This paper examines the use of soundscape elements and mimetic sound-identities in the music of Denis Smalley. It attempts to reconcile these elements with the acousmatic tradition from which his music emerges, illustrating that it does not represent a contradiction, but rather a refined aesthetic where spectromorphological and soundscape concerns relate in symbiosis. A close look at key works, includingEmpty Vessels(1997),Valley Flow(1992) andPentes(1974), reveals how these elements manifest themselves in his work, and how the spectromorphological and soundscape aspects of these pieces work together toward shared goals.
This article provides a brief survey of composition in which field recordings or other referential sounds are transcribed for acoustic instruments. Through a discussion of how electroacoustic music and scholarship have conceptualised the notion of mimesis, and how various forms of contemporary acoustic music have adopted electroacoustic techniques, it identifies a recent musical practice in which these concerns are brought together. The article proposes the term mimetic instrumental resynthesis as a way of describing the common threads behind works that employ electronic-assisted or computer-assisted techniques towards instrumental imitations of environmental and extra-musical sounds. The article also highlights some of the conceptual and aesthetic questions emerging from such a practice, including the idea of transformation, issues of referentiality, listening, the influence of different technologies and their aesthetic implications, and the tension between abstract and concrete conceptions of the works discussed. Finally, the article raises concerns surrounding the language of discussing what is necessarily an interdisciplinary venture.
Discourse surrounding spectral music frequently makes reference to nature and related language. Practitioners, theorists, and musicologists have discussed different aspects and perspectives on the idea of nature in the relation to this music and it is not always clear that these terms are used in the same way. This article examines the different meanings of ‘nature’ applied to various concepts and techniques in spectral music, the extent to which these descriptors may be misleading, and the cultural context and possible motivations for the use of this kind of rhetoric. Through a discussion of the derivation structure in spectral music, a focus on human perception, metaphorical references to nature, the rhetoric surrounding the harmonic series and instrumental (re)synthesis, and finally mimetic references to nature in music using spectral techniques (including a discussion of the music of François-Bernard Mâche), the article endeavours to provide a thorough survey of the subject.
The Gaudeamus Muziekweek is now in its sixty-ninth year and, as ever, it focuses on young music pioneers, in hopes of presenting a snapshot of the newest ideas in contemporary music being developed across the world. The festival's dense and diverse programming is compressed into five full days, in 2016 from 7 to 11 September, squeezed principally within one labyrinthian building, the TivoliVredenburg, whose impressive monolithic glass exterior imposes itself as a pillar of cultural life in central Utrecht. Amid this density, it is impossible to provide anything but a partial account of the festival, and my presentation is far from impartial, as I was one of the five nominated composers for this year's Gaudeamus Award. If only from these fragments and particular foci, then, I will present my own reactions and estimations of how the festival has highlighted some of the innovations and interests of a few of the newest practitioners of new new music.
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