chapter 82 live processes, minimalism, metric modulations
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
Chapter 82Music in the 1960s
and 1970s: Live Processes,
Minimalism, Metric Modulations
Music in the 1960’s & 1970’s• The 1960’s and early 1970’s were a transitional
period in the history of music, during which– composers continued to explore and search for
new styles
– looked for ways that modern music could communicate
and regain the interest of audiences.
• The song-like compositions in Luciano Berio and George Crumb are examples of this thinking.
– Both composers rely on sound per se to enhance the poetry that they set music to.
– Crumb adds additional expressive techniques • such as quotations from pre-existing music.
The Life of Luciano Berio (1925–2003)
• 1925 - born in Oneglia, Italy
• 1948-51 - attends the Conservatory in Milan
• 1951 - studies with Luigi Dallapiccola at Tanglewood
• 1954-59 - attends summer courses in Darmstadt
• 1955 - directs the electronic music studio at the Milan Radio
• 1963 - moves to the United States, teaches at Mills College
• 1972 - returns to Italy, travels and conducts
• 2003 - dies in Rome
Principal Compositions by Luciano Berio
• Operas include:– Opera– La vera storia– Un re in ascolto
• Orchestra: works include the series of Chemins (reworkings of other compositions)
• Chorus: works include Sinfonia and Coro
• Solo voice and vocal ensembles: works include– Circles– Recital I– Cries of London
• Solo instrument: series of Sequenzas
• Tape: works include Thema (Omaggio a Joyce) and Visage
Luciano Berio, Circles, 1960, “stinging”
Through composed
The Life of George Crumb (b. 1929)
• 1929 - born in Charleston, West Virginia
• 1956-59 - doctoral study in music at the University
of Michigan with Ross Lee Finney
• 1965 - appointed to the faculty of the University of
Pennsylvania
• 1968 - wins the Pulitzer Prize
Principal Compositions by George Crumb
• Voice and instruments: works include– Madrigals (4 books)– Ancient Voices of Children
• Ensemble pieces include Black Angels
• Piano: works include Makrokosmos (2 books)
George Crumb, Ancient Voices of Children, 1970, “¿De dónde vienes?”
Circular form
The Life of Elliott Carter (b. 1908)
• 1908 - born in New York City
• 1926–32 - attends Harvard University
• 1932–35 - studies in Paris with Nadia Boulanger
• 1935 - settles in New York
• 1960 - awarded the first of two Pulitzer Prizes
Characteristic’s of Elliot Carter’s Music
• Elliot Carter’s music of the 1950’s and 1960’s was unrelentingly complex– multiple and changeable tempos– complex counterpoint of lines
• The composer intended these features to create a wordless drama in his instrumental music.
• In the 1970’s he simplified his music’s texture and returned to a more traditional model of song composition.
Principal Compositions by Elliott Carter
• Orchestra: works include concertos (piano, oboe, violin, clarinet, cello) and– Symphony of Three Orchestras– Concerto for Orchestra
• Solo Voice: works include– A Mirror on Which to Dwell– Syringa– In Sleep, in Thunder
• Chamber music: includes string quartets (5), brass quintet, woodwind quintet
Elliott Carter, String Quartet No. 2, Introduction and movement 1
Free form
Minimalism• Minimalism is a style that uses a minimum of
materials that are spun out by repetition with gradual change.
• This music from the mid-1960’s was composed by a group of American composers including:– La Monte Young– Terry Riley– Philip Glass– Steve Reich
• This is seen in the music of Steve Reich as the result of a “phasing” process – by which an ostinato begun in unison by two or more
sources of sound gradually moves out of synchrony
– producing a changing series of secondary rhythmic patterns
The Life of Steve Reich (b. 1936)
• 1936 - born in New York
• 1953-63 - study at Cornell University, Juilliard, and Mills College
• 1969 - records with Steve Reich and Musicians
• 1970 - studies drumming in Africa
Principal Compositions by Steve Reich
• Ensemble pieces include:– Violin Phase– Drumming– Clapping Music– Music for 18 Musicians– Nagoya Marimbas– City Life– Vermont Counterpoint
• Mixed media works– The Cave– Three Tales
Steve Reich, “Clapping Music,” 1972
Symmetric (phase) form