article on microtonality in NewMusicBox

Article in NewMusicBox this month on microtonality, which is good news:

http://www.newmusicbox.org/news.nmbx?id=00476

JP

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Joseph Pehrson" <jpehrson@r...> wrote:
>
> Article in NewMusicBox this month on microtonality, which is good news:
>
> http://www.newmusicbox.org/news.nmbx?id=00476

Here's a quote:

Georg Friedrich Haas, in his article "Mikrotonalitäten" (1999),
distinguishes four approaches to microtonal composition:

1. music based on beating and detuning phenomena
(i.e. Scelsi, Feldman, Lucier)
2. music based on inharmonic equal-division systems
(i.e. Hába, Carrillo, Wyschnegradsky; atonal music in 12-ET)
3. music based on irrational/inharmonic structures
(i.e. Varese, Cage, Lachenmann; random tunings, percussion
spectra, multiphonics)
4. music based on harmonic Just Intonation (JI)
(i.e. Partch, Johnston, LaMonte Young, Tenney)

It looks to me that Haas's analysis is seriously incomplete. Where,
Joe, do you think your Blackjack compositions fit into this scheme? It
seems to me they don't, unless you claim they can be shoehorned into #4.

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Gene Ward Smith" <gwsmith@s...> wrote:
>
> --- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Joseph Pehrson" <jpehrson@r...>
wrote:
> >
> > Article in NewMusicBox this month on microtonality, which is good
news:
> >
> > http://www.newmusicbox.org/news.nmbx?id=00476
>
> Here's a quote:
>
> Georg Friedrich Haas, in his article "Mikrotonalitäten" (1999),
> distinguishes four approaches to microtonal composition:
>
> 1. music based on beating and detuning phenomena
> (i.e. Scelsi, Feldman, Lucier)
> 2. music based on inharmonic equal-division systems
> (i.e. Hába, Carrillo, Wyschnegradsky; atonal music in
12-
ET)
> 3. music based on irrational/inharmonic structures
> (i.e. Varese, Cage, Lachenmann; random tunings, percussion
> spectra, multiphonics)
> 4. music based on harmonic Just Intonation (JI)
> (i.e. Partch, Johnston, LaMonte Young, Tenney)
>
> It looks to me that Haas's analysis is seriously incomplete. Where,
> Joe, do you think your Blackjack compositions fit into this scheme?
It
> seems to me they don't, unless you claim they can be shoehorned
into #4.

***Hi Gene!

Yes, this article is a little dumb... but at least it shows there is
*some* interest in microtonality in a "mainstream" online composer
mag like NewMusicBox. That's really the only reason I pointed it
out...

JP

In a message dated 4/4/2005 6:41:46 PM Eastern Standard Time,
jpehrson@rcn.com writes:
***Hi Gene!

Yes, this article is a little dumb... but at least it shows there is
*some* interest in microtonality in a "mainstream" online composer
mag like NewMusicBox. That's really the only reason I pointed it
out...

JP
Haas is an Austrian pianist that had a reputable 3-day microtonal music
festival in Graz about 20 years ago. His music is mainly quartertonal and written
in homage to different composers (e.g., Philip Glass, Steve Reich). FYI.
Johnny

Gene,

The analysis struck me, not so much as incomplete, as
perhaps scholastic and rather pointless. But on reflection,
I will not hasten to judgment without reading the original
article; perhaps Haas gives a purpose for this analysis
there?

At best, any such analysis, no matter how refined, can
only provide rough groupings of different composers
who work in quite distinctive ways, and many of whose
styles show significant evolution over time. In doing so,
it might be useful as a set of guideposts for further
exploration; and by giving specific names in each grouping,
would also help to focus the search. As an example, the
name Lachenmann is new to me, so will serve as the subject
of my next Kartoo (not Google) search.

Regards,
Yahya

-----Original Message-----
________________________________________________________________________
Date: Mon, 04 Apr 2005 18:33:17 -0000
From: "Gene Ward Smith"
Subject: Re: article on microtonality in NewMusicBox

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Joseph Pehrson" <jpehrson@r...> wrote:
>
> Article in NewMusicBox this month on microtonality, which is good news:
>
> http://www.newmusicbox.org/news.nmbx?id=00476

Here's a quote:

Georg Friedrich Haas, in his article "Mikrotonalit�ten" (1999),
distinguishes four approaches to microtonal composition:

1. music based on beating and detuning phenomena
(i.e. Scelsi, Feldman, Lucier)
2. music based on inharmonic equal-division systems
(i.e. H�ba, Carrillo, Wyschnegradsky; atonal music in 12-ET)
3. music based on irrational/inharmonic structures
(i.e. Varese, Cage, Lachenmann; random tunings, percussion
spectra, multiphonics)
4. music based on harmonic Just Intonation (JI)
(i.e. Partch, Johnston, LaMonte Young, Tenney)

It looks to me that Haas's analysis is seriously incomplete. Where,
Joe, do you think your Blackjack compositions fit into this scheme? It
seems to me they don't, unless you claim they can be shoehorned into #4.

________________________________________________________________________

--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.9.3 - Release Date: 5/4/05

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Yahya Abdal-Aziz" <yahya@m...> wrote:
>
> Gene,
>
> The analysis struck me, not so much as incomplete, as
> perhaps scholastic and rather pointless. But on reflection,
> I will not hasten to judgment without reading the original
> article; perhaps Haas gives a purpose for this analysis
> there?
>
> At best, any such analysis, no matter how refined, can
> only provide rough groupings of different composers
> who work in quite distinctive ways, and many of whose
> styles show significant evolution over time. In doing so,
> it might be useful as a set of guideposts for further
> exploration; and by giving specific names in each grouping,
> would also help to focus the search. As an example, the
> name Lachenmann is new to me, so will serve as the subject
> of my next Kartoo (not Google) search.
>
> Regards,
> Yahya
>

***Hello Yahya...

You should be able to find quite a bit on Lachenmann... he's been all
the rage in Europe and at Darmstadt for some time now. Not sure if
his music is so much about *tuning* as about making "sound effects"
using unconventional ways of playing "conventional" concert
instruments...

Joseph

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Joseph Pehrson" <jpehrson@r...> wrote:
>
> Article in NewMusicBox this month on microtonality, which is good news:
>
> http://www.newmusicbox.org/news.nmbx?id=00476
>
> JP

Just had the chance to browse the article. Browse I say, not read, for
there isn't much to be had from reading it... It's a shame that, in
this age, microtınality is still considered a "marginal way" and
something out of the "standards", which strikes me as just another
materialization of racisme. :)

Ertugrul,
on the edge of moods, or in an edgy mood ;)
---
ertugrulinanc at superonline dot com

I concur with my colleague, in that it is a poor show to conceive
microtonality as an attempt to notate harmonic consonances up to the 13th
limit. Also, the notation proposed is almost incomprehensible and quite
useless to a musician who knows how to sound the desired harmonic intervals
on his instrument.

Cordially,
Ozan

----- Original Message -----
From: "ertugrulinanc" <ertugrulinanc@yahoo.com>
To: <tuning@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: 11 Nisan 2005 Pazartesi 1:00
Subject: [tuning] Re: article on microtonality in NewMusicBox

>
> Just had the chance to browse the article. Browse I say, not read, for
> there isn't much to be had from reading it... It's a shame that, in
> this age, microtınality is still considered a "marginal way" and
> something out of the "standards", which strikes me as just another
> materialization of racisme. :)
>
> Ertugrul,
> on the edge of moods, or in an edgy mood ;)
> ---
> ertugrulinanc at superonline dot com
>
>
>

In a message dated 4/11/2005 5:22:53 AM Eastern Standard Time,
ozanyarman@superonline.com writes:
Also, the notation proposed is almost incomprehensible and quite
useless to a musician who knows how to sound the desired harmonic intervals
on his instrument.
Strange thing is Marc Sabat is a great microtonal violinist. I have
performed with him in Canada doing the Partch Li Po Songs and he was fantastic. Now
that he is in Berlin, where I met up with him a couple of years ago, he is
pursuing his notational scheme. He certainly can read his own notation.

Frankly, we already have a great notation for real players to make microtonal
music (cents notation). It seems that there are many alternatives to try,
and we do try, collectively. It may be a true reflection of the difficulty of
microtonal music to gain a greater foothold in musical consciousness that we
are so dispersed and that we have so many different alternatives up our
collective sleeves.

All in all, Marc has done more for microtonal music as a performer than most
any non-American I know. Mixing the intellect with exceptional performance
practice is, of course, a separate matter.

best, Johnny Reinhard

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Joseph Pehrson" <jpehrson@r...> wrote:
>
> Article in NewMusicBox this month on microtonality, which is good news:
>
> http://www.newmusicbox.org/news.nmbx?id=00476
>
> JP

Tomorrow (Thu, 14th) evening I'll attend a concert of a local chamber
orchestra. Besides "usual stuff" they will play some Haas. Don't know
what exactly (not announced) but I'll report back if it's worth.

Ertugrul

--- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "ertugrulinanc" <ertugrulinanc@y...> wrote:
>
> --- In tuning@yahoogroups.com, "Joseph Pehrson" <jpehrson@r...> wrote:
> >
> > Article in NewMusicBox this month on microtonality, which is good
news:
> >
> > http://www.newmusicbox.org/news.nmbx?id=00476
> >
> > JP
>
> Tomorrow (Thu, 14th) evening I'll attend a concert of a local chamber
> orchestra. Besides "usual stuff" they will play some Haas. Don't know
> what exactly (not announced) but I'll report back if it's worth.
>
> Ertugrul

False alarm, it was a different Haas (a Pavel Haas burnt in Auschwiz).

But the concert was good, and Stephen Kovachevich playing Beethoven's
3rd Piano Concert was simply *great*. (You won't see me saying this
for many people. ;))

Cheers