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Twice Collapsed

Normann, Andrew J
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1428515708

Abstract Details

2015, Master of Music (MM), Bowling Green State University, Music Composition.
Twice Collapsed is a composition for full orchestra with a duration of approximately six minutes. The orchestra is comprised of piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets in Bb, one bass clarinet, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets in C, two tenor trombones, one bass trombone, one tuba, three percussion, harp, piano, and strings. Twice Collapsed is in two contrasting sections, essentially a non-repeating binary form. In the first half of the piece, an ostinato based on a tone row is orchestrated across the ensemble and different instrumental groups play particular pitch classes within the row. The opening also contains a contrasting idea marked by staccato chords in the woodwinds and later in the brass. The pitch language of these harmonies is derived from the same tone row that is found in the previous linear section. The second half of the piece begins suddenly with a high drone in the violins and metal pitched percussion instruments. The drone continues throughout the section, but is subject to orchestrational variations and a harmonic additive process, which continually places new drones into the texture in different instruments and meters. The result is a shimmering, perpetually moving web of contrapuntal drones. The harmonic quality of the droning texture is, in contrast to the music in the first half of the piece, tonal and consonant, largely derived from the B-flat Lydian mode. This tonal harmonic scheme is periodically interrupted by contrasting, dissonant harmonies in the low brass and strings. These harmonies are derived from the piece’s initial tone row at a different transposition level. The piece ends as these dissonant harmonies first dominate the texture and then give way to the high drone that began the section. The musical inspiration for Twice Collapsed comes from the works of Igor Stravinsky (Symphony in Three Movements, Symphonies of Wind Instruments), Louis Andriessen (De Stijl, Hoketus), Joan Tower (Silver Ladders), and John Adams (The Chairman Dances). The dissonant, crass harmonies of the opening section resemble the harmonic techniques in the music of Stravinsky and Andriessen, and the shimmering orchestrational textures in the second half evoke the sound world of Tower’s Silver Ladders and Adams’ Chairman Dances.
Marilyn Shrude, Dr. (Advisor)
Christopher Dietz, Dr. (Committee Member)
20 p.
Music
tonal harmonic scheme; droning; Igor Stravinsky; Louis Andriessen; Joan Tower; John Adams

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Normann, A. J. (2015). Twice Collapsed [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1428515708

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Normann, Andrew. Twice Collapsed . 2015. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1428515708.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Normann, Andrew. "Twice Collapsed ." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1428515708

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1428515708
293
© 2015, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Twice Collapsed by Andrew J Normann is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.