Formal Constraint as an Artistic Principle in Hans Abrahamsen’s Vocal Cycle “Let Me Tell You”
Abstract
The article focuses its attention on the vocal cycle “Let me tell you” (2013) by Danish composer
Hans Abrahamsen composed on texts from the novel with the same title by Paul Griffiths. The
composition is examined through the prism of a special type of artistic principle initiated by the
Oulipian strategy of the writer, who constrained the verbal space of his book to the 483 words
pronounced by Ophelia in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” The technique of “formal constraints” turned
out to be accordant to the composer’s poetics. The work makes study of the multilevel connections
between text and music and discloses the particularities of the composition’s dramaturgy. Special
attention is focused on analysis of the musical material, the compositional structure and the technique.
The cycle shows the synthesis of historical and contemporary compositional techniques, the former
including the turn to the concitato style and to the traditions of the cantus firmus technique, and the
latter including the techniques of repetition, addition and subtraction. The effects of the principle
of formal constraint are traced in their reliance on the use of a set of chosen intervals (octaves,
fifths and major thirds in songs Nos. 1, 4 and 6), organizing the composition on one single melodic
model, as expressed by a descending hexachord, in the application of palindromic constructions and
the use of numerical sets. During the course of the analysis the intonational-thematic connection
between the different numbers of the cycle is disclosed, it is demonstrated how the combination
and transformation of the initial material takes place, a semantic interpretation of the structural
conversions, and parallels are brought in with experiments in the field of literature.
Keywords: 21st century music, Hans Abrahamsen, Paul Griffiths, “Let me tell you,” OuLiPo,
formal constraints, addition, subtraction.
Full Text:
PDF (Russian)References
Bonch-Osmolovskaya T. Literaturnye eksperimenty gruppy «ULIPO» [The Literary Experiments of the Group of “Oulipo”]. Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie [New Literary Review]. 2002. No. 5 (57), pp. 246‒270.
Kislov V. Oni nazyvali eto – ULIPO [They Called It “Oulipo”]. Mitin zhurnal [Mitin Journal]. 1997. No. 54, pp. 168‒219.
Sokolov A. S. Vvedenie v muzykal'nuyu kompozitsiyu XX veka [Introduction to 20th Century Musical Composition]. Moscow: Vlados, 2004. 231 p.
Stravinskiy I. F. Dialogi. Vospominaniya, razmyshleniya, kommentarii [Dialogues. Memories, Reflections, Commentaries]. Leningrad: Muzyka, 1971. 416 p.
Abrahamsen H. Schnee: Programme Note. URL: http://www.musicsalesclassical.com/composer/work/1/34990 (18.01.2020).
Beyer A. Hans Abrahamsen. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 2nd edition. London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001.
Esposito V. S. Ophelia in 483 Words: A Conversation with Paul Griffiths. Music & Literature. 2016. No. 7. URL: https://lithub.com/writing-a-novel-limited-to-the-483-words-spoken-by-ophelia (18.01.2020).
Griffiths P. Hans Abrahamsen. URL: http://www.musicsalesclassical.com/composer/short-bio/Hans-Abrahamsen (18.01.2020).
Robin W. Hans Abrahamsen: Fame and Snow Falling on a Composer. URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/13/arts/music/hans-abrahamsen-fame-and-snow-falling-on-a-composer.html (18.01.2020).
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33779/2587-6341.2020.1.015-028
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.