A discussion of texture theory and wallace berry's concept of density-compression

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35699/2317-6377.2023.40979

Keywords:

Texture, Wallace Berry, Density-compression, Temporality, Linearity and nonlinearity

Abstract

The theory of texture developed by Wallace Berry allows us to visualize the role that texture plays in music and relates this element to the design of the musical form. However, the analysis made by Berry may not be applicable to repertoires in which the dominant temporal component is different from the linearity, or the becoming, of the classical and romantic periods, that is, repertoires that have non-linear or static temporalities of being. In regard to this type of repertoire, Berry's theory applies only partially, that is, only to quantitative aspects, namely, the concepts of density-number, density-compression, and space-texture. This work delves into the density-compression indicator proposed by Berry and modifies it to identify the segments of high compression, thus evaluating the compression characteristics from their internal dispositions, and not from their global aspects, such as it had been defined by Berry.

Author Biographies

  • Alejandro Jara, State University of Santa Catarina, Brazil

    Alejandro Aladino Astudillo Jara is a guitarist, concert producer, arranger and composer. As a musician and researcher, he is interested in contemporary repertoire with an emphasis on temporality, as well as the use of technologies in musical analysis and composition. He likes to maintain the tradition of guitarist-arranger, bringing pieces from other instruments into the guitar repertoire. He is a founding member of Concertinho, a group of guitarists that bring guitar and chamber music recitals to the Florianópolis community since 2017, periodically and at different free access points in the city.

  • Luigi Antonio Irlandini, University of State of Santa Catarina, UDESC

    Luigi Antonio Irlandini, composer, pianist, shakuhachi player, and Music Professor at UDESC in Florianópolis, Brazil, researches musical temporalities and the presence of non-modern contents in contemporary composition. His writings have been published in Perspectives of New Music (U.S.A.), Gaudeamus MuziekWeek (Netherlands), Per Musi, Opus and Vórtex (Brazil) among other venues. Significant recent performances of his music are Axis Mundi, for strings orchestra, Bienal de Música Brasileira Contemporânea, Rio de Janeiro, 2021, and Ākāśa, for shakuhachi and fixed media (CD Ākāśa and digital platforms in 2019). Irlandini studied composition with H. J. Koellreutter, Franco Donatoni and Brian Ferneyhough.

References

Berry, Wallace. 1987. Structural Functions in Music. New York: Dover.

Bosseur, Jean-Yves. 2003. “Texture et matériau dans la pensée musicale contemporaine.” Muzikologija (3): 129-139.

Cambridge University Press (Org.). 2009. Cambridge academic content dictionary. New York: Cambridge University Press. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/es-LA/dictionary/english/texture

Dunsby, Jonathan. 1989. “Considerations of Texture.” Music & Letters 70 (1): 46-47.

Frymoyer, Johanna. 2012. “Rethinking the sign: Stylistic competency and the interpretation of musical textures, 1890 – 1920.” Doctoral dissertation, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University.

Irlandini, Luigi A. 2013. “Ser e devir no tempo musical.” In Anais III Encontro Internacional de Teoria e Análise Musical

Levy, Janet M. 1982. “Texture as a Sign in Classic and Early Romantic Music.” Journal of the American Musicological Society 35 (3): 482–531.

Moura, Eli E. 2007. “Manipulações do tempo em música – uma introdução.” (W. G. Pinheiro Trans.). Claves 4: 66 – 90.

Olivia, Carlos A. 2019. “A Comparison of Excerpts by Igor Stravinsky, Alban Berg, Dmitri Shostakovich and Béla Bartók to Excerpts by György Ligeti: Comparative Analysis Based on Textural Parameters.” Dissertação de mestrado, São Paulo, Brasil: Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho”, UNESP Instituto de Artes.

Sadie, Stanley, and John Tyrrell. 2001. “Texture.” In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Straus, Joseph N. 2016. Introduction to post-tonal theory. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

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Published

2023-10-19

Issue

Vol. 24 (2023): General Topics

Section

Articles in Portuguese/Spanish

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How to Cite

“A Discussion of Texture Theory and Wallace berry’s Concept of Density-Compression ”. 2023. Per Musi 24 (October): 1-19. https://doi.org/10.35699/2317-6377.2023.40979.