MI 3150  MIDTERM EXAMINATION

 

July 12, 2000

 

Due in class: Monday, July 19

 

100 points total

 

1.        (15 points) Using the article “The Listening Imagination” as a guide briefly discuss the following recordings from the E-music 3 CD-ROM.  In your discussions reference our text Electric Sound where possible and use the information there to inform your discussions of each piece.

 

Edgard Varese – Poem Electronique

Raymond Scott - Cindy Electronium

Milton Babbit – Philomel

Holger Czukay – Boat, Woman, Song

Francious Bayle – Rosace 3

Iannis Xenakis – Concrete PH

Pauline Oliveros – Bye Bye Butterfly

Morton Subotnick – Silver Apples of the Moon

Joji Yuasa – Projection Esemplastic for White Noise

 

2.        (5 points) Musique Concrete has had a long history, perhaps longer than any other form of electroacoustic art.  Describe the genre.  Using examples from the text and also from the recordings on  the CD-ROMS, discuss the salient features of the genre and the concept of the “l’objet sonore”.  Why does musique concrete endure as a methodology for electroacoustic music composition?

 

3.        (5 points) The Wire interview with Pierre Schaeffer, found on CDROM 1, describes the current state of affairs concerning musique concrete in the context of other forms that have developed since the original introduction of the genre by Schaeffer in the later 1940’s.  What are Schaeffer’s perspectives?  How do they inform our understanding of the evolution of the  field of electroacoustic music in general.

 

4.        (10 points) Luciano Berio is one of the master composers of the late 20th Century.  Compare and contrast his two works presented on CD-ROM 3 – “Thema” and “Visage”.  Using the Chadabe text, discuss each work in reasonable detail, providing insight into how they were composed and Berio’s current perspective on this type of work.  Compare and contrast the sounds and morphology of each work.  Which, in your opinion, provides for you the richest aesthetic experience and why?

 

5.        (10 points) Karlheinz Stockhausen is another major figure in electronic music remaining a pioneer throughout his career.  Listen to the works presented on CD-ROM 3, Etude, Gesang der Junglinge, and Kontakte (excerpt).  What is the aesthetic and technical basis for his work?  Provide a comparison and contrast of Beiro’s Visage and Stockhausen’s Gesang.

 

6.        (5 points) In the early 60’s the predominance of tape music (studio and music concrete) gave way to synthesizer-based music and important new trends in electroacoustic music.  Describe the factors that contributed to this.  As electronic  music moved “out of the studios” and into concert halls, galleries and other venues what new ideas and approaches began to be developed?

 

7.        (5 points) Using CD-ROM 3, explore the web 0zero and the work Aquaforms by Joanne Kuchera-Morin (:\harp\tutorial\aquaform\page.html).  This work is described in detail and a fully recording of it is also provided.  Comment on the presentation of this material.  What processes are described? How does the musical idea of a “sonic identifier” function in the piece?  What is your aesthetic experience of the work?

 

8.        (5 points) Using the Stockhausen Web on CD-ROM 3, listen to the example (Ascent) of the Helicopter String Quartet.  Also read about the work (:\stockhausen\helicopter_intro.html).  How does this work intersect  with the world of electroacoustic music?  Provide a brief aesthetic reaction from your personal perspective.

 

9.        (5 points) 1. Briefly outline the Futurist vision of music as described in Rusollo’s manifesto "Art of Noises”. Explain how these ideas were adopted by Varese and the Musique Concrete school. Are these ideas still being considered today?

 

10.     (5 points) Seemingly, the THEREMIN opened up the pop music world to electronic sound. How did this occur? Later the synthesizer took the rock, pop and progressive genres to another level in the late 60's. What is the result of this legacy? Describe some of the changes in popular music that are due to the introduction of electronic musical instruments other than the guitar and amplifier.

 

11.     (5 points) In chapter I of your text, Percy Grainger, Australian composer, is quoted “...music is an art not yet grown up...Free Music demands a non-human performance.” What is Free Music? What is the instrument Grainger decided to use before the development of the Free Music Machine and why? What are the implications of "non-human" performance? (Hint: you may also reference 120 Years of Electronic Musical Instruments for information.)

 

12.     (5 points) Unit I, provides some definitions for your consideration that reference major components of the field. In your own words provide definitions for the following:

 

Electroacoustic Music:

Musique Concrete:

Electronic Music:

Acousmatic Music:

Computer Music:

What is Schaeffer's definition of musique concrete as found in your text. (Hint: you may also use other resources found on the CD-ROMS and in the text to inform your response.)

13.     (5 points) Chadabe, in the introduction to his text, writes “...the electronic musical instrument...has particular promise...it may well turn out to be the most beneficial to humans and the most enjoyable, rewarding and expressive instrument that has ever existed”. Comment.

 

14.     (5 points) Name the first three important "studios" for electronic music to be established and for each describe the type of work that went on there, the important works that were developed there that we listened to in lecture and describe the theoretical premise of the music that was created at each. (Hint: for this last part, the work of the director of the studio will typically provide the technical/aesthetic framework for the creative activity of others.)

 

15.     (10 points) Review  the article The Listening Imagination: Listening in the Electroacoustic Era by Denis Smalley. THEN listen to the musical work Little Animals (found on CD-ROM 1) by Natasha Barrett.

An important distinction is made in this article between the autocentric and allocentric perceptual modes as they relate to active listening to music. What do these terms mean, and how can they be applied to the art of listening to electroacoustic music?

Little Animals presents a complex sound-world. Describe the sounds you hear in following terms from the article:

gesture, utterance, behavior, energy and motion, object/substance, environment, vision, space

In considering the notions proposed in the article, what conclusions can be drawn concerning the art of listening in the specific context of this work of sound-art? What proposed concepts might make the experience of listening to Little Animals a richer and more rewarding or revealing one?

 

 

Extra Credit: (20 points)

 

The work: Symphonie pour un homme seul, by Schaeffer and Henry, is a seminal work of musique concrete.  Listen to the entire work and write a brief essay concerning the technical innovations evidenced and difficulties of presenting it in performance, the aesthetic breakthroughs it provides and the ramifications for the future development of the musique concrete as a  method of composition.  Where possible, refer to Scheffer’s own words, the course text and other materials to support your perspectives.