scholarly journals Do I Get a Say in This? Environmental Sound Composition, the Phonograph and Intentionality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Thomas Voyce
Keyword(s):  
Art Music ◽  
Environmental Sound ◽  
Affective Traits ◽  
Western Art ◽  
The Core ◽  
Listening Experience ◽  
Western Art Music ◽  
Temporal Dimensions ◽  
Musique Concrete

<p>Environmental sound composition, a term I employ to describe all forms of electroacoustic works in which the core materials are abstracted from real environments through technology, has been practiced in a variety of forms for more than 50 years. A tension exists between environmental sound composition and western art music, one that continues to make this marriage uncomfortable. In short, the use of mimetic materials in environmental sound composition does not fit the prescriptions of formalism, an ideology that electroacoustic composition inherited from western art music. Though attempts have been made to lessen this tension (Emmerson, 1986 and Smalley, 1996), an underlying anxiety persists in environmental sound composition, as the twin legacy of Pierre Schaeffer’s ideas concerning musique concrète and the concerns of acoustic ecology, a movement championed by soundscape composers (Westerkamp, 2002), continues to influence the genre.  Recently there has emerged an increasing resistance to the didactic ideology of soundscape theory in particular, as exemplified by Lopez (1997), Ingold (2007) and Kelman (2010). However, soundscape theory continues to influence the production of environmental sound composition, as composers seek to align themselves with such concerns, or place themselves in opposition to them. In my view, the tension between formalism and mimesis has resulted in a widespread fixation on poietic intent in environmental sound composition. As a result, composers have tried to dictate how their works should be heard, while ignoring the complexity of listener response. While a number of fresh perspectives have arisen in recent years looking at environmental sound composition methodology and the role of esthetic analysis in such works, including Voegelin (2010) and Lane and Carlyle (2013), a rigorous investigation into the roles of intentionality, technology and hermeneutic analysis in the production and reception of environmental sound composition remains absent.  My thesis explores the nature of the phonograph (an audio recording) and phonography (the act of recording) in broad terms, and then with specific attention to environmental sound composition. Various recording genres and phonograph types associated with these genres are identified, while the attitudes of composers towards technology and the ontological nature of their works are investigated. This approach is applied in making a critical assessment of environmental sound composition, exposing the specificity of the rift between poietic intention and esthetic reception. I argue for a hermeneutic evaluation of the phonograph on similar terms as those set out by Roland Barthes in Camera Lucida (1981). In examining the temporal dimensions of the phonograph, along with its formal and affective traits, my research aims to elevate the phonograph from the role of a passive bearer of composer intentionality, to that of a primary contributor to the listening experience. With this aim in mind, I present a portfolio of creative works as a second volume to this thesis, born of the ideas discussed herein, which explore the nature of the phonograph, its temporalities, the site specific aspects of phonography and compositional intervention with the phonograph. I will refer to my works throughout this thesis, detailing how I have incorporated my theoretical concerns into my compositional practice, especially in chapter four, five and six.</p>

scholarly journals Do I Get a Say in This? Environmental Sound Composition, the Phonograph and Intentionality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Thomas Voyce
Keyword(s):  
Art Music ◽  
Environmental Sound ◽  
Affective Traits ◽  
Western Art ◽  
The Core ◽  
Listening Experience ◽  
Western Art Music ◽  
Temporal Dimensions ◽  
Musique Concrete

<p>Environmental sound composition, a term I employ to describe all forms of electroacoustic works in which the core materials are abstracted from real environments through technology, has been practiced in a variety of forms for more than 50 years. A tension exists between environmental sound composition and western art music, one that continues to make this marriage uncomfortable. In short, the use of mimetic materials in environmental sound composition does not fit the prescriptions of formalism, an ideology that electroacoustic composition inherited from western art music. Though attempts have been made to lessen this tension (Emmerson, 1986 and Smalley, 1996), an underlying anxiety persists in environmental sound composition, as the twin legacy of Pierre Schaeffer’s ideas concerning musique concrète and the concerns of acoustic ecology, a movement championed by soundscape composers (Westerkamp, 2002), continues to influence the genre.  Recently there has emerged an increasing resistance to the didactic ideology of soundscape theory in particular, as exemplified by Lopez (1997), Ingold (2007) and Kelman (2010). However, soundscape theory continues to influence the production of environmental sound composition, as composers seek to align themselves with such concerns, or place themselves in opposition to them. In my view, the tension between formalism and mimesis has resulted in a widespread fixation on poietic intent in environmental sound composition. As a result, composers have tried to dictate how their works should be heard, while ignoring the complexity of listener response. While a number of fresh perspectives have arisen in recent years looking at environmental sound composition methodology and the role of esthetic analysis in such works, including Voegelin (2010) and Lane and Carlyle (2013), a rigorous investigation into the roles of intentionality, technology and hermeneutic analysis in the production and reception of environmental sound composition remains absent.  My thesis explores the nature of the phonograph (an audio recording) and phonography (the act of recording) in broad terms, and then with specific attention to environmental sound composition. Various recording genres and phonograph types associated with these genres are identified, while the attitudes of composers towards technology and the ontological nature of their works are investigated. This approach is applied in making a critical assessment of environmental sound composition, exposing the specificity of the rift between poietic intention and esthetic reception. I argue for a hermeneutic evaluation of the phonograph on similar terms as those set out by Roland Barthes in Camera Lucida (1981). In examining the temporal dimensions of the phonograph, along with its formal and affective traits, my research aims to elevate the phonograph from the role of a passive bearer of composer intentionality, to that of a primary contributor to the listening experience. With this aim in mind, I present a portfolio of creative works as a second volume to this thesis, born of the ideas discussed herein, which explore the nature of the phonograph, its temporalities, the site specific aspects of phonography and compositional intervention with the phonograph. I will refer to my works throughout this thesis, detailing how I have incorporated my theoretical concerns into my compositional practice, especially in chapter four, five and six.</p>

scholarly journals The Evolution of GIM Programming

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Meadows
Keyword(s):  
Art Music ◽  
Music Programs ◽  
Western Art ◽  
The Core ◽  
Western Art Music ◽  
Music Programming ◽  
Bonny Method

This article traces the origins and evolution of the music programs central to the Bonny Method (also called GIM or BMGIM). These programmed, sequenced western art music selections shape the core experience of GIM, eliciting intra-, inter-, and trans-personal phenomena through a range of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic feelings, images, memories, and metaphoric fantasies. Bonny’s original programs will be described and discussed in relation to GIM, and developments in programming will demonstrate how the Bonny Method programs have been expanded, including adaptations to music programming and selection.

Towards a Phenomenology of Musical Borrowing

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (02) ◽  
pp. 174-183
Author(s):  
Sean Russell Hallowell
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Comprehensive Evaluation ◽  
Art Music ◽  
Musical Borrowing ◽  
Western Art ◽  
Western Art Music ◽  
Ex Nihilo ◽  
The Right ◽  
Musique Concrete ◽  
Music Tradition

In discourse on the topic, the question of what constitutes a musical ‘borrowing’, if raised at all, is usually restricted in scope and framed as one of terminology – that is, of determining the right term to characterise a particular borrowing act. In this way has arisen a welter of terms that, however expressive of nuance, have precluded evaluation of the phenomenon as such. This is in part a consequence of general disregard for the fact that to conceive of musical borrowing entails correlative concepts, all of which precondition it, yet none self-evidently. Further preclusive of clarity, the musico-analytic lens of borrowing is typically invoked only in counterpoint to a quintessentially Western aesthetic category of composition ex nihilo. As a consequence, the fundamental role played by borrowing in musical domains situated at the periphery of the Western art music tradition, specifically pre-modern polyphony and twentieth-century musique concrète, has been overlooked. This article seeks to bridge such lacunae in our understanding of musical borrowing via phenomenological investigation into its conceptual and historical foundations. A more comprehensive evaluation of musical borrowing, one capable of accounting for its diverse instantiations while simultaneously disclosing what makes all of them ‘borrowings’ in the first place, is thereby attainable.

scholarly journals Cover Songs and Tradition: A Case Study of Symphonic Metal

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Hillier
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metal ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Art Music ◽  
Western Art ◽  
Heavy Metal Music ◽  
Western Art Music ◽  
Cover Songs ◽  
Musical Canon

This paper examines the role of cover songs in the continuation of tradition, and in the formation of a musical canon. It explores the connections between ‘classical’ and heavy metal music as expressed by musicians of said genres, specifically those who partake in both. Furthermore, I argue that the practice of covering works from the Western art music canon in the metal genre, evinces the consequent development of the symphonic metal sub-genre. An embedded investigation attests to Western art music having inspired numerous metal musicians, who have in turn covered said music as a means to show their respect for the tradition. As such, cover versions are essential to continue one tradition in a new direction. Ultimately, these cover versions of classical works liaise classical music and heavy metal, resulting in the formation of the symphonic metal tradition. Covering music also strengthens a musicians’ position as authentic artists by demonstrating their belonging to two rites, and through their work of synthesizing grounds for the fusion of aforementioned rites. This research provides a further basis for examining the same phenomenon in other genres of music that demonstrate inter- and intra-generic links. It also provides a base for research into how rock and metal bands construct their own notions of tradition, canon, and authenticity through the music that they create and adapt.

THE NON-CANONIC STATUS OF MOZART’S CANONS

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
NEAL ZASLAW
Keyword(s):  
Art Music ◽  
Orchestral Music ◽  
Dance Music ◽  
Western Art ◽  
Circle Of Friends ◽  
Western Art Music ◽  
Peculiar Nature

Mozart's canons are rather inadequately represented in the Köchel catalogue and the Neue Mozart Ausgabe. The same may be said about other music for his immediate circle of friends, colleagues and patrons, as well as his dance music and his contributions to pasticcios. Neglect of these ‘minor’ genres perhaps arises at least in part from anachronistic paradigms, for instance ‘masterpieces for posterity’. And the canons suffer additionally from the peculiar nature of their sources and transmission, from uncertainty about the position of canons in the ‘canon’ of Western art music and probably also from embarrassment over some of Mozart’s texts. Mozart’s canons have been studied not only less often than his operatic, church, chamber and orchestral music, but also less well.

Hearing Film Music Topics outside the Movie Theatre

2021 ◽  
pp. 548-574
Author(s):  
Janet Bourne
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Extraction Method ◽  
Film Music ◽  
Art Music ◽  
Film Scores ◽  
Western Art ◽  
Western Art Music ◽  
Movie Theatre

This chapter describes a cognitively informed framework based on analogy for theorizing cinematic listening; in this case, it tests the hypothesis that contemporary listeners might use associations learned from film music topics to make sense of western art music (WAM). Using the pastoral topic as a case study, a corpus of film scores from 1980–2014 determines common associations for this topic based on imagery, emotion, and narrative contexts. Then, the chapter outlines potential narratives a modern moviegoer might make by listening “cinematically” to a Sibelius movement. The hypothesis is empirically tested through an experiment where participants record their imagined narratives and images while listening to WAM and film music. The meaning extraction method, a statistical analysis for identifying associational themes, is used to analyze people’s responses.

Playing for the Big Time: Musicians, Concerts, and Reputation-Building in Cincinnati, 1872–82

2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-165
Author(s):  
Karen Ahlquist
Keyword(s):  
National Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Art Music ◽  
Institution Building ◽  
Civic Leaders ◽  
Western Art ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Significant Achievement ◽  
Western Art Music ◽  
High Level

Like many midwestern cities in the nineteenth century, Cincinnati, Ohio, was home to large numbers of German immigrant musicians, among them the founders of the Cincinnati Grand Orchestra in 1872. Their model of musician-based organization eventually ran counter to the prestige-building potential of Western art music, which made it attractive to local civic leaders determined to earn respect for their city at a national level. The successful Cincinnati May festivals beginning in 1873 under the artistic leadership of conductor Theodore Thomas brought the city the desired renown. But the musical monumentality needed for large festival performances could not be obtained locally, leaving Cincinnati's players with opportunities to perform at a high level but without a way to define their performance as a significant achievement in the world of high art. Although their orchestra was ultimately unsuccessful, however, these musicians demonstrated an agency that transcends their historical obscurity and helps incorporate aesthetic and practical aspects of institution-building into the social arguments common to discussions of Western art music in the United States.

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