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Marco Momi (Italy) - HOX ON BECKETT Violin, Viola, Oboe,
Bass Clarinet (Nov 2003) 동영상
As in most of my works it is necessary to consider
my general approach to the act of composition,
a process of transposition of extra musical ideas
into music.
So
the link between the idea and the musical elements
aims to give an added value to the musical elements
themselves.
The
act of composition lives a first stage in the
search for the idea to realize, then a second
one in the analysis of the idea itself, a third
moment comes into the definition of the mechanisms
of transfer, a fourth one is the realization of
the score.
SEARCHING
FOR AN IDEA
When
I start working, I don’t realize my research just
in the moment of the writing itself, for example
developing abstract musical materials such as
“sound fields” or “rhythmical grids”. In fact
I start from an “outside” contest, I mean from
a main idea, the most of my realization comes
from, which is the backbone of the piece.
I
really ignore why people are used to ponder upon
general questions such as to manage the form.
Anyway what is sure is that when I have to, I
strongly feel the need to analyze the answers
throughout the history of the music. And studying
it I have noted that in many cases the form is
the whole of the processes which determine itself.
This
consideration can be easily added to other reflections
which show an adherence towards poetics that recognize
in the perception (from a Gestalt approach to
that of Gibson) the field on which a piece may
be built and the physiologic limits to respect.
Curiosity
and interest for the idea of form have led me
to study two perspectives:
1.
phonetic-acoustic
implication in determining the poetic form
2.
the forms we find
in nature and the processes which are at the bottom
of their development.
These
two aspects together have led me to the realization
of “Hox on Beckett”.
Actually
the main idea of the piece is to consider the
phonemes of poetry as the DNA of a creature. The
moments of the growth of such a living form will
be the moments of acquisition of semantic value
by some of the phonemes.
1
- THE IDEA OF THE POEM
The
investigation on the relations between a poetic
composition and a musical event has always interested
me.
While
I was working on “Hox on Beckett”, this interest
was totally addressed to those texts such as aphorisms
where the acoustic element (coming from the performance
or reading) holds a central role and becomes an
important part of the structure of the poem.
This
consideration strongly “phenomenological” of the
poem, creates the link with the musical event,
sharing a common “sound space”.
Searching
for a composition satisfying my interest has brought
me to the poetic work of Samuel Beckett and in
particular to a poem in French from the collection
“Mirlitonnades”.
imagine
si ceci
un
jour ceci
un
beau jour
imagine
si
un jour
un
beau jour ceci
cessait
imagine
The
poetic idea at the base of “Hox on Beckett” is
to reproduce the reading event of this poem into
music, starting from a sound dimension to reach
the semantic level.
GOING
DEEPER AND TRANSFER
Going
deeper throughout our poetic text means to analyze
it.
If
we take our poem into pieces, avoiding repetitions,
we find out a “matrix sentence”:
imagine
si un beau jour ceci cessait
Comparing
the whole poem with its matrix sentence, we can
deduce some segmentations which follow the principle
of
redundancy
and the disposition of some words:
the
matrix sentence will be subdivided as follows:
imagine si / un beau jour ceci / cessait.
Moreover
the sound element of the poem is underlined by
the phonetic transcription.
The
scheme reported above shows the disposition of
the phonemes related to the matrix sentence along
the y-axis
and
the order of the verses along the x-axis.
The
translation of the poem into music is realized
on three levels:
-
to
manage the lenght
-
to
manage the pitches ranges
-
to
manage the timbre.
In
the first level we associate a musical length
(which can be fixed or variable) to each phoneme
and then reproduce the text reading into score,
for example:
In
the second level we associate to some phonemes
(here called inductors) instrumental gestures,
later realized in a defined sphere of pitches,
for example:
In
the third level we associate to each phoneme a
timbre. The sound sources I have used to reproduce
the phonemes are two:
-
a
vocal source (put on the higher staff)
-
an
instrumental source (put on lower staff)
The
same phoneme can be directly reproduced by the
vocal source, or can be associated to instrumental
gestures that can be more or less similar as regards
its timber.
The
chart here below shows how the reading process
of the phonemes and a first selection of the sound
sources go.
Considering
the matrix sentence, all the phonemes reported
(in bold) can be reproduced by the voice. Always
considering the matrix sentence all the missing
phonemes (written as circled) will be reproduced
just by the instrument.
In
the first page of the score we can easily find
the transfer of the text of the poetry following
the
principles
reported above.
크게보기
2
- THE IDEA OF THE GENETICS
My
interest in natural shapes has led me to get closer
to biology.
And
in genetics, in particular, I’ve found many interesting
points. Above all studying mechanisms that have
been determining the structure of vertebrates
for centuries and that we can consider a sort
of archetypes.
To
be more specific in my piece, “Hox on Beckett”
I continuously refer to the processes of morphogenesis,
differentiation and cell definition.
Reporting
the words of a famous Italian geneticist, Edoardo
Boncinelli, I can assume the “genetic idea” at
the base of Hox, is to reproduce the system of
the embryonic development starting from “a perfect
primary symmetry….” going through “….the acquisition
of asymmetries and polarities…” to get to “…a
morphological identity”. (Boncinelli, Edoardo
- 1998. “I nostri geni”, 192. Einaudi, Torino)
GOING
DEEPER AND TRANSFER
Studying
the idea in depth means to talk about its analysis
and the elaboration of the concepts characterising
it.
In
this case we have four key concepts coming from
genetics which we are going to apply on two form
definition levels: strategic (as concerns the
general level of composition) and tactic (as concerns
partial aspects of the composition).
I
apply the tactic level the two paradigms of morphogenesis:
-
the
paradigm of determinative events progressivity
-
the
paradigm of positional specification.
The
first refers to the processes that following one
another throughout the time, to prepare the cell
differentiation towards a definite “kind”.
In
“Hox on Beckett” the translation of this principle
is made concrete in the realization of an evolution
of gestures-figures. The concept of cell differentiation
during the time is translated into music applying
the concept of directionality in the management
of the relation shape/ background.
As
far as the second paradigm together with the definition
of the “type” we also have a specification of
their position.
This
is mostly translated at harmonic level. The figures-gestures,
together with their evolution, will progressively
go away from a polarity ‘till the moment to settle
down in defined a harmonic field, which just characterizes
them further on.
At
strategic level I’m going to apply the functional
characteristics and the activation rule of Hox
genes:
-
tripartition
of the bodies made up of the Hox genes;
-
assumption
of the “temporal and structural linearity”.
In
a part of our nucleus there is DNA and in a small
part of its there are the HOX genes, genes responsible
for the formal development of the vertebrates.
The
function of these genes is to realize three different
part of our body: the cervical, the thoracic and
the lumbosacral.
The
transfer of this characteristic is just limited
in the association of the three body parts to
the three of the matrix sentence. For this reason
“Hox on Beckett” is tripartite.
The
assumption of the “structural and temporal linearity”
explains the fact that these genes activate one
after the other progressively (temporal linearity)
determining the development of contiguous body
areas (structural linearity).
The
application of this rule directly influences the
word order to realize, imposing the choice of
certain consecutive words in the “matrix sentence”
which are representative of each of them.
The
word chosen in the first part is “imagine”.
In
the second part the words “un beau jour”
take form.
The
third section refers to the word “cessait”,
but this is considered as a “hapax legomenon”,
an event characterized by its uniqueness (moreover
the word “cessait” is never repeated).
In
this case the word “cessait” is never going
to be realized, it is going to die as its meaning
also suggests just leaving the phonemes halo [s].
Inside
these words I’ve chosen a phoneme (generally with
a tonic accent) I’m going to call “inductor phoneme”.
To
it the evolution of figure-gesture is linked and
any time we find it during our reading event,
the figure realizes another moment of its evolution.
The
phonemes are [i] (in the first section), [o] and
[u] (in the second section).
I
have so determined the three sections of the piece
and the word to realize in each section through
the activation of inductor phonemes.
DNA’s
each section is formed by parts of the poem’s
phonetic translation.
The
chart here below shows the definitive text used
for the reading on the score:
-
the
first two sections of the piece are a double reading
of the poetry phonemes, up to the point where
words are realized.
-
in
the last section a synthetic reading of the poem
matrix sentence is realized.
REALIZATION
OF THE SCORE
First
section
The
changeable element of the first section is associated
to the reading of the inductor phoneme [i]. I’m
going to associate it a “marker”, a noteworthy
element from a perception point of view which
plays the part of a “pivot temporel”:
one
or more points of a sound object “musically or
perceptively more pertinent than others”.
(Stroppa
M., Cours d’implementation a l’Institut de Recherche
et Coordination Acoustique-Musique, IRCAM- Paris).
In
our case a rhythmic pattern that underlines, through
the crotchet’s stressing, the activation of the
growth process of the figure linked to the phoneme.
To
the [i] is also associated the proliferation of
the figure-gesture with an ascendant contour that
replies to the following evolutive scheme:
Also
the length of the figure is variable; its development
is ruled by the first ciphers of Fibonacci’s numbers
(1/ 2/ 3/ 5/ 8/ 13/ 21/ 34) as reported in the
following scheme.
As
regards the harmony and the pitches management,
we find an initial polarity given to the A sharp
which the phonemes [a] and [œ] are given.
The
harmonic development of the [i] is characterized
by an expansion to a higher range, connected to
the evolution of the figure.
In
the moments of the instrumental reading the pitches
stabilize in the reached register moving going
down as if attracted by the polarity of the A
sharp.
To
this ascending movement of the figure associated
to the [i] corresponds a movement towards the
low register expressed in the patterns.
The
descending degree of the patterns is not equal
the ascending degree of the figure, creating an
asymmetry considering the polarity A sharp.
The
following chart underlines the stage of the assimilation
of the ranges associated to the phoneme [i].
The
end of the section is characterized by a “window”
opening (beats 48-49) where the vocal source is
the only present and the word “imagine” is whispered
by the ensemble musicians getting to its own semantic
value.
Second
section
In
the second section of the piece there is a general
economy in the management of the harmonic aspect.
The
reading process continues but now the variable
element talking about the length is associated
to the phonemes [o] and [u].
The
phonemes [I] already formed, stabilize themselves
into a new figure which is generally fixed linking
the pattern element to a chord that represent
a synthesis of the harmonic development of the
figure previously join to [I].
The
development of the phonemes [o] and [u] is associated
to the development of a window
whose
dimensions are suggested by the Fibonacci’s number
as already seen above. In this case
it
is organized as follows: the first window I made
up of 8 crotchets, the second of 13, the third
of 5
and
the last of 21.
The
figure associated to “jour” is a trill interrupted
by chords in “sforzato” which make the speed
slower.
The
figure associated to “beau” is a note in “sforzato”
(coming from the reading of [b] and translated
with an acciaccatura ‘till this moment) followed
by diverging “glissandi” which connect the pattern’s
height of [i] to the register of [u] and [R] polarized
on the F sharp.
The
activation of these windows is strengthened with
some punctuation elements, which characterise
their entrance, as the “sforzato” of the phoneme
[b] and above all the “Bartok pizzicato” before
the reading of the word “jour”. Instead these
“windows’ ” end is not clearly marked, as matter
of fact a gradual return to the chord of [i] following
a certain kind of process we could define “osmotic”.
Also
in this case, at the end of the section a new
window opens (beat 90) where the phonemes join
realizing the words associated to the section:
“un beau jour”.
Third
section
The
third and last section of my piece is the shortest
and can be considered as a “synthetic reading”
of the matrix sentence. It starts with the pattern
of [i] transfigured again and subject to the magnetic
force of the A sharp of the initial polarization.
Once
it is reached it is stabilized with a double trill
of the oboe and a “flatterzunge” of clarinet,
coming from the second section. Then the “hapax
legomenon” we talked about in a previous moment
is activated.
The
word “cessait” is never said and the halo
of the phoneme [s] is simulated by the sound of
the bow on the paper around the violin.
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