А Property of Texture in XX Century Orchestral Music

Main Article Content

Svetlana K. Sarkisyan

Abstract

The 20th century – a qualitatively new era in the development of orchestral writing – is a time of an active transformation of the texture. Changes occur both in the composition-functional plane (affecting the form as a whole) and in the structure-functional plane (affecting the stages of the form). Current study focuses on the background of the musical texture, moreover, on one of its properties, which we define as a vibrating texture.


The introduction of this concept is associated with the consideration of the immanent dynamics of the texture. Thanks to a certain composer technique as well as the selection, disposition, and interpretation of orchestral means it acquires a special property. Many composers and theorists of New music draw attention to this fact, particularly K. Stockhausen who reflects in his famous article “From Webern to Debussyˮ on “vibrating sound matterˮ, “vibrating sound surfacesˮ, in accordance with the 20th century “orchestration techniquesˮ. The study of vibrating texture is in contact with scientists’ numerous theoretical developments around the types of structures and the thematic connections, the timbre-acoustic nature, and the other internal logic patterns. At the same time, the prospects of this research are determined by a complex of ideas, that make it possible to reveal the specifics of interest in the light of the 20th century artistic styles.


Analysis of musical works with an emphasis on the continuity in the general evolution of phonismallows the discovery of the differencesneeded for the classification of vibrating texture. In historic prospect, the proposed problem is seen as the consistent development of the “impressionism-sonorismˮ line which finds its new solution in the electroacoustic field.


Keywords: orchestra of the XX century, musical texture, vibration, sonoric polyphony, resonating sounds.

Article Details

How to Cite
Sarkisyan С. К. (2022). А Property of Texture in XX Century Orchestral Music. Music Scholarship / Problemy Muzykal’noj Nauki, 47(2), 58–70. Retrieved from https://musicscholar.ru/index.php/PMN/article/view/1357
Section
Music of the 20th Century
Author Biography

Svetlana K. Sarkisyan, Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory, Yerevan, Armenia

DrSci. (Arts), Honored Worker of Culture of Republic of Armenia, Honored Worker for Polish Culture (Poland), Musicologist, Professor of Music Theory Department, Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory