Aleatoric Music Of The 20th Century Music Essay

Aleatoric Music Of The 20th Century Music Essay compositional and instrumental methods utilized by John Cage. The biographical background, educational influences and examples of the musical compositions of Cage will also be illustrated. This paper continues by describing the various methods and processes employed by John Cage in the formation of music written during the minimalist movement. Contrived instruments, ambient audience noise, non-traditional tone structures and electronic music will be identified and defined. Furthermore, this paper will explore the debate over aleatoric music as art form versus noise. Traditionally, Western music is highly structured and organized- however, music written in aleatory form generally lacks traditional instrumentation, time, and other methods present in Western forms. According to whom one would ask, aleatoric music can be extremely complex, emotional and intellectual. On the other hand, there are those who believe aleatoric music is nothing more than random noise with no structure, rhyme or reason. Over the course of this paper, the reader will be able to discern that aleatoric music is a definitive musical genre. ii Aleatoric Music of the 20th Century: Compositions of John Cage An Art Form, Not Noise Introduction Aleatoric music refers to musical compositions where some aspect of the music is left to chance. The tempo, instrumentation, dynamics, order of the written music, or various other devices can be manipulated. Simply put, aleatoric music is left up to some amount of chance. However, the amount of chance is not immeasurable. In many cases, the composer only allows a portion of the entire composition to chance while the rest conforms to standard Western-influenced counterpoint. The American composer John Cage was one of the foremost composers who utilized aleatory in musical works. He was also the father of the avant-garde in music during the minimalist movement. THESIS: By studying the devices used in Cages compositions, the argument will be clearly made that aleatoric music, while sometimes free in form and function, is clearly a structured art form and not random noise. ii Aleatoric Music of the 20th Century: Compositions of John Cage An Art Form, Not Noise Outline: Aleatoric Music Explicative definition of aleatoric music Overview of aleatoric devices John Cage Early life and education B. Utilization of aleatoric devices in compositions Thesis support Compare and contrast with opposing viewpoint Acknowledge and dismiss opposing view utilizing evidenciary support Conclusion Summarize main points Reinforce the argument that aleatoric music is not random Markham 1 Selena Markham MUS 2930 Dr. Valerie Austin November 22, 2010 Aleatoric Music of the 20th Century: Compositions of John Cage An Art Form, Not Noise Aleatoric music refers to musical compositions where some aspect of the music is left to chance. The tempo, instrumentation, dynamics, order of the written music, or various other devices can be manipulated. Simply put, aleatoric music is left up to some amount of chance. However, the amount of chance is not immeasurable. In many cases, the composer only allows a portion of the entire composition to chance while the rest conforms to standard Western-influenced counterpoint. The American composer John Cage was one of the foremost composers who utilized aleatory in musical works. He was also the father of the avant-garde in music during the minimalist movement. By studying the devices used in Cages compositions, the argument will be clearly made that aleatoric music, while sometimes free in form and function, is clearly a structured art form and not random noise. One of the most prolific composers of music in aleatory, John Cage, was born September 5, 1912 in Los Angeles, California. He was the only child of Markham 2 parents Lucretia and John Cage, Sr. (two other sons passed away as infants). His father was an inventor and his mother worked on and off as a writer for the Los Angeles Times. The couple met in Greeley, Colorado. John Cage, Sr.s father was a Baptist minister who felt music was of the Devil. His mother, Lucretia (her maiden name was Harvey) was considered rebellious because she read books (a practice her family forbade). The young couple fled the restrictive atmosphere of Colorado for the more welcoming state of California. John Cage, Sr. had an avid interest in undersea vessels and, in fact, invented a device that was used in the English Channel to successfully detect German submarines during World War I. The intellect and innovative spirit of his mother and father would serve young Cage well throughout his lifetime. (Rich 142). As early as age eight, the young Cage began to express an interest for music that was slightly outside of the norm. While taking piano lessons with his aunt, the young boy confessed he enjoyed the music of Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (Rich 145). When Cage graduated in 1928, his grades earned him the record of having the best academics in Los Angeles High Schools history. From high school, Cage spent two years at Pomona College (Struble 287). While at Pomona College, he studied ministry and writing. (Rich 145). Cage then went on hiatus to Europe for two years. While there, he composed many short works, some using mathematical formulas. Unfortunately, Cage did Markham 3 not save these early works- as he traveled, he would go through his belongings and discard any non-essential items in order to lighten his load (Nicholls 175). He returned to the United States in 1931 and in 1933, John Cage began to study piano under Richard Buhlig, who introduced the composer to serialism, an aleatoric musical device. Serialism is music which has been written with a high degree of organization (Brindle 17). Since Buhlig had premiered serialist composer Arnold Schoenbergs composition Three Piano Pieces, Cage hoped Buhlig would introduce him to Schoenberg. Instead, Cages first published piece, Sonata for Clarinet (1933), brought him to the attention of Henry Cowell, a professor teaching the new music at the New Music Society of California in San Francisco. Though Cage was able to informally study with Schoenberg, Cowell was his primary influence (Lipman 22). The Sonata for Clarinet also shows how Cage used serialism to reproduce the same pitches in retrograde in the last movement from the first movement of the same composition in a highly organized fashion. Ironically, when the Sonata for Clarinet premiered, Cage found himself performing it on piano because the clarinetist was unable to do so (Nicholls 176). Over the course of the next two years (1933-34), John Cage invented a new technique called 25-pitch non-repetitive serialism. In this technique, each voice is limited to a twenty-five note pitch area and no pitch can be repeated Markham 4 until all twenty-five have been played. He also used this technique in three additional pieces he wrote during this period: the Sonata for Two Voices (Nov. 1933), Composition for Three Voices (1934) and Soloà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ and Six Short Inventions (1933-34). The use of this technique was generally not harmonically sound with the exception of a few phrases (Nicholls 177). John Cage composed two pieces in 1935 (Three Pieces for Flute Duet and Two Pieces for Piano) that also used the serialism technique. The harmony was paired with a highly chromatic melodic line that made the pieces overwhelmingly contrapuntal. However, these pieces tended to possess a higher percentage of harmonically pleasing subject matter (Nicholls 184). These works also coincided with his introduction to Merce Cunningham, an author, choreographer and Cages lifelong love interest. As a result, Cage began to be interested in how music correlated with dance. John Cage and Merce Cunningham collaborated to organize performances using Cages music and Cunninghams choreography over the course of their lifetimes (Thomson 77). Another interesting device John Cage used in his composition was ambient noise. In his piece 4 33 (1952), a piano or any ensemble is to conduct themselves as if they were preparing to play. However, the instrument(s) or performer(s) never utter a singular sound- for the entire four minutes and Markham 5 thirty-three seconds. The idea is to attune ones self with the ambient noise of the room, the noise entering the room from outside and the natural noises of the people within (Lipman 30). The piece has also been said to be an example of freedom in general (Brindle 122). This work had its premiere by pianist David Tudor in Woodstock, New York, on August 29, 1952, in the Maverick Concert Hall (located near where the 1969 Woodstock Festival was held). Cage (interviewed in the late 1980s by William Duckworth) stated that he listened to the piece every day and that in Indian culture, it is we that turn away from the music. However, the music is always there (Bonds 588-589). An original device employed by John Cage was an invention all his own- the prepared piano. A prepared piano is a grand piano where the inside strings are manipulated by foreign objects to produce a twelve-tone scale. Such was the case with Cages composition Bacchanale (1940)- a percussive piece he was commissioned to write to be performed with a dance group. The work was originally intended for percussion instruments, but was relegated to the prepared piano when it was deemed the concert hall was too small for all of the required instrumentation. Cage required that bolts and weatherstripping be attached to the strings connected to the 12 different notes (Bonds 590). John Cages influence in the realm of electronic music began as early as 1937. His composition Imaginary Landscape No. 1 (1939) was one of the first Markham 6 written in the electronic genre. It consisted of recording oscillatory frequencies on two 78rpm gramophone records (Brindle 99). He also wrote a piece comprised of fifty-one tapes (each twenty minutes long) produced on the computer system of Illinois University (Illiac) that could be played in any order along with seven live harpsichords and a light show of sorts. This piece was written in 1967 and titled HPSCHD (Brindle 125). John Cage began to write pieces titled by the number of performers later in his life. For example, the work titled One (1987) was for one pianist. Another work, titled Five (1988) was for string quintet. These pieces are dubbed number pieces (Moser 31). Even these odd little pieces have a structure- the structure being the amount of time the performer has to perform each measure and the number of musicians required for performance. As illustrated with the devices John Cage used in his compositions, his works are very structured and organized. Cage was one of the total serialists, who felt that music composition could be planned and analyzed with the precision of scientific experiments (Lipman 56). In his own words during a lecture in Darmstadt in 1958: The function of the performerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ is comparable to that of someone filling in color where outlines are given; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ is that of giving form, providing, that is to say, the morphology of the continuity, the Markham 7 expressive content; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ is that of a photographer who on obtaining a camera uses it to take a picture; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ is comparable to that of a traveler who must constantly be catching trains the departures of which have not been announced but which are in the process of being announced (Moser 8). It is clear by reading these words that Cage finds his music to have form, which is a staple of Western music. In addition, his music is generally left up to the interpretation of the performer- definitively not an aspect of Western music. Even still, form is readily detectable within his works regardless of how the stated form is interpreted by the performers. Another argument concerning music in aleatory is that there are no determinate ways to discern the number of possible arrangements. This simply is not true: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the exact number of realizations of an indeterminate score can often be determinedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Moser 11). In conclusion, John Cage lived during an exciting time in American history. Just after his birth in 1912, the United States found itself fully engaged in World War I. The United States truly became a world power during this time. The enlightenment through his well-rounded and educated parents as well as the Markham 8 excitement and innovations of the new century served John Cage well, as he was able to thrive and grow as an intellectual and musician in this environment. Although his music is sounds extremely dissonant and non-harmonic, it exhibits a high amount of structure. Cages earlier works illustrate a mathematical approach to the music- meaning that the music makes sense based on mathematical principles, but not necessarily traditional ideals surrounding musical composition. The influence of John Cages music can certainly be felt today in late 20th century jazz and numerous other works that allow the performers greater freedoms. Take, for instance, the piece recently performed on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Dr. Joanna Hersey premiered a work for her Low Brass Ensemble at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke titled Sails, Whales and Whalers (2008) by Gary Buttery. This work included recorded whale song interspersed with the live music produced by the L ow Brass Ensemble (Hersey Krosschell). Perhaps Gary Butterys composition was influenced in some way by the works of John Cage. There is no doubt that many musicians past, present, and future have been and will continue to be influenced by Cages maverick attitude toward music. Markham 9

Jealousy in the book of Genesis Essay

The first book of the Pentateuch is rife with Jealousy. It seems a peculiar obsession of those writing in the Lord’s name. After all, such sins as murder, adultery and slothfulness seem so much more damaging to our communities and our selves. Why are the jade eyes of jealously given so much attention in the bible’s leadoff book, especially in the story of the second and third men, Cain and his brother Abel. I suspect that jealousy, being a universal human emotion, one which human beings so easily find themselves sinking into, and one which is so obviously coarse and negative, inspired the writers of the bible to bring attention to it’s dangers very early on in their text. Although the instances of jealousy found in the later narratives of Genesis, perhaps those of Noah and Abraham, present more nuanced and complex manifestations of this all too human frailty, the visceral nature of Cain’s crime and the ambiguity of his atonement must first be addressed, as well as the fundamental differences between jealousy among men and man’s jealousy of God. Cain is assigned to be the â€Å"tiller of the ground† (Genesis 4:2 – NKJV) in the garden of Eden. Abel, his younger brother, the second son of Adam and Eve, was given the more genteel task of tending to flocks of sheep. Both made offerings to the Lord, Cain in the form of the â€Å"fruit of the ground† (Genesis 4:3) and Abel â€Å"the firstborn of their flock and his fat† (Genesis 4:4) which God respected. However the next verse, 4:5, reveals that God did not respect Cain’s offering. Why? The Biblical writers, men knowing nothing at all of God’s motivations (not to mention his existence), don’t feel the need to indulge us with God’s motives or criteria for respecting an offering. We do know that he took unkindly to Cain’s â€Å"countenance†, which â€Å"fell† following his rejection. One could easily see how being rejected by God, who hints at some criteria when he says in 4:7 â€Å"If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at your door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it. † Of course, in the very next verse, Cain, after a brief conversation with his brother of which we are told nothing about, kills Abel. Sin came to his door, in the form of jealousy toward his brother and he acted upon it in the most despicable way possible. The biblical writers are trying to dramatize an emotion and its consequences as effectively as possible. Did Cain feel that his offering was superior to his brothers and that he being unfairly judged by God? That God would not accept his offering, regardless of the quality of his fruit? Without more detail, it’s hard to erect any sort of value judgment, within the Christian Lexicon, on the matter of Cain and Abel. God seems a little overbearing and perhaps bears more than a small share of the guilt for Cain’s jealousy. If Cain had toiled that barren mid-eastern soil simply to praise God, rose day and night for his Lord’s glory, than was it perhaps a bit insensitive on the Lord’s part to reject him. Had Abel provoked Cain in any other way? What did they talk about that faithful day? In what language could they have spoken? As you can see, the first instance of jealousy in the Biblical text leaves more stones unturned and more questions unanswered than not. The story of Cain and Abel illuminates the first instance of intra-human jealousy. From the very beginning however, man was jealous of God. God creates man in his own image and makes him humble and stupid. Adam and Eve we’re simply to be in the Garden, lord of the Earth’s other creatures and stay out of God’s affairs, those that concern the moral and scientific complexities of the world. For as God puts it in Genesis 2:16-17, â€Å"Of every tree of the Garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. † Later, after man as created Eve, verse 2:25 exclaims â€Å"And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. † A surface reading suggests that man was meant for to remain in a pure, infantile state. Before man erected society, technology or democracy, man was designed to remain pure of the complexities of morality. Yet Adam and Eve, given the free will God had granted them and a base awareness of good and evil, ironically because of God’s edict to stay far away from the tree which allows one knowledge of such matters, had the ability to choose such knowledge, and with a little persuasion from the villainous serpent, they did. Surely the ways of God are mysterious, but why would he set up man with a series of bizarrely attractive ways to subvert his intentions for their well-being? Eve makes a series of evaluative judgments upon the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil when she thinks to herself in verse 3:6 â€Å"So when the woman saw the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, She took of the fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband, and he ate. † Was God setting up Adam and Eve for the fall when he created the tree in the first place? Hoew else to explain an omnipotent God who willfully creates beings who we’re, despite their naivete, are capable of learning and seeing the virtues of something which their creator had made arbitrarily off limits while simultaneously placing being in their midst whose whole obligation is to tempt them? Certainly the rest of the Biblical narrative depends on the jealousy inspired fall – without it, the rest of the story, which culminates with Jesus sacrificing himself for man’s sins and thus offering him redemption, several thousand year before the Earth is destroyed during Jesus’ rapturous return, could not have been constructed by the Biblical writers. Perhaps, if it is out their God wanted to fall. It is simply man’s innocent jealousy, of God’s wisdom and goodness and perhaps his power to arbitrarily, without fear of reprisal or retribution, horde power over his creations, which drove Eve to follow the serpent’s instructions. The instinct to want what others have is as old as man. Surely the omnipotent clockmaker deity that the early enlightenment era Europeans constructed out of King James’ text was aware of this opposition he was creating. It is, after all, just another part of God’s grand design. Bibliography The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Bibles, 1982.

Water Pollution in Textile Industry

Reduction In the con. [amount of chemicals used thereby reducing their harmful effects. Reduction of waste concentration by recovery and reuse. Reduction of waste concentration by chemical substitution. Reduction of waste concentration by process modification. Segregation of Fenton of each process. Devising suitable treatment for ultimate disposal, to meet the requirements. To explore the economics related to reuse of treated Fenton.Reduction In waste water volume Reducing the number of washing and use of hot water in washings use of counter current washing use of standing bath in dyeing Use of low Liquor Ratio systems Good house keeping and prevention of leakages and spillages (A reduction of 20- 40 volume of wastewater generated Is possible) Reduction In con. / amount of chemicals Optimum use is necessary, which is not always possible in textile processing industry Textile processing involves heterogeneous interactions between fiber material – solid and chemicals – li quid, solutions or emulsions.Essential operations involved in Textile Processing : Maximum penetration of chemicals into fiber material to achieve desired Interactions. Thorough removal of unused/unfixed chemicals and Impurities from the textile material. Because of the heterogeneity of Interaction, only Limited absorption f various types of chemicals and coolants used for chemical processing onto the textile fiber materials is possible. Reduction of waste con. By recovery and reuse of Recovery of synthetic sizing agents from desiring bath and their reuse.Reactive dyes have very low BODY) Multifunctional reactive dyes for better fixation & less unfixed Use of non-ionic tessellate fatty alcohols and anionic polymerases in place of alkyl phenol tessellates CEO-friendly stabilizers, sequestrates Use of mineral acid in desiring Use of enzymes in various processes Substitution of sodium sulfide for sulfur dyes Disperse- hydrocarbon carriers No or less kerosene in Pigment Printing Partial or complete replacement of printing gums by suitable emulsions Formaldehyde free cationic dye fixing agent, DEEMED, low formaldehyde Low salt dyesReduction of waste con. By process modification Use of Foam technology Use of transfer paper printing Combined processes Automatic dispensing Segregation of drain Many a times it is convenient to segregate the waste water of a particular textile wet process for efficient reuse/ recovery of chemicals or dyes. This leads to economy of the process. However it is utmost necessary to have sufficient concentration of the chemical / dye in the waste water that can be economically recovered and put to reuse. If the concentration is too low or if the chemical is cheap, then this technique s ineffective.Devising suitable treatment for ultimate disposal Depends on mode of discharge of effluent. Balance between the capital cost and running cost of treatment. If disposal is into public sewers, preliminary treatment (screening, grit removal and equaliz ation) followed only by primary treatment with chemical coagulation, flocculation and sedimentation will be necessary. If disposal is directly to stream then primary and secondary treatment is necessary. If disposal is on the agriculture land, primary treatment followed by gypsum treatment for reduction of sodium will be necessary.

Leadership in Beowulf, Oedipus the King, and Antigone

Leadership can be defined as the ability of a superior to influence the behavior of a minor or group and persuade them to follow a particular course of action. A leader sets a course of action and ensures that everyone follows the action. Leading can apply to leading oneself, other individuals, groups, organizations and societies. The nature of how leading is done depends on the framework of the situation, ones point of view, and on the nature and needs of those involved. While leadership is learned, the skills and knowledge processed by the leader are influenced by their traits, such as beliefs, values, ethics, and most importantly character. Knowledge and skills directly relate to the process of leadership, while the other qualities†¦show more content†¦But in the end, he always finds a way out. For example, when Beowulf fights the dragon, it seems as if his age finally got to him and that the dragon will ultimately win. As the battle progresses, Beowulf finds something w ithin and finally slays the beast. In society today, the bad boy image has become very prevalent in high schools. These kids believe that bullying and doing drugs will make them popular in life, but as they find out later in life, it was the wrong decision. They realize that being bad was not a better option than being good. They see that good always prevails. Beowulf was a great example of a leader, as he took on responsibility that was ahead of him and fought without the need of money. Oedipus the King is a tale that starts out with the city of Thebes suffering from a drastic plague and their king, Oedipus wants to find out why. Creon is sent to find the reason why the plague is occurring, and sends Tiresias to tell Oedipus the oracle. The oracle says that the murderer of Laius must be found and punished. This caused Oedipus to proclaim that he would do everything so that he could to find the murderer. Tiresias says that the murderer is Oedipus, but Oedipus is quick to disagree. Oedipus came to the towns of Thebes because of a prophecy that was given to him. He was told that he was to kill his father and even sleep with his own mother. Once the story comes to an end, theShow MoreRelatedLeadership Lessons From Beowulf and Oedipus Essay1477 Words   |  6 PagesLeadership can be defined as the ability of a superior to influence the behavior of a minor or group and persuade them to follow a particular course of action. A leader sets a course of action and ensures that everyone follows the action. Leading can apply to leading oneself, other individuals, groups, organizations and societies. The nature of how leading is done depends on the framework of the situation, ones point of view, and on the nature and needs of those involved. While leadership is learnedRead MoreCourageous Acts by Heroes in Ancient Literature1546 Words   |  6 Pagesreading about many great stories about heroes from ages. In my essay I will be taking about the courageous acts by heroes in ancient literature. An old English epic poem set in Scandinavia called â€Å"Beowulf† is a brave adventurous poem about the hero of Geats who helps the King of Danes. Secondly, â€Å"The Antigone† a tragedy play written by Sophocles in 400BC. It is mainly focused on a brother sister’s relationship. At last I will talk about the epic Latin poem â€Å" The Aeneid† by Virgil is a legendary story