Kang, Jonghee
(2015)
MULTI-LAYERED CONSTRUCTION OF ELLIOTT CARTER’S VIOLIN CONCERTO, FIRST MOVEMENT, AND
IMMERSED IN AN ETHEREAL BLUE LIGHT FOR CHAMBER ENSEMBLE.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Most analytical studies of Elliott Carter’s music focus on how Carter utilizes his system of harmony, pitch material, or polyrhythmic stratification. This study, however, explores the structure of Carter’s Violin Concerto from a different analytic angle. Violin Concerto constitutes a new structural model for the traditional concerto genre based on its multi-layered construction. The background structure of Violin Concerto is derived from pre-compositional planning, utilizing tempo modulation and three-way stratification based on a long-range polyrhythm. The phrase structure of the concerto divides the first movement into seven sections, while the movement’s rhythmic activity largely shows a four-part structure. Detailed phrase analysis of the first movement’s violin solo part uses the notions of memory and montage to explain the solo part’s construction. The solo part’s temporally manipulated structure is framed in a ritornello form by the orchestra’s behavior.!In this late-period Carter work, both the violin solo and the orchestra make manifest constant circulations of particular musical ideas, which appear in various structural levels. This unique mapping of the concerto, especially of the violin solo, is best understood through concepts like montage, events and event-properties. As invented terms for this study, an event consists of event-properties, which are reoccurring and synthesized character-objects, particular musical ideas in terms of intervallic motion, rhythm pattern, and change of textural density. These concepts are applied for the phrase analysis, which involves the following process: defining the characteristic properties of the events in sub-phrase and phrase levels; locating the events created with similar or identical event-properties; and then exploring how they are mapped to larger levels. Such examination shows a strong unifying characteristic of
the concerto.
The composition, Immersed in an Ethereal Blue Light for chamber ensemble, musically explores the contrast and the phenomenal differences between the dark and deep blue sea and the bright ocean surface. While the second movement, Open Water, is saturated with a dark, monochromatic, and relatively empty character, the first movement, Nearer the Coast..., features brighter and more dynamic aural illustration.
Share
| Citation/Export: |
|
| Social Networking: |
|
Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
|
| Date: |
19 June 2015 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
31 March 2015 |
| Approval Date: |
19 June 2015 |
| Submission Date: |
14 April 2015 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
176 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Music |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Elliott Carter, Violin Concerto, montage, syntax, ocean, multi-layered |
| Date Deposited: |
19 Jun 2015 20:38 |
| Last Modified: |
15 Nov 2016 14:27 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/24859 |
Metrics
Monthly Views for the past 3 years
Plum Analytics
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
![[img]](http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png)
![[feed]](/images/feed-icon-32x32.png){kind=icon}