Walker, Elaine. "Bohlen-Pierce." ZiaSpace. ZiaSpace Productions, 2012. Web. 16 Dec. 2014. <http://ziaspace.com/_microtonality/BP/>.
Examples of implementations of the scale; instruments that use it (clarinets, modified hexagonal keyboards, violin tuning) as well as samples of music. This group attempts to integrate the scale into existing musical paradigms. When listening to the music I initially found most consonant the intervals that approximated 12-TET intervals; for example, the 9/5 ratio found in the minor seventh. As I was exposed to more music samples, I could recognize wide 3:5:7 and narrow 5:7:9 chords and perceive the harmonic structure.
Samuel, Claude. Prokofiev. New York: Grossman, 1971. Print.
“Apparition” by George Crumb
Similar to “Black Angels” is the notation for an approximate number of seconds. I expected “Apparition” to be less experimental than “Black Angels” because it was based on work by Walt Whitman; however the techniques are very similar, and a similar degree of artist interpretation of the work is required. In addition, the artistic notation, just as in “Black Angels”, requires study, not just the reading of notes, to gain the full meaning from. Also interesting is the program note at the start, to not only tell the performer but also the listener what the proper interpretation is. The notes go beyond a description of the overall feel of the piece’s movements or notes about the tone; they are more detailed and suggest an unambiguous interpretation of the piece. This is because they are “from the liner notes for the Bridge recording of Apparition”, and specific to a certain rendition of the piece.
Musical notation indicated at the start of the piece is minimal; there is only the specifying of the length of notes in seconds, a description of simple but nonstandard notation for double-dotted notes, and a “very short breath” symbol that is a struck-through breath mark. Such notation would be unnecessary except that it is alongside other notes for the performers. In every Crumb work I have seen, performance notes are included; this signals that it is impossible to perform without them, and that they are as much a part of the music as the notation.
The first movement is to be played “welling, pulsating; like a sound of nature”; this corresponds to the shape of the musical staves (arcs, with the bottom staff diverging and then converging with the top).
New Grove Dictionary: Notation
New forms of notation have always developed from a need that current notation could not fill. This source is helpful as it is well-written and gives a complete overview of the topic; additionally there are references to more specific sources at the end of the article. It also includes a diagram from Bernard Rand’s experimental piece “As All Get Out”, which illustrates how graphic notations can be a distinct idea, not fully indicating what is to be played, that is combined with staff notation.
Examples of implementations of the scale; instruments that use it (clarinets, modified hexagonal keyboards, violin tuning) as well as samples of music. This group attempts to integrate the scale into existing musical paradigms. When listening to the music I initially found most consonant the intervals that approximated 12-TET intervals; for example, the 9/5 ratio found in the minor seventh. As I was exposed to more music samples, I could recognize wide 3:5:7 and narrow 5:7:9 chords and perceive the harmonic structure.
Samuel, Claude. Prokofiev. New York: Grossman, 1971. Print.
“Apparition” by George Crumb
Similar to “Black Angels” is the notation for an approximate number of seconds. I expected “Apparition” to be less experimental than “Black Angels” because it was based on work by Walt Whitman; however the techniques are very similar, and a similar degree of artist interpretation of the work is required. In addition, the artistic notation, just as in “Black Angels”, requires study, not just the reading of notes, to gain the full meaning from. Also interesting is the program note at the start, to not only tell the performer but also the listener what the proper interpretation is. The notes go beyond a description of the overall feel of the piece’s movements or notes about the tone; they are more detailed and suggest an unambiguous interpretation of the piece. This is because they are “from the liner notes for the Bridge recording of Apparition”, and specific to a certain rendition of the piece.
Musical notation indicated at the start of the piece is minimal; there is only the specifying of the length of notes in seconds, a description of simple but nonstandard notation for double-dotted notes, and a “very short breath” symbol that is a struck-through breath mark. Such notation would be unnecessary except that it is alongside other notes for the performers. In every Crumb work I have seen, performance notes are included; this signals that it is impossible to perform without them, and that they are as much a part of the music as the notation.
The first movement is to be played “welling, pulsating; like a sound of nature”; this corresponds to the shape of the musical staves (arcs, with the bottom staff diverging and then converging with the top).
New Grove Dictionary: Notation
New forms of notation have always developed from a need that current notation could not fill. This source is helpful as it is well-written and gives a complete overview of the topic; additionally there are references to more specific sources at the end of the article. It also includes a diagram from Bernard Rand’s experimental piece “As All Get Out”, which illustrates how graphic notations can be a distinct idea, not fully indicating what is to be played, that is combined with staff notation.