scholarly journals Tensional processes and perception of form in three selected compositions by Kaija Saariaho

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Brad Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
String Quartet ◽  
Rhythmic Activity ◽  
Art Music ◽  
Spectral Music ◽  
Noise Spectral Density ◽  
Change Dynamics ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Dynamic Form ◽  
Primary Means ◽  
Parametric Change

<p>The primary feature that gives ‘spectral music’ its stylistic uniqueness within the field of art music is the blurring of the traditionally distinct roles of harmony and timbre, through the use of chords derived from the naturally occurring overtones of instrumental timbre (often referred to as timbre chords). Development of these chords typically occurs very gradually, meaning it is often difficult to perceive the overall form of a spectral work based on the progression through its constituent timbre chords. This approach contrasts with the traditional reliance in both art music and other Western music styles on perceivable pitch-based development as a primary means of providing musical tension and form. Composers of spectral music must rely on the manipulation and development of other musical parameters to provide sufficient interest through ‘foreground ornamentation’ while its underlying harmonic/timbral macrostructure unfolds beneath.  This analysis shows how key musical parameters are manipulated over time to provide tension and resolution (or, in Wallace Berry’s terminology, ‘progressive and recessive processes’ ¹ ), giving spectral works a perceivable, dynamic form. Parameters examined include rate of harmonic change, dynamics, spectral/registral spread, rhythmic activity, sound/noise, spectral density and harmonicity/inharmonicity (the latter two providing a spectral analogue to conventional notions of dissonance). Particular focus is placed on the rate of harmonic change in the selected works and changes in the harmonicity/inharmonicity (through spectral distortion) of harmonic material that give spectral music its distinctive harmonic character. The way in which these ‘parameter curves’ intersect with one another is also examined.  For this study, three works by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho are analysed. The works cover a range of forces and display varying degrees of overtly ‘spectral’ influence: Nymphéa (1987) for string quartet and electronics, Du Cristal (1990) for orchestra, and Cendres (1998) for piano, cello and flute. Analysis of the background levels of parametric change reveal how Saariaho manages to maintain microstructural interest in her spectral works while adhering to an underlying macrostructural plan. Findings from this analysis will also be discussed in relation to how they have influenced my own creative output for my MMA portfolio.</p>

scholarly journals Tensional processes and perception of form in three selected compositions by Kaija Saariaho

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Brad Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
String Quartet ◽  
Rhythmic Activity ◽  
Art Music ◽  
Spectral Music ◽  
Noise Spectral Density ◽  
Change Dynamics ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Dynamic Form ◽  
Primary Means ◽  
Parametric Change

<p>The primary feature that gives ‘spectral music’ its stylistic uniqueness within the field of art music is the blurring of the traditionally distinct roles of harmony and timbre, through the use of chords derived from the naturally occurring overtones of instrumental timbre (often referred to as timbre chords). Development of these chords typically occurs very gradually, meaning it is often difficult to perceive the overall form of a spectral work based on the progression through its constituent timbre chords. This approach contrasts with the traditional reliance in both art music and other Western music styles on perceivable pitch-based development as a primary means of providing musical tension and form. Composers of spectral music must rely on the manipulation and development of other musical parameters to provide sufficient interest through ‘foreground ornamentation’ while its underlying harmonic/timbral macrostructure unfolds beneath.  This analysis shows how key musical parameters are manipulated over time to provide tension and resolution (or, in Wallace Berry’s terminology, ‘progressive and recessive processes’ ¹ ), giving spectral works a perceivable, dynamic form. Parameters examined include rate of harmonic change, dynamics, spectral/registral spread, rhythmic activity, sound/noise, spectral density and harmonicity/inharmonicity (the latter two providing a spectral analogue to conventional notions of dissonance). Particular focus is placed on the rate of harmonic change in the selected works and changes in the harmonicity/inharmonicity (through spectral distortion) of harmonic material that give spectral music its distinctive harmonic character. The way in which these ‘parameter curves’ intersect with one another is also examined.  For this study, three works by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho are analysed. The works cover a range of forces and display varying degrees of overtly ‘spectral’ influence: Nymphéa (1987) for string quartet and electronics, Du Cristal (1990) for orchestra, and Cendres (1998) for piano, cello and flute. Analysis of the background levels of parametric change reveal how Saariaho manages to maintain microstructural interest in her spectral works while adhering to an underlying macrostructural plan. Findings from this analysis will also be discussed in relation to how they have influenced my own creative output for my MMA portfolio.</p>

scholarly journals Rhythmic activity of neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla of conscious cats: effect of removal of vestibular inputs

2011 ◽  
Vol 301 (4) ◽  
pp. R937-R946 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan M. Barman ◽  
Yoichiro Sugiyama ◽  
Takeshi Suzuki ◽  
Lucy A. Cotter ◽  
Vincent J. DeStefino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rhythmic Activity ◽  
Rostral Ventrolateral Medulla ◽  
Ventrolateral Medulla ◽  
Limited Area ◽  
Surgical Removal ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Neurophysiological Studies ◽  
Rhythmic Discharge ◽  
Rhythmic Firing ◽  
Descending Projections

Although it is well established that bulbospinal neurons located in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) play a pivotal role in regulating sympathetic nerve activity and blood pressure, virtually all neurophysiological studies of this region have been conducted in anesthetized or decerebrate animals. In the present study, we used time- and frequency-domain analyses to characterize the naturally occurring discharges of RVLM neurons in conscious cats. Specifically, we compared their activity to fluctuations in carotid artery blood flow to identify neurons with cardiac-related (CR) activity; we then considered whether neurons with CR activity also had a higher-frequency rhythmic firing pattern. In addition, we ascertained whether the surgical removal of vestibular inputs altered the rhythmic discharge properties of RVLM neurons. Less than 10% of RVLM neurons expressed CR activity, although the likelihood of observing a neuron with CR activity in the RVLM varied between recording sessions, even when tracking occurred in a very limited area and was higher after vestibular inputs were surgically removed. Either a 10-Hz or a 20- to 30-Hz rhythmic discharge pattern coexisted with the CR discharges in some of the RVLM neurons. Additionally, the firing rate of RVLM neurons, including those with CR activity, decreased after vestibular lesions. These findings raise the prospect that RVLM neurons may or may not express rhythmic firing patterns at a particular time due to a variety of influences, including descending projections from higher brain centers and sensory inputs, such as those from the vestibular system.

scholarly journals Deconstructing the Local: The Aesthetic Space and Geographic Place of Oskar Morawetz's String Quartet no. 5 "A Tribute to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart" (1991)

2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friedemann Sallis
Keyword(s):  
String Quartet ◽  
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ◽  
Art Music ◽  
Western Music ◽  
National Music ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
Object Of Study ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

The oppositional notions of centre and periphery, mainstream and margin, and universal and local have long been important criteria for the scholarly study of Western music. Indeed they are often taken for granted. This paper will take a critical look at the relationship obtaining between art music the notion of a national music. The object of study is taken from among the works of the Canadian composer (of Czech origin) Oskar Morawetz. The point is not to deny that music can be legitimately associated with a given place but rather to examine how these complex, problematic relationships are created and how they evolve and/or dissolve over time.

An individual approach to imitation

1998 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-92
Author(s):  
Peita Littleton
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Individual Approach ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Semantic Complexity ◽  
Primary Means ◽  
New Construction ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Primary Strategy

Abstract The available literature on the facet of imitation and its role, if any, in language acquisition is bipolaric in nature. The efficacy of imitation is seen as either a minor inconsequential feature, or a primary means to the child’s learning of language. The present paper investigates a strategy for language acquisition adopted by one child, and the usefulness of imitation in supporting that strategy. Naturally occurring conversations between the child and his parents were recorded and examined. Imitated utterances were found to surpass spontaneous ones on the dimensions of grammatical and semantic complexity, and, with few exceptions, new structures appeared first in imitative utterances. The higher complexity and the prior appearance of new construction in imitative utterances suggest that imitation fulfilled a progressive function for the child. The usefulness of imitation for language learning and the implications of imitation as a primary strategy are discussed.

scholarly journals Comprehensibility and Ben Johnston’s String Quartet No. 9

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence Sinclair Willis
Keyword(s):  
String Quartet ◽  
Analytical Method ◽  
Art Music ◽  
Just Intonation ◽  
Western Art ◽  
Western Art Music ◽  
Compositional Practice ◽  
The Way

Ben Johnston’s just-intonation music is of startling aural variety and presents novel solutions to age-old tuning problems. In this paper, I describe the way that Johnston reoriented his compositional practice in the 1980s as evidenced in his musical procedures. Johnston became aware of the disconnect between Western art music composers and their audiences. He therefore set about composing more accessible music that listeners could easily comprehend. His String Quartet No. 9 gives an instructive example of the negotiation between just intonation and comprehensibility. By integrating unusual triadic sonorities with background tonal relationships, Johnston reveals an evolution of just-intonation pitch structures across the work. This paper provides an example of an analytical method for exploring Johnston’s works in a way that moves beyond simply describing the structure of his system and into more musically tangible questions of form and process.

What Was ““Shostakovich,”” and What Came Next?

2007 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-338
Author(s):  
PETER J. SCHMELZ
Keyword(s):  
String Quartet ◽  
Art Music ◽  
Vantage Point ◽  
Soviet Bloc ◽  
Remarkable Change ◽  
Dmitri Shostakovich ◽  
Western Art ◽  
In Memoriam ◽  
Soviet Music ◽  
Musical Styles

The title of this article is borrowed from anthropologist Katherine Verdery's 1996 study What Was Socialism, and What Comes Next? In her book Verdery surveyed the recent changes in Eastern Europe, and specifically Romania, from her vantage point in the uncertain period following the momentous events from 1989 to 1991 in the former Soviet bloc. Similarly, this article explores how Shostakovich, widely perceived in 1975 as the musical representative of socialism, influenced what came after him. It details how Soviet composers from the younger generations, including Edison Denisov, Mieczysłław Weinberg, Boris Tishchenko, Alfred Schnittke, and Valentin Sil'vestrov, dealt with Shostakovich's legacy in their compositions written in his memory, including Denisov's DSCH, Weinberg's Symphony no.12, Tishchenko's Symphony no. 5, Schnittke's Prelude In Memoriam Dmitri Shostakovich and Third String Quartet, and Sil'vestrov's Postludium DSCH. In their memorial works, as they wrestled with the legacy of Shostakovich and his overwhelming influence, these composers also grappled with the shifting nature of the Soviet state, changing musical styles both foreign and domestic, and fundamental issues of aesthetic representation and identity associated with the move from modernism to postmodernism then affecting all composers in the Western art music tradition. The 1970s came at the heels of a decade of remarkable change in Soviet music and society, but at the time of Shostakovich's death, change in Soviet life began to seem increasingly unlikely. Despite recent interpretations by scholars such as anthropologist Alexei Yurchak that emphasize the fundamental immutability of the 1970s, however, these memorial compositions show that audible and significant developments were indeed occurring in the musical styles of the 1970s and early 1980s. Examining Shostakovich's legacy therefore also reveals the larger changes of the Soviet 1970s and early 1980s, both musical and otherwise.

Pathology of Bone Cells in Pigs with Experimental Turbinate Osteoporosis (Atrophic Rhinitis)

1971 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 304-305
Author(s):  
A. W. Fetter ◽  
C. C. Capen
Keyword(s):  
Mucous Membrane ◽  
Bone Cells ◽  
Atrophic Rhinitis ◽  
Infectious Agents ◽  
Metabolic Disturbances ◽  
Progressive Reduction ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Fundamental Cause ◽  
Osteocytic Osteolysis ◽  
Uncertain Etiology

Atrophic rhinitis in swine is a disease of uncertain etiology in which infectious agents, hereditary predisposition, and metabolic disturbances have been reported to be of primary etiologic importance. It shares many similarities, both clinically and pathologically, with ozena in man. The disease is characterized by deformity and reduction in volume of the nasal turbinates. The fundamental cause for the localized lesion of bone in the nasal turbinates has not been established. Reduced osteogenesis, increased resorption related to inflammation of the nasal mucous membrane, and excessive resorption due to osteocytic osteolysis stimulated by hyperparathyroidism have been suggested as possible pathogenetic mechanisms.The objectives of this investigation were to evaluate ultrastructurally bone cells in the nasal turbinates of pigs with experimentally induced atrophic rhinitis, and to compare these findings to those in control pigs of the same age and pigs with the naturally occurring disease, in order to define the fundamental lesion responsible for the progressive reduction in volume of the osseous core.

High Resolution Replication of Organoclay Surfaces

1982 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 576-577
Author(s):  
W. W. Barker ◽  
W. E. Rigsby ◽  
V. J. Hurst ◽  
W. J. Humphreys
Keyword(s):  
Clay Mineral ◽  
Organic Molecule ◽  
Organic Molecules ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Xrd Pattern ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Silicate Layers ◽  
Mineral Identification

Experimental clay mineral-organic molecule complexes long have been known and some of them have been extensively studied by X-ray diffraction methods. The organic molecules are adsorbed onto the surfaces of the clay minerals, or intercalated between the silicate layers. Natural organo-clays also are widely recognized but generally have not been well characterized. Widely used techniques for clay mineral identification involve treatment of the sample with H2 O2 or other oxidant to destroy any associated organics. This generally simplifies and intensifies the XRD pattern of the clay residue, but helps little with the characterization of the original organoclay. Adequate techniques for the direct observation of synthetic and naturally occurring organoclays are yet to be developed.

Black-white contrast of dislocation loops

1978 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 328-329
Author(s):  
J. J. Hren ◽  
W. D. Cooper ◽  
L. J. Sykes
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽  
Dislocation Loops ◽  
Major Premise ◽  
Burgers Vector ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Primary Means ◽  
Contrast Analysis ◽  
Dot Product ◽  
Imaging Conditions

Small dislocation loops observed by transmission electron microscopy exhibit a characteristic black-white strain contrast when observed under dynamical imaging conditions. In many cases, the topography and orientation of the image may be used to determine the nature of the loop crystallography. Two distinct but somewhat overlapping procedures have been developed for the contrast analysis and identification of small dislocation loops. One group of investigators has emphasized the use of the topography of the image as the principle tool for analysis. The major premise of this method is that the characteristic details of the image topography are dependent only on the magnitude of the dot product between the loop Burgers vector and the diffracting vector. This technique is commonly referred to as the (g•b) analysis. A second group of investigators has emphasized the use of the orientation of the direction of black-white contrast as the primary means of analysis.

SEM study of the morphological effects of kinetin and zeatin on the growth and development of the apical meristem in wheat

1995 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 978-979
Author(s):  
G. M. Hutchins ◽  
J. S. Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Growth And Development ◽  
Furfuryl Alcohol ◽  
Apical Meristem ◽  
Plant Cells ◽  
Triticum Aestivum L ◽  
Morphological Development ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Chinese Spring Wheat ◽  
Sem Study ◽  
Moist Environment

Cytokinins are plant hormones that play a large and incompletely understood role in the life-cycle of plants. The goal of this study was to determine what roles cytokinins play in the morphological development of wheat. To achieve any real success in altering the development and growth of wheat, the cytokinins must be applied directly to the apical meristem, or spike of the plant. It is in this region that the plant cells are actively undergoing mitosis. Kinetin and Zeatin were the two cytokinins chosen for this experiment. Kinetin is an artificial hormone that was originally extracted from old or heated DNA. Kinetin is easily made from the reaction of adenine and furfuryl alcohol. Zeatin is a naturally occurring hormone found in corn, wheat, and many other plants.Chinese Spring Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was used for this experiment. Prior to planting, the seeds were germinated in a moist environment for 72 hours.

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