Wet Crimson on Chiricahua

dc.contributor.advisorApplebaum, Edward
dc.creatorClark, Patrick David
dc.date.accessioned2009-06-04T08:19:48Z
dc.date.available2009-06-04T08:19:48Z
dc.date.issued1998
dc.description.abstractThe acoustic scale, derived as it is from the overtone series lends both a tonally functional power and harmonic clarity to my work for large orchestra. The fact that the overtone series, through its first 14 members sounded simultaneously, produces an X $\flat$7 9 $\sharp$11 13 chord, which has a powerful dominant function, insures that a "pan-diatonic" use of a pitch field comprised of these pitch-classes will have a forward-pushing harmonic tension. The close relationship which these notes have to the octatonic and whole-tone scales justifies my pitch-field modulations from the acoustic scale to these modes. These secondary modes also produce strong dominant sonorities. Additionally, because of their symmetrical construction, they are useful to create harmonically static and ambiguous passages. Finally, harmonic resolution can be reserved for the use of diatonic pitch-fields (owing to the asymmetry of their construction). I have attempted to maintain harmonic clarity through the greater part of the work by using triadic constructions as opposed to overly dense pitch-clusters. The contrasting of a triad from one mode against a triad from another mode produces greater chromaticism and tension than sonorities derived from a single pitch-set. This work represents for me a response to the over-fragmentation of materials resulting from unrelenting non-functional harmony which dominates much music today. Specifically, the Chant and Organum sections serve to bring a sense of resolution to the ambiguous symmetrical harmonies which precede them. Resolution of instability is, I think, a necessary process in music which is fundamental to most people's ontological conception of the world. The Coda allows the material to drift back into "uncertainty" which is again, for most of us, the human condition. I have attempted to satisfy an internal and abstract sense of esthetic balance without resorting to purely cerebral means.
dc.format.extent43 p.en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.callnoTHESIS MUSIC 1998 CLARK
dc.identifier.citationClark, Patrick David. "Wet Crimson on Chiricahua." (1998) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/19249">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/19249</a>.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/19249
dc.language.isoeng
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.
dc.subjectMusic
dc.titleWet Crimson on Chiricahua
dc.typeThesis
dc.type.materialText
thesis.degree.departmentMusic
thesis.degree.disciplineMusic
thesis.degree.grantorRice University
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Musical Arts
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