Tuning Tavener's "The Lamb"

John Tavener's "The Lamb" is one of the most popular choral pieces of
the last 50 years. People sing it all over the world and for good
reason. It is beautiful, simple though not easy and just within the
reach of most amateur choirs.

A few moments with the score shows the simplicity of the piece. It has
been conceived as a melody which then undergoes various transformations.
The inversions and retrogrades are then used contrapuntally within a
variety of textures.

My interest is in how to tune the piece with an actual choir. I'm sure
there are as many interpretations as there are conductors. According to
the composer the principal melody just made itself known and the piece
took its shape from that. A conventional knowledge of standard notation
and 12 tet would seem to suffice in order to arrive at a decent
rendition. It's not quite as simple as that however and I'll take one
combination as an example. Feel free to correct my sums.

The opening soprano melody, disregarding note values, is g, b, b, a, a,
f#, g, g. We are firmly in a G major tonality. The question of which
melodic intervals would be most likely from g at 1/1 might take some
field work. It would be reasonable to propose that your average singer
would sing these pitches as 1/1, 5/4, 9/8, 15/8, 1/1 (as opposed to
their 12 tet equivalents).

The problems start when the alto adds a counterpoint which is an exact
inversion of the soprano line, ie g ,eb, eb, f, f, ab, g, g. The voices
cross before the final g. Coming at it with the G tonality already set
up you might sing this as 1/, 8/5, 16/9, 16/15.

Stacked vertically you get the following: 1:1, 25:16, 81:64, 256:225,
1:1.

If we want simple low ratio vertical intervals between pitches, such as
8:5, 5:4, and 9:8 then it looks to me as if we have comma problems - a
diesis with the second interval and a syntonic comma with the 81:64.
Singing a 9/5 instead of a 16/ 9 in the alto line fixes one of the
problems.

Let's say we absolutely must have the low ratio intervals. Then the alto
would have to sing 1/, 25/16, 9/5 and 135/128, which seems unlikely to
my ears.

What do I think happens? Well, given that the piece seems to work with
untrained singers, I think that the alto holds a line, similar to an
infantry advance, aiming for the final g, or more likely the
quasi-cadential crunch before the g. This type of two voice sonority by
the way is one of the earliest notated cadences in Western music. I
encourage this approach with my modest choirs and am pleased with the
results. Although I am a firm believer in adaptive Just Intonation, I
don't think there is enough context here to allow the alto to work
through the intervals. Certainly a different approach is needed for the
four voice textures. Additionally, most choral directors I know wouldn't
know a diesis from a badger's posterior so they might not be too
concerned.

All in all a fine example of the conflicting requirements of the linear
and the vertical in a contemporary score.

Kind Regards

AM

--- In tuning@y..., Alison Monteith <alison.monteith3@w...> wrote:

> Although I am a firm believer in adaptive Just Intonation,

well, i'm glad you believe in adaptive, rather than strict, just
intonation . . .

but how about adaptive tuning? i'm not sure that chords like C-E-G-A-
D, to pick a random example, should be tuned in just intonation.
other chords may certainly gravitate very close to just intonation,
but do horizontal considerations vanish absolutely to zero for such
chord?

> I
> don't think there is enough context here to allow the alto to work
> through the intervals. Certainly a different approach is needed for
the
> four voice textures.

i'm not sure what you mean about "enough context" or "different
approach". why not send the piece to john delaubenfels and see what
he comes up with for an adaptive tuning solution? or, if you send me
a score, i'd be happy to analyse it myself . . .

In a message dated 11/4/02 2:15:54 PM Central Standard Time,
wallyesterpaulrus@yahoo.com writes:

> i'm not sure that chords like C-E-G-A-
> D, to pick a random example, should be tuned in just intonation.

C 0-E 386-G 702-A 906 with the 4th as 520 cents is in agreement with the
harmonic partial series, and so sounds OK. It's A tuned to 884 that doesn't
sound just right in that chord in root position or 1st inversion. In 2nd or
3rd inversion the 5th between A and E naturally needs to be pure. So E 408 is
needed.

Pauline

wallyesterpaulrus wrote:

> --- In tuning@y..., Alison Monteith <alison.monteith3@w...> wrote:
>
> > Although I am a firm believer in adaptive Just Intonation,
>
> well, i'm glad you believe in adaptive, rather than strict, just
> intonation . . .

That's not what I said; strict is good too - in the right place.

>
> > I
> > don't think there is enough context here to allow the alto to work
> > through the intervals. Certainly a different approach is needed for
> the
> > four voice textures.
>
> i'm not sure what you mean about "enough context" or "different
> approach".

The sort of context an alto might expect in a piece of music requiring some sort of adaptive
approach would be some sort of root movement, a bass progression, and/or a tonal relationship
with the soprano and tenor.

The four voice textures require a different approach because they are of two types, one in a clear
tonality with no modulation, the other a combination of the "row" and its inversions and
retrogrades taken up by different voices. This compounds the problems found in the original two
voice example.

why not send the piece to john delaubenfels and see what
he comes up with for an adaptive tuning solution? or, if you send me
a score, i'd be happy to analyse it myself . . .

If you like I'll send a copy but I'll need an address though it would be quicker to get a copy
from a music library than for me to send one.

Kind Regards
AM

--- In tuning@y..., Alison Monteith <alison.monteith3@w...> wrote:

> > > I
> > > don't think there is enough context here to allow the alto to
work
> > > through the intervals. Certainly a different approach is needed
for
> > the
> > > four voice textures.
> >
> > i'm not sure what you mean about "enough context" or "different
> > approach".
>
> The sort of context an alto might expect in a piece of music
requiring some sort of adaptive
> approach would be some sort of root movement, a bass progression,
and/or a tonal relationship
> with the soprano and tenor.

i'm not sure what you'd see as the minimal conditions for defining
these elements, but john delaubenfels's program could wring an
adaptive tuning out of just about any piece, and most certainly any
with a four voice texture.

> The four voice textures require a different approach because they
are of two types, one in a clear
> tonality with no modulation,

which already invites an adaptive JI, rather than strict JI, approach
to my mind.

> the other a combination of the "row" and its inversions and
> retrogrades taken up by different voices.

is this 12-tone serial music?

> why not send the piece to john delaubenfels and see what
> he comes up with for an adaptive tuning solution? or, if you send me
> a score, i'd be happy to analyse it myself . . .
>
> If you like I'll send a copy but I'll need an address though it
would be quicker to get a copy
> from a music library than for me to send one.

hmm . . . little time to go to libraries these days . . . i'll send
you my address.