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Before dark, how distant the past

Smith, Jonathan Andrew
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1485801095348678

Abstract Details

2017, Master of Music (MM), Bowling Green State University, Music Composition.
Before dark, how distant the past is single-movement orchestral work lasting approximately six minutes. Inspired by “Leaving Aleppo” from poet Peter Balakian’s Ozone Journal, this piece reflects on history’s influence on current events and the importance of memory in times of strife. Cast in a through-composed form, Before dark is a programmatic work inspired by the imagery in “Leaving Aleppo” with further meditation on Black Dog of Fate, Dr. Balakian’s memoirs about his discovery of the Armenian Genocide and his grandmother’s survival of the death marches that ended in Aleppo, Syria. Modern-day Aleppo is plagued with civil war and has received significant international attention for the destruction and displacement of its population. Before dark, how distant the past contemplates these conflicts and the implications of their relationship in global history. The harmonic language of this piece is derived from the spectral analysis of a church bell found in Maaloula, Syria. The bell’s most prominent overtones can be distilled into the hexachord, 6-45[25789B] along with the two quarter tones D quarter-flat and D quarter-sharp. These eight pitches comprise the entirety of the piece’s first half. The composition’s other sections employ the octachord 8-12[25789AB1]. This set contains both 6-45 (the “bell” hexachord) and its z-relation, 6-23 as subsets. Interleaved with the octachordal material is aggressive descending material derived from a tone row resulting from the combination of 6-45 and 6-23; this aggregate expands with the addition of three quarter tones, D quarter-flat, D quarter-sharp, and E quarter-flat, to form a fifteen-note chord that marks the piece’s climax before a short denouement. Structurally, Before dark, how distant the past draws inspiration from the idea of descent; descending gestures feature prominently in the macro- and micro-scale. The macro-level features a large-scale registral descent; high register opening material stated in the glockenspiel, harp, and piano evolves into the ending’s low marimba and contrabassoon sustains. Between these points, solos in the English horn, bassoon, bass clarinet, and contrabassoon trace a gradual descent into the lowest woodwind registers. Finally, downward runs permeate almost every section, culminating in rapid, overlapping descending patterns in the winds and strings near the end.
Elainie Lillios, Dr. (Advisor)
Mikel Kuehn, Dr. (Committee Member)
18 p.
Composition; Fine Arts; Music
Orchestra; Music; Composition; Refugees; Syria; Spectral; Balakian

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Smith, J. A. (2017). Before dark, how distant the past [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1485801095348678

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Smith, Jonathan. Before dark, how distant the past. 2017. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1485801095348678.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Smith, Jonathan. "Before dark, how distant the past." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1485801095348678

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1485801095348678
281
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This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.