Readings, Listenings, Viewings
Ludwig von Beethoven, Große Fuge, Op. 130 (score here).
Hector Berlioz, Harold in Italy.
Sergei Prokofiev, Peter & the Wolf (score here).
Steve Reich, Different Trains (part III).
Reflections
Ed Cone, “A Lesson from Berlioz,” in The Composer’s Voice (pp. 81-114).
Joseph Kerman, “Voice,” in The Beethoven Quartets (pp. 191-200 only).
John Tresch and Emily Dolan, “Toward a New Organology.”
Questions
This past week, one of our points of discussion was the extent to which we humans style our interaction with things/objects based on the way we interact with other humans. To what extent do the voices of Others—animals, things, the planet—rely on an implicit or explicit connectedness to human beings to be vocal? This week we extend that question to musical instruments. We might start with the concept of an organology, the system for classifying instruments, which sounds as though it could refer to a different kind of organ, and a different body. (Not required, but when you have more time, check out the Hornbostel-Sachs classificatory categories, which sound to our modern ears like they could refer to the four ways human beings interact with their devices: idiophones, membranophones, chordophones, and aerophones.) In your readings this week, we revisit the idea from Frith that in live or recorded music there are a multitude of voices jockeying for our attention—the voice of the author, the voice of the performer, the voice of the protagonist, etc. In the Kerman and Cone readings, what is at stake when it comes to the question of whose voice speaks when? You may also wish to think a bit about how the voice of the conductor fits into this choral agon, and how it interacts with the voice of the orchestra. Like a pop star, the success of a conductor in the music industry is inextricable from the “persona” they develop (Cone’s word), and the persona of the orchestra that develops under their influence.
Exercise
The exercise this week follows the old form of the “double translation,” often used to teach classical languages. So, take a passage of Latin, and translate it into English; sometime later, take your translation and, without consulting the original, translate it back into Latin. Your task is to undertake such a double translation from the voice of an instrument, into English, and back again. So, 1) begin with a short passage of music as played by a solo instrument, a snatch of a sonata, a guitar solo, whatever you choose. Next, 2) translate that passage into English. Your latitude in translation is wide: you can make sense of what the instrument says, mimic its sounds, or, ideally, both; but you must use English words to do so. Finally, 3) take your translation, and translate it back into the voice of an instrument, not necessarily the same instrument. Here again your latitude is wide: you can perform on any instrument you consider to have a voice (from a violin to the wind), or manipulate a recording. You should provide recordings for 1) and 3) and a text for 2), along with the usual 200-300 word description of what you have done, why you have done it, and what it means, drawing from the theoretical readings for the week.