The spectral music of James Tenney
2008; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 27; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/07494460701671558
ISSN1477-2256
Autores Tópico(s)Music History and Culture
ResumoAbstract Between 1971 and 2006, James Tenney created more than fifty significant works of what is now commonly called 'spectral music'. In their materials and procedures, his compositions frequently paralleled, sometimes anticipated, and in some instances strikingly contrasted with spectralist developments in Europe. This article provides an analytical introduction to the spectralist component of Tenney's large and varied output, and explores its emergence and place within a North American tradition of spectral music composition. Among the compositional concerns addressed are the duality of timbre and harmony, the harmonic series as a structural resource, the instrumental synthesis of speech, rhythmic analogs of spectral structures, the expansion of traditional harmonic means, and practical performance considerations. Keywords: James TenneySpectral MusicHarmonic SeriesMicrotonalityPhenomenalismJust Intonation Acknowledgements I would like to thank Lauren Pratt for answering my numerous questions and allowing me access to James Tenney's notes and library of recordings. My thanks are also due to Robert Hasegawa for reading drafts of this article and offering helpful suggestions. Notes [1]'Harmonic fusion' refers to the perceptual synthesis of a tone's multiple partials into a unitary percept, as commonly happens when we hear instrumental tones in traditional musical contexts. Partials arrayed in a harmonic series undergo such fusion much more readily than partials exhibiting other intervallic relationships, a fact that lends the harmonic series a special perceptual status. Where other terms in the above list arise below, they will be explained in context. For the remainder, and for further information regarding these topics, interested readers should consult a general reference on acoustics or psychoacoustics (e.g., Moore, 1997 Moore, B. C. J. 1997. An introduction to the psychology of hearing, San Diego, CA: Academic Press. [Google Scholar]). [2] I would like to thank the editors of the published proceedings in which Wannamaker (in press Wannamaker, R. in press. "North American spectralism: The music of James Tenney". In Istanbul Spectral Music Conference, 18 – 23 November 2003, Edited by: Reigle, R. and Whitehead, P. Istanbul: Pan Yayincilik. Available online at: http://www.robertwannamaker.com/ under 'WRITINGS' (accessed 24 October 2007). [Google Scholar]) appears for allowing me to reprint here the introductory biographical text and two figures from that paper. Readers interested in Tenney's work should be aware that analyses of For 12 Strings Rising (1971) and Saxony (1978) can be found in the earlier paper, as well as discussions of Clang (1972), QUINTEXT (1972) and Three Indigenous Songs (1979) that are briefer than those herein. [3] Most of Tenney's major works completed between 1960 and 1980 receive detailed examination in Larry Polansky's book-length analytical study of his music (Polansky, 1983 Polansky, L. 1983. The early works of James Tenney. Soundings, : 114–297. Available online at: http://www.frogpeak.org/unbound (accessed 12 October 2007) [Google Scholar]), which remains an indispensable scholarly resource for anyone interested in Tenney's work. It is published in Soundings 13 (Garland, 1984 Garland P. Soundings 13: The music of James Tenney Santa Fe, NM Soundings Press 1984 [Google Scholar]). Hardcopies are available from Frog Peak Music (http://www.frogpeak.org), and the entire text is freely available online from the publisher's website: http://www.frogpeak.org/unbound (accessed 12 October 2007). [4] Tenney's computer music can be heard on James Tenney: Selected Works, 1961 – 1969, New World Records CD 80570. An analytical survey of these works is available in (Polansky, 1983 Polansky, L. 1983. The early works of James Tenney. Soundings, : 114–297. Available online at: http://www.frogpeak.org/unbound (accessed 12 October 2007) [Google Scholar], pp. 151 – 171), a version of which constitutes Polansky (2003 Polansky, L. 2003. "Essay in accompanying booklet". In James Tenney: Selected Works, 1961 – 1969, New York: New World Records CD 80570. Compact disc. Available online at: http://www.newworldrecords.org/linernotes/80570.pdf (accessed 1 August 2007) [Google Scholar]). In Tenney (1969 Tenney, J. 1969. "Computer music experiences, 1961 – 1964". In Electronic Music Reports #1, Utrecht: Institute of Sonology. Available online at: http://www.plainsound.org/JTwork.html (accessed 1 August 2007) [Google Scholar]), the composer himself published analyses of these works and an account of his time at Bell Labs. Technical aspects of the research that Tenney conducted while there on sound synthesis and the modeling of instrumental timbres appears in Tenney (1963 Tenney, J. 1963. Sound-generation by means of a digital computer. Journal of Music Theory, 7: 25–70. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), which is one of the very first publications regarding computerized sound synthesis directed towards musicians, while some of his conclusions regarding the physical correlates of timbre are collected in Tenney (1965 Tenney, J. 1965. The physical correlates of timbre. Gravesaner Blätter, 7/26: 106–109. [Google Scholar]). [5] Detailed discussion of all of the postal pieces can be found in Polansky (1983 Polansky, L. 1983. The early works of James Tenney. Soundings, : 114–297. Available online at: http://www.frogpeak.org/unbound (accessed 12 October 2007) [Google Scholar], pp. 193 – 203) and expanded in Polansky (2004 Polansky, L. 2004. "Essay in accompanying booklet". In Postal Pieces, New York: New World Records CD 80613. Compact disc. Available online at: http://www.newworldrecords.org/liner_notes/80612.pdf (accessed 1 August 2007) [Google Scholar]). [6] The reason that successively higher partials become salient is that if the fundamental frequencies of two complex tones in a unison dyad are mistuned by a frequency difference f 2 −f 1 , (which will be the frequency of beating between them) then the n-th harmonics above these fundamentals will be mistuned by a frequency difference nf 2 −nf 1 = n(f 2−f 1 ). Thus, once the intonation has improved sufficiently so that the rate of beating between lower harmonics is no longer noticeable, then the beating between relatively higher harmonics becomes evident due to its greater rapidity. [7] A 'Shepard tone' is a collection of sine tones, separated in pitch by octave intervals, all of which are glissading or stepping upwards together at a common rate in semitones per second. Each tone is individually subjected to an identical amplitude envelope such that it gradually 'fades in' beginning at some given bass pitch, attains a dynamic plateau and then 'fades out' as it approaches a given treble pitch. The impression imparted to a listener is that of a tone rising continuously in pitch without getting higher (see Shepard, 1964 Shepard, R. N. 1964. Circularity in judgments of relative pitch. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 36: 2346–2353. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). [8]'Just intonation' refers to any of a variety of intonational systems based solely on intervals occurring in the harmonic series. Quarter-tones are indicated in this score using accidentals in parentheses, denoting pitch alterations by half—rather than by full—semitone. [9] Over the next decade, Tenney would become increasingly strict regarding the need for intonational accuracy, settling in the 1980s on stipulations of pitches to within ±5 cents. This ±5 cent guideline applies, of course, to the intonation of intervals derived from the harmonic series. As such, it receives some support within the psychoacoustical literature. Studies of thresholds for hearing mistuned lower partials in harmonic complexes as separate tones set such thresholds as low as 8 cents for some subjects with stimulus durations of 1610 msec (Moore & Glasberg, 1986 Moore, B. C. J. and Glasberg, B. R. 1986. Thresholds for hearing mistuned partials as separate tones in harmonic complexes. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 80: 479–483. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Furthermore, these thresholds fall with increasing stimulus duration (1610 msec was the longest reported). Tenney's progressive strictness regarding intonational accuracy sharply distinguishes his thinking from that of European spectralist composers, who even to the present day have commonly accepted the quarter-tone as an approximation. Tenney appreciated the potential performance difficulties engendered by his intonational demands, and developed means of making them feasible that were appropriate for each piece. These included the provision of intonational references (in the form, e.g., of tunable electronic keyboards or scordatura strings playing natural harmonics), textures that permit tuning via monitoring the tempo of beating, the use of multiple instruments tuned sixths-of-a-semitone apart in order to realize 72-tone equal-temperament (which includes excellent approximations to many just intervals), the monitoring by instrumentalists of electronic tuners in live performance, and the re-tuning of tunable instruments such as pianos. He always believed, however, that performance practice would evolve such that one day non-specialized players would commonly be able to accurately tune the intervals of such music by ear alone just as he could, and in my experience an increasing number of instrumentalists seem to be doing just that. [10] Tenney's structural use of this process in Clang predates its appearance in the work of composers such as Gérard Grisey, in whose music ascents or descents of the conceptual fundamental by octaves are associated by Rose (1996 Rose, F. 1996. Introduction to the pitch organization of French spectral music. Perspectives of New Music, 34: 6–39. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], pp. 9 – 10) with motion towards 'harmonicity' or 'inharmonicity', respectively. [11] An analytical treatment of the entire QUINTEXT suite is available in (Polansky, 1983 Polansky, L. 1983. The early works of James Tenney. Soundings, : 114–297. Available online at: http://www.frogpeak.org/unbound (accessed 12 October 2007) [Google Scholar], pp. 208 – 218). [12] A subharmonic series of frequencies comprises a fundamental frequency f 0 together with its submultiples (i.e., f 0 /1, f 0 /2, f 0 /3, f 0 /4, … etc.) The corresponding pitch sequence is an intervallically inverted harmonic series. The subharmonic series does not possess the unique acoustical and psychoacoustical properties of the harmonic series: it is not naturally produced by common physical oscillatory systems and its components have no strong tendency to perceptually fuse. It does have an intelligible interpretation, however, as the collection of fundamental frequencies of which f 0 is a harmonic. The definition of a subharmonic series of durations or tempi can be accomplished by analogy with the definition of a subharmonic series of frequencies. [13] The 'ritardando' disappears if fundamental frequencies are plotted instead of pitches. [14] See also the discussion of Spectral CANON in Brian Belet's article in this special issue. [15] A recording of this realization is available on Cold Blue, Cold Blue Music CB0008, compact disc; also on Donaueschingen Musiktage, 1994, col legno WWE 3CD 31882, compact disc; also on the cassette accompanying Musicworks 27 (Pearson & Monahan, 1984 Pearson, T. & Monahan, G. (Eds). (1984). James Tenney [Special issue]. Musicworks, 27 [Google Scholar]). A reference score is available in (Tenney, 1976 Tenney, J. 1976. "Spectral CANON for CONLON Nancarrow". In Pieces: An anthology, Edited by: Byron, M. Vancouver: Aesthetic Research Centre. [Google Scholar]) and the player-piano roll itself appears in Musicworks 27 magazine (Pearson & Monahan, 1984 Pearson, T. & Monahan, G. (Eds). (1984). James Tenney [Special issue]. Musicworks, 27 [Google Scholar]). There also exists an interesting unreleased extended (5′25″) version of the Spectral CANON dating from 1991 (realized by composer Clarence Barlow on a Yamaha Disklavier) in which all voices are allowed to completely finish their retrogrades. Finally, there exist Spectral CANON for CONLON Nancarrow, Variations #1-3 (1991/1998) for harmonic player piano realized by composer Ciarán Maher to Tenney's specifications in 2006/2007 using MIDI (available online with documentation at: http://www.rhizomecowboy.com/spectral_variations; accessed 25 March 2007). These utilize the same inter-attack duration sequence as the original, but specify different temporal patterns for the voice entrances. [16] The author is preparing a separate report addressing the topic (see also Polansky, 1983 Polansky, L. 1983. The early works of James Tenney. Soundings, : 114–297. Available online at: http://www.frogpeak.org/unbound (accessed 12 October 2007) [Google Scholar], pp. 223 – 227). [17]The earlier setting is Hey When I Sing These 4 Songs Hey Look What Happens (1971) for soprano, alto, tenor and bass voice(s). Tenney also provided the Coleman transcription with a more direct musical rendering in Blues for Annie (1975) for viola. The original Coleman recording can be heard online at: http://www.juneberry78s.com/sounds/ListenToCountryBlues.htm (accessed 19 June 2007) or on Jaybird Coleman & The Birmingham Jug Band 1927 – 1930, Document Records DOCD-5140, compact disc. See also the discussion of Three Indigenous Songs in Brian Belet's article in this special issue. A recording of Three Indigenous Songs, No. 3 is available on the audio cassette accompanying Musicworks, 27 (Pearson & Monahan, 1984 Pearson, T. & Monahan, G. (Eds). (1984). James Tenney [Special issue]. Musicworks, 27 [Google Scholar]). [18] Examples of sine wave speech can be heard online at: http://www.haskins.yale.edu/research/sws.html (accessed 1 August 2007). A 'formant' is a peak in the power spectrum of an acoustical signal occurring at a resonant frequency of the originating acoustical system. Vocal formant frequencies vary independently of the vocal pitch as the shape of the vocal tract changes during speech or singing, permitting the production of different vowels or voiced consonants with the same pitch (see Parsons, 1986 Parsons, T. 1986. Voice and speech processing, New York: McGraw-Hill. [Google Scholar], pp. 104 – 106). [19] The initial u sound in 'water' is transcribed in the previous measure. [20] Tenney's notes indicate that he began work on Three Indigenous Songs as early as 1975, and he apparently updated his working formant data during the course of composition. An early source was Peterson and Barney (1952 Peterson, G. and Barney, H. L. 1952. Control methods used in a study of the vowels. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 24: 175–184. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), but it seems that in the late 1970s he preferred data from Fairbanks and Grubb (1961 Fairbanks, G. and Grubb, P. 1961. A psychophysical investigation of vowel formants. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 4: 203–215. [Crossref], [PubMed] , [Google Scholar]). Thus the frequency data in Figure 11(b) correspond with Fairbanks and Grubb (1961 Fairbanks, G. and Grubb, P. 1961. A psychophysical investigation of vowel formants. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 4: 203–215. [Crossref], [PubMed] , [Google Scholar]) except for the entries in parentheses, which derive from Peterson and Barney (1952 Peterson, G. and Barney, H. L. 1952. Control methods used in a study of the vowels. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 24: 175–184. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The latter may have been invoked because they entailed a broader formant region within which harmonics might fall. Perhaps for a similar reason, the pitch associated with the asterisked 640 Hz figure is rounded up to E5 when it is actually slightly closer to D#5. [21]It is unclear to me why the 18th harmonic (D#7), which falls squarely within the third formant's bandwidth, was not selected. It may be because this pitch was present in the immediately preceding sound and a new pitch was considered appropriate for a new articulation. [22] A detailed analysis of Saxony can be found in Wannamaker (in press Wannamaker, R. in press. "North American spectralism: The music of James Tenney". In Istanbul Spectral Music Conference, 18 – 23 November 2003, Edited by: Reigle, R. and Whitehead, P. Istanbul: Pan Yayincilik. Available online at: http://www.robertwannamaker.com/ under 'WRITINGS' (accessed 24 October 2007). [Google Scholar]). Alternate versions of the work exist for the following instrumentation, all with tape delay: (1) brass quintet, (2) three saxophones, (3) string trio or string quartet. Also, the composer indicates that the work may be realized as a 'stochastic canon' using any instrumentation. [23] A recording of Voice(s) is available on the audio cassette accompanying Musicworks, 27 (Pearson & Monahan, 1984 Pearson, T. & Monahan, G. (Eds). (1984). James Tenney [Special issue]. Musicworks, 27 [Google Scholar]), although it suffers from poor production quality. The work's score is reproduced in the issue. [24] Of course, today all of this hardware and associated manipulations can be replaced with a rudimentary Max or Pd patch. [25] I have made a few finer sectional discriminations through the introduction of primes on some labels. [26] Above the 24th harmonic, only even-numbered harmonics are employed, these being octave equivalents of more familiar partials residing lower in the series. [27] Tenney's Collage #1 ('Blue Suede') (1961) is the earliest example of so-called 'plunderphonic' music of which I am aware (see Polansky, 1983 Polansky, L. 1983. The early works of James Tenney. Soundings, : 114–297. Available online at: http://www.frogpeak.org/unbound (accessed 12 October 2007) [Google Scholar], pp. 144 – 146; Davies, 1996 Davies, H. 1996. A history of sampling. Organized Sound, 1: 3–11. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], p. 10). [28] The interested reader is referred to the analysis of Chorales for Orchestra in Polansky (1983 Polansky, L. 1983. The early works of James Tenney. Soundings, : 114–297. Available online at: http://www.frogpeak.org/unbound (accessed 12 October 2007) [Google Scholar], pp. 219 – 222) and brief remarks on both works in Wannamaker (in press Wannamaker, R. in press. "North American spectralism: The music of James Tenney". In Istanbul Spectral Music Conference, 18 – 23 November 2003, Edited by: Reigle, R. and Whitehead, P. Istanbul: Pan Yayincilik. Available online at: http://www.robertwannamaker.com/ under 'WRITINGS' (accessed 24 October 2007). [Google Scholar]). [29] An analysis of Critical Band can be found in Gilmore (1995 Gilmore, B. 1995. Changing the metaphor: Ratio models of musical pitch in the work of Harry Partch, Ben Johnston and James Tenney. Perspectives of New Music, 33: 458–503. [Google Scholar]). Glissade is discussed in Brian Belet's article in this special issue. [30] See the article by Michael Winter in this special issue. [31]Bridge is recorded on James Tenney: Bridge & Flocking, hat ART CD 6193. Koan can be heard on Musicworks 64 CD. 'Water on the Mountain … Fire in Heaven' is recorded on Seth Josel: Long Distance CRI CD 697. Forms 1-4 are collected on hat[now]ART 2-127 CD. For further information on these compositions, the reader is referred to Von Schweinitz (2007 Von Schweinitz, W. 2007. 'Koan': James Tenney sagte schon. MusikTexte, 112: 29–34. Available online at: http://www.plainsound.org/pdf/koanJamesTenney.pdf (accessed 1 August 2007) [Google Scholar]). Analyses of all of these works except the Forms can be found in Belet (1990 Belet, B. 1990. "An Examination of the Theories and Compositions of James Tenney, 1982 – 1985". University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Doctoral dissertation (UMI No. 9026136) [Google Scholar]); Koan for string quartet is discussed in Belet's article in this special issue. The composer published his own detailed analysis of Changes in Tenney (1987 Tenney, J. 1987. About Changes: Sixty-four studies for six harps. Perspectives of New Music, 25: 64–87. [Google Scholar]). Regarding Bridge, also see Tenney (1984a Tenney, J. 1984a. "Reflections after Bridge. Essay in accompanying booklet". In James Tenney: Bridge & flocking Performed by M. Bächli, G. Schneider, E. Radermacher & M. Werder. hat ART CD 6193, 1996. Compact disc [Google Scholar], 1984b Tenney, J. 1984b. A tradition of experimentation: James Tenney in conversation. Interview by U. Kasemets, T. Pearson & G. Monahan. Musicworks, 27: 2–13. [Google Scholar]). Analytical remarks on the Forms series can be found in Mörchen (2000 Mörchen, R. 2000. Essay in accompanying booklet. James Tenney: Forms 1 – 4, performed by musikFabrik, hat[now]ART 2-127, 2002. Compact disc [Google Scholar]). [32] For readers who are interested, all of the illustrated functions have a common mathematical form. They are cosines with decreasing frequencies plus linear ramps: at + b + c cos(2πrt p ), where a, b, c, r and p are constants specified for each individual curve and t is the time variable. Additionally, ordinates of the clang duration and number-of-elements-per-clang curves are subjected to an exponential transformation of the form x → 2 x . The constants r are chosen such that the curves for instrumental Groups 1 and 2 begin in anti-phase and end in phase. The value of the exponent p < 1 is the same for all curves and was specified such that the vertical line shown in the figures occurs at the golden ratio conjugate, Φ≈ 0.618, of the work's duration. [33] Tenney himself makes this connection with Cage in Tenney (1993 [1983 Tenney, J. 1993 [1983]. "John Cage and the theory of harmony". In Writings about John Cage, Edited by: Kostelanetz, R. 136–161. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. Available online at: http://www.plainsound.org/JTwork.html (accessed 1 August 2007) [Google Scholar]). [34] Score excerpts and further information regarding Adams's work can be found in Feisst (2001 Feisst, S. 2001. Klanggeographie—Klanggeometrie: Der US-amerikanische Komponist John Luther Adams. MusikTexte, 91: 4–13. [Google Scholar]).
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