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12 Additional Contemporary Procedures*I. A degree of chance is inherent in all music; this is caused by the imperfections of notation and performance

variables. Baroque music, like much jazz, introduces a number of partially controlled elements (ornamenta-tion, tempo fluctuations, and figured-bass improvisation). All live performance introduces unpredictableelements. Some recent composers have systematically introduced random (aleatoric) elements into theirmusic, with some exerting only minimal control over the result and others determining all but a few details.

A. Indeterminate elements often result from practical considerations. For example, if the composer has inmind only the following generally fast, disjunct fragment that accelerates,

it may be more efficient to notate it in proportional notation.

Frame notation can also be used.

*For further examples of nontraditional notation, see Stone.

(play in random order)

B. The composer may leave the overall form of a work up to the performers, who are given only the detailsand told to play them in any order. Alternatively, the composer may predetermine the form and leave afew (or many) details somewhat (or very) open.

C. The composer must decide what elements he or she wants to control, how and to what extent they maybe controlled, and how to notate the desired effect precisely.

II. In some recent music, called texture music, sonority has become the primary compositional consideration.Typically, this music involves clusters of varying density, dynamics, and color, as well as unusual uses oftraditional instruments and nontraditional sound sources. Traditional concern with line, pitch, rhythm andmeter, and harmonic progression tends to be subordinated or eliminated.

III. Minimalism is characterized by severe restriction of materials (pitch, rhythm, color, density, and register).Repetition with slight variations is the main device. The music unfolds through the addition of new strandsor layers, as well as rhythmic phase relationships.

IV. Electronic music is a major area of contemporary musical practice that, because of its highly specialized andtechnical nature, is beyond the framework of this text. Useful studies for the beginning student may be foundin the books listed in the Bibliography under Electronic Music.

V. Suggestions for class discussion.

A. Analyze the examples in Unit 38 of Music for Analysis. Students may bring additional examples from theliterature into class.

B. Discuss chance elements in traditional music.

C. Discuss the sthetic implications of chance procedures and minimalism.

D. Analyze examples of texture music and pieces using aleatoric processes. What notational and calligraphicdevices are employed? To what degree is traditional notation still employed? What unusual soundresources and techniques are used?

E. Suggested reading (see the Bibliography): Cope, Forte, Nyman, Delone.

Exercises

1. Write a piece for the class to perform using the techniques of minimalism.

2. Write a piece for the class in which the overall form is predetermined and the details left open; then writea piece using the opposite approach.

3. Construct an ensemble piece in which fragments in frame notation can be arbitrarily ordered andcombined.

4. Study the Crumb Madrigals, Book IV (#455 in Music for Analysis). Then, write a piece using proportionalnotation for instruments available in class.

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