The Composer's Hand: An Analysis of Selected String Orchestral Works by Arvo Pärt

<p>Arvo Pärt’s music has received little attention from theoretical scholars, in part, because it is often labelled as minimalist or process music. This is due primarily to his use of limited sets of musical materials and predetermined repetitive melodic and rhythmic procedures. In this sense, it is implied that authorial decisions play little role in the compositional process of his music. In addition, the confluences of multiple M-voice/T-voice pairings, which create a rich array of harmonically non-functional chord progressions, do not lend themselves to traditional approaches to musical analysis, thus acting as a further deterrent to analysts and theorists. This investigation postulates that the presence of the ‘composer’s hand’ is much more significant in Pärt’s music than has been previously realised by those who label his music as minimalist or process music; and by engaging in a multimodal methodology, this thesis demonstrates that Pärt’s music does, in fact, respond to post-tonal analytical approaches. It also shows that a non-traditional application of post-tonal analytical techniques can yield valuable and productive insights into Pärt’s compositional system, and that there is actually much for theorists and analysts to discover in his music. The approach to the investigation is based on drawing from and combining several post-tonal analytical methods, any one of which would be insufficient on its own, given the uniqueness of Pärt’s sound world and the fact that such approaches have been developed to enlighten very different repertoires. The methodology incorporates the following post-tonal analytical methods: descriptions of the ‘musical fabric’ of each work; a detailed analysis of how each composition appears to have been constructed; new approaches to visualising the relationships between the pitch classes of particular works; and mappings of each work’s pitch-class and interval-vector content. This investigation demonstrates, through multimodal analysis of six selected string orchestral works by the composer, that hidden beneath the seemingly ‘minimal’ surface layers of Pärt’s music are carefully crafted musical constructions that result from intersecting procedures and multifaceted rules, as well as what appear to be intentional exceptions to those rules – thus revealing the composer’s hand. An awareness of these hidden constructions and the careful craftsmanship that went into their creation can provide the informed listener with the critical foundation from which the aesthetic value of Pärt’s music can be assessed and appreciated.</p>

The Composer's Hand: An Analysis of Selected String Orchestral Works by Arvo Pärt

<p>Arvo Pärt’s music has received little attention from theoretical scholars, in part, because it is often labelled as minimalist or process music. This is due primarily to his use of limited sets of musical materials and predetermined repetitive melodic and rhythmic procedures. In this sense, it is implied that authorial decisions play little role in the compositional process of his music. In addition, the confluences of multiple M-voice/T-voice pairings, which create a rich array of harmonically non-functional chord progressions, do not lend themselves to traditional approaches to musical analysis, thus acting as a further deterrent to analysts and theorists. This investigation postulates that the presence of the ‘composer’s hand’ is much more significant in Pärt’s music than has been previously realised by those who label his music as minimalist or process music; and by engaging in a multimodal methodology, this thesis demonstrates that Pärt’s music does, in fact, respond to post-tonal analytical approaches. It also shows that a non-traditional application of post-tonal analytical techniques can yield valuable and productive insights into Pärt’s compositional system, and that there is actually much for theorists and analysts to discover in his music. The approach to the investigation is based on drawing from and combining several post-tonal analytical methods, any one of which would be insufficient on its own, given the uniqueness of Pärt’s sound world and the fact that such approaches have been developed to enlighten very different repertoires. The methodology incorporates the following post-tonal analytical methods: descriptions of the ‘musical fabric’ of each work; a detailed analysis of how each composition appears to have been constructed; new approaches to visualising the relationships between the pitch classes of particular works; and mappings of each work’s pitch-class and interval-vector content. This investigation demonstrates, through multimodal analysis of six selected string orchestral works by the composer, that hidden beneath the seemingly ‘minimal’ surface layers of Pärt’s music are carefully crafted musical constructions that result from intersecting procedures and multifaceted rules, as well as what appear to be intentional exceptions to those rules – thus revealing the composer’s hand. An awareness of these hidden constructions and the careful craftsmanship that went into their creation can provide the informed listener with the critical foundation from which the aesthetic value of Pärt’s music can be assessed and appreciated.</p>

Enhancing students' understanding and skills on dance music: An action research

Dance students in university tend to have minimum understanding and skills in processing music to address the creativity needs in new dance works. Therefore, effective and critical learning strategies are needed so they are able to process music to create dance works. This research aims at enhancing dance students’ understanding and skills to process music in creating new dance works in the future. It was conducted using an action research design involving 30 dance students at one of the universities in Indonesia. The results showed that, in terms of skills and understanding of music, students were not used to processing music for their dance works, since they were mostly assisted by music stylists. Through internal and external music exploration learning, the musical dance students’ skills could be improved. Therefore, the findings of this research are recommended to be used as an alternative learning in enhancing dance students’ musical ability. Keywords: Dance Music, Movement Exploration, External Music, Internal Music, Dance Creativity.

Stravinsky's Music Library in the Context of His Biography and Work (Based on Archival Materials From PauL Sacher Foundation)

В статье представлены результаты исследования нотной коллекции из личной библиотеки И. Ф. Стравинского, хранящейся в Фонде Пауля Захера (Базель). Собрание это представляет особый интерес как творческая лаборатория Стравинского - композитора, пианиста, дирижера. Многие экземпляры содержат дарственные надписи и пометки на полях. Издания произведений самого Стравинского с корректурами и примечаниями автора дают ценную информацию об особенностях его композиционного процесса. Нотные источники рассмотрены в статье в контексте биографии и творчества композитора, с привлечением сведений из мемуаров, корреспонденции, музыковедческой литературы. Разделы статьи отражают структуру собрания. This article presents the results of a study of the music score collection from Stravinsky's personal library, which is kept at the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel. This collection is of particular interest as the creative laboratory of Stravinsky-a composer, pianist, conductor. Many copies have dedications, inscriptions and marginalia. The scores of Stravinsky's own works, with corrections and notes by the author, provide important information about his compositional process. Music scores from Stravinsky's library are considered in the context of his biography and work, using information from correspondence, memoirs and secondary literature. The sections of the article reflect the specifics of Stravinsky's collection.

The Neurophysiological Processing of Music in Children: A Systematic Review With Narrative Synthesis and Considerations for Clinical Practice in Music Therapy

Introduction: Evidence supporting the use of music interventions to maximize arousal and awareness in adults presenting with a disorder of consciousness continues to grow. However, the brain of a child is not simply a small adult brain, and therefore adult theories are not directly translatable to the pediatric population. The present study aims to synthesize brain imaging data about the neural processing of music in children aged 0-18 years, to form a theoretical basis for music interventions with children presenting with a disorder of consciousness following acquired brain injury.Methods: We conducted a systematic review with narrative synthesis utilizing an adaptation of the methodology developed by Popay and colleagues. Following the development of the narrative that answered the central question “what does brain imaging data reveal about the receptive processing of music in children?”, discussion was centered around the clinical implications of music therapy with children following acquired brain injury.Results: The narrative synthesis included 46 studies that utilized EEG, MEG, fMRI, and fNIRS scanning techniques in children aged 0-18 years. From birth, musical stimuli elicit distinct but immature electrical responses, with components of the auditory evoked response having longer latencies and variable amplitudes compared to their adult counterparts. Hemodynamic responses are observed throughout cortical and subcortical structures however cortical immaturity impacts musical processing and the localization of function in infants and young children. The processing of complex musical stimuli continues to mature into late adolescence.Conclusion: While the ability to process fundamental musical elements is present from birth, infants and children process music more slowly and utilize different cortical areas compared to adults. Brain injury in childhood occurs in a period of rapid development and the ability to process music following brain injury will likely depend on pre-morbid musical processing. Further, a significant brain injury may disrupt the developmental trajectory of complex music processing. However, complex music processing may emerge earlier than comparative language processing, and occur throughout a more global circuitry.