To see the other types of publications on this topic, follow the link: Reich, Steve, Minimal music Music.
Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Reich, Steve, Minimal music Music'
Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles
Consult the top 23 dissertations / theses for your research on the topic 'Reich, Steve, Minimal music Music.'
Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.
You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.
Browse dissertations / theses on a wide variety of disciplines and organise your bibliography correctly.
1
Tones, Daniel Mark. "Elements of Ewe music in the music of Steve Reich." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/31173.
Full textAbstract:
This study examines contextual and structural similarities between Ewe music and the music of Steve Reich. It suggests that researching and performing Ewe music leads to a deeper understanding of rhythm and time in Reich's music, and contributes to accurate, informed performances of his compositions. In broader terms it proposes that practical understanding of the ways in which some non-Western cultures perceive rhythmic structure and temporal organization assists in confronting similar concepts in twentieth and twenty-first century contemporary Western art music. Incorporated in this study are the research of historians, ethnomusicologists, and performers, and the first-hand testimony of those involved in the creation and performance of Reich's music. This study also draws upon this author's performing and pedagogical experience to illustrate problems encountered when learning and performing some of Reich's works; and to suggest ways of overcoming them. Issues presented are applicable especially to scholars and performers who wish to gain detailed understanding of Reich's music through cross-cultural analysis, and to music educators who embrace non-Western musicianship as a means of developing practical skills that can be applied to the performance of Western art music.Arts, Faculty of
Music, School of
Graduate
2
Pymm, John Michael. "Narrative trails in the speech-based music of Steve Reich." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2013. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/374883/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis considers Steve Reich's speech-based compositions between 1963 and 1988 in the light of their source materials. The collection comprises seven pieces: The Plastic Haircut(1964); Livelihood (1964); It's Gonna Rain (1965); Come Out (1966); Buy Art, Buy Art (1967); My Name Is (1967), and Different Trains (1988). The sources for these pieces constitute a plethora of hitherto unexamined audio recordings, transcriptions of which are included in a separate volume of appendices. The study presents a detailed transcription and consideration of these archival sources, culminating in a new narrative reading of each of Steve Reich's speech-based pieces from the first three decades of his compositional output. Although some recordings now exist on-line, Reich's decision in 2008 to transfer his private archive to the Paul Sacher Stiftung in Basel, Switzerland, has opened up a much larger collection. This considerable body of source material allows a new understanding of the stories told by each of these seven pieces. Whilst firmly rejecting the notion that his music tells stories, Reich has accepted that the documentary nature of the recorded materials for his speech-based works marks them out as a special case. This invites scrutiny of the relationship between these recordings and the pieces themselves, shedding new light on the narrative trails that connect them.
3
Mileusnic-Plecas, Anja. "Taking Reich’s Pulse: Putting New Music into Context." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/37839.
Full textAbstract:
Premiered on November 1st 2016, Steve Reich’s new work Pulse: For Winds, Strings, Piano and Electric Bass epitomizes 51 years of compositional development. Understandably, no formal or analytical discussions exist of this work, a lacuna that inspires the present research questions: Where does Pulse fall in relation to Reich’s overall style and technique? Is it a logical continuation of his compositional evolution? Does it make use of the techniques that distinguish him or does it venture into new territories? To answer these questions, the thesis combines a historical survey of Reich’s compositional output with an analysis of Pulse that considers current analytic scholarship. An overview of the literature on the composer serves to determine the separate compositional periods of his output in relation to his most employed techniques. This amalgamation allows for a historically and stylistically contextualized analysis of Pulse. The resulting synthesis not only creates a new categorization of Reich’s compositional development, but also shows that Pulse embodies a summation of the composer’s musical technique.
4
Engdahl, Anton. "Minimalism och pop : Pop-produktioner inspirerade av Steve Reich." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för musik och bild (MB), 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-74324.
Full textAbstract:
Det här är ett konstnärligt arbete som handlar om att producera popmusik influerad av Steve Reichs minimalistiska verk. Det inleddes med en analys av de musikaliska parametrarna harmonik, rytmik och klangfärg i tre av Reichs verk. Med resultatet från analysen som mall skapades sedan nya produktioner till tre poplåtar. Poplåtarna skrevs av författaren innan starten för detta arbete. Resultaten blev av varierande kvalitet. I vissa fall upplevde författaren att det mest lät som att man lyssnade på två låtar samtidigt. När författaren tog egna initiativ och lät ljudbilderna smälta samman mer upplevde han dock att resultatet blev bättre. I de fallen påstår han att musiken blev någonting mer än bara honom själv + Reich, den blev någonting nytt och helt unikt!
5
Perez, Francisco S. "AN ANALYSIS AND PERFORMANCE GUIDE OF STEVE REICH’S MALLET QUARTET." UKnowledge, 2018. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/music_etds/109.
Full textAbstract:
Steve Reich’s music has had a profound effect on the contemporary percussionist’s repertoire. More recently, his Mallet Quartet (2009) has been one of the most performed works in the rising genre of mallet-keyboard quartets, which was featured in Third Coast Percussion’s 2017 Grammy-winning album Third Coast Percussion | Steve Reich. With Mallet Quartet, Reich codified this type of ensemble into the contemporary repertoire of percussion as evidenced through current commissions in progress by groups such as Sō Percussion and Third Coast Percussion.
The purpose of this document is to delineate the trajectory (past and present) of the mallet-keyboard quartet and highlight the most important compositional characteristics found within Mallet Quartet. These characteristics include the use of canonical augmentations, large-scale tonal shifts, rhythmic modification, and developing variation. After this analysis, this dissertation provides a performance guide to Mallet Quartet which specifically address the practicalities necessary for a successful performance. Topics such as the setup of instruments, mallet considerations, approaches to challenges in part-reading, and common ensemble issues are discussed.
6
Force, Kristin Alicia. "La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass: The evolution of minimalism and audience response." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/26636.
Full textAbstract:
Minimalism was a period in music throughout the postmodern twentieth century initiated by the compositions of La Monte Young (1935-- ), followed by those of Terry Riley (1935--), developed by Steve Reich (1936-- ), and evolved by Philip Glass (1937-- ). Minimalist music was influenced by the non-Western music of India, created by the constant repetition of musical patterns to generate a hypnotic state on the listener through stasis.
The size of the minimalist audience has continually increased from the New York City loft-based performances of La Monte Young to the opera house performances of Philip Glass. The composer's goals for an audience, his musical adaptation, and the effect of stasis contribute to the differences in audience size. These three factors are examined through each composer's biography, early and late compositions, and concert reviews of the premieres. The techniques utilized by each composer have become more effective in the creation of stasis from the compositions of Young to Glass. The biographies of the four minimalists, their compositions, and the premieres serve as an excellent source in the examination of the connection between the composer and the audience.
7
Isgitt, David. "An analysis of periodic rhythmic structures in the music of Steve Reich and György Ligeti." view full-text document, 2002. http://www.library.unt.edu/theses/open/20022/isgitt%5Fdavid/index.htm.
Full text
8
Fisher, Sarah Lynn. ""The Mind is Listening": Listening for Meaning in Steve Reich's 'The Desert Music'." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/193300.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis examines _The Desert Music_ by Steve Reich in the context of the composer's artistic perspective and advocates studying the subjective listening experience as a tool for musical analysis. Challenging conventional approaches in musicology and music theory, this work examines how a specific analytical approach in turn shapes the values assigned to that work. Systematic documentation of the author's listening experience is presented as an application of this premise and as a template to use in subsequent investigations of how other listeners respond to the work. The author concludes, mirroring the ideas implied in _The Desert Music_ itself, that instead of suppressing individual responses as opinions too myriad and divergent to be relevant, we should recognize that these reactions are products of shared cultural experience and that discussing them collectively may lead to powerful revelations about artistic meaning that may not emerge any other way.
9
King, Sarah. "What You Hear is What You Hear: Preparing an Arrangement of Steve Reich’s "Nagoya Marimbas" for Flute Choir." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2018. https://dc.etsu.edu/honors/441.
Full textAbstract:
Visual artist Frank Stella (b. 1936) said about his work, “What you see is what you see.” A member of the visual art movement known as minimalism, he is famed for his repeating black -stripe paintings. There are noticeable parallels between the concept of these visual works and Steve Reich’s (b. 1936) minimalist music, particularly Nagoya Marimbas (1994). This Honors thesis will explore the roots of minimalism in the visual arts and music, Reich’s compositional voice, the repetitive rhythmic components of minimalist music, and the challenges of arranging a percussion piece for a flute ensemble leading up to the final arrangement, Nagoya Flutes.
10
Isgitt, David. "An Analysis of Periodic Rhythmic Structures in the Music of Steve Reich and György Ligeti." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2002. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3245/.
Full textAbstract:
The compositions of Steve Reich and György Ligeti both contain periodic rhythmic structures. Although periods are not usually easily perceived, the listener may perceive their combinations in a hierarchy of rhythmic structures. This document is an attempt to develop an analytical method that can account for this hierarchy in periodic music. I begin with an overview of the features of Reich's and Ligeti's music that contribute to the property of periodicity. I follow with a discussion of the music and writings of Olivier Messiaen as a precedent for the periodic structures in the music of Reich and Ligeti. I continue by consulting the writings of the Israeli musicologist Simha Arom and describing the usefulness of his ideas and terminology in the development of my method. I explain the working process and terminology of the analytical method, and then I apply it to Reich's Six Pianos and Ligeti's Désordre.
11
MacRobbie, Danielle Elizabeth. "An Investigation of Technological Impressions in Steve Reich and Beryl Korot's Three Tales." Bowling Green State University / OhioLINK, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1382368248.
Full text
12
Menino, Fernando Bueno. "Possibilidades interpretativas envolvendo instrumentos de percuss?o e recursos tecnol?gicos na obra Clapping Music (1972), de Steve Reich." PROGRAMA DE P?S-GRADUA??O EM M?SICA, 2015. https://repositorio.ufrn.br/jspui/handle/123456789/22174.
Full textAbstract:
Submitted by Automa??o e Estat?stica (sst@bczm.ufrn.br) on 2017-02-22T19:41:53Z
No. of bitstreams: 1
FernandoBuenoMenino_DISSERT.pdf: 8006188 bytes, checksum: 5a0d410b243158db65b4b27482799ae5 (MD5)Approved for entry into archive by Arlan Eloi Leite Silva (eloihistoriador@yahoo.com.br) on 2017-03-07T23:11:01Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 FernandoBuenoMenino_DISSERT.pdf: 8006188 bytes, checksum: 5a0d410b243158db65b4b27482799ae5 (MD5)
Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-07T23:11:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 FernandoBuenoMenino_DISSERT.pdf: 8006188 bytes, checksum: 5a0d410b243158db65b4b27482799ae5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-12-03
Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior (CAPES)
O presente trabalho tem por finalidade identificar, segundo a literatura e discografia, novas possibilidades de execu??o para obras minimalistas do compositor norte-americano Steve Reich, escritas entre 1972 e 1983. Mais especificamente, o artigo apresenta um estudo focado na adapta??o de algumas de suas composi??es as quais n?o foram escritas originalmente para serem executadas por um ?nico int?rprete (formato solo). A metodologia consiste na ?nalise deste repert?rio e suas respectivas t?cnicas composicionais. Posteriormente, extra?ram-se novas vers?es, com car?ter experimental, focados na intera??o entre instrumentos de percuss?o e recursos tecnol?gicos. Tais possibilidades foram implementadas atrav?s das oficinas de experimenta??o. Como resultado, gerou-se uma nova possibilidade de interpreta??o para a obra Clapping Music (1972). Deste modo, o trabalho aqui reportado visa apresentar as considera??es relacionadas ? performance, os processos utilizados para a implementa??o, assim como os resultados obtidos durante as oficinas. Concluiu-se que tais implementa??es, aliadas ? intera??o com recursos tecnol?gicos, proporcionaram ao int?rprete um maior aprofundamento do aspecto t?cnico/interpretativo, assim como das possibilidades de intera??o entre instrumentos de percuss?o e dispositivos eletr?nicos.
This study aims to identify, according to the literature and discography, new performance possibilities for minimalist works of American composer Steve Reich, written between 1972 and 1983. More specifically, the article presents a study focused on the adaptation of some of its compositions which were not originally written to be executed by a single performer (solo format). The methodology consists of analyzing this repertoire and their compositional techniques. Posteriorly, new versions were extracted with experimental character, focused on the interaction between percussion instruments and technological resources. Such possibilities were implemented through experimentation workshops. As a result, it generated a new possibility of interpretation for the work Clapping Music (1972). Thus, the work reported here is to present the considerations related to performance, the processes used to implement, and the results obtained during the workshops. It was concluded that such implementations, combined with interaction with technological resources, provided the interpreter further deepening of technical/interpretative aspect, as well as the possibilities of interaction between percussion instruments and electronic devices.
13
Venter, Carina. "Experiments in postcolonial reading : music, violence, response." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2015. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:7d8db9f2-a2c4-4ed2-a627-a330db30b7c9.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis is a response to a lacuna in musicology, namely the near absence of postcolonial and decolonial epistemologies. Employing both diachronic and synchronic perspectives, it provides a historical overview of the institutional positioning of musicology as an academic discipline founded on structures of expectation and exploitation indebted to Western imperialism. This longer historical view is accompanied throughout by an examination of ethics in its institutionalised forms, specifically in the domains of knowledge production and the university. The thesis maintains that while such ostensibly ethical underpinnings may promise redress on the basis of the violence inflicted by an imperialist past, the discourse employed in its application in fact serves to strengthen the ideological hold of Western hegemony and, in so doing, betrays the promise of reparation that ethics is ordinarily understood to encompass. The thesis examines different aesthetic and epistemological manifestations of the postcolonial, considering at length Steve Reich's string quartet, Different Trains (1988), Philip Glass's opera, Waiting for the Barbarians (2005), and Philip Miller's choral work, REwind: A Cantata for Voice, Tape and Testimony (2006). Both content and style weave these works together as they engage, by means of a post-minimalist aesthetic, stream-of-violence narratives intimately bound up with the postcolonial condition. Of particular importance in the consideration of these musical texts is the urgent necessity for epistemological transformation, marked in musicology as the lack of post- and decolonial perspectives. Finally, the thesis grapples with the (im)possibility of complicit scholarship that must, through its very expression, wound its subject.
14
Weatherman, Andrea Dawn. "Prophecy Fulfilled? Walter Benjamin's Vision and Steve Reich's Process." Bowling Green State University / OhioLINK, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1300577313.
Full text
15
Vaughn, Mark. "Monolith: A Piece for Midi Piano, Mixed Sextet, and Fixed Electronics." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2017. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1011853/.
Full textAbstract:
Reference to a regular pulse is one of the most common ways of measuring time in music. As the basis for tempo, meter, subdivisions, and even formal symmetry, pulse, or the sonic articulation of regular units of time, is found throughout all levels of music. In this paper, I describe how I used a structure of twelve simultaneous pulses to compose "Monolith," a recent piece for MIDI piano, Pierrot ensemble, and fixed electronics. In the first chapter, I contextualize "Monolith" by briefly examining pulse's relationship to hierarchical structure in music and the possibilities for creativity in pulse-based hierarchical structures. In the second chapter, I analyze the use of pulse in Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians," György Ligeti's "Self-portrait with Reich and Riley (with Chopin in the background), and Conlon Nancarrow's "Study No. 36 for Player Piano." In the third chapter, I describe in detail the relationship between the twelve-pulse structure and the various movements that comprise "Monolith," focusing on the relationship between compositional freedom and prescribed structure throughout the work.
16
Donovan, John McKee. "A study of the works From My Little Island: Folk Song by Robert Aldridge, Nagoya Marimbas by Steve Reich, Ti Mon Bo by Tito Puente, Trio Per Uno by Nebojsa Zivkovic, Wind in the Bamboo Grove by Keiko Abe, Eight Pieces for Four Timpani: VIII. March by Elliott Carter, Douze Études: No. 9 by Jacques Delécluse, Prelude to a Dream by Bryce Craig, Birifor Funeral Repertoire, Log Cabin Blues by George Hamilton Green." Kansas State University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/35422.
Full textAbstract:
Master of MusicDepartment of Music, Theatre, and Dance
Kurt R. Gartner
This document is an analysis of the all of the pieces prepared for my master’s recital which was given on March 12, 2017 in Kirmser Hall on the campus of Kansas State University. I have analyzed these piece from both a theoretical and historical point of view. When programming a recital, especially a recital for a collegiate percussion student, it is important to have a diverse representation of percussion music to demonstrate a broad knowledge of music and technical ability.
17
Pierce, Justin Wade. "A Performance Guide to David Kechley's "In the Dragon's Garden" with an Investigation of the Saxophone-Guitar Duo Genre." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2012. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1609135/.
Full textAbstract:
American composer David Kechley was profoundly impacted by a 1990 trip to the Ryoan-ji Temple in Kyoto, Japan. The composer describes the finely raked, small white stones in the midst of fifteen large rocks in the Japanese Zen garden as "planned randomness." Kechley's inaugural composition for saxophone-guitar duo, In the Dragon's Garden, reflects his experience at the Ryoan-ji Temple. The use of minimalistic compositional techniques without literal repetition in the work represents a departure from the first generation of Minimalist composers, such as LaMonte Young, Steve Reich, Phillip Glass, and John Adams. An analysis of minimalistic compositional elements, combined with an interview with the commissioning ensemble, the Ryoanji Duo, provides insights into the interpretation and preparation of this complex work. Furthermore, this document contains helpful information pertinent to the saxophone-guitar duo. Details on balance and amplification, orchestration, and collaboration with the composer will supply performers and composers with essential knowledge needed to participate in this growing musical medium.
18
Girard, Johan. "Régimes de répétabilité et musique répétitive : approche communicationnelle en esthétique philosophique." Paris 3, 2008. http://www.theses.fr/2008PA030098.
Full textAbstract:
La répétition musicale se distribue selon bien des modalités et se dit en une pluralité de sens. Les œuvres « se répètent » différemment, et les répétitions structurelles qu’elles convoquent n’ont pas toutes le même statut. Le disque et la musique pour bande dupliquent des objets issus d’une même matrice ; l’interprétation d’une œuvre et la variation sur un thème itèrent des gestes conformément à une structure. Ainsi peut-on considérer que les différents faire musicaux connaissent des régimes de répétabilité différenciés. On peut alors cerner l’efficace esthétique de ces manières de répéter. Les compositeurs répétitifs américains (Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass), en transférant des procédés issus du travail sur bande vers le jeu instrumental, rendent féconde la distinction entre le mécanique et le vivant, entre l’autographique et l’allographique. Les processus « technomorphes » mobilisés, pour lesquels la répétabilité mécanique joue comme modèle du jeu instrumental, permettent de penser à nouveaux frais la notion de répétition en musique, comprise comme un processus communicationnel auquel l’auditeur prend partRepetition in music can be found in several modes described according to a plurality of meanings. Works of music repeat themselves in different ways, and the structural repetitions upon which they rely do not always enjoy the same status. Records as well as tape music reproduce objects coming from a common matrix ; the interpretations of a work as well as variations on a theme are executed on the basis of a particular structure. We can thus consider that the various ways of making music all display of different modes of repeatability. We thereby begin to grasp the aesthetic effectiveness of the same modes. By transferring the procedures developed from working with tape music into the very production of instrumental music, several repetitive composers from the United States (Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass) have established the fruitfulness of the distinction between the mechanical and the living, between autographic and allographic types of symbols. “Technomorphical” processes are thereby mobilized through which mechanical repetition becomes the model for playing an instrument, thus allowing us to rethink the very notion of repetition in music, now reconstructed as a communicational process in which the listener has a role to play
19
Lancia, Julio Cesar [UNESP]. "Discussões sobre o minimalismo musical norte-americano: processos, repetição e tecnologia." Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/11449/95101.
Full textAbstract:
Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:27:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0
Previous issue date: 2008-08-06Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:35:54Z : No. of bitstreams: 1
lancia_jc_me_ia.pdf: 1949570 bytes, checksum: de65c06be1d96f797a0b1521e72e719c (MD5)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)
O minimalismo musical de La Monte Young, Terry, Riley, Steve Reich e Philip Glass foi chamado, entre outros rótulos, de música repetitiva, modular, de pulsação, de processos e estática – e, portanto, não-teleológica – antes que o termo minimalismo prevalecesse. Uma vez que tais termos não são infundados e refletem características percebidas no minimalismo, este trabalho tenta definir as idéias por trás desses rótulos. O trabalho também discute os procedimentos mais típicos adotados por cada um dos quatro compositores mencionados, apontando as mudanças de feições na produção desses compositores entre as décadas de 1960 e 70, período normalmente utilizado como referência para estudos.
The musical minimalism of La Monte Young, Terry, Riley, Steve Reich and Philip Glass had been called, among other labels, repetitive, modular, pulse, process, and static – and as a result, a-teleological – music before the name minimalism finally caught on. Since those labels reflect, at least in part, some of the features commonly found in the style, this study attempts to define the concepts behind such labels. This work also discusses some of the most typical procedures adopted by the four composers aforementioned, pointing their changing style during the 1960s and 70s, period often used as a reference for studies.
20
Bennett, Mark. "A brief history of minimalism its aesthetic concepts and origins, and a detailed analysis of Steve Reich's The desert music (1984) /." 1993. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/35734258.html.
Full text
21
Miller, Blajchman Lisa Miller Blajchman Lisa. "Exploring one's roots : integrating Klezmer and other world music into the Western compositional palette /." 2007. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR29275.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2007. Graduate Programme in Music.Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-67). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR29275
22
Benoit, Hannah. "Rhythmic maximal evenness: rhythm in voice-leading space." Thesis, 2019. https://hdl.handle.net/2144/36041.
Full textAbstract:
Maximal evenness was first introduced in the music theory domain by John Clough and Jack Douthett. Later, the concept was explored by others such as Dmitri Tymoczko and Richard Cohn. Although maximal evenness was first explored with respect to pitch-classes, the concept can be understood in the rhythmic domain. An explanation of voice-leading space can be found here to create a conceptual foundation before departing to the implications of maximal evenness on rhythm. This thesis will then explore the concept further by exploring music from Steve Reich and György Ligeti to demonstrate the applicability and deeper understanding of the concept.
23
Saccomano, Mark. "Musical Sound and Spatial Perception: How Music Structures Our Sense of Space." Thesis, 2020. https://doi.org/10.7916/d8-y9d1-ae42.
Full textAbstract:
It is not uncommon to read claims of music’s ability to affect our sense of time and its rate of passage. Indeed, such effects are often considered among the most distinctive and prized aspects of musical aesthetics. Yet when it comes to the similarly abstract notion of space and its manipulation by musical structures, theorists are generally silent. My dissertation addresses this gap in the literature and shows how music’s spatial effects arise through an affective engagement with musical works.
In this study, I examine an eclectic selection of compositions to determine how the spaces we inhabit are transformed by the music we hear within them. Drawing on Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s theory of embodied perception, as well as research on acoustics, sound studies, and media theory, I deploy an affective model of spatial perception—a model that links the sense of space with the moment-to-moment needs and desires of the perceiver— to explain how these musical modulations of space occur. My claim is that the manner in which the music solicits our engagement affects how we respond, which in turn affects what we perceive.
I begin by discussing the development of recording technology and how fixed media works deemed “spatial music” reinforce a particular conception of space as an empty container in which sound sources are arrayed in specific locations relative to a fixed listening position. After showing how innovative studio techniques have been used to unsettle this conventional spatial configuration, I then discuss examples of Renaissance vocal music, instrumental chamber music, and 20th century electronic music in order to develop a richer understanding of the range of spatial interactions that musical textures and timbres can provide. In my final chapter, I draw upon these varieties of affective engagement to construct a hermeneutic analysis of the spatial experience afforded by Steve Reich’s Electric Counterpoint, thereby modeling a phenomenological method for grounding interpretation in embodied, rather than strictly discursive, practices. By soliciting movement through the call for bodily action, music allows us an opportunity to fit together one world of possibilities with another, thereby providing an occasion for grasping new meanings presented through the work. The spatial aspect of music, therefore, does not consist in merely recognizing an environmental setting populated by individual sound sources. Through the embodied practices of music perception and the malleability of space they reveal, we are afforded an opportunity to reshape our understanding of the world around us.