Melodic Contour and Nonretrogradable Structure in the Birdsong of Olivier Messiaen.
Taking its cue from several highly suggestive remarks found in his interviews and two major theoretical treatises, this article investigates melodic contour structure in Olivier Messiaen's mature birdsong. Following some key refinements to Robert Morris's (1993) Contour-Reduction Algorithm and prime...
| Publicado en: | Music Theory Spectrum Vol. 30; no. 1; pp. 89 - 138 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Oxford University Press / USA
Spring2008
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=32570757&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 32570757 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 01956167 8IY jtl: Music Theory Spectrum issn: 01956167 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Spring2008 vid: 30 iid: 1 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 32570757 10.1525/mts.2008.30.1.89 ppf: 89 ppct: 49 formats: tig: atl: Melodic Contour and Nonretrogradable Structure in the Birdsong of Olivier Messiaen. aug: au: SCHULTZ, ROB su: Messiaen, Olivier, 1908-1992 Morris, Robert Musical composition Musical form Musical criticism sug: subj: Messiaen, Olivier, 1908-1992 Morris, Robert Musical composition Musical form Musical criticism keyword: algorithm birdsong contour melody Messiaen prime symmetry ab: Taking its cue from several highly suggestive remarks found in his interviews and two major theoretical treatises, this article investigates melodic contour structure in Olivier Messiaen's mature birdsong. Following some key refinements to Robert Morris's (1993) Contour-Reduction Algorithm and prime contour classification system, the algorithm is applied to various passages from Messiaen's Réveil des Oiseaux and birdsong transcriptions in Tome V of his Traité de Rythme, de Couleur, et d'OrnithoIogie, thereby revealing the existence of numerous nonretrogradable patterns, varying in both nature and degree of exactitude, at a deeper level of structure. The article then discusses the specific features that these patterns exhibit, and explores some of the major issues involved in carrying out an analysis of this kind. Finally, evidence is offered in support of the assertion that these contour symmetries represent a concrete manifestation of Messiaen's self-admitted tendency to unintentionally insert his own compositional voice and artistic sensibilities into his birdsong transcriptions. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y dt: @attributes: year: 2008 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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