SSSS AAAA TTTT BBBB Choir
Composed in 2009.
Foreword
The Choral Études were conceived during an important creative turning point in my compositional career. Although I had come into contact with his work before, I became acquainted with the writings of Theodor Adorno (1903-1969) in earnest during my masters studies. His philisophical writings around the subject of the artist’s role in society are something which greatly stimulated my thinking, particularly his belief in the importance of motivating a critical interpretation of one’s music – and by extension, the world – in the listener. Contemporary art music has struggled to find relevance to society in the modern world partially because this is not always considered by the composer. Previously, I had come to the conclusion that to be a ‘respectable’ artist, it was enough to create something from one’s imagination that did not exist before. This rationale quickly revealed itself to be quite hollow to me and I knew that in order for my continued motivaton as an artist to prevail, I required something more to drive me. My work needed relevance, something which (at least for me) would connect it to the world I live in.
The sad truth of contemporary composition is that it is an elitist art form. It does not aim to be so but is nonetheless due to its very nature. Art which seeks to be the most truthful to its time and context is dependent on the interpretation of those relatively few individuals who seek beyond their regular sphere of thinking in order to find meaning in something unknown. With my Choral Études, my principal concern is the provocation of thought, while attempting to maintain a consideration of the importance of the listener’s attention, and hopefully, interpretation.
One way in which we attempt to improve our understanding of the world is through the practice of modelling. We build, study, perhaps enjoy, and hopefully interpret scaled down, simpler models of the world around us. I think music can be used in a similar way. As a starting point, I have designed each étude to operate primarily in terms of one musical constituent, with this quantity being considered in terms of a comparable constituent of the real world, or in this case, a certain facet of my own personal world: the late-capitalist consumer society in which I live. The word ‘etude’ (study) in the title thus has dual meanings. I intend for the Choral Études to be a continual exploration, or diary of my evolving outlook.
Dónal Rafferty
3 March 2010
Rhythm | Coincidence
This étude is a simple musical model of human regional (as opposed to physical or biomechanical) migration within a social construct; individuals moving at different paces, sometimes meeting, sometimes passing. Each of the four principal voices is assigned a monotone ‘signature’ rhythm, the voices entering consecutively in exposition fashion. Each signature rhythm is a four-bar rhythm in a different time signature with its own set of distinctive syllables based around different vowel sounds which aurally characterise it. These rhythms evolve throughout the piece and they are affected by their interactions with the other signature rhythms. Their basic ‘skeleton’ remains intact. I simplified the harmonic and melodic material in order to allow the performers to concentrate on mastering the substantial rhythmic difficulties of the piece. However, I felt that some harmonic progression was necessary to give the piece a narrative aspect. The simultaneous execution of various rhythms across the choir led to interesting points of conincidence during the piece, which became compositional highlights. I was thus able to structure the piece quite specifically through the exploitation of this almost fractal systematic behaviour before having written anything more than the signature rhythms. The interactions of smaller rhythmic cells in the piece produce interactions on a larger scale which reflect the behaviour of the smaller elements. If the piece were to be increased in length, similarly repeating events would occur whose pattern could only be discerned from a higher level consideration of the larger structure.
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Choral Étude: Rhythm | Coincidence – SCORE
Melody | Discourse
I do not claim to be an expert in the field of psychoanalysis but in this étude, I had the intention of expressing a behaviour of the human mind in musical terms. My model shares a resemblance to Freud’s psychic apparatus which is constituted by the id, the ego, and the superego. There are two contrasting types of music employed in this piece; a more instinctual and primitive kind and a more lyrical, reflective kind. The musical ‘discourse’ of the piece can be seen as a model of the internal psychological interaction of the id and the ego, with the compositional organisation of the piece reflecting the superego. The gender of voices in the ensemble is exploited so as to enhance the contrast between the two types of material. On another level, the étude could be assessed as a study of the interaction between the more primitive and more rational aspects of human behaviour. I attempted to determine the musical structure in an intuitive way. Ad libitum sections are used to invoke an atmosphere of disorder, although not quite chaos.
The language used in this étude is artificially constructed. I constructed words which would support the musical argument at that point most effectively. I also considered the fact that this would put all listeners at a similar ‘disadvantage’, hopefully compelling you to seek meaning in the music as opposed to interpreting words. In expressing an internal process like thought, it made sense to use an ‘internal’ language, which is meaningless independently, yet can take on meaning in terms of the music it expresses. Thoughts do not really exist in any language, they are transformed and thus only ever approximated by their expression through words.
No recording available yet.
Choral Étude: Melody | Discourse – SCORE
Style | Surrogation
We live in an age where society is obsessed with celebrity and fame culture. In this modern day late-capitalist system, celebrities are the unqualified yet unfortunate wielders of quite unsettling amounts of power. Moreover, celebrities have become instruments of surrogacy, some people no longer thinking for themselves but simply following the outcome of decisions made by someone they have constructed an artificial connection with.
Four solo parts are offset against the rest of the choir. The solo voices share between them various riffs from contemporary pop songs. The rest of the choir is quite static, with minimal melodic movement being driven by the actions of the solo voices. The choir’s music is ‘recycled’ from the Melody | Discourse étude. The text shared between the the solo voices is an oft-quoted yet nonetheless appropriate ‘shloka’ (verse) from the Brhadaranyaka Upanisad, one of the oldest parts of the Hindu scriptures.
Asato Maa Sad Gamaya
Tamaso Maa Jyotir Gamaya
Mrityor Maa Amritam Gamaya
Ohm Shanti Shanti ShantiLead us from the unreal to the real,
Lead us from darkness To light,
Lead us from death to immortality,
‘God’ let there be peace peace peace.
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