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This is to certify that the
thesis entitled
A SYNTHESIS OF EAST AND WEST IN THE
QUA TT R0 PEZZI OF GIACINTO SCELSI

presented by
Joseph M. Abramo

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

M. M. degr e e in Music Theory

 

 

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Date ‘I‘ 2'" a I

 

0-7639 MS U is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution

 

 

PLACE IN RETURN BOX to remove this checkout from your record.
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A SYNTHESIS OF EAST AND WEST IN THE
QUA TTRO PEZZI OF GIACINTO SCELSI

By

Joseph M. Abramo

A THESIS
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
MASTER OF MUSIC
School of Music

2003

ABSTRACT

A SYNTHESIS OF EAST AND WEST IN THE
QUA YTRO PEZZI OF GIACINTO SCELSI

By

Joseph M. Abramo

Giacinto Scelsi, trained in the Western tradition but philosophically and spiritually
linked to the East, saw himself and his music as a product of both East and West. Scelsi's
influence from the East is not a mere emulating of styles or structures, but a borrowing of
Eastern techniques and changing their function so they serve as vehicles in achieving a
Western aesthetic. The present study provides possible origins of these Eastern
influences, including the music of Northern India, Tibet and Bali, and, more importantly,
show how they are specifically manipulated and transformed in his composition Quattro
Pezzi for Orchestra, creating a new and unique voice in the Western tradition. The study
investigates works by Elliott Carter and Arnold Schoeberg, as well as Scelsi’s Pranam II,

in relation to Quattro Pezzi. The study also includes spectral analyses of Quattro Pezzi.

Copyright by
JOSEPH M. ABRAMO
2003

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The writing of any large document is never the work of one individual. The
author always needs the intellectual, emotional and spiritual support of many people. I
have been fortunate to be surrounded by people who were willing and able to give that
support. Whether they were in New York, Chicago or East Lansing I always felt they
were close to me throughout the entire project.

I would like to thank my advisor Dr. Gordon Sly for his insight, patience and
willingness to explore new music. His openness to advise a paper outside of his area of
research and personal interest was a wonderfiil help.

I would like to thank the other members of my committee, Dr. Charles Ruggiero
and Dr. Anna Celenza, for donating their expertise. The time during the summer that
could have been devoted to their personal intellectual pursuits and their families, that was
instead spent on myself, is much appreciated.

I would like to thank Editions Salabert for allowing the use of the excerpts in this
papen

I would like to thank my family, my mother Marguerite, father Joseph, and
brother Matthew, who have always supported me in everything I do. They were always
there as a sympathetic ear when the work felt like it was too much.

Finally I would like to thank my fiance’ Melissa, who was always willing to take
time away from her busy and demanding studies to help me in numerous ways. Whether
it was to get books out of the Northwestern University library or to lend emotional

support, she was always there.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Table ............................................................................................... iii

List othguresw

List of Examples ..................................................................................... v
Descriptions of Figures ............................................................................. vi
Introduction ............................................................................................... l
Origins ................................................................................................. 5
Analysis ................................................................................................... 20
First Piece ........................................................................................ 24
Second Piece ................................................................................ «...31
Third Piece ..................................................................................... 34
Fourth Piece ................................................................................... 43
The Four Pieces ............................................................................ 45
Conclusion ............................................................................................. 49
Bibliography ........................................................................................... 51
Selected Discography ............................................................................... 52

Table

 

 

 

LIST OF TABLE

Table l: Instrumentation ........................................................................... 23

vi

 

 

 

 

 

Figu;

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Spectral analysis of measures 18-23 ................................................... 15
Figure 1a: Wyttenbach recording ......................................................... 15
Figure lb: Zender recording ............................................................ .15
Figure 2: Dynamic mapping of the First Piece .............................................. 24-25
Figure 2a: Wyttenbach Recording ....................................................... 24
Figure 2b: Zender Recording ............................................................. 25
Figure 3: Spectral Analysis of the three climaxes of the Third Piece .................... 28-30
Figure 3a: Wyttenbach recording, Climax 1 ............................................ 28
Figure 3b: Wyttenbach recording, Climax 2 ............................................ 28
Figure 3c: Wyttenbach recording, Climax 3 ............................................ 29
Figure 3d: Zender recording, Climax 1 .................................................. 29
Figure 3e: Zender recording, Climax 2 .................................................. 30
Figure 3f: Zender recording, Climax 3 .................................................. 30
Figure 4: Spectral Analysis of measures 55-70 of the Second Piece ......................... 33
Figure 4a: Wyttenbach Recording ....................................................... 33
Figure 4b: Zender recording ............................................................... 33
Figure 5: Scelsi's Symbol used for his signature and in lieu of a photograph ................ 50

vii

 

 

 

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LIST OF EXAMPLES

Example 1: Instances of the "Farben" Chord ...................................................... 5
Example 2: The Seventh Etude from Eight Etudes and a Fantasy measures 1-10 .......... 6
Example 3: Rhythmic reduction of motive in measures 1-3 .................................... 6
Example 4: Pitch arch of measures 1-9 ........................................................... 26
Example 5: Pitch movement of measures 55-70 of the Second Piece ........................ 32
Example 6: Pitch movement of measures 19-36 of the Third Piece .......................... 36
Example 7: Pranam 11 measures 1-4 .............................................................. 38
Example 8: Pranam II measures 70-72 ......... . ................................................. 39
Example 9: Pranam 1] measures 95-98 .......................................................... 41
Example 10: Unfolding of the octaves in the Fourth Piece .................................... 45
Example 11: Selected timpani excerpts from the Fourth Piece .............................. 46
Example 11a: measures 33-34 ............................................................ 46
Example 11b: measures 37-40 ............................................................ 46
Example 12: Pitch Chart of all four movements of Quattro Pezzi ........................... 47

viii

 

 

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DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

Images in this thesis are presented in color. These figures presented in color are
from the computer program Goldwave. They show the overtones present in a sound.
This is known as spectral analysis. In these graphs, varying degrees of overtones are
represented. Overtones towards the top of the graph are higher in pitch, and conversely,
overtones towards the bottom of the graph are lower in pitch. In addition, loudness, or
strength, of the overtone is represented by color. The brighter the color, the louder,
stronger, or more prominent the overtone is. From weakest to strongest overtones, the
order is, purple, dark blue, light blue then green.

The graphs show analysis of the music over a period of time. The oldest material,
or the music happening first, appears at the left of the windows, and the material at the
right of the windows shows the newest material.

There are two windows in each graph. Each window shows the two channels of a
stereophonic recording. The left window shows the overtones present in the left channel,

and the right window shows the overtones present in the right channel.

ix

 

 

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Introduction

This is Rome. Rome is the boundary between East and West. South of Rome,
the East Starts, and north of Rome, the West starts. This border-line now, runs exactly
over the Forum Romanum. There's my house, this explains my life and my music. I
don't think I have more to tell.

-Giacinto Scelsi

The eccentric Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi chose his words very carefully.
When asked to comment on his music, or supply program notes, he refused. On rare
occasions when he did agree to talk, his comments, always introspective, provided
fascinating insights into his music and compositional process. The last lines of his poem
Ohne Title, quoted above, is no exception. Trained in the Western tradition by such
masters as Respighi, and philosophically and spiritually linked to the East, Scelsi saw
himself as a product of both East and West. His compositions were the same. He only
wrote for Western instruments, but his music has strong references to Eastern traditions.
Many musicologists and performers, as well as Scelsi himself, as shown in the above
quote, acknowledge his debt to these traditions, but no studies have attempted to explain
where specifically these elements may have come from and how they manifested
themselves in his music. This study attempts to provide possible origins of these Eastern
influences and, more importantly, show how they are transformed in his music, creating a
new and unique voice in the Western tradition.

Since his death, the music of Giacinto Scelsi has become familiar to a small
portion of the mainstream "Art" music community. Progressively more writings on
Scelsi and his music have appeared. However, the writings in English are few, and

specifically theoretical writings in English are nonexistent.

 

 

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Scelsi deliberately concealed himself from the musical community during his
lifetime. "Throughout his life he was a recluse and never allowed photographs to be taken
of him. He purposely obscured the dates of his compositions in order to make it difficult
to do later theoretical and musicological research on him and his work. He was vague,
even to his closest friends, when asked of his past. Nonetheless, researchers of his music
have constructed a general timeline of his life.

Giacinto Maria Scelsi, the last Count of Dayala Valva, was born in Italy in 1905.
As a child he studied Latin, fencing, and chess, and spent much of his time improvising at
the piano. His formal music training was sparse. He spent some time as a pupil of
Ottorino Respighi. In 1931 he went to study in Vienna with Walter Klein, a follower of
Schoenberg, and subsequently was the first Italian to write a twelve-tone composition.
Although it is commonly thought that Luigi Dallapiccola was the first Italian to use
dodecaphony, his first twelve-tone work, Canti di Prigionia, was written in the years
1938-1941, placing it ten years after Scelsi's first twelve-tone composition of 1931.

After studies in Vienna he moved to Paris and wrote mostly piano music heavily
influenced by Berg and Scriabin. He then moved back to Rome in the early 19508.
Shortly after his move to Rome, Scelsi's wife left him, which caused him to have a mental
breakdown. This breakdown actually led to one of the most progressive compositional
styles of the twentieth century. While spending time in a rest home following his
breakdown, he would devote hours to playing only one note on the piano. This became
Scelsi's “single-note" style, in which his compositions were a "variation on one note."

His best-known work from this period is Quattro Pezzi su una Nata Sola for orchestra. In

this work the single note is developed through "the deploying of quarter-tones, slow and

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wide vibrato and a multitude of varied playing techniques (excess bow pressure, changing
bow position, varying the density and richness of the orchestration, etc.)" (Anderson 23).

The radical nature of this new style cannot be overemphasized. In a period when
the influence of the music of the Second Viennese School, with its emphasis on
controlling the total chromatic scale, reigned supreme over the avant-garde, Scelsi was
pursuing ideas that could hardly be more dissimilar. It would not be for another twenty-
five years that music based on one note would become part of the mainstream of the
avant-garde. Though the cliché "before his time" is overused, in the case of Scelsi, the
phrase has meaning and validity.

With this radical change in style came other important changes in Scelsi's musical
processes. The first was a completely improvised approach to composing. Scelsi would
go into a trance brought on by yoga techniques and then would record improvisations that
would later become compositions. These improvisations were first done on the piano, but
in 1955 he abandoned the piano for the ondiola, an organ-like instrument that allowed for
quartertones, vibrato and other timbral manipulations. These changes enabled Scelsi to
be more creative and experimental. The improvisation freed him from the limiting
conventions of notation. The ondiola allowed him to explore more of the frequency
range.

Scelsi's improvisational approach was supplemented by another unorthodox
technique. After he improvised, Scelsi would elicit the help of composers and performers
to help him transcribe and transform the improvisations into compositions. This led to
controversy when, after Scelsi's death, one of his transcribers, Vieru Tosatti, a composer

himself, claimed that he wrote the pieces he transcribed. Tosatti later withdrew the claim,

 

 

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and it is clear to anyone familiar with Scelsi's writing style that Tosatti did not compose
them. His own compositions are neo-classical in nature, and the plain fact remains that
from transcriber to transcriber, Scelsi’s compositions are stylistically consistent.

Scelsi saw those that transcribed for him as collaborators. Many of the pieces the
performers transcribed were written for them. The cellist F rances-Marie Uitti, who
premiered his T rilogia, also prepared the score for Sauh. These unconventional
compositional techniques are characteristic of his mature style and were followed to the
end of his career.

After his "one—note style" came a period in which he focused on the voice and its
wide range of timbres. In his instrumental works of this period, the use of quartertones
became the most important aspect.

Scelsi died in August of 1988 in Rome. Very few members of the musical
community were familiar with his work at the time of his death, but in the years since,
more and more recordings and writings have begun to appear. There is still much
research left to be done on Scelsi. There are no theoretical writings in English and few in

other languages. stands in stark disproportion to his growing discography.

 

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Origins

Before Quattro Pezzi few works explored timbre and a single pitch. F arben from
Five Orchestral Works, Op. 16, by Arnold Schoenberg, which explores timbre, precedes
Scelsi's piece by fifty years. Another predecessor, which explores both timbre and the
single pitch is Elliott Carter's Seventh Etude from Eight Etudes and a Fantasy for
Woodwind Quartet of 1950. Though these pieces on the surface have much in common
with the Quattro Pezzi, what they each strive to achieve with the material they present is
very different.

The most obvious difference between F arben and Quattro Pezzi is pitch. The
Quattro Pezzi is primarily one pitch where F arben uses all twelve pitch classes. The

"Farben chord" occurs in many transpositions throughout the work.

Measure number: 1 10 15 24 28 29 30 38 39 40 41 43

 

Example I: Instances of the "Farben" Chord

This change from one sounding of the chord to the other is brought about by canon. In
order for this canon to be perceived the listener must concentrate on the pitches.
Therefore, despite the label as a Klangfarbenmelodie, it cannot be denied that F arben is

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The Seventh Etude from Eight Etudes and a Fantasy is closer to the Quattro Pezzi

because it, too, is one pitch class. The Seventh Etude is more restricted because it uses

one pitch, namely G4, and does not use any neighbor tones. Besides the timbral elements

that are present in the piece, Carter uses rhythmic motives to hold the etude together. The

first occurrence of the rhythmic motive is in mm. 3-6

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Example 2: The Seventh Etude from Eight Etudes and a Fantasy measures 1-10

The instruments playing a forte or mezzo forte dynamic and quickly decaying from the

initial attack produce the rhythm. A rhythmic reduction of this motive appears in

Example 3.

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Example 3: Rhythmic reduction of motive in measures 1-3

This motive reappears in m. 19-22, although the instrumentation is different. The
absence of this motive in the middle of this composition contributes to the articulation of
a ternary form.

This composition differs from the Quattro Pezzi in three very significant ways, the
most obvious being the medium. With the use of a woodwind quartet, in comparison to a
full orchestra, Carter is limited in his timbral range. The second is the difference in
length. The Seventh Etude is 31 bars in length and about a minute in duration, whereas
the Quattro Pezzi is over 13 rrrinutes. Finally, the Seventh Etude uses rhythm as a
significant turifying parameter, whereas the Scelsi does not. These aspects, as well as
other less significant differences, show the composers’ very different solutions to a self-
imposed musical problem, namely, how to create motion in a harmonicallyand
melodically static context. Though similar in idea, their results are drastically different.

It is probable that Scelsi was familiar with Schoenberg's Farben; he studied with
Walter Klien, a student of Schoenberg, in Vienna. What would be more difficult to
surmise is if Scelsi heard the Seventh Etude. Regardless, both these pieces, among others
written prior to 1959, explored timbre as their unifying factor. The Quattro Pezzi also
explored timbral elements, but did so in a way that had never been done up to that point.
This will be discussed later in detail. Evidence suggests that this unique composition
may have been influenced by techniques in music fi'om the Near and Far East.

Scelsi looked to the East in everything he did. It will be argued that in the
Quattro Pezzi he took very specific techniques from several Eastern musics and set them

in a Western context. In doing so he did not borrow them simply to allude to Eastern

 

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music, but to change their function. These techniques, which in their original context of
Eastern music had very specific functions, now have been given a new role in Scelsi’s
music.

Investigation into Scelsi’s travels to the East is difficult because he was an
intensely private man. His close friend Robin Freeman wrote, "He refused to be
photographed, did his best to avoid programme notes, and gave information about his life
only when he chose to forget himself in conversation" (8). This makes the tracking of his
travels in the Near and Far East very difficult and makes documentation of his travels
hearsay. We are sure, however, through his casual conversations with individuals he
trusted, that he spent some time in those regions in his twenties and thirties. Freeman
says that during a personal conversation with Scelsi at his home, the composer “described
travels to Nepal and India, and perhaps Tibet, to explore their religions” (10).

Several of his works' titles are suggestive of a significant interest with the East.
His Four Illustrations on the Metamorphosis of Vishnu, written in 1953, is about the
Hindu God Vishnu, preserver of life and world, and his "Avatars" or incarnations in
mortal forms. His later works also use Eastern words in their titles. Two of his
compositions for chamber ensembles, Pranam I and Pranam 11, come from Indian
tradition; pranam is the Indian gesture of salutation where one leans forward with hands
clasped on the chest.

Scelsi's literary works also imply an interest in the East. The lines from his poem
Ohne Title quoted at the beginning of the paper show his fascination with the East and the

role he believed it played in his music.

 

 

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Scelsi may also have come in contact with the musics of the countries he visited.
He could have come across several genres: the Khyals of Northern India, the chants of the
Tibetan Monks, and the Gamelan Gong Kebyar of Bali. I would argue that these musics
and the techniques found within them, could be seen as possible influences on his
composition Quattro Pezzi. These techniques in the Western context of the symphony
orchestra changes their meaning, how the listener perceives them, and their function in
the music. Doing this created a distinct sound that is the Quattro Pezzi. I am not arguing
that Scelsi consciously changed these elements. I believe more importantly, it may give
the listener a context in which to listen to these pieces.

The use of Eastern techniques in the Quattro Pezzi is not to be confused with
exotic elements used by some composers in the Western tradition. Some examples of the
“Exotic East” in Western tradition include Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov, The
Dome of Kubla-Khan by Charles Griffes, among others. Scelsi was directly influenced by
techniques that were essential to various Eastern musics. In Scelsi’s music, those
techniques’ frmctions are altered and incorporated into his composition so that they
became structurally necessary elements. This is very different fi'om composers who
imitated Eastern music but still conformed to Western syntax. For example, the use of
the augmented second to approximate the non-tempered scales of the East does not
structurally or significantly incorporate Eastern techniques. Scelsi went far beyond this.

In Northern India Scelsi could have come across the technique of droning. Drones
have been a part of Western tradition since the Middle Ages and were known to many
Western composers in the early twentieth century. Debussy, who was also interested in

Eastern music, used drones in some of his works. However, because of Scelsi’s interest

in the Hindu religion, it is possible the droning techniques in that music had an influence
on him. The Khyal is the staple of the Northern Indian classical repertoire. In the way
the symphony is important to Western music, the Khyal is important for Northern India.
The ensemble for a Khyal consists, at least, of tablas (two pitched drums, played by one
player), a tambur (a stringed instrument that played the drone), and a solo “instrument,”
usually a sitar or voice. The drone is a central feature of the music. "In every
performance ensemble a drone must be present. It is built into some instruments such as
the sitar and sarod, but even so, an instrument specifically for producing a drone will be
present. That will most likely be a tambur, a plucked lute" (Wade 84). The tambur
consists of a single string that is plucked through out the Khyal to maintain the "tonic"
pitch.

Other musics that may have had an influence on Scelsi were chants of the Tibetan
monks. The music of the monks is unique because of its distinctive use of overtones.
"The monks sing in an ultra-bass register rarely reached by human voices. Moreover,
each singer produces more than one note at a time" (Cogan 29). "Each of the voices
chanting produces simultaneously a monotone fundamental and a harmonic overtone that
rings out with great clarity, such that every monk is singing a two-note chord" (Crossley-
Holland, quoted in Cogan 29). "Each voice brings the spectral elements forward to the
listeners' immediate perception. Spectral elements do not merely color a single
fundamental pitch; they become active participants in the sonic foreground" (Cogan 29).
Unlike the Khyal of Northern India, the chants are notated, and there is no improvisation

involved.

10

 

 

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On the Island of Bali is the distinctive music of the Gamelan Kebyar, the
twentieth-century classical music of Bali. The aspect of this music that concerns us is the
pair tuning system. The gamelan orchestra is divided into two equal parts; every member
of a group of the orchestra has a corresponding partner in the other group. For example, a
Gangsa pemade, a "ten-keyed metallophone usually of the hanging type, with bronze keys
suspended on cords strung through holes bored at both ends of each key" (Tenzer,
Gamelan 41) would be doubled by a Gangsa pemade in the other group of the ensemble.
Therefore, there is essentially one orchestra with the parts doubled. Each member of a
group and its corresponding partner in the other group play the same part. The reason
there is this doubling is because each instrument and its partner are slightly rrristuned
from one another. The intervallic distance between the two instruments varies depending
on their range. The higher the pitch the closer the instruments are tuned. This would be
less than a quartertone. Conversely, the lower the pitch the farther away the instruments
are mistuned. The instruments could be separated by as much as a half step. Acoustics is
the reason for the change in the intervals. Paradoxically, as the pitch gets lower, the
interval between the two instruments must be expanded in order for it to be perceived by
the listener as uniform throughout the entire range of the gamelan. The Balisans created
this interesting tuning system because they believe that an "in tune" sound (where the
frequencies are identical) is a dead, unmusical and undesirable sound. They do not view
this discrepancy in pitch as dissonance, but as a neutral sound.

It is difficult to speculate whether Scelsi did hear the Kebyar Gamelan music.
There is no documentation, first or second hand, of Scelsi traveling to Bali. Regardless of

whether he did hear that music, the gamelan shows the difference in the ways Westemer

11

 

 

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and Eastern music traditionally treat dissonance. A quartertone in the gamelan is seen as
necessary in creating a pleasing tone, whereas in classical Western music, adjacent
quatertones sounding simultaneously, as it is in the gamelan, would sound “out of tune”
and would cause a great tension that would need to be resolved. Scelsi’s use of
quartertones in the Quattro Pezzi is seen as a tension-causing tool. This will be discussed
in great detail later.

Scelsi could have encountered the techniques described here in his travels to the
Near and Far East. These techniques are present in his Quattro Pezzi, though put to new
purposes. One thing that these different Eastern techniques have in their original contexts
is that their purpose is not to create motion. A drone, for instance, creates no motion on
its own. It is a static pitch. The quartertones of the gamelan are also static. To say that
these techniques do not have motion is not in any way a criticism. Michael Tenzer writes

in Western Music in the Context of the World:

In generalizing about the traits of non-Western music that have
appealed to composers, it is important to clarify that there are few, if
any, pan-cultural attributes binding all non-Westem musics together
that set them apart as a group from Western music. All are distinct and
rich on their own terms. None the less, those that have had the most
pronounced irnpact- mostly the more developed traditions of Afiica and
Asia- share some qualities that, particularly from the standpoint of a
Western novice, contrast vividly with Western music. Foremost among
these is a non-linear, less directional idea of musical time, such music
generally adheres to a cyclic, repetitive background structure as
opposed to the large-scale, organically developed forms of the West.
Within such constraints these musics tend to accentuate ...... a close
attention to sonority and sculpting of individual notes (392).

In other words, at least from a Western composer’s or listener’s standpoint, the major
differences between Western and Eastern musics are their perception of time and goal.
Eastern music, generally, is concerned with creating a calm, cyclical, non-goal-oriented

product, free of tension. Western music is more teleological, focusing on goals and

12

climaxes. To this end, ideas of tension and resolution are fundamental. I argue that in
Scelsi’s music can be perceived as a synthesis of these two contrasting aesthetics.
Scelsi’s music can be heard as the different treatment of Eastern musical techniques so
they produce the effects precisely counter to their original functions. That effect is
namely the creation of tension and goals.

The drone is the most obvious technique that Scelsi borrowed. Both the drone
and Quattro Pezzi are essentially one pitch. A drone is traditionally produced by one
instrument, so the timbral and dynamic variance is Iirnited. The tambur, for example, is a
single stringed instrument. The string is not stopped with the fingers the way a Western
stringed instrument, like the violin or guitar, is. The playing technique is also
standardized. The string is always plucked, never strummed, picked or bowed. The
purpose is to keep the pitch sustained throughout the work. Before the sustained pitch
fades away the string is plucked again. These parameters inhibit the tambur, and
consequently the drone, from creating any sense of motion on its own. It is simply an
unchanging base upon which the composition is set. This is not what the single note does
in the Quattro Pezzi. It is a vehicle to create motion. In order for it to do this, three
things that the drone lacks in its Eastern context are added: fluctuation in timbre,
fluctuation in dynamics, and rhythm. These three elements, among others to be discussed
later, create motion. This can be seen in mm. 16-25 in the First Piece. In these measures,
through layering of instruments, Scelsi creates a musical line. This melody starts with
horn 3 and cello on a harmonic at ppp, a relatively dark sonority. Motion is started an
octave lower in born 1. The texture increases in activity when ponticello high strings and

trumpet are added. The texture becomes the most active when fluctuations in

13

instrumentation, primarily in the brass, happen at an accelerated rate (mm.18-20). This
tension reaches its climax when the instruments that were alternating back and forth all
converge in m. 20. From this climax the instrumentation dies away in the high strings,
this time without ponticello. There is one final resurgence with the accented English horn
in m. 22.

This timbral development is also present in single instruments. The trombone in
mm. 19-22 uses the wa-wa mute to develop its four notes. The first, second and final
notes are muted and the third is unmuted. This, coupled with the dynamics used, p, mp,
mf and then mf again, gives the line an arch.

This analysis of this line is supported by the presence of overtones. The overtones
gradually increase until they peak at the downbeat of m. 21 and are slowly eliminated.
This dying away of overtones is interrupted with a resurgence of overtones created by the

English hom’s accented note in m. 22.

14

Figure 1: Spectral analysis of measures 18-23

 

 

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-250

Figure la: Wyttenbach recording

 

 

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-50 - ;

Figure lb: Zender recording

Another example comes from mm. 30-40 of the Second Piece. After the accented
notes in the trumpets, the dynamics die down to pp. The note is then taken over by the
oboe, bass clarinet and cello 1 in m. 33. The texture grows with the addition of other
instruments until the line reaches its climax with the accented notes in the trumpets in
m.36. To exaggerate this climax BS in the cello is added. From this climax the texture
dies down.

This analysis, like the earlier example, is supported by the spectral analysis. The
overtones start at a low level and grow until they sharply peak with the trumpets and cello
in m. 36. From this, the overtones decrease to the same level they began at the beginning
of the example.

One final example comes from near the end of the entire composition in the final
piece in mm. 50-55. These measures come after an extended agitated section that uses
quartertonesl and the loudest dynamic levels of the movement. The release of this
tension is achieved in mm. 50-55 by the general decrease in dynamics of the individual
instruments, slowing of rhythmic activity, and timbral manipulation in the individual
instruments. The decrease in dynamics is clearly marked in the score, most obviously in
the oboe and English horn in m. 50 and the horns in m. 52. The slowing of rhythmic
activity is not as obvious. If the composite rhythm of the three trumpet parts is taken,
there is seen a general increase in the note lengths. Finally, the horns are instructed to
"poco a poco---sord," Slowly add the mute. This darkens the sound gradually and

releases tension.

 

1 Because of the use of quartertones, “Una Nota Sola,” A single note is a misnomer. Use of
quartertones and other pitches will be discussed later.

16

The timbral manipulation described in the three examples happens in many other
examples throughout the composition. Scelsi took this single pitch, an idea borrowed
from the drone from many Eastern musics, particularly the Khyal of Northern India, and
created a sense of “melodic motion” through the use of timbre. This kind of timbral
development is juxtaposed with other textures to create form. This will be discussed
later.

In several places in the second movement Scelsi calls upon a technique of
harmonics borrowed from Tibetan chant. The F #4 is the third harmonic of B. The F #4 is
always accompanied by the B2 and its first harmonic B3. This is a clear indication that
this pitch is not the introduction of a new pitch, but used to "bring the spectral elements
forward to the listeners' immediate perception" (Cogan 29) as in its original Tibetan
context. However, different from its Tibetan context, this pitch merely colors the
fundamental pitch and does not become "an active participant in the sonic foreground"
(Cogan 29). The F#l is not meant to be a new melodic or harmonic pitch. Scelsi tried to
draw as little attention to this pitch as possible. Every time the pitch is sounded it is
accompanied by the instructions appena percettib. (m. 45 string bass) or quasi
impercettibile (mm. 76 and 94 in horn l).

Scelsi made every attempt in the score to show that this pitch is the second
overtone of the B. In addition to its function as overtone support, the F#4 has a large-
scale pitch function that will be discussed in the analysis section.

As explained earlier, the use of quatertones in the Balisan Kebyar Gamelan is not
meant to create tension or movement. The Balisan Kebyar Gamelan uses what is called

pair tuning to create what they believe is an non-static, musical sound. The appearance of

17

quatertones in the Quattro Pezzi is drastically different from this. The presence of
quartertones creates tension. It becomes the main tool Scelsi uses to cause tension and
motion in the Quattro Pezzi.

The first example to illustrate this point comes from the first three measures of the
Third Piece. The pitch Ab4 is sounded in trumpet l in m. 1. In the following measure,
born 1 introduces its upper quartertone neighbor Ab quartertone sharp. This sonority of
the Ab and the Ab quartertone sharp creates tension that must be resolved. Therefore, in
m. 3 born 1 stops sounding the Ab quartertone sharp and the dissonance is resolved back
to the Ab.

Another example comes from the first five measures of the Second Piece. The
pitch B-natural is sounded in the clarinet, bass clarinet, horn 3, tenor saxophone and saw.
After three measures of this pitch sounding, in m. 4 the bassoon enters on the B-natural
and the Clarinet, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone and saw move to B quartertone sharp
upper neighbor as the horn continues to sound the B-natural. As in the example from the
Third Piece, this causes a tension that must be resolved, and this is done in m. 5.

These examples are just two of countless sections that include this very simple,
basic use of “pairing” a tone with its upper neighbor to create dissonance and motion.
Scelsi also uses quartertones in more structurally significant ways. This includes the
sustaining of these quartertone clusters over a longer period of time to create large-scale
tension that will take an entire movement, and in some cases the entire composition, to be

resolved. These aspects will be discussed in detail in the section titled Analysis.

18

In the two examples shown, and the body of other examples of which they are
representative, it is clear that the use of quartertones can be heard as vehicles to create
tension and movement to propel the composition forward. This is different than the
function of quartertones in the Balisan Kebyar Gamelan.

Scelsi’s use of the features commonly found in Eastern musics (drones,
quartertones and harmonics) is a possible way that Scelsi created this unique
composition. This is not to say this the only possible source of material for Scelsi nor it
was a conscious borrowing and manipulation. This explanation at least serves as one way

to listen to the Quattro Pezzi.

19

Analysis

Analysis of this work presents several difficulties. Traditionally theory has
devoted itself to pitch and harmony. From Rameau's theories of harmony to Allen F orte's
codification of set theoryz, most approaches to Western music has assumed the priority of
pitch relations. Other theories have dealt with rhythm. These theories do not aid in
adequately categorizing and analyzing the Quattro Pezzi because it is a work not based on
rhythm or harmony but on timbre. For that reason, some nontraditional as well as some
traditional ways of examining and analyzing have been used to help understand this work.
One of the nontraditional ways of looking at the work is through the use of the computer
program Goldwave. Goldwave is a recording program that has the feature of graphically
displaying the overtones present. This is known as spectral analysis. In this analysis two
recordings were used: Members of the Ensemble Integration Saarbrficken, conducted by
Hans Zender,3 and the Cracovie Radio- Television Orchestra, conducted by Jfirg
Wyttenbach.4 Emphasis on recordings is justified in analysis of Scelsi's works. He did
not have traditional sketches and would improvise his works and record them. He would
then use those taped improvisations as aides in the compositional process. In addition to
his sketches, Scelsi worked closely with the performers of his works. Francis-Marie Uitti
said about her work with Scelsi on T rilogia for solo cello, "I had the privilege of working
with Giacinto for years on these compositions; polishing, refining and at times revising

the scores" (U itti 2). William Colengelo, in his interviews with performers who worked

 

2 Forte, Allen. The Structure of Atonal Music. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1973
3 CPO record 999 485-2. Recorded February 19, 1978. CD Released 1997
4 Accord record 200612. Recorded April 12-20 1989. CD Released 1989

20

first-hand with Scelsi found that the actual sound, and performance of the composition,
was paramount to the written music. With his interview with Uitti, Colengelo found that
"She [Uitti] believed Scelsi wanted to hear how the pieces ‘would come over from the
score’" (53). In his interview with the double bassist Joelle Leandre, Colengelo found
that "Sincerity was Scelsi's goal for performers above accuracy of the score, Leandre
asserted. ‘He asks you to be real. To demand to be true. You cannot lie. Even if you
made a fault, it's not important.” (59). Performance was at the heart of Scelsi's
compositions; thus analysis dependent on performance is justified.

The quotes from the interviews conducted by William Colengelo come from his
dissertation, The Performer-Composer Paradigm in the Solo Music of Giacinto Scelsi. In
addition to the interviews with the performers, he also did spectral analysis on some of
their performances of works by Scelsi. In his qualitative, musicological study, Colengelo
exanrined Scelsi's solo works. He set out to find the performers’ processes in performing
and interpreting those works. To investigate this, his research included interviews with
internationally known interpreters of Scelsi's music, including individuals who worked
directly with Scelsi and those who did not, and a spectral analysis of the interviewees’
recordings of Scelsi's solo works. The spectral analysis was done to see if the
interviewees' views on timbre and expression in Scelsi's music were apparent in their

performances. With those tools Colengelo came to the following conclusions:

In his role as composer Giacinto Scelsi: 1) Viewed his role as distinct
from the traditional role of a composer in Western music. 2) Was
influenced by Eastern influences in an eclectic way. 3) Derived his
works from a life-long improvisational practice. 4) Viewed his works as
definite identities that contained specific elements of sound color,
effect, and emotional or meditative states. 5) Used pitch and rhythm as
compositional elements which were integrated with and inseparable
from sound color, dynamics and articulation. 6) Worked with

21

performers to realize the specific implementation of his works in
regards to instrumentation and use of sound color. 7) Encouraged
performers to make innovative use of sound color changes and take
liberties necessary to achieve a state of sincere emotion in performance.

In their role as performers, the subjects studied: 1) Viewed Scelsi's
music as distinct from traditional Western compositions. 2) Were
creative musicians and performers. 3) Were drawn to Scelsi's works
because they provided a means of greater creative input and personal
expression in performance. 4) Were experienced irnprovisers and
identified with the works because of their improvisational origin. 5)
Believed in working in a more collaborative environment where they as
performers were able to have input and not be bound solely to the
demands of a written score. 6) Recognized that a certain degree of
interpretative freedom is valid in regards to the score, but this does not
imply an invitation to improvise (146).

Colengelo's study differs from this study in two ways. Colengelo did not use
spectral analysis to yield any insight into theoretical structures of the music. The
dissertation only concerned itself with Scelsi's solo works. No mention of the chamber
and orchestra] works was made. However, two of Colenegelo's conclusions are related to
this study. They are that Scelsi was influenced by the East in an eclectic way, and that he
used pitch and rhythm as compositional elements, which were integrated with and
inseparable from sound color, dynamics and articulation. Colengelo has found that
Eastern influences and timbre play important roles in Scelsi's music. One of
Scelsi’s interests in timbre and pitch is shown in his instrumentation. Specifically, the
instrumentation of the Quattro Pezzi shows Scelsi's interest in lower sonorities. Scelsi
takes a standard symphony orchestra, and with additions, deletions and substitutions

creates an ensemble with a lower tessatura.

22

 

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The most substantial change of the instrumentation from a standard orchestra
comes in the strings, where he eliminates the violins and replaces them with second viola
and cello parts. His replacing the standard C flute with the alto flute in G is another
significant change. The flute, in relation to most instruments, is a high-pitched
instrument with the capability of going as high as D7. Replacing it with the lower pitched
alto flute maintains the same basic timbre but allows the flute to participate in a range
more desirable to the Scelsi, and the range that this composition encompasses.

Una nota sola, a single pitch, is perhaps a misnomer, because the works are not

literally “one pitch.” Quartertones are used and the fundamental pitch is played in

23

multiple octaves, and in some movements the pitches even “modulates.” These elements
are not incidental aspects, but in fact are extremely important to the structure of the

composition. They will be explored later.

First Piece
The First Piece is the shortest and perhaps the most concise. In this piece there is
an importance put on form. Scelsi, through pitch and intensity of timbre, creates a
symmetrical structure. Example 2 shows a mapping of the dynamics of the first

movement.

Figure 2: Dynamic mapping of the First Piece

 

Figure Za: Wyttenbach Recording

 

Figure 2b: Zender Recording

The movement consists of three swells, the first one peaking at the first beat of m. 13.
The second peaks at the fourth beat of m. 20. The final swell peaks on the upbeat of the
first beat of m. 31. These swells can be grouped into two categories, one that uses
quatertones and one that only uses the fundamental pitch. The first and third swells
belong to the first category and the second swell belongs to the second. In this way an
ABA form created.

The first swell, roughly mm. 1-15, starts with the pitch F in the Clarinets, horns 3
and 4, trumpets and Violas. This pitch is reinforced by an F-quartertone-sharp to E-
quartertone-sharp trill, notated in septuplets. Immediately, the listener is made aware that
the twelve pitches of the tempered scale are not the only pitches that will be used. This
trill I believe is not perceived as separate pitches but as a "widening" of the F. This pitch
spreads apart farther when F2 is introduced. That pitch, too, is widened with vibrato.

The pitch continues down this path of expansion as sustained quartertone-upper-

25

neighbors, in the horns, flute, tenor saxophone and strings, and 3 Gb to F trill, in the oboe,
are added in m. 6. The pitch then slides to other pitches: G in the strings on beat 1 of m.
9 and Ab in trombone 1 and strings on beat 1 of the following measure. This Ab, a minor
third above the fundamental pitch, is the farthest the pitch will venture away from the
main pitch in the composition. The sliding is followed by F quartertone sharp. It is
introduced in all brass and strings, timpani and flute. As example 4 illistrates, the

opening section of this "single-note composition" there is a well-crafted pitch arch.

Measure Number: I 6 9 10 11 14

1/ \#
W1 3L
4+ 4+

Example 4: Pitch arch of measures 1-9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second swell happens in mm. 16-25. The beginning of this section is signaled
with the tumba, the first time percussion is used. Over the next eight bars instruments are
added to increase the dynamic level. The structure of this crescendo is built around the
bass clarinet in mm. 18-21. In these measures the bass clarinet jumps between F3 and F2,
reinforced by other instruments. For example, the tuba only plays F2 in unison with the
bass clarinet when the bass clarinet plays that pitch. Conversely, the trombone plays F4
only when the bass clarinet plays F3. The most important element of this section is the
elimination of all manipulation of the pitch. No quartertones are presented to create
motion, nor is any vibrato used to "widen" the pitch.

The final swell appears in mm. 25 to the end. In this section, like the first, the
pitch is expanded or widened. The section starts with the pitches F4, F3 and F2. Slowly

the pitch begins to be pulled apart, beginning with the vibrato in cello 1 in m. 26. This is

26

then expanded further, in multiple octaves, with vibrato on F quartertone sharp in the
cello, viola 1 and 2, trombone 1, trumpet 2, tenor saxophone and bass clarinet in m. 27.
Added to this is the trill in the clarinets in the following measure, joined by the oboe and
English horn in m. 31. Over this trill the brass make two statements of F quartertone
sharp. The first is stated by the horns alone in mm. 29-30, the trumpets and trombone
then join them in m. 31 for the second statement. This second statement is the climax of
the final swell. From this point the texture dies down. The tuba and timpani, along with
a quartertone trill in the double bass, state the F quartertone sharp one last time as a
“codetta.”

Measures 35 to the end serve as a coda for the movement. Elements that were
used to widen the pitch are presented in these five bars. The violas and cellos reiterate
the minor third slide that was originally presented in mm. 9-10, the vibrato is presented in
cello 1, double bass and viola 1, and finally the sextuplet figure that was used in the
climax of the first and third swells in the horn, is again stated in horn 4.

This series of three phrases creates a Ternary form. The first and third swell are
similar in that they use quatertones to "widen" a pitch, and the second swell is dissimilar
in that it makes no attempts to change the pitch. The symmetrical nature of ABA form is
expanded by the use of the minor third slides in mm. 9-10 and m. 35. These distinctive
gestures fiame the form and serve as "bookends" to the movement.

The dynamics written, as well as the overtones, show the movement’s overall
arsis-thesis structure. The heights of the three swells are marked f-mf-fl. The climaxes

are carefully designed in order to create cohesiveness between the three sections, and to

27

place the climax of the entire movement closer to the end. The overtones present support

this idea. Figure 3 shows the three climaxes of the first movement.

Figure 3: Spectral Analysis of the three climaxes of the Third Piece

 

 

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Figure 3b: Wyttenbach recording. Climax 2

28

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Figure 3c: Wyttenbach recording, Climax 3

 

 

 

 

Figure 3d: Zender recording, Climax 1

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Figure 3f: Zender recording, Climax 3

The three climaxes’ overtones coincide with the dynamics written. As can be
seen in both recordings, the first and third climaxes have high spikes of overtones
whereas the second climax has considerably fewer overtones. Of the first and third

climaxes, the third has more overtones. This evidence, coupled with the absence of

30

quartertones in the middle section, point to an ABA form with the climax of the work

occurring in the final A section.

The Second Piece

As in the First Piece, the Second Piece has a clearly defined climax and serves as
an important part of the composition. For that reason we will start there. The climax is
in mm. 55-70. It can be defined as a slow "breaking away" from the fundamental pitch.
The section starts with the horns in m. 55. They are then joined by the flute and oboe in
the following measure. The flute and oboe are then answered by the C quartertone-flat
neighbor in the trumpets, trombones and saw. The tension is then resolved in m. 58.
Again the pitch is moved to the C quartertone-flat neighbor on beat four of m. 59. It is
then joined by C to B trill as well as C quartertone-flat to B trill. In m. 61, C-natural is
added in trombone 1. As can be seen, the pitch is slowly rising and "breaking away" from
the B natural. This is finally achieved in m. 62 when Horn 1 and 2, trombone 2, tuba,
saw and cello 1 play C-natural. This pitch, which lasts five beats, is the only time in the
movement when the firndamental pitch, B natural, is not sounded. From this point on the
pitch descends from the C natural back to the fundamental pitch. In the third beat of m.
63 the C natural is joined by a C to B trill in the oboe, English horn, and cello, and C
quartertone-flat in horn 1, trumpets, trombone 1 and saw. The trill is then eliminated and

the C-natural and C quartertone-flat are prolonged via instrument exchange.5 Horn 1 and

 

5 Note that the C quartertone-sharp in the double bass in m. 65 is a misprint. It should be a C quartertone-
flat.

31

2, trombone 2, tuba and strings move to B-natural on the second half of beat two of m.66.
The remaining C quartertone-flats are resolved to the B-natural in the downbeat of the
next measure. Example 5 shows the pitch movement of this section.

Measure Number: 55 56 58 60 61 64 65 67

m

kE/l'i

4.

 

WX /

Example 5: Pitch movement of measures 55-70 of the Second Piece

Quite clearly the pitch slowly breaks away from the fundamental pitch until it reaches the
C natural in m. 62. It then works its way back to the B natural. Again, as in the
beginning of the first movement, a pitch arch is present.

Spectral Analysis yields the results that confirm the assertion that this section is
the climax of the movement, a look at the overtones shows that the C natural in the brass

in m. 62 has the highest saturation of overtones in the movement.

32

Figure 4: Spectral Analysis of measures 55-70 of the Second Piece

 

 

 

 

 

-50 o I 0"450

 

 

 

 

Figure 4b: Zender recording

One other piece of evidence supports the idea that this climax. The proportions of
golden mean have been investigated in many Western works, particularly that of Bela

Bartok. If the total number of beats of the movement (310) is multiplied by .614, the

33

number that is arrived at is 190.34. Beat 190 (m. 63 beat 1) is precisely at the point of
highest concentration of overtones, the farthest the pitch rises from the fundamental pitch,
and the only time the fundamental pitch is not present.

As in the First Piece, the Second Piece the climax serves as the goal and the most
important part of the movement. The climax of the work is placed at the golden mean, a
conunon place for it to occur. The quartertones, as well as the harmonic F#, are also

present.

The Third Piece

The Third Piece is perhaps the most fascinating of the four movements. Unlike
the other movements there are distinctive pitch centers. The term "una nota sola" is,
strictly speaking, inaccurate for this movement because there is a secondary pitch center.
However, this transition, or modulation, to the secondary pitch center is done in a way
that it is barely perceivable. The modulation is brought about by saturating a passage
with a tone cluster consisting of quartertones. These tone clusters are sounded long
enough to disorient the listeners and to make them lose aural "sight" of the fundamental
pitch. When the cluster is cleared away, a new pitch can be substituted for the
fundamental pitch with relative ease.

This process of changing pitches happens in the concentrated area of mm. 19-36.
Over these 17 measures the pitch rises from the firndamental pitch Ab, through Ab
quartertone sharp, A-natural and finally Bb quartertone flat. M. 19, at first hearing, seems
like an unusual place to start this process. It is, however, a point that Scelsi conceived as

a starting place, because the preceding measure is to be played with retardation, and then

m. 19 is marked with an a tempo. M. 19 starts with the fundamental pitch Ab. In m. 20
the upper quartertone neighbor is added. This is sustained for two measures and in m. 22
the Ab is eliminated. In the next measure, m. 23, the upper quartertone neighbor to that
pitch is added. So the pitches present are Ab quartertone sharp and A natural. Thus there
is a duplication in pitch material of mm. 20-21, transposed up a half step. At this point
the listener’s "fix" on the fundamental pitch begins to be weakened. To these two
pitches, present in the beginning of m. 23, an added A quartertone sharp, and then Bb, in
the same measure. Just when it seems that the pitches present are getting far enough
away from the fundamental pitch to create a new pitch center, a most unique gesture is
used to orient the listener back to the Ab. In m. 24 the bass clarinet is introduced on E2, a
diminished fourth lower than the fundamental pitch. From this E2, which is sustained for
four and a half beats, the bass clarinet glissandos, through F # and G, to the fundamental
pitch. Through this process, the upwards motion away from the Ab is counteracted by
motion starting under but farther away from the fundamental pitch resolving to the Ab.
Besides the intrinsic aural draw to this unique gesture, this line is highlighted because it is
played by the bass clarinet. It is the only non-brass instrument to be used in the first
forty-five measures of the piece.6 One’s ears are quickly drawn to the different timbre in
this texture. One other parameter makes this gesture particularly noticeable: all activity
up to that point, m. 24, has taken place in the Fourth octave. When a gesture is

introduced in the second octave, after a period of concentration on higher pitches,

 

6 The only exception to this is the alto saxophone, which is technically a woodwind. The saxophone is
however, consistently scored as a brass instrument. This is indicated by the placement in the score; it is
placed between the horns and the trumpets. It is also used to reinforce brass sonorities throughout the
composition. In addition, listening to the third movement, the beginning has a tirnbrally homogenous
quality. The saxophone does not contrast with the other tirnbres, but reinforces them.

35

immediate attention is given to this variation in the texture.

The gesture that was used to reorient the listener to the fundamental pitch is used
to do the opposite, to move the pitch from the fundamental pitch. In m. 27, the motion
upward that was interrupted by the bass clarinet continues. In the beginning of that
measure, Bb is added to the Ab. As the G quartertone sharp, A natural and Ab
quartertone sharp are added, the bass clarinet descends fiom Bb2, through Ab2, and E2,
to C#2. Thus as the pitch is "thickening" in the fourth octave, the bass clarinet is
expanding downwards. This ascending tone cluster reaches a point of arsis on beat 2 of
m. 29 when the tone cluster is eliminated and the only pitch remaining is Bb quartertone
flat in horn 3, trumpet 1 and trombone 1. This Bb quartertone flat is sustained for six
beats, but is then immediately left as trombone 2 and born 2 descend to A—natural via a
glissando and the same pitch is added in horn 1. In m. 31 the A-natural is the only pitch
present. Again horn 2 and trombone 2 descend through a glissando down a quartertone to
A quartertone flat in m. 32. Finally in the second beat of the following measure, m. 33,
the fundamental pitch is descended to, to complete the ascending pitch arch. To
counteract this emphasis on the higher side of the fundamental pitch, Ab quartertone flat
is introduced on the last eighth note of m. 33. This pitch is coupled with the Ab, until it
is resolved back to the fundamental pitch on the second beat of m. 36. Example 6 shows

the pitch movement of this passage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Example 6: Pitch movement of measures 19-36 of the Third Piece

36

As in the First and Second Pieces, a pitch arch is created in the Third Piece. The
Third Piece is different because the pitch at the top of the arch is sustained for a longer
period of time, and it has more weight as an individual note. However, this longer, more
independent secondary pitch center is reliant on the fundamental pitch just like the First
and Second Pieces. There would never be a sense of closure if the composition ended on
the Bb quartertone flat. That is why the Bb quartertone flat is considered a secondary
pitch center.

The Third Piece is a predecessor to Scelsi's Chamber work Pranam II (1973).
The latter work can also be described as "one pitch," but its fundamental pitch is not as
unambiguously presented, and there is a significantly longer section devoted to a
secondary pitch center. The fundamental pitch of Pranam II is C#. Even from the
beginning, however, this fundamental pitch is accompanied by E, D# quartertone sharp

and Eb.

37

 

 

3“”- Efa(lg4}i*L- ::_:::-~———:
i —— a:

 

 

 

ORCAHO

 

 

 

 

 

 

Example 7: Pranam 11 measures 1-4

As the composition advances the weight of the C# diminishes and the E natural takes on a

more prominent role.

38

1:: j, - j, ‘ L‘s}; mimic) ,. :
2 { ,......

VIM

é Finn? 7g , {C15 fig?” P195??? _ a

  
 

mf >’ ”’5: >

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Example 8: Pranam 11 measures

39

Though the C# is still present in the organ, the E-natural is the more important pitch. It is
emphasized by its chromatic, as well as quartertonal, neighbors in the flutes, bass clarinet
organ, right manual, violin and double bass.

Like the Third Piece of the Quattro Pezzi, this piece, too, must return to the C# in
order for it to be complete. As the composition comes to a close the C# becomes the

fundamental tone.

40

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

r’. “l _.
H3 - F 2 -
l 19/9 :22—
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.5 ' = I S '7 3
V '5‘ ”i“ 7' r
is». 59:“
If: I l
i
J\i(3l\v,l_ lit" '5 7 2’ _- ‘-
;'__._.ap:-- --
a) : .. ._

 

 

 

 

 

9 l . - ——

det- 5, (”than

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a)?
it '3‘

l l 4,.

FFAB r.

 

 

 

 

36:317.
ELK

 

 

 

 

 

( '0)
pp

 

 

 

 

 

Tia; V130: ' ‘ “if!" ‘r—‘V
52......”- 2 — (g’ (599:3 Fir/“Tl
9: - g. Kgr—‘Mb’fiim
\

Example 9: Pranam 1] measures

The C# has been reasserted as the fundamental tone, yet the E still remains, but has lost

its position of being the central pitch. The composition comes to a close when the C#

41

sounds as E-natural in the cello and double bass. But as one final gesture, an E-natural is
played in flute 1. This is one final acknowledgment of the secondary pitch. Looking
back at the Third Piece of the Quattro Pezzi in this light shows that it was perhaps the
beginning of a "one-note style" that evolved into a new "one-note style" that utilized more
than one pitch class.

Golden mean once again plays a role in this movement. As has been noted, the
first forty measures of this movement is scored for brass only. The only exceptions to
this are the saxophone, which is used as a brass instrument, and the bass clarinet, which is
used in timbral contrast to the brass as a gesture that reorients the composition towards
the fundamental pitch. This homogeneous texture is replaced by a heterogeneous texture
when the strings, clarinets, and bass clarinet enter in m. 41. From this measure to the end
of the movement the piece takes on a different character. Besides the change in texture,
there is a change in the manipulation of pitch. The quartertonal tone clusters that were
present in the beginning of the composition are no longer present. Only the occasional
quartertone upper neighbor is used. In addition to this change in pitch organization,
octave placement plays a role as well. All material in the first forty measures takes place
in the fourth octave. The only exception to this, again, is the bass clarinet, whose
placement in the second octave was done to highlight that instrument and its gesture.
From m. 41 on, Ab3 and Ab2 play as active a role in the texture as Ab4. These elements
very clearly change the character of the movement. This change in character, however, is
not a random change. If the total time of the Wyttenbach recording (4: 13) is multiplied
by .618 the time yielded is 2:36.354. It is at 2:35 that the strings and clarinet enter. Thus

the timbral change occurs at the golden mean. This holds true for the Zender recording as

42

well. The total time of the Third Piece (4:31) is multiplied by .618 the golden mean time
is exactly 2:47.478. At the 2:50 mark the strings and clarinets enter. In both cases, the
times do not coincide exactly, but are close enough that they conform to theories about
the golden mean.7

Like the other movements discussed, the Third Piece's large-scale organization is
directed towards the climax. Though this movement uses a drone, it changes pitch and
causes tension by moving to these other centers. This is similar to modulation found in
the common practice period in the respect that a second pitch for a short period of time
becomes the most important pitch. In addition to this, golden mean proportions are used

to divide the composition formally, and to delineate large-scale goals.

The Fourth Piece

The final piece of the Quattro Pezzi can be heard as the goal of the entire
composition. It is the only movement that uses all the instruments. The highest and
lowest notes of the composition, A6 and A1 respectively, are present in this movement,
as well.

Like the other pieces, one of prominent aspects of the Fourth Piece is the
"widening" of the pitch. The length of time this widening of the pitch is sustained is
longer than in the other pieces. The process occurs over the entire movement. The
process starts with the fundamental pitch A natural. The pitch, over the course of the

movement, rises from this fundamental pitch to A quartertone sharp, to Bb quartertone

 

7 For a detailed discussion of Golden Mean in music see Bela Barték: an analysis of his
music by Emo Lendvai, published by Kahn & Averill, 1971.

43

flat and Bb. This sort of evolution has been described with minute detail in the other
movements further description is unnecessary.

Unlike in the other movements, the unfolding, or widening of the pitch, in each of
the octaves plays an important role. The composition starts on A3. By the third bar this
pitch begins to be pulled apart. In m. 2 A2 is introduced, and in the fifth bar the
expanding of the pitch begins. In m. 10 the double bass introduces A1, and in m. 16 this
pitch is then widened. The composition then moves up to A4 for its next entrance.
Unlike the other three pitches, the upper quartertone neighbor is introduced first in
trumpet 2 in m. 18. It is then resolved to A natural in m. 20 in the oboe, and then the
process begins. In m. 26 the composition reaches a level of agitation as A5 is introduced.
This pitch begins to pull apart in the following measure. The accumulation of the
separate octaves and their widening increases the texture and the tension of the
movement. The Fourth Piece reaches its climax as A6 is introduced in m. 43 in the
violas. This pitch, however, is never pulled apart.

The "expanding" of these pitches must, of course, be returned to their original
octave in order for the composition to resolve. In m. 49, as A6 and A5 disappear, A4 and
A3 are resolved, thus ending the widening of the pitches. Example 10 shows the pitch

arch of the Fourth Piece.

Measure Number: I 2 ll l8 26 43 50 60 61

 

 

 

 

 

Example 10: Unfolding of the octaves in the Fourth Piece

All pitch manipulation in this movement has been upper neighbors; there was no
movement downwards. In order to counteract this imbalance of direction, the last gesture
of the composition is the lower quartertone neighbor, in the third octave, in the tuba in
mm. 57-59.

Once again this movement is dependent on tension caused by the pulling apart of
a pitch. In this movement it happens within each octave, with the use of upper neighbors.
This pulling apart starts with A3 and expands outwards by adding octaves above and
below. The tension caused by these two kinds of expansion of pitch is vital to the
forward momentum of this piece. Without these changes in texture, the composition

would have a static, serene quality similar to a simple drone.

The Four Pieces
The four pitches of the Quattro Pezzi that are presented are not random pitches.
In fact they create a large-scale resolution that link the pieces together.
Before examining this large-scale connection, a few final details must be
examined. The first detail concerns the gesture in the timpani in the Fourth Piece shown

below.

45

Example 11: Selected timpani excerpts from the Fourth Piece

 

Example 11a: measures 33-34

\6

    

 

Example 11b: measures 37-40

The gesture contains two pitches, A2 and F 3. The use of A2 is obvious, because it is the
fundamental tone, but the use of F3 does not seem as clear. On first thought, the logical
candidate for a secondary pitch would be E3: timpani traditionally play fifths, a use of the
fifth would emulate the use of the F # in the second movement, and the E-natural is in the
harmonic series of the lowest note of this movement Al. Upon further examination,
however, an F -natural would seem a logical choice because it recapitulates the
fundamental tone of the First Piece. This subtle gesture brings the piece together, not as
four separate pieces that have one element in common, but as movements that rely on one
another to be resolved and complete.

The other detail is more general but must be highlighted in order to understand the
overarching connection of the composition. In addition to the single note, the most

important element in the entire composition is the upper neighbor, and to a lesser extent

46

the lower neighbor. The composition is saturated with quartertone-, semitone- and
whole-tone neighbors. They are used. to create motion and tension via form in the First
Piece, and arches in the remaining movements. The composition relies heavily on
neighbors in order for a static element, the “drone”, to move forward.

With the elements of the recapitulation of the F natural in the fourth movement
and the neighbor being an important element in the composition, Example 12 shows the

tight weave of pitches used to link the four pieces together.

 

Pitches notated indicate Pitch class, but not necessarily pitch in that octave

Example 12: Pitch Chart of all four movements of Quattro Pezzi

This chart shows the subtle linking of the movements together through their firndamental
pitches and their prominent secondary pitches. All pitches in the first three pieces are
resolved in the Fourth Piece. The fundamental pitches B, of the Second Piece, and Ab,
of the Third Piece, are the upper whole-step neighbor and the lower half-step neighbor
respectively, to the fundamental pitch, A natural, of the Fourth Piece. In addition, the
Ab, present at the beginning and end of the First Piece, also serves as a foreshadowing
for the Third piece and its neighbor function. As well the Bb quartertone flat, the
prominent secondary pitch present in the Third Piece, serves as the upper quartertone

neighbor to the A natural of the Fourth Piece. Finally, the F # of the Second Piece serves

47

as the upper semitone neighbor linking the fundamental pitch of the First Piece with the
F recapitulated in the timpani in the Fourth Piece.

This large-scale resolution is one of many elements that give the composition a
cohesive quality. Rather than being four separate though similar pieces, they depend on
one another for resolution and all depend on the Fourth Piece as their ultimate goal. This
last point, perhaps, explains the quality of finality of the Fourth Piece.

As can be seen, the element that permeates the composition on the micro level, the

neighbor tone, is also projected on the macro level.

48

Conclusion

Scelsi's Quattro Pezzi reflects the eclecticism of the Twentieth century. He was
significantly influenced by many different sources from many different parts of the world.
Scelsi inserted the techniques of drone, quatertones and enhancement of overtones in the
Western context of the symphony orchestra. But instead of merely imitating these
techniques, he changes their meaning and ftmction. The drone of the Khyal of Northern
India is transformed from its background role to the main element of the composition.
Through timbral manipulation, the “drone” is given motion in Scelsi’s Quattro Pezzi.
The quatertones of the Gamelan Gong Kebyar of Bali are considered not as sounds that
cause tension, but as elements necessary for a pleasing tone. Scelsi takes those
quatertones and uses them to create tension and to give motion to the composition. In the
chant of the Tibetan monks, the monks sing a low fundamental pitch while also
producing one other note in that pitch's harmonic series. Instead of being used to create a
melody, as it is done in its original context, Scelsi uses the overtone to serve as a
neighbor that links the F natural at the beginning and end of the composition. All this
creates a composition that has many Western aspects: the orchestral instrumentation,
movements that are linked through the use of neighbor tones, the “organic” connection
between local and global musical structures.

Scelsi’s influences helped him create a distinct voice. To him, the Eastern and
Western elements described here were one and the same. To separate one from the other

would be impossible. This is similar to his symbol.

49

 

/......+ 9.2.

Figure 5: Scelsi's Symbol used for his signature and in lieu of a photograph

Scelsi signed his name with this circle and line. Also, whenever asked for a photograph
of himself he would supply this symbol instead. This symbol is a representation of the
tight connection between the East and West in his personality and his compositions,
particularly the Quattro Pezzi. In the East they view time as cyclical and nature; every
thing that once was will return again. The circle is the representative of this. Time in the
West is conceived as being linear; we are always moving forward. The line is
representative of this idea. Even the symbol that Scelsi used in lieu of his own image

embodied these ideas of a synthesis of East and West.

50

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Anderson, Julian. “La Note Juste.” The Musical Times, January 1995: 22-27

Cogan, Robert. New Images of Musical Sound. Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
1984.

Colangelo, William. The Composer-Performer Paradigm in Giacinto Scelsi ’5 Solo
Works. PhD Diss. New York U. New York: UMI 1996.

Freeman, Robin. “Tanmatras: The life and work of Giacinto Scelsi.” Tempo: A quarterly
review of modern music no. 1 76, Mar 1991: 8-19.

Kaufmann, Walter. Tibetan Buddhist Chant. Bloorrrington: Indian University Press,
1975.

Ed. Metzger, Heinz-Klaus and Riehn, Rainer. Musik-Konzepte 31 Giacinto Scelsi.
Miichen: Verlag, 1983.

Mollia, Michela. “Giacinto Scelsi: Ohne Titel.” Perspectives of New Music, May 1983:
265-272.

Tenzer, Michael. Gamelan Gong Kebyar. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.

Tenzer, Michael. “Western Music in the Context of World Music” in Modern Times.
Ed. Robert Morgani. New York: Prentice Hall, 1993.

Uitti, F rances-Marie. “Preserving the Scelsi Improvisations.” Tempo: A quarterly review
of modern music, May 1995: 12-14.

Wade, Bonnie. "Some Principles of Indian Classical Music" Musics of Many Cultures.
ed. Elizabeth May. Los Angeles: University of California Press. pp. 83-110.

51

SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY

This is just a few of the many commercial recordings of Scelsi’s music available. Each
entry’s information is arranged in the following order:

Record label and number

Title of the recording

Pieces by Scelsi on the recording
Performers and conductors

Year the recording was published

Accord (Fra) - #200612

Giacinto Scelsi

Quattro Pezzi for Orchestra, Analrit, Uaxuctum
Josef Dwojak, Jadwiga Jakubiak

1996

Accord (Fra) - #200742

Giacinto Scelsi: Illustrazioni

Quattro illustrazioni, Xynobis, lncantations, Duo for violin & cello
Carmen Fournier, Suzanne F ournier, David Simpson

1995

Accord - #200802

Giacinto Scelsi: Suites Nos. 8 & 9
Suites Nos. 8 & 9

Werner Bartschi

1996

Accord - #201692

Giacinto Scelsi: Oeuvre Integrale pour Choeur et Orchestre Symphonique

Aion, Pfhat, Konx om Pax, Quattro Pezzi for Orchestra, Anahit, Uaxuctum, Huqualia,
Hymnos, Cukrum

Jurg Wyttenbach

1990

Accord (Fra) - #202122
Murail: Memoire
Uaxuctum

Yves Prin
l 997

52

Adda (Fra) - #243112

Scelsi: Maknongan

Kya, Ixor, Ko-Lho, Maknongan, F leuve Magique, Arc en ciel, Pwyll, Pranami I,
Quattro Pezzi for Orchestra, Poeme for piano No 2

Jean-Pierre Amaud, Robin Clavreuil, Veronique Fevre, Remi Lerner, Luigi Longo,
Gerard Massias, Patrice Petitdidier, J ean-Michel Ricquebourg,

1997

Capriccio - #10482

Zimmermann, Berio, Rihm and others
Quattro Pezzi for Trumpet

Reinhold Friedrich

1994

Capriccio - #10839

Demilitarized Zones: Marches

Riti: I Funerali di Alessandro Magno (323 A. C.)
Lutz Kohler

2001

Capstone - #8628
Corrado Canonici: Contrabass
Maknongan

Corrado Canonici
l 996

Col Legno - #20030

Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart
Tre canti sacri

Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart
1999

Cp2 Records - #108

Brant; Scelsi; Wolpe; Xenakis
Anahit for violin & l8 instruments
Kenneth Moore, Paul Zukofsky
1995

CPO - #999 266-2

Giacinto Scelsi: The Complete Works for Clarinet

Tre Pezzi, Ko-Lho, Ixor, Maknongan, Preghiera per Un Ombra, Suite for flute and
Clarinet, Kya

David Smeyers, Susanne Mahr, Zsolt Nagy

1997

53

CPO - #999 340-2

Giacinto Scelsi: Chamber Works for Flute and Clarinet

nyos, Pwyll, Cinque Incantesimi, Rucke di Guck, Quays, Quattro Illustrazioni, Krishna
e Radha

Carin Levine, Kristi Becker, Peter Veale, Edith Sahnen, Giacinto Scelsi“

1998

CPO - #999 485-2

Scelsi: Quattro Pezzi per Orchestra
Quattro Pezzi for Orchestra, Pranam
Michiko Hirayama, Hans Zender
1997

Cypres - #4601

Nouvelles Musiques de Charnbre
Anahit

Vincent jacquemin, Jean-Pierre Peuvion
1996

Durian Records - #97
Klangforum Wien: Live at Konzerthaus Wien
I Presagi

Wien Klangforum, Hans Zender
1999

Emi - #6006

Ka & Ttai: Suites for Piano
Suite No. 9, Suite No. 10
Marianne Schroeder

1992

Etcetera (KTC) - #1136
Giacinto Scelsi: Trilogia/ Ko-Ta
Trilogia, Ko-Ta

Frances-Marie Uitti

1992

F orlane - #16800
Giacinto Scelsi
Natura renovatur, Anagarnin, Ohoi, Elohim,

Jean-Paul Dessy
2001

54

hatART - #6048

Kya

Kya, Ixor, Rucke di Guck, Tre Pezzi for Saxophone, Yamon, Maknongan
Markus Weiss, Philippe Racine, Jurg Wyttenbach

1999

INA - #247172

Memoire Vive

Pranam I, Ko-Tha, I presagi, Riti: I funerali di Alessandro Magno (323 A. C.), Trio,
Manto, Kya

Michiko Hirayama, Maurizio Ben Omar, Federico Mondelci, Aldo Brizzi

1993

Kairos - #1216

Giacinto Scelsi: Natura Renovatur

String Quartet No.4, Elohim, Duo: 1, Duo: 2, Anagarnin, Maknongan, Natura Renovatur
Annette Bik, Andreas Lindenbaum

2001

Kairos - #12032

Giacinto Scelsi

Yamon, Anahit, I presagi, Tre Pezzi for Saxophone, Okanagon

Hans Zender, Roland Hermann, Annette Bik, Pierre-Stephane Meguge
1999

Mode - #31

Haydée Schvartz, piano
Quattro illustrazioni
Haydée Schvartz

1994

Mode - #92

Scelsi: The Piano Works 1

Sonata No.2, Sonata No.4, Suite No. 9
2000

Mode - #95

Scelsi: Orchestral Works 1

1. Canti Del Capricomo No.1, Hymnos, Canto No.2, Canto No.18, Hurqualia, Canto
No.14-19

2001

55

Mode - #102

Giacinto Scelsi: Music for High Winds

Ixor, Suite for Flute and B flat clarinet, Preghiera per un ombra, Ko-Lho, Pwyll, Three
Studies for Eb clarinet, Rucke di guck, Three Latin Prayers

Carol Robinson, Clara Novakova

2002

New Albion Records - #74
Annum Per Annum

In Nomine Lucis

Christoph Maria Moosmann
1995

Simax - #1136

Contemporary Solo Double Bass 11
C'est bien la nuit

Siri Torjesen

2000

Sue (Can) - #571

Scelsi: Canti del capricomo
Canti del capricomo
Pauline Vaillancourt

1997

Sub Rosa - #51

Scelsi: Tre canti popolari

Tre canti popolari, Duo for violin & cello, Wo Ma, Sauh, liturgia, Aitsi

Andre Stordeur, Jean-Paul Dessy, Paul Gerimon, Marianne Pousseur, Lucy Grauman,

Jean-Luc Fafchamps
l 996

Solstice - #119

Giacinto Scelsi: In Nomine Lucis, organ

Triphon, Three Latin Prayers, Pranam II, Antifona, In Nomine Lucis I, Tre Canti Sacri, In
Nomine Lucis V

David Simpson, Graham O'Reilly

1998

Sub Rosa - #63
Scelsi: Sue Com Ponirnenti lrn Petuosi
Sonata No. 4 for piano, 2. Suite No 11 for piano

Johan Bossers
1 995

56