Back to Our Origins

In my third blog post, "Early Polyphony, Architecture and Minimalism", I discussed similarities between the music of Steve Reich and Perotin. The idea that two composers living a millenium apart would have striking similarities in their music might be shocking. However, when listening to Reich I can't help but think of Perotin. It is as though the spirit of Reich's compositions is a twentieth century reincarnation of of the sounds produced at Notre Dame in the thirteenth century.

I was reminded of Perotin while listening to Reich's Come Out (1966). This tape piece was commissioned as a response to the brutal beating of six African American boys in Harlem in 1964 (stevereich.com). Reich chose the voice of Daniel Hamm for this work. The excerpt of recording used is that of Hamm explaining the degree of his injuries. He says,

"I had to, like, open the bruise up and let some of the bruise blood come out to show
them.."

Reich loops the full quotation twice before repeating the phrase "come out to show them" for the remaining 12:45 minutes of the work. In this repetition, Reich lays a foundation similar to the chant used in Perotin's polyphony. Around the 1:05 mark it becomes obvious that the recorded segment is being gradually slowed on another track, creating a sense of imitative polyphony. This repetition slowly expands. As it does, many rhythmic combinations occur. The rhythm is felt by three plosive consonants in Hamm's voice- the [k] sound in "come", the [t] sound in "out" and "to", and the [sh] sound in "show". While the meaning of these words have special significance, I think Reich surely chose this clip for its percussive consonants as well.

At 2:52, a third and/or fourth (its hard to tell) loop is introduced creating a sense of canon. A similarity can be drawn here to the three and four part voice texture used in Perotin's organum. At 8:31, the pieces of recording are brought together forming a rhythmic pattern similar to that of a train engine. The words become harder to interpret, and the sound becomes ominous and somewhat unsettling. Perotin's music does not create the same unsettling feeling heard in Come Out, but it does have the atmospheric, hallucinatory qualities created in this work.

Maybe in the big scheme of things, music's journey is on a circular path.

Impressionism

The arrival of the twentieth century brought with it an abundance of new, distinct styles. For what seems like the first time in music history, composers chose the path of their liking to create their own unique sound. This independence led to an explosion of style in the story line of music history and included movements such as Expressionism, Exoticism, Impressionism, Primitivism, ism, ism, ism... The list could go on.

My favorite of these new "isms" originated in France at the end of the nineteenth century. Impressionism, as it is known today, deals with sensual beauty. It seeks to capture the immediate impression of a sudden glance. Because the eye does not retain distinct features such as line and form in a moment's glimpse, Impressionist art does not have sharp lines or defined forms. Each color and line flows freely into its neighbor, creating an inviting, flowing palette of color and sound on which the senses can feast. Below are two works of Claude Monet, Impression: Sunrise (1872) and San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk (1912). Notice the melding of colors, the unfocused lines and the glimpse of consciousness that Monet communicates.

Similar impressionist effects were created in the music of Claude Debussy. Just as Monet created ambiguity with blurred lines and merging colors, Debussy puts little emphasis on the form of his compositions. Of higher importance in his music is the timbre of instruments and the awakening of colors through harmonic language. In his Prelude to "The Afternoon of a Faun", Debussy employs glimpses of the whole tone scale to create a cloudy sensation. The colors of the flute and harp seem to go hand in hand with the colors of Monet's works shown above. Classical era musicians who glorified the use of form would have been lost in their search for structure upon hearing this work.

I've included two renditions of the piece below. The first is the original Debussy score. The second is a jazz/funk influenced version. If for no other reason, this shows a glimpse into the explosion of genres that were taking shape at the beginning of the twentieth century.