A Transformational creativity tool to support musical composition

In this paper we use the idea of conceptual space introduced by Boden and redefine some properties such appropriateness and relevance that facilitate the computational implementation of the transformational creativity mechanism. While appropriateness can only be evaluated by an expert, relevance can be objectively measured for any spectator. Computational creativity is based on the relationship between appropriateness and relevance of a concept, and therefore a computational system can be used to support this task. The paper analyses this relationship in the field of music in order to obtain a computer tool to support the musical composition task.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

An Issue between Contemporary Theory and Modern Compositional Practice A Study of Joseph Straus's Laws of Atonal Voice Leading and Harmony using Webern's Opus 12/2 and Crawford's String Quartet Mvt. 3

In his recent research project, music theorist Joseph Straus extends the traditional notions of smooth voice leading and the quality of harmony in tonal music to describe atonal voice leading and harmony. To achieve this goal, Straus proposes a theory called fuzzy transformations to analyze atonal music. Based on his findings, he further concludes the law of atonal voice leading and that of atonal harmony, which state that compositions, especially those in "more conservative styles," do obey these two laws. To test the validity of Straus's laws, I use Crawford's String Quartet Mvt. 3 and Webern's song op. 12/2 as case studies, examining the potential strengths and inherent weaknesses in Straus's fuzzy transformations, and further pointing out a conflict between music theory and compositional practice

Experiencing Structure in Penderecki’s Threnody: Analysis, Ear-Training, and Musical Understanding

Elliott Carter once extolled the visceral, primitive effect of Penderecki’s Threnody on untrained listeners. In this article, I examine how a formalized analytical approach to the central section of the piece contributes positively to a phenomenological experience of the whole piece. Part 1 presents an ear-training progression aimed at bringing to attention some important structural relationships between pitched elements of the passage, including pitch-space transformations that act on chordal-density compressions. Part 2 initially questions the relevance of transformational analysis––construed as an enactment of a particular kind of understanding––to the experience of Threnody, ultimately favoring a transformational hearing of the work. The conclusion points out how a rationalized ear-training allows a listener to chart an auditory course through the passage and how the resulting experience can illuminate a new way of conceptualizing Penderecki’s intricate sonic materials

Developing a Mathematically Informed Approach to Musical Narrative through the Analysis of Three Twentieth-Century Monophonic Woodwind Works

This project applies mathematically informed narrative to monophonic music in the twentieth century, with a focus on three works for solo woodwinds: Debussy’s Syrinx (flute), Stravinsky’s Three Pieces for Clarinet, and Britten’s “Bacchus” from Six Metamorphoses after Ovid, Op. 49 (oboe). This music poses difficulties for traditional analytical methods due to a lack of explicit harmonies and unusual pitch language that is neither functionally tonal nor serially atonal. Additionally, these pieces present a variety of challenges due to differences in length, number of movements, and presence or absence of programmatic elements. Therefore, nontraditional methods could be beneficial for understanding these idiosyncratic pieces. Mathematical and transformational approaches have shown that such descriptions can elegantly illustrate pitch language in a wide variety of tonal and atonal styles. Visual transformational and geometric approaches, such as oriented networks and graphic representations, can assist in illustrating important changes that take place during a piece. Narrative theory approaches analysis from another viewpoint. While not all music can be considered narrative, a narrative paradigm is applicable to a wide range of musical styles. Because narrative theories focus on large-scale topical and gestural changes for building interpretations, it complements the locally focused nature of transformational theory. Together, a mathematically informed narrative method can reveal connections that are not immediately obvious in these works, and help a listener or performer create an informed interpretation

Aspects of Otherness in John Adams’s Nixon in China

This article explores the relationship between the music of John Adams’s Nixon in China and the action taking place on stage. At many points throughout the opera, these forces are at odds, creating dramatic moments that often heighten the previously established sense of sarcasm and reverse the expected narrative roles of the characters. This is achieved by manipulating the Other in a unique manner as to not directly reference Chinese music, but rather juxtapose culturally neutral music with easily recognizable Western topics and genres

Functional Transformations and Octatonality in Selected Works by George Crumb

The music of George Crumb has been analyzed using a variety of analytic methods including pitch-class set theory, transformational theory, intertextual analyses, and various tonal and Schenkerian approaches. The results of these types of analyses invariably identify certain consistencies in Crumb’s compositional style within a single work or volume of similar works, but often are unable to relate or compare procedures between different works. In the present study, I propose a transformational model that accounts for characteristic gestures in numerous works by Crumb. Unlike many transformational models of twentieth-century music, the proposed model does not require significant alterations for each work, and is able to model transformations between sets with a cardinality of three through twelve. Because of the relatively stable nature of this model, it is possible to compare gestures within and between different works in a manner analogous to comparisons of functional progressions in tonal music. In the introductory chapter, the basis for a functional model of Crumb’s music is introduced, and the scope of the study is defined. In the second chapter, certain characteristics of Crumb’s music identified by other scholars such as trichordal structures, referential collections, and the principles of opposition and completion are discussed. Based upon these characteristics, the model of octatonality is proposed and defined in the third chapter. The fourth and fifth chapters include analyses of Crumb’s A Haunted Landscape (1984) and “Come Lovely and Soothing Death...” from Apparition (1980) as representative examples of octatonality. Crumb’s sketch materials for these and other related works are included to provide support for segmentation as well as octatonic considerations. In the concluding sixth chapter, the functional designs of these examples are compared. The generic model, divorced from the octatonic collection, offers a method to compare different works at various functional levels where the intervallic components of the music, a limited pitch-class set vocabulary, and an underlying functionality are perceived as fundamental features of the music. The utility of the generic model in analyzing Crumb’s non-octatonic works is demonstrated and an extension of the generic model for the analysis of music by other composers is suggested

STUDENTS’ MOTIVES IN CHOOSING INDONESIAN OR JAVANESE LANGUAGE IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE SETTING (

English course is an informal school in which English is the main language expected to be used in the classrooms. However, since the students have more than one language repertoire, their choices to use one code instead of the others is unavoidable in the real practice. From a case study in an English-course class, there are several cases found where the students chose a particular code, whether it is Indonesian or Javanese language, rather than English, which is the main code in that particular setting. This paper presents the research about the students’ motives towards choosing one code (Indonesian or Javanese)in preference to the other codes in a foreign language setting by analyzing the students’ utterances using the theory of language functions by Roman Jakobson (1960)The results show that the students use both Indonesian and Javanese to serve conative functions, with the different orientation of addressee. Moreover, the metalingual function is conveyed exclusively using Indonesian language, whereas the students mostly used Javanese language to express their emotions toward something

Modeling Compositional Grammars in Leonard Bernstein\u27s West Side Story (1957)

As a result of Leonard Bernstein\u27s numerous didactic lectures, he is generally recognized as a tonal composer who misrepresented or even misunderstood other compositional grammars. But, while scholars criticize Bernstein for these reasons, close analysis of his own music reveals a different story. Using post-tonal theory and semiotics, I examine Bernstein\u27s music from the perspective of compositional grammars—some not tonal—through analysis of three pieces from West Side Story (1957), \u27The Rumble,\u27 the \u27Tonight\u27 ensemble, and the \u27Cool Fugue. I demonstrate that although Bernstein passionately defended tonality as the means to unite composers and audiences—especially Broadway audiences—analysis of West Side Story reveals varied musical syntaxes, including particular intervallic structures, pitch centric passages, and twelve-tone serialism. Analysis of West Side Story challenges illusory notions of supposed binary oppositions: opera versus Broadway, highbrow versus lowbrow, and tonal versus atonal. By closely interpreting how various compositional grammars in West Side Story blur supposed opposing binary musical aesthetics, genres, and styles, this thesis opens new and perhaps unexpected avenues for Bernstein research