturationnistes comosers, active mostly in France. The saturationisme movement has initially begun as an extension o synthesis and extraolation, 1 but quickly gaining autonomy as an attitude towards the exloration o the unknown territory o the saturated sound. Insired by the inharmonic sounds rom both the sectral comosers and rom the concet o musique concrète instrumentale rom Helmut Lachenmann, the comosers Franck Bedrossian, Rahaël Cendo, and Yann Robin have ocused on the use o noise and the energy o the sound as material or comosition 1. The imact o this movement in the comosition Fort/ Da is clear in the last section o the iece, seciically in the welding obect. This obect is a comosite o several smaller noisy obects, and it is highly saturated and distorted. The aroach o assembling smaller arts together into a larger whole is done in a similar way as the instrumental synthesis. The idea was to recreate the sound o a welding machine, which itsel is made o smaller arts. The role o this obect is to contrast with the irst art o 1 Pierre Rigaudière, "La saturation, Métahore our la Comosition," Circuit: Musiques contemoraines 2, no. (201): 8. 1 Accing to the author Pierre Rigaudière, the term Saturation was irst mentioned to describe this style that unites the three French comosers during a colloquium organized by the CDMC in Paris, an event that had Franck Bedrossian and Rahaël Cendo as seakers. Ibid., 7. 1

26 the iece, in which sounds are highly harmonic, or eriodic. A similar notion to instrumental synthesis is the idea o musical model, mentioned by Tristan Murail in his 1992 Villeneuve-lès-Avignon conerence at the Centre Acanthes. Accing to Murail, the interior o the sound is aroached as a model or comosition 1. As an examle, Murail describes his iece Gondwana, in which the sound o bells has been a model or the construction o harmonies derived rom inharmonic artials. In addition, Murail mentions the iece Mortuous Plango, Vivos Voco or tae, by comoser onathan Harvey. In this iece the analysis o the bell sounds served as a model or the orm o the iece as well, with itches selected rom the analysis having a structural role in the architecture o the iece. In writing with a model, the comoser is able to accurately extract the sectra o a sound and use it as a structure or the orm or the harmonic material, among other ossibilities. Regarding the use o the musical model, the musicologist Philie Lallite exlains the dierence between two ossible aroaches to modeling in his analysis o Tristan Murail s L erit des Dunes: the scientiic model and the oetic model. The ormer is the one which aims to adat an extreme comlex henomenon into a ractical version o that henomenon, whereas the latter serves to stimulate the imagination and is aroached reely. Accing to Lallite, the oetic model has connections with the allegorical and the metahorical 16. Thus, this concet was articularly imortant in Fort/ Da, as it rames the use o musical modeling as merely a dearture or a comositional 1 Tristan Murail. "Villeneuve-lès-Avignon Conerences, Centre Acanthes, 9 11 and 1 uly 1992." Contemorary Music Review 2, no. 2 (200), Philie Lalitte, "Le Sectre d une Voix. Une Analyse de L Esrit des Dunes," In Tristan Murail, ed. Peter Szendy (Paris: L Harmattan, 2002),

27 idea. The ossibility o working with instrumental synthesis has oened the doors or a dierent aroach that I have exlored in my work, which is the relationshi between metahor and music. The ossibility o recreating a sound allowed me to exlore the recognition o sounds by the listener and to use sounds as reresentation o other sounds. As a comoser, I am interested in the evocative asect o music, in how a sound can be evocative o other sounds, oetic images, and natural henomena. I have always been intrigued by how oets exlore ws, images, symbols, and multile meanings, and wanted to be able to exress the same oetics in my music. 16

28 CHAPTER TWO Analysis Fort/ Da is a very continuous iece and to divide it into sections may contradict its luent nature. However, there are certainly landmarks and hrases that hel organizing the events on the iece as well as roviding arrivals and deartures, which aid the listener throughout the ourney o the iece. This analysis will use these oints as a reerence, although they may not be a rule to the understanding o the music. Following the thoughts o Gérard Grisey, the iece works with the idea o rocess, which is the gradual unolding o elements in a iece. Grisey described this attitude towards comosition in his essay Devenir du Son 17. In his text, Grisey talks about the transormation between states o a sound, in a technique similar to morhing. Accing to oshua Fineberg, the iece Gondwana by Tristan Murail is an examle o rocess as a ormal concet, as the iece transitions rom a bell sound, instrumentally synthesized, to a brass sound 18. In Fort/ Da, the idea o rocess is what guided the develoment o materials and unolding o the music, as the obects gradually evolve towards dierent states. Thus, there are three main rocesses in the iece: 1- the distortion rocess o the didgeridoo obect; 2- the accumulation rocess on the metallic dros obect; 17 Gérard Grisey, Devenir du son, In Ecrits, ou, L invention de la Musique Sectrale, ed. Guy Lelong (Paris: MF éditions, 2008), oshua Fineberg, "Guide to the Basic Concets and Techniques o Sectral Music," Contemorary Music Review 19, no. 2 (2000):

29 - the reconstruction rocess in the end, in which a bass clarinet sound is built by the welding obect. Generally, the orm o the iece consists o a single section, divided in two main arts, ollowed by a much shorter inal section, or coda. The irst section consists o mainly a low drone, which oscillates harmonically. This drone is aected by a high obect on the ercussion and iano, which starts as sarse metallic dros, and accumulates into denser igurations on both instruments. Gradually, the density o the dros start to rovoke a distortion on the low drone, which slowly ascends. The metallic dros obect then accumulate into a mass o metallic sounds at m.128, where the low drone slits into a dense ch, the maximum tension o the didgeridoo obect, and then dissolves into an alto lute melody. The metallic dros inally slow down until comlete susension at m.172. The inal section is made o sudden bursts o noise that emerge and ade, and that reconstructs the didgeridoo obect at the end o the iece. Part One First Section The iece starts with air sounds in the lute and harmonic glissandos with the wood o the bow on the violin, arriving at a bass clarinet attack that is linked to a sustained sound. This simle gesture simulates the initial attack and sustain o a didgeridoo, with a little air beore the irst attack simulating the air o the layer. The double bass immediately ollows the bass clarinet, irst by entering in unison with it and then by bending a quarter tone higher, simulating the microtonal oscillations that are 18

30 resent in the didgeridoo sonogram analysis. Immediately ater, the cello uses with the double bass and the bass clarinet, adding more deth to the sound. The ercussion also takes art in the irst measures o the iece and adds a higher sustain with the temle bowl, and immediately ater a irst dro o crotales, which later will become an obect in contrast to the didgeridoo obect. The indication (w/bcl) 19 is recurrent in the iece and is one o the most imortant asects o it. It means that instruments should blend with each other as much as ossible when indicated, even i or a brie moment. The idea is to clariy the usion o the instruments and to hel layers hear each other when laying in unison. Microtonal deviations oten ollow the indication, creating subtle beatings between itches. Figure 7. Ch sequence analysis o the didgeridoo on IRCAM s sotware AudioScult. 19 The sign (w/bcl) means with bass clarinet and it is used in the iece to indicate that instruments should blend with one another. 19

31 Figure 8. Examle o an OenMusic ch sequence analysis extracted rom the sonogram seen in Figure 7. The chs corresond with the beginning o the analysis until hal o second. Through the sound analysis and ch sequence analysis dislayed at igures 7 and 8 it is ossible to see the microtonal movement o the undamental (oscillating between D and C shar), as well as the movement o the artials. The iece adats the microtonal movement ound in the sonogram analysis by exloring small quarter tone deviations. In m. 1, the clarinet interruts the texture to resent a short solo on its lowest Bb in which eatures o the didgeridoo are evoked, such as the movement o the lis along the reed, and which alters the timbre o the instrument and imitates the movement o artials on the Australian instrument. Another eature that is used here is vibrato, which is also reeated in the double bass on m.20. A ew measures urther, at m.22 we have the irst iano and ercussion accumulation. Throughout the iece, the ercussion and iano sections are contrasted with the lower and continuous textures o strings and woodwinds, and as a result, these 20

32 instruments lay very sarse and metallic obects that accumulate into longer and denser textures. This is exemliied by igure 9. Figure 9. First accumulation o the metallic dros obect, erormed by the iano and ercussion (m.22). Second Section The next measure, m.2, sets the start o the second section o the irst art. This moment maintains the same atmoshere o the irst art o the iece, but is characterized 21

33 by an alternation between the cello, the bass clarinet, and the double bass, which are oscillating around G, as observed in igure 10. Figure 10. Oscillations around G on the double bass and cello (m.26 29). The result o this eect is a very muddy texture, low in register and unstable in itch. The viola and the trombone add to the muddiness o the section laying oscillations around E, adding inharmonic artials to the undamental G. High sustained harmonics in the violin add higher sounds to the texture, as these artials rolong the resonance o the iano and ercussion dros. The itch oscillation shits to F and F shar in the next measures, and at m. is the start o a subtle accelerando that leads to another ercussion and iano accumulation. This accumulation, which haens at m.8, is ollowed by a codetta on the cello, viola, and double bass, with doublings o the baritone sax, accomanied by the ragile dros o the crotales, iano, glockensiel, and vibrahone. Third Section This section starts with an E three-quarters lat double bass attack, immediately ollowed by the cello at the same itch. At m. the bass clarinet attemts a second solo 22

34 that recalls the one rom m Nevertheless, this time the bass clarinet is in the middle o a much more comlex network o microtonal oscillations, and barely stands out as a solo, but at the same time adds a signiicant energy to the assage, liking this section with the beginning o the iece. Ater the brie solo, the iece starts to accelerate again, at m.7. The accelerando also includes a network o itch oscillation, in addition to more activity on the iano and ercussion dros, and drives the harmonic movement to another accumulation at m.6. This time the baritone sax layer and the trombone layer erorm ercussion instruments (triangle and temle bowl, resectively), adding more volume to the bright texture o the metallic dros obect. Part Two First Section M.6 starts the second art o the iece. Following the cyclical character o the didgeridoo instrument, this section brings back the very beginning o the comosition, with a similar instrumentation. The clarinet lays an E, instead o the initial E lat, and is soon oined by the double bass in unison. The ercussion brings back the temle bowl, in the same way as at the beginning, with the unction o adding a high and very subtle sustain to the low register o the double bass and bass clarinet. From this section onward, the harmony will start to diverge rom its gravitational center, i.e. the unisons with microtonal deviations will not be as common in this section, and the harmony will sread gradually into a wider range o itches, creating the eect that the didgeridoo obect is 2

35 being gradually distorted. This distortion rocess has already started at m. 7, in which a cluster is reached ater the usual low register itch oscillation. Likewise, two other clusters are reached at m and m.87 88, bringing more o the harmonic tension to the overall mass o sound. Another accelerando at m.92 will lead the musical abric into a new interrution caused by the metallic dros obect. Second Section The second section o the second art o the iece is characterized by a C-B igure that is erormed mainly in the clarinet, but is doubled by the double bass, cello, baritone saxohone, as we see in the igure below: Figure 11. Bass clarinet hal ste iguration, with the baritone sax doubling the C (m ). What is remarkable about this ortion o the second section is the long version o the metallic dros obect (ig. 12), which or the irst time is sread out along several bars, rather than located on one or two bars. At m.110 we ind the irst examle o a longer accumulation o the metallic dros. By this moment, the relationshi between the accumulation obect and the didgeridoo start to become clearer, as the didgeridoo obect slowly distorts in the same ace as the accumulation intensiies. This distortion occurs at the same time horizontally, as the overall harmony shits to a higher register, 2

36 and vertically, as the didgeridoo obect itsel slits into dierent voices, generating clusters. Figure 12. Longer iguration on the metallic dros obect, on the ercussion (m ). M.121 brings another instance metallic dros obect and a much denser harmony with it. The harmony kees exanding at the same rate as the accumulation gets more substantial. Strings laying in sul onticello osition rovide a harsher and distorted sound that ollows the harshness o the harmony. At this oint, the harmony extends into a much higher register, rom the lower E o the bass clarinet until a C shar harmonic an octave above the irst ledger line on the violin. The ollowing aearance o the dros obect, at m.128 (ig. 1), is the most substantial version o this obect and the climax o the iece. Here, the ercussion is mainly erorming the glockensiel, with a ew other sounds such as the vibrahone, coil sring, triangle, and crotales. The strings achieve their most distorted version o the didgeridoo, and the oint o highest harmonic density. The strings alternate between inary osition and sul onticello, in er to create instability o timbre, also distorting the sound with overressure bow. 2

37 Figure 1. The metallic dros obect on its densest version (m ). Ater the oint o greatest tension o the iece, m.128 1, the didgeridoo texture starts to dissolve, as glissandos in the strings start to gain rominence. The lower sounds 26

38 o the double bass, bass clarinet, and baritone sax gradually becomes sarser, as the metallic dros obect is rariied. This movement connects with the section that starts on m.19, which has the alto lute as the most imortant voice, as seen on igure 1. The lute gives continuity to the dissolution o the didgeridoo obect, which ends with a lament-like melody. This melody is reeated in alternation with the didgeridoo obect on the double bass, cello, and bass clarinet. Figure 1. The alto lute solo (m.17 10). This section is at a slower temo and gradually slows down, arriving at a ermata on m.172, in a comlete susension o the musical movement or the irst time. Part Three This inal section reresents a comlete contrast to the music heard thus ar. It starts with a reminiscence o the metallic dros obect, which slowly loses strength, in addition to the air sounds on the strings (cello blocking the strings, and viola laying on the bridge). This quiet texture is soon interruted by a sudden aearance o the welding obect, which is made o air noises and glissandos layed by the whole ensemble, with the cello as the loudest voice in the obect (ig. 1). 27

39 Figure 1. The welding obect on the strings (violin, viola, cello and double bass), in the last section o the iece (m ). 28

40 At m.181 the same obect is reeated, this time lasting longer than beore, allowing enough time or the baritone saxohone s multihonic to ring loudly. The idea is that this constellation o noises will use into one highly comlex entity. On the next reetition o the welding obect (m.18), the longest one, the bass clarinet sustains a low C that gradually emerges rom the noisy texture, as i the welding obect was building this clarinet sound. The last section o the iece starts on m.19 and brings the didgeridoo sound back, this time as a more aithul version o the Australian instrument. The bass clarinet sound merges with air sounds on the lute, harmonic glissandos on the strings, sounds that mixes tam-tam and iano (erorming on the strings inside the instrument), in a mass o low requencies. Natural harmonics are heard on the cello at m.201, in a way to imitate the harmonics o the didgeridoo. The iece ends with a ade-out o the bass clarinet, which leaves the harmonics glissando on the strings and the air sounds on the lute to conclude the iece. Conclusion and Future Proects Throughout the rocess o writing Fort/ Da, or ensemble, I relected on some o the techniques used in my recent comositions. Firstly, I wanted to continue develoing my own aroach o the ormal rocess, but at the same time I elt the need to break with the redictability o my revious use o this comosition method. In Fort/ Da, or instance, the evolution o the harmonic rogression is gradual; however, the harmony does not suggest an arrival oint to the listener. In er to achieve that eect, the 29

41 unolding o the harmony avoids a strictly sequential er, and not all the stes in the rogression are ollowed. The overall harmony evolves rom a unison into a wide oened ch, with the densest chs aearing at the stes immediately beore the arrival. In addition, the undamental slowly rises throughout the iece, but instead o ollowing a linear rogression the undamental itch evolves through a circular movement 20. The idea was to kee a sensation o circularity, which would be characteristic o the didgeridoo, and at the same time maintain a constant rogression. Exloring this aradox o linearity and circularity seemed an interesting challenge that would avoid the redictability o the linear rogression. Another imortant asect o this work is the relationshi between the musical model and its reresentation. In Fort/ Da, my intention was to work with the technique o modeling, alying it in two layers: at the ormal level o the comosition and at the obect level o it. Thus, the irst art o the iece is based on two models or the obects; the didgeridoo, which served as a model or the didgeridoo obect; and water dros, which served as a model or the metallic dros obect. Regarding the orm, the model was the idea o corrosion o metal, which insired the distortion o the didgeridoo harmonies. The second art o the iece is based on the idea o welding, both in the obect level, with the welding obect, and in the ormal level, with the sustained noise reconstructing the didgeridoo. In working with the ormal model, I search or a clear directionality in the music. In considering this work method, I am interested in less realistic aroaches to the model, in a oetic interretation o it. The scientiic side is 20 i.e., always returning to itches reviously heard. 0

42 extremely imortant, on the other hand, to a better understanding o the target sound. Furthermore, one o the most recurrent ideas in my works is that o extreme continuity. In recent years, I have been interested in masses o sound and on the music o comosers such as Grisey, Ligeti, and Scelsi. I have been mostly insired by the ossibilities o the sustained sound, the limits o it, both or comosition and or music ercetion. In Resonant Choirs, or eight instruments, I have exlored the sustained sounds o cymbals and tam-tams, which ermeate the whole iece in the same register. In Paysages, or chorus, the intention was to work with masses as well, but having a dierent medium, the human voice. Still-lie also attemts the extreme continuity by transorming the sound o a wind chime into the sound o a tubular bell. My current roect Vanishing Point works with the sustained sound o two traverso lute multihonics. In this iece, I have been working with an extremely limited material, in er to exlore the internal comlexities o the lute timbre. In working with masses o multihonics, the intention is to exlore the usion o elements inside the mass and to shit the listener s attention to the subtleties o the sound. In considering the idea o continuity, my next substantial roect is a iece or harsich and electronics to be erormed during the Cursus rogram at IRCAM. My idea or this iece is to exlore the transormation o the harsich sound into the sound o a iano, with the aid the electronics. Furthermore, this roect will be also ocused on ideas o reresentation and metahor. Since my earliest iano studies, I have been ascinated by the iano music o Robert Schumann, esecially the Études Symhoniques, O.1. I have always been curious about the act that this iece is or a 1

43 solo instrument, the iano, but that it has the ower to evoke another medium, which is symhonic music. Through the density o the chs, the octave doublings, and comlex textures, the listener associates the sound o the iano with that o the orchestra. With that idea in mind, I would like to evoke the sound o the iano with the harsich. I would like the electronics to gradually add sustained sounds to the harsich, in a simulation o the use o iano edals. I would also like to add a wider range o dynamics to the baroque instrument, as well as slowly exand its register. Finally, the last ste in the transormation is to gradually shit the timbre o the harsich, in a rocess known as convolution. Another imortant asect that I would like to exlore is a deceleration o the musical obects in the iece. I would like this comosition to start in the style o a baroque toccata and to slowly evolve into gestural based music, which will be tyically ianistic. The rocess o change rom the harsich sound to the iano sound will occur in arallel to this deceleration rocess, but not at the same rate. I want both rocesses to converge in the iece, and that each rocess kee a distinct acing and a unique unolding. I lan to end the iece with a inal electroacoustic section made exclusively o iano sounds, which would comlete transition rom the harsich to the iano. In conclusion, I exect that in my uture musical roects I will exand the ideas resented in Fort/ Da, such as extreme continuity, the ormal rocess, and the work with the musical model. The need or that exansion comes rom the challenging nature o these subects, both rom a comositional and a ercetual standoint. Among those toics, the ossibilities o musical modeling seem to be esecially vast, considering the 2

44 contributions rom recent develoments in music technology, oening new rontiers or sounds and meaning.

45 Luciano Leite Barbosa Fort/ Da or ensemble 2017

46 Piece written to Sound Icon

47 Instrumentation Alto lute Bass clarinet Baritone Saxohone Trombone Percussion (1 layer) Piano Violin Viola Violoncello Double Bass Percussion instruments Glockensiel Crotales (2 octaves) Vibrahone 1 Triangle 1 Temle Bowl Almglocken (F#, B, Bb, A) Coil Sring Tam-tam (large) Snare Drum Large Cymbal Additional ercussion Wind Chimes (bass clarinet) 1 Triangle (baritone Sax) 1 Temle Bowl (trombone) Duration: ca 1' 6

48 Notes The score is notaded in C. Octave transositions aly. Bass clarinet, baritone sax and double bass sound an octave lower than written. Crotales, glockensiel sound two octaves higher than written. Strings and woodwinds lay oco vibrato throughout the iece, unless other indicated. in this case, a grahic will suggest the intensity o the vibrato. Fusion is among the most imortant asects o the iece, instruments should blend as much as ossible in one meta instrument. instruments should blend as much as ossible. The indication o doubling (w/db) suggest that one or more instrument should use at the moment indicated, but may quickly change to another itch. the arrow - (w/db) inticates that another instrument will enter and use or at least a brie moment. Symbols general: short ermata long ermata quarter tones eighth tones transition between techniques glissando woodwinds: the clarinet also lays wind chimes (w/ hands); saxohone also lays triangle (w/ triangle beater). blend with ercussion and iano when laying these intruments st sla togue (bass clarinet, baritone saxohone) timbre trill air 1/2 air ltz air sound air sound and itch combined lutter tongue very close normal very oen air sounds glissando, blow air and move keys ollowing the suggested range. w et whistle 7

49 trombone: the trombone also lays a tibetan bowl, (w/ tibetan bowl beater). Blend with ercussion and iano sinas: bucket, harmon, lunger air air sounds closed oen ast alternation between oen and closed strings: s alto sul ont sul ont as close to the bridge as ossible on the bridge, no itch block the string, minimum itch, breathy sound col legno 1/2 legno crine laut. molto laut. norm. col legno tratto 1/2 hair, 1/2 wood cancels col legno or 1/2 legno. Ordinary laying lautando, low bow ressure minimum bow ressure cancels lautando overressure, identiiable itch overressure, noise only cancels overressure highest note ossible undeined high harmonic harmonics glissando undeined glissando tremolo. Always irregular 8

50 ercussion: the iano and the ercussion are art o the same structure, blend the timbres as much as ossible throughout the iece ast circular motion regular circular motion slow circular motion ast diagonal motion, like a tremolo crotales triangle snare drum temle bowl tam-tam coil sring almglocken large cymbal iano: the iano and ercussion are art o the same structure, blend the timbres as much as ossible throughout the iece kee edal deressed, every sound should be sustained harmonics, the undamental is indicated with the diamond notehead luck the strings inside the iano with nails rub nails on the strings inside the iano, search or a metallic riction sound ta the strings inside the iano, kee edal deressed and avoid the loud attack, search or a low noise, with attacks imercetile. Blend with ercussion. 9

51 _ Alto Flute 6 q = 60 accel. q = 69 Fort/ Da or ensemble q h air O O O O O o o 6 Luciano Leite Barbosa (2017) 2 Bass Clarinet in Bb _ (blend w/db) b w (w/vc) # Baritone Sax. Trombone Percussion / Temle Bowl Ó ) 6 Ó o / Piano Violin 6 q = 60 accel. q = 69 IV. col legno o o Ó 6 2 Viola B Violoncello Double Bass Ó (blend w/bcl) (w/bcl) m r w b Bw Ó 0