Dissertation Index
Author: Kallis, Vasilis, C Title: Modes of Cross-collectional Interaction: A Study of Four Collections in Music by Debussy, Ravel and Scriabin Institution: University of Nottingham Begun: October 1997 Completed: October 2003 Abstract: Cross-collectional interaction is a primary means of pitch organisation in twentieth-century music. This enquiry examines two broad interactive categories: one based on the genetics of symmetrical collections through certain transpositional schemes, the other promoting the direct, one-to-one juxtaposition of pitch fields: collections and constituent substructures. The focus is on four collections (chosen specifically for their special inherent properties) that show consistency of usage in the early twentieth century: octatonic (8-28), whole-tone (6-35), hexatonic (6-20) and acoustic (7-34). Inspection reveals that the above entities exhibit peculiar and intriguing ways of interacting with one another as well as with diatonic/tonal determinacy. A central aim of this study is to substantiate that the proposed modus operandi of cross-collectional interaction — which precisely reflects this intriguing interactive pluralism — receives extensive realisation in Debussy’s Nuages, Ravel’s Jeux d’eau and Scriabin’s Tenth Sonata, Opus 70. Keywords: Non-diatonic collections, cross-collectional interaction, octatonic scale, acoustic scale, hexatonic scale, whole-tone scale, set theory, symmetry, Scriabin, Debussy, Ravel TOC: 1. The Octatonic Collection i. Intervallic Properties ii. History of Usage iii. Octatonicism in France iv. Alexander Scriabin: 8-28/7-34 Interpenetration within 9-10 v. Igor Stravinsky: Inheritance and Contrivance vi. Bartók and other Octatonic Exponents in Europe and the United States 2. The Whole-Tone Collection i. Whole-Tone Harmonic Resourcefulness 98 ii. Historical Awareness: the Whole-Tone Scale in Eastern Europe iii. The Whole-Tone Scale and Late Nineteenth- Century Chromatic Tonality iv. The Whole-Tone Collection in Post-tonal Music; Whole-Tone Tonality v. Issues concerning Whole-Tone Harmonic Resourcefulness in Post-tonal Music vi. The Whole-Tone Collection: an Alternative Harmonic System? 3. The Hexatonic Collection i. Symmetrical Partitioning: Hexatonic Derivation and Cross-collectional Interpenetration ii. Historical Route PART II 4. Modes of Cross-collectional Interaction i. Intervallic Properties; the Medium to Interpenetration Procedures ii. The First Mode of Cross-collectional Interaction; Synthetically Modelled Interpenetration iii. The Second Mode of Cross-collectional Interaction PART III 5. Debussy: Nuages i. Levels of Structure: 8-28, 7-34 and the Striving for Priority ii. A Dramatic Opposition: B versus G Priority iii. Hermeneutical Issues: from Orientation to Identity iv. The Musical Surface v. Structural Coherence through Motivic Unity 6. Ravel: Jeux d’eau i. Exposition ii. Development iii. Recapitulation 7. Scriabin: Tenth Sonata, Opus 70 i. Scriabin and the Hexatonic Universe: 6-20 and 9-12 ii. Opus 70 and Beyond; Models of Pitch Organisation: 9-10 and 9-12 iii. Tenth Sonata, Opus 70: Sets and Structure Conclusion Contact: kallis.v@unic.ac.cy kallisv@yahoo.com |