Dissertation Index
Author: Chang, Sangtae Title: Boulez's Sonatine and the Genesis of his Twelve-tone Practice Institution: The University of North Texas Begun: September 1995 Completed: March 1998 Abstract: In a letter to John Cage (January 1950), Pierre Boulez proclaimed an end to his 'classical' period with the Livre pour quartuor (1948-49). Important biographical events, personal correspondence, and published essays suggest that what Boulez considered 'classical' frame his twelve-tone practice from 1945 to 1949, aiming to come to terms with twelve-tone compositions by Schoenberg, Webern, and Berg. Despite such a clear chronological frame, Boulez's twelve-tone practice appears paradoxical. While modernist criticism overtly manifested itself against the predecessors and contemporaries alike, a traditional organicist metaphor pervaded theoretical postulates that project the conceptualization of musical structure. This predicament of Boulez's twelve-tone practice be comes particularly articulated in the Sonatine (1946/rev. 1949). The composer admitted that the Sonatine systematically explored the twelve-tone row and rhythmic cells in an attempt to negate his predecessors, while paradoxically modeling its structure upon Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony Op. 9. This dissertation proposes that the Sonatine broadly unfolds a kinetic structure that stems from the traditional tension-relief model and, consequently, its dependence on tradition proves much deeper than Boulez would acknowledge. Chapter I establishes the chronological frame of Boulez's twelve-tone practice and introduces primary sources for twelve-tone compositions that predate the Sonatine, as well as those for the Sonatine. Chapter II addresses an 'eclectic' approach to twelve-tone composition in Douze notations. Chapters III, IV, and V address how twelve-tone exploration determines the structural unfolding of the Sonatine. Finally, Chapter VI addresses revisions of the Sonatine, taking into account the sketches, an early incomplete version of which only the flute part survives, the final complete version, and the published score. Examination of these primary sources indicates that revisions of the Sonatine enhance its kinetic structure by amplifying subversion of row ordering and by deliberately expanding motivic transformation throughout the composition. Keywords: Boulez, sonatine, sonatina, twelve-tone music, serial music, kinetic structure, dynamic structure TOC: I. INTRODUCTION Primary Sources II. ECLECTICISM IN TWELVE-TONE PRACTICE: DOUZE NOTATIONS Overview Exploring a Twelve-Tone Row (Group A) Exploring Row Properties (Group B) Exploring Aggregates (Group C) III. PRINCIPLES OF KINETIC STRUCTURE: SONATINE Suggested Kinetic Structure in the Introduction Row Unfolding as a Foreground Determinant Aggregates as Foreground Determinants IV. INTEGRATION OF ORDERED DURATION AND PITCH-CLASS SETS: TEMPO SCHERZANDO Overall Structure Integrated Set in the Tempo Scherzando V. RELAXATION OF KINETIC STRUCTURE Twelve-Tone Usage Interplay between the Row and the Pitch-Class Set H VI. CONCLUSIONS Contact: 1408 Teasley Lane, #1811 Denton, TX 76205 E-Mail: iv71@jove.acs.unt.edu Phone: 940/566-8626 |