Michael Alexander Analytical Studies Final Paper Draft: Matthias Pintscher, A Twilight's Song

Matthais Pintscher is a Ger an conductor and spectral co poser! he is perhaps the i portant li"ing Ger an co poser# $e is %nown as a spectral

ost

aster for his extre ely intricate, and

delicate sound at ospheres that de and high rhyth ic and dyna ic precision# $e has written nu erous cha &er wor%s, wor%s for "oice, operas, concertos, and other orchestral scores# $e has had the honor of leading top ense &les li%e the ''( Scottish Sy phony )rchestra, (olorado, *ondon, 'erlin Philhar onic (hicago, St# Paul, +ew ,or%, and Atlanta Sy phony )rchestras# $is usic is

also perfor ed &y these ense &les, along with &ig na e conductors li%e and -sa.Pe%%a Salonen and Pierre 'oule/# $e regularly conducts throughout -urope, Australia, and the 0#S#! he also often conducts an all.'eetho"en concert in (hicago, and recently has &een na ed the new usic director for

the -nse &le 1nterconte porain's 2345.2346 season# $e has a fairly strong following of spectral fans fro all o"er the world 7 especially in Ger any and Slo"a%ia# 8 Spectral usic, a sphere and co positional ediu that originated and was de"eloped in for well %nown co posers li%e usic focuses on different usic,

France in the 49:3s, has ser"ed as acade ic and explorati"e idio

Gerardo Grisey, Sophia Gu&aidulina and Matthais Pintcher# This style of aspects of the usic than that of

ost other genre's or co positional idio s# 0nli%e serial, or tonal usic is the successful creation of sonic identities that

ain o&;ecti"e or goal of this type of

de"elop and create interest through their transfor ations and connections with other li%e ideas# $ar onious or not, this usic stri"es to achie"e progression through co &inations of

sounds<instru ents and their entity as a whole or at osphere that is "oid of con"entional progression, rhyth , or cadence# The sound spectru along with har onic characteristics of any gi"en sound are

ta%en into hea"y considerations in constructing sounds# Twilight's Song, written in 499:, is one of Pintcher's ost well %nown wor%s! it is an operatic wor% that effecti"ely narrates a story with a ixture

of at ospheric texturing and text.painting, enhancing the i agery, descriptions, and e otional effect of (u ings' poe # 8Arrell= Twilight>s Song is a wor% set to the poe , The Hours Rise Up Putting Off Stars And It Is &y -#-# (u ings# Pintcher utili/es a rather unorthodox ense &le &eing: soprano "oice, harp, piano.

forte, axillary percussion, &ass flute, &ass clarinet, "iola, and cello# 1n the perfor ance notes, Pintcher gi"es specific directions for other effects li%e &arto% pi//, sul tasto, i pro"isational techni?ues, @slap,A and sul ponticello that gi"e it a uni?uely configured sound that disguises the actual instru entation# Throughout the wor%, the ense &le creates an audio uni"erse to which the soprano narrates poetry# Be e"entually recogni/e a few ideas that return and transfor consider it a spectral wor%, as the focus is placed "ersus, their pitch &oth usically and lyrically# Be

ore on the interactions of the different sounds

aterial, har ony, or function# Since it is not &ased on these things, Pintcher uses

other ideas and techni?ues to achie"e certain aural expectations, or recollections# 8(ornicello= At any gi"en ti e, Pintcher's har onic co &inations contain inter"als fro the 4 st, and Cth

inter"al classes# Seconds, Se"enths and tri.tones are found in all note, or ti &ral configurations# $ori/ontally, the wor%s elodic ideas use all twel"e pitches and do not reference any tonal areas# )n a

local le"el, so e of the phrases in the soprano line stay within a diatonic, or %nown collection# 1n context, we do not recogni/e %ey or tonal center# 1n doing this, Pintcher redefines our exception and idea of consonance# The lac% of consonance or resonance as a result of these dissonant inter"als instantly cause us to pay attention to other characteristics of the sound, it's dissonance, and le"el of relati"e dissonance# Be attend to the dyna ic, or unified color of the instru ents and the co &ination of their ti &res! and e"en the register and how it fits within the o"erall sound# )ther than the interactions, we could still consider his har onic i petus to &e clusters# Fro easures 22.2: we

could understand the pitch collection 8soprano "oice= as &eing one that is referential to D phyrigian

howe"er, no neopolitan<&11 chord or D

otion places us in the

inor phyrgian

ode# Throughout the

wor%, Pintcher wor%s with collections that ha"e tonal history, &ut don't necessarily achie"e their tonal purpose in Pintcher's at osphere# Be should recogni/e that the wor%'s organi/ation is not &ased on the organic usical idea, &ut it is organi/ed according to the poe # The usic's oti"ic ideas or an

ost i portant or nota&le sonic

ideas occur at %ey

o ents<words in the lyric, typically highlighting whate"er word is &eing said# Be ost of the ti e 7 &ut when an i portant 8or noticea&le= usical

are &y default tuned into the singer,

idea occurs &oth with the "oice in ;unction with the ense &le, we see a text.to.audio intensification, often refered to as text painting# 8Arrell= Bhen narration occurs, it adds poe ore layers of depth and considerations for the listener# The

that the wor% is &ased on is written in prose with strong i agery, and a rather si ple &ut co plex

story a&out the e"ery day li"es of people: as it's own story, or as relata&le to who e"er# Be %now that poetry can or doesn't ha"e to &e organi/ed, in si ilar fashions as not focused on har ony, or usic is organi/ed# Since this wor% is

elody, &ut narration and the interaction of the ti &res that surround the itself,

narration 7 we listen and attri&ute other things that dictate the wor%s for al structure# The poe

does not ha"e a &latant for , &esides the fact that it starts and finishes with a si ilar lyric, and the iddle includes a &it of repetition# (onsidering the considera&ly co para&le sound.worlds and their transfor ations, 1 assert that the for is as followed: A 7 4.CE ' 7 CE 7 9E A 7 9E 7 end

Be could e"en consider it an arc for often

and disregard the

easure nu &ers, as the for

of the poe

is

ore readily recogni/ed &y the listener# The

iddle section's

usic is drastically different in &oth

texture and dyna ic! the sections surrounding it are "ery si ilar to each other# The A section creates a

ore at ospheric sound.world in which there are s all sonic ideas that appear and transfor # The ' section includes a "ery stri%ing, continuous, and low."oiced contour focused ideas# Be hear swells that &eco e the ost drastic &esides those drastic tutti easures# Since this is so consistent and contrasts

with the &eginning section 8&ecause of it's continuity= 7 this section see s to &e different, and to achie"e a different interaction with the singer# The structure is a little disproportionate, &ut if we o&ser"e the poe not 7 we can see the sa e une?ual lengths a ongst lines, stan/as, and phrases# There is usical otifs assigned to the poetic

uch direct repetition &ut we are a&le to recogni/e &oth ings wrote#

otifs (u

Since pitch is constantly configured with dissonant inter"als, we ha"e no har onic tra;ectory# The listener is left to ta%e in the dissonances and textures that co e fro the # At other o ents, we

see single pitches &eco e the focus, as they contain certain dyna ic, ti &ral, and characteristic shifts that ser"e to o"e us forward#

1f we loo% at one of the cli axes of the piece, we see one of the loudest and ost &latant transferring easures E9.C4,

of textures in the entire piece# 1n the ense &le creates a ultiple fortissi o

ore aggressi"e sound with

ar%ings and extended, loud, and

aggressi"e techni?ues in the lower strings and &ass clarinet# At that o ent, the "oice also has a

dyna ic that is ;ust as loud, and &attles with the ense &le for textural do inance for a few o ents#

The sa e pitch 8' natural= occurs shortly after the "oice on the crotales 8axillary percussion=# The ti &re of the crotales and the soprano are &oth as e?ually clear and penetrating, &ut the crotales ha"e a

different attac%, and natural sustain<decay that the "oice does not replicate# At this

o ent, 8C3= we

hear a ringing sound that references the ti &re of the "oice, &ut is co pletely different and progresses the wor% as one of the i portant transfor ations that Pintcher relies on to o"e forward#

)ther techni?ues Pintcher uses to hold this wor% together is his use of consistent ideas that change ;ust as they would in a ore tonal setting# $e transposes so e ideas, %eeping their rhyth

ore or less identical 7 and e"en has a few ideas that stay the sa e in pitch and rhyth , &ut text.paint different text# 1f we loo% at the state ents of the word @poe s,A in the &eginning of the wor% 8 # 2:= and at the end 8 # 42C= we would notice the sa e s all sa e words and the rhyth usical idea attached to the word# $ere, the

are transposed down a sixth in co parison# )ppositely, if we loo% at and pitch collection, with different words# As the narrator

easure 5: and 435 we see the sa e rhyth

reads these different words, we see the tutti attac% each ti e signifying so ething different in relation to the eaning of the word# Bhen she says 'extinguished' we focus on the silence! when she sings

'lighted', we focus on the entrance of the ense &le# This conceptual effect is a result of the context, lac% of har onic or elodic tra;ectory, in co &ination with the eanings of the poetry#

Another exa ple of structural ideas Pintcher utili/es would &e, @########s%y light wal%s scattering poe s#####Scattering,###A The last state ent of the word, 'scattering,' is whispered! and it's notated with an 'FA note.head# Since it only occurs two ti es, in the sa e exact 8poetic= context it codifies its role as the e phasi/ed "er& of the line# 1t is recogni/ed as a significant and uni?ue idea# The drastic change in "ocal ti &re is extre ely noticea&le and is not forgotten# 1t is a word that co es fro only single line that is repeated "er&ati in the poe # The word gains a usical i portance and the

identity in the wor% since it's so uni?ue &ut occurs two separate ti es# Most of the rhyth s throughout the wor% are pretty su&;ecti"e, and are ostly focused on a

ore textural or effectual idea# There are a few rhyth ic ideas in the "oice, that we can consider oti"es, as they return and aintain consistency# 1f we gi"e our attention again to @###Scattering###A we

will notice the triplet executed &oth ti es it is whispered# 1n the grand sche e, this rhyth ore tangi&le than the

is slightly

a;ority of the wor%'s rhyth ic profile &ecause it is consistent with a word, is consistent, containing ostly une"en groupings of 4C th or 52nd easure 43H for a good exa ple of the

pronunciation, and ti &re# Ghyth

notes that disguise any type of regular pulse or &eat# *oo% at

lac% of pulse 7 especially in the percussion's dou&le &rac%ets# These polyrhyth s disguise any regular groupings of &eats or pulse# 1t creates freeflow sound that is instead of ti e or e"en &ar phrases# The sounds used are appropriate and necessary on a ore psychological and poetic le"el to oderated &y the co posers own pacing,

descri&e the i agery, or words used in the text# Pintcher, utili/es pitch &oth as axillary and layering tools as the one of the stri%ing differences &etween the sections# The dense textures are distri&uted with pitches that are ad;acent IclustersJ and in dissonant inter"als# The instru ents are often disguised with an extended feature of any gi"en, in order to uni?ueness# The context in which text fro aintain a certain character and

usical e"ents happen change the character and connotation of the a;or section, there is a setting of an

the soprano# Be should notice that &efore each

at osphere 7 a

ostly silent &ut an appropriately and characteristic sounding at osphere# The

consistent use of the extended ti &res and registers of the ense &le ena&le Pintcher to esta&lish a sonic uni"erse that has it is own character and ti &ral associations# -"en at the introduction, we are confronted with a onophonic texture in the lower "iols that is

&arely audi&le, and tone.less# The sound is a scratchy, whispered tone that is notated &y a series of te elo 52.nd notes grouped in nine# The nu &er of pitches "aries &etween state ents of the gestures,

and they are noted in a se i.cascading

anner 7 once the "iola finishes, the cello starts shortly after# easure E=,

8a&o"e=# Along with these gestures in the strings, we see the &ass flute execute &ends 8li%e and &reathy sustained long low.notes that see

appropriately associated when co pared with the

a orphous scratches produced in the strings, or the &ends and si ilar textures created throughout the wor% in the "iols# The rhyth ic profile is not "ery strong or &eat oriented# 1t's that contain li%e ele ents that reoccur in different co &inations# At cluster and how it creates a sound ass ore of an a orphous sound ass easure 62, we can o&ser"e the

ore.so than we could consider it a chord or sonority# The

chordal inter"als of the wor% typically stay within the first class 8 2, M:= and the con"entional har onic series is not o&ser"ed# The extended techni?ues contained within the wor% tend to &e &ased off of ideas ore concerned with the sound itself, instead of rhyth or pitch# There are no cadences, or

o ents of har onic rest! here the

ost concrete cadential characteristics of the wor% tends to &e it is otions within the wor%#

lac% of acti"ity# Pintcher has a few "ery long pauses, along with static Al ost static, dyna ics, ti &ral transfor ation and narration is used to expand different ideas or pitch areas# 1f we loo% at

o"e this wor% forward# Mostly, rhyth easure 9H in the "iola<cello, we see 2

figures, that are related in pitch range and area# The dyna ics change drastically, &ut the swell and pitches are still there, along with two textural "ariations of the sa e sound, or i plication# 8Fine&erg= Be ha"e no chord progressions, &alanced elodic<har onic profile, or preconcei"ed

expectation of the wor%! perhaps &esides the poetry# -"en though there are no transpositional chords, there are inter"allic structures that &eco e i portant and consistent, &ut occur in different ti es and co &inations of instru ents# For the entirety of the wor%, the cello plays 8&oth "ertically and<or hori/ontally= inter"als within the first class! always K steps, or :ths# )ccasionally there are touch fours, &ut they often are written in conflict with the "iola 8&eing one half<whole<se"enth step away=# Any other collection of pitch contained anywhere in the piece often has so e type of conflict, or le"el of dissonance! after we hear this le"el of dissonance for so long, it's no longer @dissonant,A in ter s of

what we typically expect to &e consonant# 1t &eco es it's own idea, world, sound, idea, and uni?ue self.gauging world that is ;udge relati"ely &y o ents or ideas preceding it# Those ideas focus on as

sound, character, and en"iron ental interaction instead of the har onic series, intonation, or rhyth we ight would in other usics # Dyna ic shape, contour, and attac% all see to &e ore i portant

than the notes contained within any of the gestures fro

the introduction and the rest of the wor%# 1f &eing

we o&ser"e section ', notice that the difference is in it is texture# The general i petus went fro

&ased on hyper.instru ental ideas, to those that are concerned with contour, indi"idual ti &res and sound.shape# Pintcher adds a &it of paradoxical depth to the wor%# 1f we loo% at easure EH.E9, we

experience a cli ax that is created &y the words, dyna ic shift, and the connection &etween the the physical ele ents: "oice and text# 1n the lyric, the last word is @happy,A howe"er, it is the highest point of the easure, as it is the loudest, and longest note held &y the "oice# The paradox is further

influenced &y the pre"ious line, @1 see the &rutal faces###,A in which doesn't i ply anything happy 7 &ut it does add depth and perhaps ore eaning to the words "ersus (u ing's intent# The ense &le o ents,

executes a series of percussi"e techni?ues at the attac% of each word, line 4E# At these

pitches are indicated &ut they are not all necessarily percei"ed# This uni?ue and unorthodox orchestration enhances the e otional intent of the author# 'eing the loudest section of the wor%, it lea"es a rather i portant i pression on the listener in relation to the other things that go on &efore and after those easures# o ent, we are presented with a long period of al ost co plete silence# for

After this cli actic

+ot only does this draw our attention, concludes the ideas &efore it . it &latantly ea"es roo another idea, or section to start# The long pauses contained in the wor%

a%e the silence itself a

conceptual idea# Since we tal% a&out dawn, day, and night 7 we are referring to the significance of light and it is effect on the people# The sonic choices Pintcher choose to the ti e of day# 8Arrell= a%e ostly &uild an idea a&out

Pintcher adds a &it of character and contrast to the latter end of the wor% including so e spo%en words# At those o ents, easures 43: 7 43H, we are i ediately drawn to the clarity of the soprano#

Pitch is indicated in the score, as the lines are spo%en static# $ere, Pintcher re inds the audience that it is a poe , and that there is a story going on# The length and context of the words ay &e a &it harder

to follower than this section, &ut a clear "er&al idea is stated and the at osphere is gi"en a certain significance# The o&scure at osphere isn't exactly har onious, &ut it is less dense, and harsh than so e other "oicing in the wor%# 1n o&ser"ing this, we can see the contrast &etween the types of cli actic or dra atic ideas, "ersus, the shear dyna ic energy generated at, say, contrast, Dyna ic control is "ery i portant to this wor%, as well# A lot of the textural and at ospheric ideas ha"e a dyna ic le"el no louder than e//o.forte# At certain o ents, a drastic change is ade easure 62 or EH# 1n

in reaction to the text# This text.painting idea sheds light on a co positional decision that Pintcher chose to a&ide &y# The &ac%ground textures see to &e constructed to esh together, and &e

indistinguisha&le as the instru ents they actually are# The dyna ic le"el and &lending, in ;unction with the class inter"als used as%s the ti &re of each indi"idual instru ent# Be recogni/e inter"als ore pre"alent in so e areas than

contained within the textures as well as in the soprano, which is

others# The contrast &etween when we can recogni/e inter"als, "ersus noise is one of the ways Pintcher adds character and ore eaning to the words &eing spo%en# The difference in these two types of

textures cite different e otions or characters# Bhen there is dyna ic shift in the "oice, it pri arily is towards a cli actic o ent, or a swell#

Bhereas in the ense &le, dyna ic shift tends to &e textural 7 the texture of the sound acts as a whole, not as, for exa ple, the end of the crescendo at a target note# The ense &le typically has the sa e dyna ic ideas at any gi"en o ent 7 though they are ne"er really "er&ati or placed together# This

indicates the perception and goal of the general scape of ideas# 1f we loo% at The "oice is consistently louder than the ense &le, and is ne"er considered apart of the &ac%ground or ense &le# The "oice is it

is own entity and foundational facet to this wor%# Be could consider that the "oice is written with elody and acco pani ent, or enough, the "oice contains ore appropriately 7 narration and acco pani ent# 1nterestingly

ost inter"als except for types of Cths in it is linear profile#

*astly, if we o&ser"e the physical layout that Pintcher pro"ides the ense &le, we'd see the attention to spacial detail that Pintcher applies# )f the H parts, we see the two least acoustically aggressi"e instru ents in the front! oppositely, the percussionist is in the &ac% as they ha"e the sharp and clear attac%# This physical configuration effects the o"erall sound and &lending on the ense &le# The flute can &e loud, &ut pro&a&ly would ha"e issues &eing heard as a &ass flute in the ass of the different instru ents# Generally, the pitches played in these instru ents are hidden and as%ed &y the clusters and other instru ents# 'ringing our attention &ac% to the cli ax at easure EH, ost

we can hear the stri%ing ti &re of the &ass clarinet, &ut at FFF# That dyna ic idea is shifted all around, including in the low strings, &ut ne"er actually sounds the sa e# it is all appropriately associated, &ut at o ents li%e these, we pay attention to the whole sound with characteristics of those indi"idual

instru ents# 1f we were to loo% at older scores, li%e De&ussy, Bagner, or Mo/art, we'd see attention to the fa ilies of instru ents treated a different way# $ere, each instru ent is treated as it is own thing, ore.or.less e?ual to the instru ents around it# The usical idea re ains the sa e in each instru ent,

and the ti &ral transfor ation typically are results of the %ind of instru ent it is gi"en to# )ccasionally, there are o ents of clear ti &ral identity, &ut ostly we are confronted with the sound

of the ense &le as a whole, along with the soprano# 8Fine&erg= Be could co pare easures E9 8"oice "ersus percussion= with easures H:.94 8low winds

"ersus low strings=# $ere, the woodwinds are co pletely capa&le of doing glissandos, as the strings do# 'ut the idio atic characteristics of the instru ent pro&a&ly influenced his decision to si ilar gestures# 'ass (larinets can &end, and gliss 7 howe"er, the &end would not &e as s ooth as that of a string# Pintcher chose to notate the pitches instead of gi"ing the clarinetist a si ilar gesture# 1f we a%e two

thin% a&out i pro"isation and the physical configuration of the instru ent, we could argue that it would not ha"e &een the &est idea to gi"e that type of notation to the &ass clarinet# 1t is a pitched instru ent with a certain configuration of %eys and accidentals! the natural inclination for a unspecified contour is to freely play the easiest notes contained within the gesture# Be could pro&a&ly guess that the result would either reference 8concert= '&, -&, or a %ey that is naturally contained on the length of the &ass clarinet# For a string, since it is a string, this happens naturally# The result is pro&a&ly accurate to &eing un&ound &y diatonicis and ti &ral transfor ation<co parison# 1n conclusion, Pintchers organi/ation of textural and sound. ass ideas along with the narration of the text clearly enhanced the poe words# Aside fro and added an extra layer of depth and eaning to it is actual than it ore

ay appear &e in the &#clarinet# And there is textural

setting the at osphere, Pintcher e"en clarified the authors real intent and sarcas usic# Britten in an era where practically anything goes, it can &e difficult to

with his use of spectral

find new ways to articulate a poetic, philosophical, or artistic "ision in ;unction with wor% that is not directly geared towards that setting# Twilight's Song is a tasteful setting and exa ple of how spectral usic can &e used to e"o%e e otion, and artistic depth#

4#Arrell, (hristopher Andrew# Pushing the -n"elope: Art and Science in the Music of Gerard Grisey L+ew ,or%: (ornell 0ni"ersity, 2332M# 2# 5#(ornicello, Anthony# @Spectral Music: (hapter 4A Dissertation# 6# E# Fine&erg, Noshua# Spectral Music: $istory and Techni?ues LSwit/erland: $arwood Acade ic Pu&lishers, 2333M# C#

:#@Matthais PintscherA last

odified Fe& 2345,

H#http:<<www# atthiaspintscher#co < 9# 43#@Matthais PintscherA last pintscher# 44# 42#Pintscher# Matthais# A Twilight's Song# Ger any: 'arenreiter.Derlag Oarl Dotterle G &$ P (o# OG, Oassel, 499H# odified Aug 2342, http:<<www#opus5artists#co <artists< atthias.