Coyight y Aledo acinto de aos 007 i
The Dissetation Committee o Aledo acinto de aos cetiicates that this is the aoved vesion o the olloing dissetation: Tails y a ive o Lage Ochesta and Electonic Sounds (MAX/MS) Committee: ussell inkston, Sueviso uce ennycook Donald Gantham Eic Dott Samantha Kukoski ii
Tails y a ive o Lage Ochesta and Electonic Sounds (MAX/MS) y Aledo acinto de aos, MA Dissetation esented to the aculty o the Gaduate School o The Univesity o Texas at Austin in atial ulillment o the equiements o the Degee o Docto o Musical Ats The Univesity o Texas at Austin Deceme 007 iii
To Naila aos, my ie, ho has een so atient and ho has insied me on so many asects o my ok and lie iv
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I ould like to exess my deeest thanks to Naila, my ie, ho has een immensely suotive and atient on all occasions and esecially since the eginning o the long ouney that led me to eae this ok I ould also like to exess my gatitude to the memes o my committee, oessos Samantha Kukoski, Eic Dott, Donald Gantham, uce ennycook, and ith a secial emak to ussell inkston, my adviso, ho has alays een esent hen I needed his hel and guidance Thanks also to my colleagues, esecially to those ho have shaed a geat deal o thei time at the Electonic Music oum, discussing many elated musical asects that had an imotant imact on my ok I am also indeted to oesso Yevgeniy Shalat, hose dedication to heling me on many asects diectly elated to eaing this ok as vey much aeciated I ould also like to exess my deeest admiation and gatitude to amay and Alda Oliveia, ho have een models o my academic endeavos o a long time Without thei suot, my goals ould have een much moe diicult to usue This ok ould not have een ossile ithout the sonsoshi o the azilian CAES oundation, to hich I diect my sincee and deeest gatitude v
Tails y a ive o Lage Ochesta and Electonic Sounds (MAX/MS) ulication No Aledo acinto de aos, DMA The Univesity o Texas at Austin, 007 Sueviso: ussell inkston Tails y a ive, o Lage Ochesta and Electonic Sounds (MAX/MS), is a ok in hich dieent comositional techniques come togethe The ok can e chaacteized as eing in an eclectic style, involving asects o actices such as mico olyhony, ointillism, sectalism, comute music, tonality, and othe non-tonal categoies Although it cannot e eeed to as a ok that eesents a style ith a seciic ethno-cultual ackgound, the hythmic oundations o cetain ats ae deived om some moden Ao-azilian olk genes, such as candomlé, mostly esent in the Notheasten at o that county The electonic at is conceived as a timal extension o the ochestal sounds, and the MAX/MS atche used to geneate it has a gahical inteace that is designed to e a comositional tool Hence, it can also e used o utue oects The oveall omal design o the ok can e descied as eing a multi-at om, ith an almost continuous lo eteen the sections vi
TALE O CONTENTS INTODUCTION A IE ATIONALE O HYTHM AND ITCH HYTHM ITCH 7 ANALYSIS 9 SCOE VITA 97 vii
Intoduction The oect that led to the ceation o Tails y a ive, o Lage Ochesta and Electonic Sounds, egan in Seteme 00, ith the idea o having a conugation o electonic sounds that ould e teated as a timal extension o the ochestal sounds, and an aoach to hythmic mateials that had some link to Ao- azilian moden olk music taditions Ate some eliminay lanning and eseach, the oect as launched aound May 007, and since then, it has een a non-sto activity o the electonic at the idea as to imlement a MAX/MS atch that ould also ok as a gahical inteace to e used as a comositional tool o the develoment o utue oects The discussion in the olloing ages exlains the main asects o oth electonic and ochestal ats and the inteaction eteen them I ist discuss the MAX/MS atch and the geneal ideas aout its unctions and comonents and ho the electonic sounds it delives ae concetualized olloing this, I discuss the geneal hythmic and itch mateials that ae most idely used in the iece The discussion o the ok itsel egins ith a geneal ovevie o omal asects and ollos ith the osevation, oughly section y section and ith ack-and-oth comaisons and eeences among them, o the most imotant comositional asects that oganize the iece as a hole o the sake o eiciency, I addessed cetain toics that could easily e indeendent suects in thei on ight (eg, ochestation, thematic deivations, etc) The accomanying electonic mateial can e ound at htt://emsmusicutexasedu/dnld/aledo_thesis/tails_y_a_ive_max-mszi
inside the main ody o the ae, discussing them in the context o the iece, athe than aoaching them as seaated toics Electonic Mateials - MAX/MS sotae Max/MS is a gahical ogamming language that is designed o ealtime audio and MIDI ocessing The ay it oeates, in a vey simlistic exlanation, is y having oects hich have seciic unctions and attiutes connected to each othe though atch cods and send/eceive oects These oects may e laced in a oksace called a atche indo, hich is a gahical envionment hee they ae oganized into a atch" Linking and elating atches to each othe is the means y hich a use ceates a inished ogam in Max/MS, and detemines, among othe things, the ay it inteacts ith the live eome o this ok I have designed a atche hose caailities include multile sound ile and midi layack, ou channels each Hoeve, the atche can also e used in live eomance, ithout the need o loading eviously ceated mateial igue : atche s main indo
igue shos the atche s main indo, om hich the comute use can each all its suatches and oeate them The most imotant asect o this atche is the act that it as develoed ith the aim o seving as a comositional tool that can e used not only o this iece, ut o utue oects as ell The comose, then, is ovided ith a set o units that have thei on gahical inteace, hee oeations such as data loading, deleting, saving, and ecalling o all aametes as needed, ae all availale Anothe imotant asect is the act that it is not, y concetion, a closed iece o sotae Othe units o signal and MIDI ocessing, such as ganulatos, modulatos, itch shites, etc, can eadily e added At this oint, hat is ovided ae the olloing units: a eve; a simle delay; iquad iltes ith dieent equency adustments and cuve esonses; a simle ou channel samle; a ou channel vecto synthesize; a ou channel audio layack igue : Cues indo Dake enclosues ae key events duing the eomance, and cues at eheasal time caaility; a steeo sound ile layack system o loading a mock-u o the iece ith hich the sotae ill inteact, used duing seveal stages o the comosing ocess; a eat taing system, in ode to maintain temo synchonization duing eomance
Thee ae a e othe imotant units that ae not esonsile diectly o ocessing audio signals, ut ae diectly elated to monitoing and deliveing the actual eomance igue sho the Cues indo, the set o numeed uttons that tigge the events as the iece goes on Each event consists o a list o messages and aametes that ae sent all at once to all units involved in the ocess This indo also ovides the comlete list o all automation, o editing uoses The Events Status indo, shon i igue, guides the eomance y inoming the oeato hich events ae taking lace at a seciic moment and telling him/he hat is the next ste to ollo A moe detailed discussion o the inne stuctue and comonents o the sotae is eyond the scoe o this ae Nonetheless, thee is an imotant asect that must e discussed eoe I move on to exlaining the iece as a hole ove the olloing ages igue : Events Messages indo om this indo the eome is notiied aout the events that ae taking lace Ho does the electonic at o Tails y a ive inteact ith its ochestal counteat My emise is that the electonic sounds should only lay a ole o seving as a timal extension to the acoustic medium, ust as i they ee a dieent kind o instument added to the ochesta Accodingly, the loudseakes ae to e laced on the stage among the instuments o the ochesta, in ode to make sue that all sound
souces emanate om the same satial diection and, ultimately, that the layes eel them as eing at o the same context and ody The electonic sounds elate to the ochestal ones y douling them at some oints and highlighting cetain sonoities y einocing esonance Hoeve, thee ae slight nuances o thei on time chaacteistics emedded in the textue that ae not exactly esonance-elated mateial, ut textue emellishments, such as sutly teated noise mateial, some slight itch deviations, distotion, langing, etc The to souces o sound geneation o the electonic at that ae esonsile o eoming this task ae the eecoded sounds and the MIDI iles The latte ae slit eteen the samle and the synthesize The ays they eom thei tasks, although essentially olloing only one common incile, ae not vey simila, due to thei inheent chaacteistics eecoded sound iles asically ovide einocement o some layes o the sting and ass sections, and add othe mateials that aen t itch elated; the samled mateial used in the samle, taken om ecodings o iano and lute, is ocessed in ode to achieve a dieent sound quality Nevetheless, they still emain elatively ecognizale as eing deived om those instuments This is esecially tue in the case o the lute, ut less so in the case o the sound o the iano The latte s attack comonent as cut o, etaining only the sustained otion, and causing a consideale change in its chaacte The samle doesn t contiute to the textue as much as the sound iles and the synthesize do, and the eason o that is elated to comositional choices The concetion o the synthesize involves the maniulation o sound don to its atial comonents In act, the hole electonic at elates to some extent to the concets o sectal music, as a as equency einocement and maniulations o the hamonic sectum ae concened, 5
oth in the eecoded sounds and the synthesize The synthesize is caale o oducing a undamental tone lus seven moe atials e channel o each tone oduced, a set o aametes can e maniulated on the ly, thus tansoming the tone colo hile the music lays The aametes that can e maniulated ae itch, aveom, volume, enveloe, and the duation ove hich the atial enveloe evolves egading notation o the electonic at, only the contents o the MIDI iles ae esented on the scoe, ecause it is nealy imossile to eesent the contents o sound iles on a convincing and useul ay uthe discussion o the electonic elements as they elate to the oveall content o the iece ill e esented as its analysis is develoed A ie ationale o hythm and itch hythm Thee ae a e hythmic and some itch elements idely used in the iece that ee lanned in advance Thei chaacteistics ae exloed in many dieent ays, geatly detemining much o the oveall chaacteistic o the ok and even shaing the textue o entie sections The hythmic examles esented elo ae astactions, ee outlines o asic accents o accomaniment stuctues in moden azilian olk music, hose oigins date a ack in time to Aican oots atten atten atten Examle : hythmic attens
These attens ae used in this iece vey eely, eithe seaately o comined ith each othe, and thee is no seciic intent o esenting them as cultual o ethnic identiies hythmic atten seems to e a deivation o the Sama de oda style; atten is oiginally om the eligious ites o the Candomlé tadition and is oiginally notated in À; atten is om Tamo de Cioula, a vey distinctive and continuous ulse, layed y a lage gou o high and lo ecussion instuments that esemle moden congas atten is the mostly idely distiuted thoughout the ok and lays a vey imotant ole ove asects that contiute to the oveall coheence o the iece It is also esent in comination ith atten, shoing moe o thei chaacteistics in the main melodic and contauntal elements atten only aeas on to occasions, at the eginning and at the vey end o the ok, ut it has some inluence on the oganization o anothe section at the eginning o the ecaitulative mateials, as ill e seen late on Although these hythmic mateials ae sel-evident thoughout the iece, they ill e eeed to as needed, ove the couse o the analytical discussions that ollo itch egading itch mateials, some inciles o chod constuction and voice leading ae esented elo as the oundation o the itch oganization that govens a geat at o this ok These ideas ae mostly esent in the sections hee itch content is moe omally oganized, ut they also have geat imotance in the sections that esent othe kinds o moe eely oganized itch collections, such as clustes, These hythms ae mostly ound on the Notheasten at o azil Unotunately, an extensive exlanation o thei oigins and actices is eyond the scoe o this ae 7
isolated edals tones, etc Also, thee ae some deviations om these inciles that ee detemined ased on the context in hich they ee involved, in such a ay that some o these sets ould have one o anothe note moved u o don ithin the chods The itch sets shon elo in Examle ee oganized ased on the need to have some sonoities that ould enale me to develo ideas that could elate to dieent ealms o musical actice, such as tonality, ost tonality, modality, etc, ut ith no seciic eeence to style, and hich ould e ale to make them inteact ith each othe in the same textue Set [07] Set [057] Set [07] Set [057] Set 5 [05] Set [05] Set 7 [05] Examle : itch sets that have mao imotance in the itch stuctues ound in the iece As Examle shos, moving the inne notes in contay motion y semitones, the ist thee sets eveal the chaacteistics I as looking o: units that ould eesent cystallizations o these dieent actices o instance, Set -[07] and Set 7-[05] (taken hee as a shinking o Set ), ae vey commonly ound in the ost tonal eetoie, thus eing a good eesentatives o this categoy; Set -[057] is almost a comlete entatonic set, alloing o modal sonoities to e eely conveyed; Set - [07] is a mao and a mino chod at the same time, thus tonal sonoities can e vey easily achieved The othe thee sets ae deivations o the evious thee ones, and they ee detemined y moving the oute notes aat y semitones, a ocedue that is the oosite o hat as eviously caied out on the ist thee models Set -[057] is a The itch numeing used hee takes C as 0, and the itch constuctions that involve these itch sets ill e eeed to y one o these oms: [07], Set, Set -[07]-T, o Set -T, o ust [07]-T, hee the numes in ackets ae the set s ime om, accomanied y a tansosition level
comination o sets and ; Sets 5-[05] and -[05] ae deivations o Sets and, esectively These sets ae also to e ound in incomlete oms as susets o themselves inally, ate having these geneal itch elations detemined, a emise o chod ogession as also ceated in ode to achieve hamonic vaiety, ust a single and simle ule: the chods should geneally move y having one o to notes in common eteen each othe and thei ode o ogession should not e ixed Also, hee these itch constuctions mostly occu, melodic mateials ae eely deived om thei intevallic contents, as ill e esented in the olloing ages It is also imotant to oint out that, although Set and 7 have a elatively imotant esence y deining the mao chaacteistics o some assages, thee as no intention o having any o these sonoities laying a mao ole ove each othe It is also tue that thee ae some sections that ae dominated y the inteaction o moe than one o these sonoities, as i one ee aecting the mao sense o oganization o the othe Analysis The oveall omal design o this ok is deined, ith e excetions, y a continuous intechange eteen sloe and aste sections, o quiete and moe agitated chaactes, and also y the intechange o vey distinctive textue qualities, hich ae chaacteized y dieentiated itch oganization as ell as melodic/thematic constuctions All o that is associated ith an aoach to ochestation that almost lays a thematic ole Hoeve, even having thei on distinctive qualities and chaactes, these sections shae among themselves a geat nume o elements, hich ae elaoated in many dieent ays shoing sometimes a vey inticate netok o itch and hythmic elationshis Tale esents the distiution o all sections and thei asic 9
chaacteistics The adoted laeling system as thought in a ay to ivilege elationshis that ae ounded mostly on itch oganization and melodic contents, ut o couse, the oveall hythmic contents and textue qualities ae involved as ell With only one excetion, all sections connect to each othe though elatively smooth tansitions, small eludes, and ostludes At least until the end o section C[7-7], the lo om one section to anothe is almost continuous A[-] [-7] A [-59] [0-] C[7-7] D[-0] A [0-] a[-] a[-] a[-] Quietly Densely Mostly eely oganized itch mateial ee use o hythmic elements [-] [5-7] [7-7] a [-0] a [-] a [-59] [0-] With gace Quietly Damatically Moe omally oganized itch mateial; Ostinato hythmic stuctues Mostly eely oganized itch mateial ee use o hythmic elements Moe omally oganized itch mateial; Ostinato hythmic stuctues c[7-7] c[7-7] c[7-] c[-7] Calm and Uniomly Damatically Moe omally oganized itch mateial; Ostinato hythmic stuctues d[-] d[-0] With gace and ecision Moe omally oganized itch mateial; Ostinato hythmic stuctues a [0-0] a [0-] a [5-] Quietly Densely Mostly eely oganized itch mateial ee use o hythmic elements Tale : omal outline ist o: main sections; second inne sudivisions; thid: chaacte; outh: asic descitions Section A[-] is divided into thee susections that esent distinct qualities themselves, ut ae asically constucted, desite the altenation o time signatues, ove the same intenal metical elationshis The last to, a[-] and a[-] have one imotant element in common - the ass line textue - hich, eginning at a loe egiste at a[-], is laced one octave highe ove the last susection, also eing douled y the ench hons (asses though ) Thee ill e moe discussion o these sections soon The textue o section a[-], esents a eely oganized itch constuction, hee the main melodic elements ae caied out y iccolo and cello (douled y hon at m ), hile the itch sets discussed aove ae used as Numes in ackets ae measue numes that eesent the oundaies o sections and susections 0
indeendent oects, inusing the textue ith elements that late on, ove othe sections, ill e develoed and cast in dieent omats Ate the oening little gestue eomed y iccolo, tumet, iano, and viola (at m ), the violin lines sustain a mino second (douled in dieent egistes y ooes, tumet, and ass clainet and asses) that inceases its nume o notes, ecoming a cluste agglomeate that seves as a ackgound o a nume o gestues in the oegound The cellos ue voice and the violas (m -) ollo the violins and, ate the iccolo esents a ist thematic element suoted in counteoint y ass clainet (m -5), the cello line immediately ecomes the ominent melodic element, douled in unison y ench hon and assoon (m ) Notice also the change o ochestal colo omoted y the entance o the ind section as soon as the cello line takes ove at m : lutes, clainet, and ooes doule violins and violas an octave highe, and assoons sustitute o hat the cellos ee eviously doing The addition o the maima temolo and the atiicial hamonics on the violins add still moe inteest to the oveall sounding colo o this section The nd note igues in the cellos second voice (m ), douled at unison y the maima, ae elements taken om hythmic atten, hich is esent evasively thoughout the iece, ith e excetions, adating itsel to the seciic oganization o each section Similaly, the ench Hon s ist aeaance at m is ased on one hal o the same hythm atten The little assage om m 9- acts like a small ostlude o this susection ass clainet, tumet and English hon, ith thei sustained notes, hel the cello line in the task o making a smooth connection to the next susection, at m, hee lute, ooe, violins, and iano come togethe on the note E All though section A[-], ith a vey sutle involvement, the electonic at also lays an imotant ole, y douling the
violin lines (until m ) and ass line (om m 7-) The sound iles, y adding a laye o teated noise and ass, sound like sustained notes, uthe eniching the oveall textue So a, the discussion has ocused on the ole layed y the moe eely oganized elements, hose actual imotance is maintaining a ackgound textue and esenting the main melodic thematic mateials Next, I ill discuss the ole o othe gestues, in oth oegound and ackgound, that vay om eing like quick aaesques, sustained chods, and ostinati, to moe diectional gestues Some o these elements ae teated as i they ee sel-contained indeendent oects Many o them eaea in simila sections uthe on in the iece ithout much tansomation, othe than tansosition and ochestation, like a kind o signatue They ae stictly elated to the itch sets esented aove The olloing section descies these elements, in elation to the itch sets aleady esented as asic oundations Thee is an inticate elationshi eteen all the itch mateials in the oening section o the iece, among the dieent ochestal gous On the second eat o m, sanning though m, the th note tulets on the lute and th note gous in the clainet line esent a comination o Set -[07] and a suset o Set, oth at T 5 (see examle elo) Taking only the notes that all on doneats, Set ames this hole gestue, and the suset o Set is continuously tansosed donads, as Set unolds In the ench hons (mm and ), Set is also esented at anothe tansosition level, T 0 Set 7-[05] is the asis o the gestues eomed y the iccolo and iano (m -), and ove the last thee nd notes on oth instuments thee is an elision ith a suset o Set 5-[05], at T At measue, the violins and ooes sustained mino second, the
tumet at, and the ass clainet and ass ats, associated ith the nd notes in the cellos second voice, makes u anothe suset o Set, at T The ue cello line caies the same suset at T 5, douling the lute line in th note tilets Simila ocedues also occu in the small ostlude aleady mentioned (m 9-) (See the ats o iccolo, lute, maima, and iano) This myiad o vey delicate gestues oduces a vey inteesting agglomeate o sonoities that, govened y the melodic contents that unolds in the cello line ove mm -, leads to susection a[-] A constant concen in making this kind o textue ok as elated to having a cetain level o amalgamation eteen the oegound oects and those om the ackgound My ay o achieving this as y making sue that common tones ee Set 7-T 0 Suset o Set 5-T Suset o Set -T 5, T, T, T 0 Set -T 5 Suset o Set -T 5, T, T, T 0 Set -T 0 Set -T Suset o Set -T Suset o Set -T 5 Examle : a[-], mm - Deivations and cominations o Sets,, 5, and 7 shaed eteen elated and unelated gestues, suoting them ith the ight alance, and also y having elements shae some kind o similaity o examle, eginning in m, the cellos and lute esent simila kinds o gestues at dieent hythmic
coniguations, ith the cellos oviding an ostinato in the ackgoud and the lutes esenting a moe diectional sequence ased on the same melodic mateial Anothe undamental asect, ithout hich these elationshis ould have een vey diicult to achieve, is ochestation, hich lays a huge ole y segegating seciic note collections in seciic times and egistes eoe I go ove the othe susections I d like to oseve the melodic constitution o the iccolo theme om thid eat o mm though m One imotant detail is its melodic contou, the u and don sinusoidal kind o shae As examle shos elo, it egins ith a diminished chod sonoity, then asses though a melodic gestue that is a conluence o dieent ats o dieent sets, and inally ends ith a mao chod The to most imotant eatues that ae identiiale hen othe elated mateials aea ae the ist and last melodic gestues, an ascending titone along ith a descending mino thid, and an ascending mao thid along ith a descending mao sixth, esectively The donad and uad contou o the middle gestue also comes into lay ove othe thematic mateial This is the otion o the melodic stuctue Vaiation o Set -[05] to [07] Vaiation o Set to [07] Suset o Set 5 Set Set 7 Examle : Theme caied y the iccolo on mm - o this little theme that is most oten suected to tansomations o dieent sots, such as inteolations o ne elements, stetching o its asic contou, etc This middle melodic gestue also esents imotant chaacteistics that ae ased on the itch sets esented aove, segmented in the ays that ae most commonly ound in the iece,
including a tansomation o Set -[05] (a mao seventh chod) to [07] (a mao chod ith an added mino ninth) The eceding discussion, involving susection a[-], may ell seve to exlain its counteats, a [-0], a [-59], and a [0-0], that come late, leaving oom o discussing seciic dieentiations and estatements that ill occu Susection a[-] esents one imotant eatue intoduced y the continuation o the cellos melody om the evious susection, hich is the continuous intechange o mao and mino sonoities (see m ist voice) The asses, in a vey lo egiste, esent this same kind o idea at anothe itch level asses and altenate a mao second oth hoizontally and vetically, deived om the cellos second voice asses and, at m, have the same kind o intechange, ut ith an inteval o a mino thid ( and D, -lat and D-lat) asses and make a kind o unction o the ou loe lines: at one oint, they highlight the and -lat o asses though the glissandi, and at anothe, the G, A, -sha, and G-sha o asses 5 and The violins esent the same mateial as asses,, 5, and, a mao sixth aove in the ue egiste, stating at the eginning o measue, and etain at o oveall intevallic content in the ealm o thids Violas ente at m 9, esenting the cello line an octave highe, ith the note E elacing C on the ist eat, ue voice This olyhonic textue is eniched ith the entance o lutes, assoons, clainets and hons and, esenting melodic mateial that is deived om the same idea o altenating eteen mao and mino thids The assoons lines intoduce a coy o the cellos (see m ), tansosed a mao second elo om the eginning o this section, the textue emains in a steady lo until it egins to uild u ust ate the entance o the ind instuments, eaching a 5
climax at m : the aival o a vey thick and sonoous sequence o thee chods distiuted ove the hole ochesta, excet o the asses, hich ae esenting the same mateial they have had since m, an octave highe This textue continues to e the gound loo ove hich the main melodic elements unold ench hons doule the loe ou ass lines an octave highe, adding amth to the sonoity The itch contents o the chods ove the ig climax at m 5 ae deived om sets, 5 and, the latte having -sha as a susension that only esolves to E on the thid eat o m 7 The line layed y the clainet all thoughout susection a[-], is emellished y iano, hile the lutes, emellished y iccolo, ointly sustain a mao second that esults om the last -sha layed y the violins ate the ig aival at m 5 Notice that these ou lines (iccolo, lute, clainet, and iano) ae amed y an ostinato atten that is ased on hythmic atten, oming a second textual laye ove the asses and hons, hich ae uthe in the ackgound The syncoated second line o this hythmic atten (see Examle aove) entes ith violas on the last eat o m and is olloed y the second violins at m It is inteesting to note that this susection has a athe amiguous eeling o temo Desite the act that the mete is $, it is not eadily eceived as such, due to the ay that the ass lines and elated elements ae constucted, alloing o the ecetion o a )+k eat Anothe imotant element, caied y the second clainet and iano s let hand (m 7), is a ou-note melodic agment that encomasses a mao thid, on the notes -lat A G and -sha It is layed eeatedly until the end o the assage, ith one ie moment o tansosition at the second eat o m 9 In the oegound textue thee ae seveal moe lyical melodies that egin ith ooe at m, ass to the ist violins at the second eat o m, ove a
counte-melody in ooe, and inally ae caied y a solo violin All these melodies ae satuated ith the intelay eteen mao and mino thids in a ay vey simila to the ones esented y the ind instuments, eoe the ig aival, stating at measue Though thei unction as thematic mateials is not vey much exloed in othe sections, these melodic elements ill eaea in the vey last susection ith some mino changes (see susection a [5-]) The changes include some elaoation though ochestation and itch tansosition, and moe emhatically, the estatement o the little ou-note melodic agment mentioned aove, in the second clainet and iano s let hand, this time eing caied y second violins as ell Notice also the etun o susection [-], no as a [0-] It is tansosed a mao second elo and is esented in a much thicke and heavie ochestation, lending the textue a much dake ochestal colo, ut still keeing much o its chaacte Tuning ack to a[-], all the action and lyicism esented ove this susection ends ith a vey sutle and delicate gestue in the iano, olloed y tiangle and a gentle descending gestue in the lutes A gaceul ne section, ull o chaacte, egins in m Section [-7] is aticulated y thee susections that ae imly ased on hythmic atten, ith hamonic and melodic contents deived om the hamonic inciles aleady mentioned (see Examle aove), ith some mino vaiations Susection [-] acts like a elude o the to solo violin sections that ollo It is aticulated y dieent gestues: an oening that leads to a stonge attack at m, on the hamony o Set -[07] (ith the excetion o tumet, cellos and ass lines, douled y assoon) The oening melodic mateial (the th notes) is extacted om the 7
ist elements o the iccolo s theme (see Examle aove) It is esented y the violas and the nd assoon (m ), anseed to measues late y the asses, violins, iano, tomones, contaassoon, and ass clainet, and English hon, ith a similaly deived kind o melodic gestue: the ist attack is no enlaged into an even moe intense gestue ith thicke ochestation Then it dissolves itsel ove a tail esented y violins, lute and iccolo (m 5-55), hich leads to an elaoated eetition o the mateials om mm 7-50 This elaoation acts like a idge eteen this seies o intense gestues and the solo violin section It etuns, even moe elaoated, making anothe idge at the end o the ist violin section (mm -7), and then eaeas, still moe intense and tansomed, ate the solo violin esents its melody o the second and last time (mm 7) It is imotant to oint out that the melodic gestues ae caied mostly y the ass instuments and ae o mao imotance thoughout this section and othes elated to it o examle, the hole o section [0-] is asically diven y this stong and damatic melody in the ass egiste At measue, thee ae some othe elements oth mentioning: the mateial in the tumets and cellos is taken om the cellos evious line at the eginning o susection a[-] and it haens again om m 5-5 The dovetailing gestues in the clainets and ooes at m and m 5-55, along ith cellos, ae also imotant elements to notice in connection ith section [0-] Thee they ae teated dieently, ith dieent hamony, on cellos, violas and ench hons (see mm and uthe) On the second eat o m, the m m hythm intoduced y the lutes is soon alteed in comination ith M, in ode to om a hythmic stuctue ooted on hythmic atten The alteation esults in the atten M M M m m n, an ostinato
that has the eighth-note igues aligned ith the main accents o the asic hythmic atten This element, aleady esent in a simle om in the lutes, ooes, and clainets since the eginning o the section, acquies its on lie ith the violas all thoughout the violin solo (m 5) It is then tanseed to the violins, iccolo and lutes ove the ig tutti that stats the ending o the section (m 07) The hamonic stuctue that sustains section [-7] is clealy evident in the ench hons, hose mao ole is to maintain a steady accomaniment atten ased on hythmic atten Duing the section ith the solo violin at, the accomaniment is tanseed in a moe elaoate ashion to clainet and the assoons (m 5), ith the iano added at m Notice also the iccolo, making the accented ats o the accomaniment igues ove the nd note atten o the hythmic atten Examle 5 gives a good idea o the kind o hamonic elations that oganize the hole section [-7] These chods, esented y the ench hons since thei entance at m until m, ust one measue eoe the solo violin comes in, ae ased, ith some mm 50 5 5 5 5 0 07 09 0 057 07 07 09 0 057 05 07 Examle 5: Hamonic ogessions held y ench hons om measues though tansomations, on the itch sets shon in examle, changing aoximately evey to measues In connection to this same suect, a quick look at the melodic content o the to solo violin sections (m 5- and 7-0) ill eveal that they ae simly staight aeggiations o the sustained hamony One signiicant advantage o the hamonic 9
collections chosen o this ok is the act that they allo o melodies that can involve eithe shot ste-y-ste successions o notes, o leas o igge intevals The electonic at doules the lutes and ooes om m 77-, and the tumets and cellos om mm -7 It also adds some secial eects that have a kind o sychological eect, in slightly daing attention toads itsel, eoe the solo violin comes in again The same entances o the electonic sounds ae eeated ith the same kind o textue in mm 00-0 In measue 0, ust ate the cascading gestue om the ind instuments - a eetition o the same one that concludes the ist solo violin esentation (mm -) - a gand inale o section [-7] comes in an kind o intense mood, one o oth oy and a kind o uy at the same time It is a sot o consequence, a conclusion o esolution o those unesolved gestues om the eginning o the section (oughly om mm 5-55) The ass line holds much o the melodic imotance o the section, eing suoted y a steady ulse, a thick hamonization, intenal esonses om the mid-egiste instuments (ench hons esecially), and y an extemely active ue line At measue 5, the textue that as aleady heading donads ith the timal dominance o the ass section ove a mao seventh chod aeggiation, sinks don on an ulta lo C edal o the C diminished chod At this oint, the active line in the ue egiste makes the connection to a quiete ne section, A [-59], y means o a gadual descent that uses itsel into a textue ased on the oening susection o the ok, a[-] The main dieence hee is the inteolation o an intelude a [-] and a ostlude om measues 55-0 (a shote vesion o that ostlude) Thee ae also some elaoations (in the stings in measues -0 and ith ue oodinds at mm 5-5) that 0
seve as connective gestues, having thei on unique contauntal chaacteistics and indeendence The to main susections suounding the aoementioned intelude ae a hal ste and hole ste aat om thei oiginal vesions, esectively See a [-0] and a [-59] The intelude and ostlude s constuction is a ee estatement o the vey intense assage that occus at the conclusion o the solo violin susection The mino second inteval in the viola and cello ats (thid eat o m 07) is hee edistiuted as a Set 7-[05], estalishing, along ith some o the othe sets sonoities, the deinition o the mao hamonic chaacteistics o the assage om anothe stand oint, the lyical asect o this assage oes its chaacte to the iccolo model aleady shon aove in Examle It is imotant to notice the cascading conclusion o this intelude (m 0- ), o it is ust a lighte vesion o its model, the thick ass-dominated ending o the evious section, ove the same kind o mao seventh chod hamony Similaly, the ostlude is a shunken vesion o the intelude, laced a semitone highe and scoed in a moe delicate ay It sustains a high -sha in the to egiste hile descending to a lo D-sha, eventually aiving on a edal note distiuted among the lo, mid, and midhigh egistes It unctions as a idge and is, at the same time, the eginning o the ne section, [0-] The electonic at in the intelude section comines ith the ecussion instuments, using sounds actually deived om a ain stick instument Duing the oute sections, the electonic at oeates in the same ay that it did eoe, at the eginning o the iece, ith mino changes
Section [0-] is the inal develoment o section [-7] Its most imotant asect is the elaoate contauntal textue uilt on the same elements aleady seen eoe, ut no ith moe eic and damatic chaactes, and in a sloe temo Ate the intoductoy sustained D-sha, a seies o eaatoy gestues takes lace: the ascending lines on the violas, tumets, assoons, and ooes; a loe melodic agment on the thid eat o measue 5 caied y the ass egiste; and the sustained chods in the violins Little y little, they ceate a sense o exectation, announcing that something igge is aout to come Eventually, ith a continuous cescendo and gadual thickening o textue, the action is inally tiggeed ove the enetic ascending gestues in the ue egiste ats and descending loe ones (see m 7) etuning no to section [-7], i one emoves the inne solo violin susection and vies the emaining mateial as one hole, it is evident that this ne section is entiely a tansomed vesion o this emaining content (oughly the hole section [-7] ithout the solo violin section) om measues -75, the ass line estates the mateials o section [-7] and tansom them into a moe intense and longe melody om measues 7-79, they develo the same kind o mateial eviously held mainly y the iccolo and lutes, hich no acquie a vey oust sense o ulse Meanhile, the ue ats cay on ith the ist o to eeats o the assage om measues - om measues 0-, the ass egiste egins liteally eeating the same mateial o measues - On to o the ass egiste activity, the cellos, violas and ench hons take on the dovetailed gestue mentioned eviously, ist esented in the clainets and ooes at m, develoing it though dieent sustained hamonies Violas and cellos, though, send a ie moment suoting the second
violins and asses, esectively, at measues 70-7, inging in mateial elated to the violas counteoint that accomanies the solo violin susection At measue, the tumets (suoted y iano, ust as in measue 5) altenate in caying on the same kind o gestue and middle cuntauntal line, and suoted y clainets, violas, and English hon in measues 70-75 olloing that, they assume a moe hamonic ole, on to o the ass section om measues 0-, cellos and violas, suoted y clainets, English hon, and tomones, develo a middle egiste melody, and inally engage in the liteal eetition o the concluding assage (mm 0-7) o the eviously mentioned section The ue egiste lines develo to slightly dieent melodic lines om the last eat o measue -75 om 7- they do a kind o moto eetuo aeggiation and accent the metics o the line Then, inally, they liteally eeat the inal tail in the same ay the othe lines in othe egistes ee doing, leading to a ne suect ove the next section om measues 0-, ench hons, ate thei activity ith violas and cello, maintain the hamony and also egin eeating the same mateial esented in mm 07-5 ecussion lays an imotant ole in this section, as it does in the othes, ut hee it secially suots the eic chaacte mentioned aove With the end o this section, the iece asically closes the ist cycle o its naative All the susequent events, excluding the ecaitulation, ae om a ne old o ideas, though still eing elatively loyal to some asects o the emises descied at the eginning o this discussion, and also esenting some deivation o thematic mateials The main dieence is moe elated to chaacte, ochestation, and oveall sound quality Anothe distinctive asect is that, ith excetion o susection c[7-7]
(a solo tumet assage), thee is no use o electonic sounds, hich ill only come ack o the last section o the iece At measue 7, a ne ointillistic and olyhonic section egins, ith its notes scatteed among lutes, clainets, English hon, metallic ecussion (tuula ells, glockensiel, viahone, and celesta), stings ithout ass, and electonic sounds that mm 7 9 95 00 Set 7 Set Set Set 0 Set Set Examle : eduction o susection c[7-7] Tumet melodic contents and mostly ecognizale itch sets doule the stinged instuments The most imotant asect o this textue is an evolving hamonic ackgound that moves om one hamony to the othe y having the individual instuments change thei notes ove time at an unequal ace At a cetain oints some hamonies ecome moe deined, esenting chods that ae ased on the hamonic models esented in Examle The hamonies that haen in eteen these moe deined chods ae zones o hamonic volatility that take lace gadually and constantly, i comaed to the aove mentioned moe deined hamonies
Examle aove shos the sonoities that esult om these zones The sonoities that ae mostly clealy chaacteized ae esented unde the tumet s melodic eduction; the avy lines eesent the othe unecognizale evolving hamonies The tumet melody is asically a aallel stuctue, ust as is the solo violin susection It alks ove this shiting kind o gound, oughly adating itsel to the teain Hoeve, one o its mao chaacteistics is to convey the mao/mino sonoity o Set in a athe lyical mood, someho elating ack to the ist section o the iece (the main melodic contents o inds and violins at mm - and -, esectively, and thei elated counteats ove the ending susections o the iece) Notice also that at the eginning o each tumet hase, thee is a connection ith the eginning gestue o the iccolo theme (see Examle aove, notes in aenthesis) The melody has the same donad inteval o a sixth that ends the iccolo model, hich haens at the ending o each o the ist semi-hases (see Examle, notes inside squaed enclosues), on oth hases that encomass the hole eiod The olloing thee susections, c[7-7]], c[7-], and c[- 7], can easily e seen as a single thee-at ocess, ithout any sot o connecting tansitions Along ith the evious solo tumet susection, c[7-7], they om the hole section C[7-7], hich as intended to dive aay any memoy o the events that came eoe ove the intelay eteen sloe and aste sections Only the lines esented y ass clainet, assoons, cellos and violas (mm 7-), ove the M M M m m n hythmic elements elate to evious mateials, ut my intention ith this as to make sue that the connection ith those evious events ould still e maintained ithin a dieent univese o elements, and also to maintain a sense o amiliaity, hich 5
ould hel ith gasing the eeated mateials that ae yet to come The aeaance o these lines almost leads one to think that the music is coming ack to the eviously esented stuctues, ut aleady at measue, as is shon y the ue melodic elements, this is not the case o the moment Susections c[7-7] and c[-7] esent a econsideation o the to solo tumet hases ith some adustments, esented y the violins and clainets As a kind o comment on the cuent events, the solo tumet eaeas, intoducing a vey shot vesion o its thematic elements in oth aoementioned susections (c[7-7] and c[-7]) The second o these to susections, c[-7], is ust one hal o the duation o the ist and is tansosed don a hole ste The loe contauntal melodies esented in oth the cellos and asses ae visily ased on the kind o melodic gestues that have dominated a lage amount o the melodic events thoughout the iece (an ascending inteval o a titone olloed y some inteval shotly vaiale in length) In aticula, these elements layed y the asses and cellos ae intoducing ats o the melodic gestues that ill occu duing the middle section, c[7-7], hich is a contasting seies o events moe clealy elated to tonal actices At the end o each o the oute susections, thee ae closing gestues in the ass and ecussion that ae chaacteized y insetions o clustelike elements This ceates a elatively stong sense o tension, esecially at the end o the ist susection (mm 5-7) Even though it does not have any connection ith the voice leading ocess o the othe events that ae concomitantly taking lace, it ovides a sense o esolution y simly ading itsel out and alloing a ne sonoity to emege The othe elated counteat to the one ust mentioned (mm 5-7) disaeas into the olivion, silence, and esonance o itsel (mm -7) duing the gand ause The
middle contasting susection that comes in ith the icku o measue is a elatively eely constucted assage that contains a geat nume o tonal sonoities These sonoities ae continuously inused ith selling melodic gestues, hich ae actually ased on the same kind o hamonic stuctues esented eoe as models It is Set 7-[05] Set -[057] Set -[05] Set -[07] Set 5-[05] [09] Set -[07] Set -[07] Examle 7: educed scoe o susection c[7-] Set -[07] oth consideing, though, that even though these tonal sonoities ae elated to the same inciles, thee is a moe dominant-sounding quality, and the chod ogessions ae moe ocused on conveying this seciic tonal quality It is vey noticeale again that it is the chod ogessions in the ench hon at that eally guide the hole susection c[7-] 7
Examle 7 aove shos the imay itch elements that make u this susection Once again, ochestation lays a vey imotant ole in segegating cetain sonoities at some deined colo and egiste o instance, on the G mao-mino chod at measue 0, I am caeul to ensue that thee aen t any -lats and natuals laced in the same egiste Thus, -lats ae only laced om -lat and aove and s, only om and elo Notice that the hamonic lo is moe stictly oganized until m 0 Ate that, thee is a set o eely oganized, scatteed, and agmented mateial that, in one ay o anothe, is still elated to the same kind o hamonic thinking It oces a eeling o a vey dity decetive cadence on, at the end o the susection (mm 7- ) The next section, D[-0], stats ust ate the gand ause, hen all the esonances let ehind y the Chinese gong temolo and the timani ecede It ings a esh and eneed lavo to the olde elements, no vested ith a and ne hythmic ameok and ochestation The textue is almost like chame music, ith some moments o vey delicate assages and othes ith moe intense chaactes ecause o the act that it e-uses eviously stated mateial om nealy the eginning o the iece, essentially in its entiety, it may suggest the idea o ecaitulation ut the actual ecaitulation only occus at the conclusion o this section, ith the etun o the sections that had stated the iece, eginning at measue 0 The metic stuctue, an accomaniment atten made u o altenating time signatues in hich the eighth-note segmentation deines the asic atten o accents, is hat dives the hole section Some eaks in this metic stuctue occu at dieent oints, in ode to ovide vaiety and inteest The atten is constucted y
utting togethe the time signatues o hythmic attens and, esectively This geneates the sequence @ ) k @ ) k ) k, hich is a comound atten that esents an inteesting unevenness ecause o the eetition o its to inal time signatues, ) k Looking close at measues -, one can notice the ist eak in this atten, ) @ om measues 9-, the model is again vaied into a ne comessed omat @ ) k ), hich makes u the ameok o the closing gestues o this ist susection, d[- ] Eveything exlained aove, egading the comination o these time signatues, alies liteally in the olloing susection d[-0], hich is an exact eetition o the evious one The only excetion is the inteolation o to events in the ind section in a time signatue, om measues -7, and 9-0, esectively No that the asic elements o the metic stuctue that govens this hole section have een exlained, let s take a look at the othe essentials that om this section Thoughout this section, ustice is done to the solo violin theme that as let ehind in the constuction o section [0-], o its to esentations come ack ith a vey quick-itted kind o mood shaed y clainets and iccolo The to solo violin susections ae esented hee ith vey e tansomations, ust enough to adat to the metic stuctue and contauntal devices Each time that this theme is esented ove the to susections, it is divided into to halves, hee the ist is oughly the comlete theme and the second ust hal o it Only caied y the to clainets dovetailing dieent otions o it, the ist hal stats at the icku o measue 5 and ends at measue 5 The second stats immediately ateads, at that same measue, and goes until measue 9 The closing events that highlight and ultimately dive the utue in the esentation o this melodic mateial stat at measue, one measue 9
eoe the entance o the ass instuments This is olloed y the involvement o almost all the othe instuments o the temoaily educed ochesta that chaacteizes this section s instumentation as a hole The events that ollo om measue 9 until the end o this ist susection don t esent a clealy deined linea melodic stuctue, ut instead eatue a continuous altenation o u and don gestues on the ind instuments These seve to accentuate the steady unchy attacks o the violins (violas and cellos oin them at the closing assage at measue 9) and the less unchy ut im makings o iano and maima The hamonic contents o the entiety o this section, and esecially ove this assage in question, ae still ooted in the hamonic emises oosed o the iece at the eginning o this text Hoeve, they ae moe eely laced and thee ae some uthe deviations om those inciles The asic intent and asic chaacteistic o this assage (seciically om measues 99-) is to ovide a gadual uad motion that, ate eaching a highe ceiling, suddenly alls onto the aoementioned closing gestue (measues 9-), leading the susection to its conclusion and immediately idging ith its estatement As mentioned, this ne susection, d[-0], is an exact eetition o its edecesso Hoeve, o the sake o vaiety and maintenance o inteest, some mino changes o ochestation ee ovided The iccolo sustitutes o the clainet at the einstatement o the main theme (icku o m ) and caies it until measue, hen the clainet takes it ack ust ate the eetition o the utue eteen the to halves (m 0), iccolo and clainet come togethe, ut the iccolo soon eaks o and makes a counteoint to the clainet Thee ae to othe accomaniment elements that ae oth mentioning, o they delive a vey good sense o vaiety to the textue They ae esented mainly on violins and clainets The ist one can e seen 0
stating at measue 7 in the violins, hose main unction (on the ist violin hamonized y the second) is to doule the clainet evey to th notes aat, inducing a sense o oad motion to the eat The second element, also in the violins, is a comination o the ist one ith gestues ooed om the violas, hich ist occu at measue, ut layed at a aste ate This same ocedue occus in the clainet at in measue and olloing The inteolated mateial esented y the ind instuments stating at measues and 9, esectively, has the unction o ceating conditions o eaking don the nealy uninteuted ostinato atten that has uled the section The inds esent some eely constucted hamonic mateial, ove hich the assoon eeshes ou minds y esenting, ove the ist inteolated assage, a sniet o the viola mateial that seved as a counteoint to the solo violin susections The second assage doesn t have that eatue Hoeve, ove the closing gestues at measues 0-0, the English hon esents the same kind o ooed mateial The element ooed om the viola at has a somehat simila unction to that o the mateial esented y cellos, violas, assoons, and ass clainet, stating in measue 7, as i elding one section to anothe Hee, at the eginning o the ne section (m 0), this melodic agment is etuned to the violas and then given ack again to the dovetailed assoons, hich ae in chage o using it ith the th notes o the violas, leading the music to estoe itsel to its oigins, at measue 0 om measue 0 onads, the iece ecaitulates its hole ist section ith changes in ochestation and itch tansosition, as as aleady ointed out hen they ee discussed at the eginning o this ae Thus, any uthe discussion may
sound unnecessay and a it edundant Hoeve, I ould like to mention the shot intusion o a sniet o the solo tumet susection that invades the events om measues 5-0 The solo tumet entes like a distant echo, ith iano and iccolo adheing to the cuent hamonic contents, and it is immediately olloed y the solo violin, hich leads the music to its closing egading the electonic sounds, the only dieence, othe than some changes in the hamonic sectum o the lines layed y the synthesize, is the act that the ench hon lines (stating at m ) ae einoced y sound ile layack, hich adds a kind o tansomed metallic sound, inused ith some ilteed noise I ould like to iely exess some inal thoughts on my aoach to ochestation, and also exlain the title o the ok I decided that in the sloe sections, the ochesta should e like a allet o colos that I ould use to convey some seciic sonoities that ae not centeed on taditional amily doulings, and that ould not esent a thicke mass o sounds The one excetion is the susection that stats at measue, ith the einocement o the olyhony ove all the ochestal amilies egading the othe sections, I decide to have a moe taditional aoach, hee thee ae seciic elationshis eteen egiste and ochestal amilies, thus leading me to geneally doule the instuments accoding to thei voice ositioning in thei on amily ie, asses go along ith tua and ass tomone, cellos ith assoons, etc Thee is anothe asect othy o consideation, hich is the ole layed y the iano and occasionally y the maima My aoach to the iano at as that it should ovide a melodic and hamonic elding eteen sections, y means o esenting gestues that I have eviously eeed to as aaesques Theeoe, these little gestues (o examle,
see measues 5,, 0, and -9, among othes) have a geat deal o imotance in oviding textual colo and a cetain sense o inishing to the assages in hich they ae involved The time o the iano has the geat advantage o acilitating these connections y acting almost like a ecussion instument, such as the ay it is used in nealy the entiety o section D[-0] The title Tails y a ive deives om seveal dieent actos that ee imotant in the comositional ocess, some musical and some exta-musical Musically, it ees to the dieent ealms o musical actice utilized in the iece, hich ee exlained at the eginning o this ae The exta-musical asect o this title ees to the act that a geat nume o the solutions to the musical olems I encounteed duing the comositional ocess ee esolved hile I as alking along the vicinal tails that aallel the Coloado ive, hich cosses the city o Austin, Texas The many dieent events, sights, and eole I sa duing these daily alks alays gave me geat motivational imulses ut this is not to suggest that the iece should e teated as a symhonic oem, in a Staussian manne, desciing and eesenting liteatay mateials, o othe events, in musical tems athe, cetain asects o the comosition elect the inteesting multitude o elationshis that exist eteen the ive and its steams and side tails, its eole, smells, and sounds In othe ods, the elationshi eteen the musical and exta-musical mateial is a oetic, not a liteal one Even so, I think o this iece as a celeation o all those insiational asects I have ound in Austin s vey aticula ay o eing
Aledo aos Tails y a ive o Lage Ochesta and Electonic Sounds (Max/MS) 007
Instumentation: iccolo lutes in C Ooes, English Hon Clainets in ass Clainet assons Contaasson Hons in Tumets in C Teno Tomones ass Tomone ass Tua Timani ecussion Tuula ells (shaed ith ecussion ) Tiangle Xylohone ecussion Maima Tuula ells Glockensiel (sounding to octaves highe than itten) inge Cymals Woodlock Lage Chinese Gong (Shaed ith ecussion ) ecussion Tam-Tam, including a metal stick o cicula scaing Snae Dum Lage Chinese Gong Viahone Tamouine ecussion ass Dum Susended Cymal ( inches), including a contaass o Susended Slash Cymal ( inches) Cotales ( - and - ; sounding to octaves highe than itten - C is Middle C) iano/celesta - One laye Stings - As many as availale - asses must e in a nume o six, at least hal ith lo C sting Comute and a sound system inclunding a no less than channels mixe, amliies, and ou medium o lage loudseakes ith a oad equency ange Makes on to o the Electonic at: - Event nume, hit N to load the event contents - Soundile layack, hit S - MIDI layack, hit M - Soundile and MIDI layack simultaneously, hit A Seake distiution on stage: 5