The Effect of Register, Direction, and Magnitude on Musicians’ Evaluations of Chamber Ensemble Intonation: A Within-Study Comparison for Analysis of Repeated Measures

This study had two primary purposes: (1) to investigate the effect of register, direction, and magnitude on musicians’ evaluation of chamber ensemble intonation, and (2) determine whether a novel nonparametric technique, ordinal pattern analysis (OPA), was a viable alternative to repeated-measures analysis of variance (rANOVA). I digitally mastered a recording of a string quartet performing a phrase from Capriol Suite by altering the intonation of the violin or cello voice ±20 and 30 cents sharp and flat. Participants ( N = 72) completed a discrimination task and an evaluation task with the recordings, with task order, and within-task item order presented in a random order. Analysis using rANOVA revealed significant differences due to register, direction, and magnitude: Excerpts with cello errors were rated as more in tune than excerpts with violin errors; excerpts with flat errors were rated as more in tune than excerpts with sharp errors, and excerpts with 20-cent magnitude errors were rated as more in tune than excerpts with 30-cent magnitude errors. OPA results were consistent with rANOVA results. Substantive implications for music teaching and learning are discussed alongside methodological considerations and implications for music education research using repeated-measures designs.

Alexander Albrecht’s Musical Output in the Milieu of Interwar Bratislava

The subject of this contribution is Alexander/Sándor Albrecht’s musical output from the 1920s in the context of the development of the composer’s musical style, his life and the social and political changes in Bratislava after 1918. Albrecht returned to Pressburg/Pozsony in 1908 after his studies in Budapest and devoted his organisational and artistic activity to the city; in 1921 he became the conductor at the Kirchenmusikverein (until 1952), a traditional music institution of the city. In 1920s Albrecht also achieved the creation of his own musical style. Coming out from a base of late Romanticism, Albrecht applied in that time the modernistic principles to his œuvre. In 1924 he wrote his mature Piano Suite, and in 1926 his Sonatina for 11 Instruments, an interesting piece of well-balanced formal and harmonic innovations, and one of the first pieces for chamber ensemble (after Schoenberg’s Kammersinfonie) in the Central European context. In 1929 Albrecht’s oratorio-like Marienleben: Three Poems after R. M. Rilke for soprano, mixed chorus and orchestra was successfully premiered. The present study contains detailed analyses of these three pieces, which are the most outstanding and distinctive works by the composer.

Раннее фортепианное трио Златы Ткач (1961): к проблеме трактовки виолончельной партии

The purpose of this article is to reveal the peculiarities of the cello part in the piano trio written by Moldovan composer Zlata Tkaci, created in 1961. Based on the methods of musicological and performing analysis, the author formulates the main genre and style features of this opus, as well as formulates recommendations for overcoming the performing difficulties of the cello part. The conclusions note the influence on the musical language of the Trio of European chamber music traditions of the Romanticism era, the equal role of the cello within the chamber ensemble due to the enrichment of its expressive and constructive functions, the large role of polyphonic thinking.

Exercises Involving Groups

There is an actor in every musician, and these exercises tap into the theatrical nature of music-making. Closer to pure theater games than the other exercises in this book, the exercises in this brief but essential section provide a variety of ways for groups to explore musical and theatrical expressivity without needing to play musical instruments. The exercises here are fun yet challenging experiments that consider issues of tempo, range, dynamics, phrasing, silence, ensemble coordination, communication, conducting, improvised counterpoint, and much more, through the use of spoken text, improvised speech, noises, and movement. These exercises might be used as warmups before group rehearsals, whether of a chorus, chamber ensemble, band, or orchestra. They are designed to support positive group interaction and build trust and confidence while having fun and learning together.

phenomenon of chamberness and its incarnation in the chamber music and chamber ensemble: genre-ontological and semantic aspects

The article is devoted to chamberness identification, its meaning and specifics as a musical phenomenon. The aim of the article is to determine the ontological, semantic and genre specifics of chamberness and the nature of its embodiment in the fields of chamber music and chamber ensemble. The article is based on the integrative approach, proceeding from a combination of general scientific (cultural, phenomenological, historical, comparative) and special art criticism methods and approaches. The author considers chamber music and chamber ensemble as a nature of chamberness incarnation. Phenomenological, ontological, semantic, genre and categorical aspects are fundamental to this study. The substantial foundation of this study is primarily theoretical and phenomenological conception of a chamber ensemble, formulated in the scientific works of the article`s author. The state of the modern Ukrainian Chamberness (Cameralistics) and the Theory of the ensemble are briefly described. The role of musical chamberness category is characterized and its specificity is defined. The problems of definition and differentiation of “chamber music” and “chamber ensemble” concepts are considered. An ontological specificity of chamberness, determined by its human dimension and quantitative and spatial limitations, is determined.

“Leading” as a mode of interaction and communication in contemporary music performance-practice

In this paper, I discuss “leading” in the performance-practice of contemporary music. First, I take a brief view on the development of music from the second half of the 20th century until today to highlight some of the challenges of leading the contemporary music repertoire. I survey existing research on interaction, communication and leadership in ensemble playing and use this viewpoint to briefly explore aspects of leadership and other roles in playing in a contemporary chamber ensemble without a conductor. Finally, I describe my own practice of leading as a violinist through three case studies in the contemporary music repertoire. Based on Leman’s theory of expressive alignment and enactment processes (2016), I approach leading as a multimodal, crossmodal and multidirectional interactive process. I divide leading into temporal and expressive leading techniques that are used to communicate different temporal and expressive musical features. I argue that leading techniques must be practiced and embedded in body language as separate, instrument-specific playing techniques. In addition to leading techniques, I provide temporal, sensorimotor, acoustical, instrument-specific and socio-cultural aspects that affect leading practices.

Didaktična literatura za violino Dušana Vodiška / Didactic violin literature by Dušan Vodišek

The article discusses didactic violin literature by violinist and pedagogue Dušan Vodišek. Covering the period between 1966 and 2016, his oeuvre represents a bridge between didactic violin literature of the previous century and contemporary didactic violin literature. Over these 50 years, he significantly enriched didactic violin literature in Slovenia with his works, which include a violin book for beginners, children’s compositions for violin and piano, youth compositions for violin and piano, compositions for chamber ensemble and string orchestra, and two textbooks on position changing. These materials provide original solutions to challenges concerning individual elements of violin playing and the musical development of students. Therefore, they also represent an important contribution to the development of violin pedagogy and violin playing in Slovenia.

"A Lot of Different Streams": Questioning "Jazz" and Composing Beyond Genre

<p><b>Many composers currently prominent in the jazz world draw upon multiple musical traditions or genres to create their work. The varied compositional activities of composers Nicole Mitchell, Tyshawn Sorey and Wayne Horvitz problematize attempts to classify their work as belonging to a single genre. Drawing on my interviews with these three composers and my analysis of selected works, I seek to understand how they conceptualize their compositional work and its relationship to the various musical traditions that have influenced them. Using Fabian Holt’s genre framework and George E. Lewis’s concept of the Afrological as critical tools, I propose that the work of these composers prioritizes spontaneity and agency, foregrounding process and transformation instead of a more fixed work concept, and claiming a mobility of practice that connects them strongly to the legacy of the AACM. I also use these concepts as ways to reflect on my own creative work developed throughout the DMA, and my relationship to the genre label of jazz.</b></p> <p>The creative portfolio developed as part of this research incorporates influences from multiple streams of music-making, particularly the traditions of jazz, creative music and Western classical music. The submitted works include Cerulean Haze, for jazz octet and 5-piece chamber ensemble (13:00); Sanctuary, a suite in three movements for 11-piece ensemble (18:49); “Noche Oscura” for 10-piece ensemble (6:48); “Moorings (Titahi Bay)” for chordless jazz quartet (6:00); “Jimmy,” “Nuevo Azul,” “Neither Here nor There” and “Metamorphosis” for improvising quartet. These works explore extended jazz and modal harmonic language; strategies for extending songform-derived compositional forms into larger, through-composed works; and varying degrees of notational specificity. The inclusion of improvisation is prioritized in each work.</p>

"A Lot of Different Streams": Questioning "Jazz" and Composing Beyond Genre

<p><b>Many composers currently prominent in the jazz world draw upon multiple musical traditions or genres to create their work. The varied compositional activities of composers Nicole Mitchell, Tyshawn Sorey and Wayne Horvitz problematize attempts to classify their work as belonging to a single genre. Drawing on my interviews with these three composers and my analysis of selected works, I seek to understand how they conceptualize their compositional work and its relationship to the various musical traditions that have influenced them. Using Fabian Holt’s genre framework and George E. Lewis’s concept of the Afrological as critical tools, I propose that the work of these composers prioritizes spontaneity and agency, foregrounding process and transformation instead of a more fixed work concept, and claiming a mobility of practice that connects them strongly to the legacy of the AACM. I also use these concepts as ways to reflect on my own creative work developed throughout the DMA, and my relationship to the genre label of jazz.</b></p> <p>The creative portfolio developed as part of this research incorporates influences from multiple streams of music-making, particularly the traditions of jazz, creative music and Western classical music. The submitted works include Cerulean Haze, for jazz octet and 5-piece chamber ensemble (13:00); Sanctuary, a suite in three movements for 11-piece ensemble (18:49); “Noche Oscura” for 10-piece ensemble (6:48); “Moorings (Titahi Bay)” for chordless jazz quartet (6:00); “Jimmy,” “Nuevo Azul,” “Neither Here nor There” and “Metamorphosis” for improvising quartet. These works explore extended jazz and modal harmonic language; strategies for extending songform-derived compositional forms into larger, through-composed works; and varying degrees of notational specificity. The inclusion of improvisation is prioritized in each work.</p>