Smalley - Some Aspects of the Changing Relationship...

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1/13

Some Aspects of the Changing Relationship between Composer and Performer in

Contemporary MusicAuthor(s): Roger SmalleySource: Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association, Vol. 96 (1969 - 1970), pp. 73-84Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Royal Musical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/765975

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2/13

Some

Aspects

of

the

Changing Relationship

between

Composer

and

Performer

in

Contemporary

Music

ROGER

SMALLEY

UNTIL

COMPARATIVELYRECENTLY

the

history

of

musical

nota-

tion

has

been

synonymous

with the desire

of

the

composer

to

exercise an

increasing

degree

of control over the

performance

of

his

works

via

the medium of

the

written

score. Viewed

in

historical

perspective,

it

will be seen that

during

the last

thirty

years

virtually every

aspect

of this

complex

composer/per-

former

relationship

has

been

radically changed-in

many

instances the

outcome

has been

an almost

total

reversal

of

roles.

The

first freedom to

be

taken

out

of the

performer's

hands

was that of choice of instrumentation. A large proportion of

mediaeval

music is

without

indications of

instrumentation,

and

there

often

appear

to be

several

equally

viable

solutions,

al-

though

the

existence of

a

living

aural

tradition

presumably

meant

that

this

choice

was

less of a

problem

for

musicians

of

the

time

than

it

is

to

present-day performers.

Indications

of

dynamic

level and

tempo

were the

next

elements

to

pass

from

the

area of the

spontaneous

to

that of the

notated.

Many

crucial

interpretative

decisions,

however,

still

remained

the

responsibility of the performer, notably those involving de-

tailed

rhythmic

articulation,

and in the

realisation

of orna-

mented

repeats

and

cadenzas.

During

the

nineteenth

century

even these became

integrated

into the

notation of

the

score.

A

composer

such as Liszt wrote

out

in full

ornaments and

cadenzas

which

would

previously

have been

left

to

the dis-

cretion of

the

performer.

About

this time

the natural

feeling

of a

performer

for subtle

rubato also

began

to

be

incorporated

into

musical

notation.

There are

many

instances

of

written-out

rubato

in the music of Schumann and

Chopin,'

and Liszt

even

went so

far as to invent two

special

signs:

s

meaning 'press

on' and

-

meaning

'hold back'.

The minutiae

See,

for

example,

the

piano postlude

of

the

song

'H6r ich das

Liedchen

klingen'

from

Schumann's

Dichterliebe,

nd

Chopin's

Fourth

Ballade,

bars

175-6.

73


3/13

SOMEASPECTSOF

CHANGING

RELATIONSHIP

of

performance

were indicated

with

increasing

meticulousness

(often with copious verbal explanations) by composers such as

Brahms and

Mahler,

and

by

the

beginning

of

the

twentieth

century

this whole

complex

notational

system

was

accepted

as

the norm.

The music of

the

father-figures

of

twentieth-

century

music-Debussy, Stravinsky

and

Schoenberg-al-

though revolutionary

in

many ways-did

not

necessitate

the

evolution

of

new methods of notation. The

relationship

of

the

performer

to the score

remained

the

same

as

before.

Naturally

the

increasing

conciseness

of

Schoenberg's

and,

especially, Webern's music caused the number of directives

to

proliferate

to

an

unprecedented

degree.

In

fact

in

some

of

the

later

works of Webern

signs

of

dynamics,

articulation and

phrasing,

previously

considered

only

to

be aids to

performance

became

integrated

into

the actual structure

of the

music and

pose quite

new

problems

for the

interpreter.

In

the

more abstract music

of

Bach

(that

is,

music

whose

tempo

is not

suggested by

a

text,

by

instrumental

technique

or by being in

a

recognised dance-form) extremely

wide

variations

of

tempo

and

dynamics

are

possible

without

mis-

representing

the

substance of

the work.

There are

many

well-

known instances of

this

amongst

the

preludes

of

the

'48'

and

the

Goldberg

Variations.2

The obvious

inference

is that

at

times

the

speed

and

dynamic

level

at which his

music

should

be

performed

was

a matter

of

only

secondary importance

to

Bach.

In

the

performance

of

Beethoven's

music,

on

the

other

hand,

dynamics must be observedwith great fidelity. Throughout his

development dynamics

came to

have

an

increasingly

structural

importance

in his music

until

in

his

last

works

they

become

one

of the most

characteristic

features

of his

style.

However,

fairly

wide variation of

tempo

is still to

be found

between

different

performances

of works

by

Beethoven,

and

whilst

sometimes

displaying

a cavalier

disregard

for his notation

can

by

no means be

dismissed,

and in

many

cases illuminates

the

music

in

a new

light.a

By

the

climax

of

the Romantic

period

even the

possibility

of

tempo

variation is minimal. This is for

two

principal

reasons.

Firstly,

the

exploitation

of

instrumental

virtuosity

(in

all its

aspects)

and

of

complex

orchestral

textures

provide

an

in-built

regulator

of

tempo.

Related

to

this

is

a

second

factor,

which is

the

increasing

use of

instru-

mental timbre

and

sonority

for its

own sake.

A concentration

2

The Preludes in

C,

major

and

C

minor from

Book I of

the

'48'

are

two

well-known

examples.

74


4/13

SOME

ASPECTS

OF

CHANGING

RELATIONSHIP

on

pure

sonority

has

always

been

particularly

characteristic

of French music, and it is significant that the music of Alkan,

Berlioz

and Faure

responds

very

badly

to

injudicious

choice

of

tempo

and

wilful

use of rubato. This

particular

trend

is

epitomised

by

the

music of

Debussy

and

Ravel,

and

initiates

a

turning point

in

the

relationship

of

composer

and

performer.

The

significance

of

Debussy's

instrumental

writing

has

been

very

well

defined

by

Stephen

Pruslin:3

In

Debussy,

the succession

of sounds

no

longer represents

he

meaning,

but is the meaning, so that no mental process other than simple aural

reception

is

necessary

to

grasp

the

full musical

statement...

Inter-

pretation

of

Debussy

means

only

to

produce

the sounds as

perfectly

as

possible.

There

are no

two different but

equally

valid

conceptions

of

a

Debussy

work-there is

only

one

hypothetical

reading

which

each

individual

performance

approaches

to a different

degree.

This

quotation

is almost

equally

true

of

the

later

music

of

Webern and

of

much

of the

music which

followed.

If a

per-

former

realises

accurately

all

the

indications

in the

score then

his performance will be an authentic projection of the com-

poser's

intentions.

This is

because,

as

I

have

already

mentioned

in a

slightly

different

context,

the

dynamics,

phrasing,

articu-

lation and

tempo

of the music

are

no

longer adjuncts

to

the

pitch-structure

but are an

integral part

of

the work

and

must

be

realised with

an

equivalent

degree

of

accuracy.

A

classic

example

is the

second

movement of Webern's Piano Varia-

tions,

Op. 27.

Here the

three

dynamics

levels

(only

p,

f,

and

ff

are

used)

and four

modes of

attack

(-,

',

>,

and

-)

are,

as several commentators have shown,4 of equal importance to

the

pitches

in

the total

structure.b

Subsequent

works-Modes

de valeurs

et

d'intensitds

(I949) by

Messiaen,

Structures,

ook

I,

for two

pianos

(1951-2)

by

Pierre

Boulez,

and Piano

Pieces

I-IV

(1952-3)

by

Karlheinz

Stockhausen

(the

second two are

especially

closely

related to

Webern's

innovations)-make

further

demands on

the accur-

acy

of

the

performer.

Confronted

with

scores

of

this

complexity

the

performer is in a position similar to that described in the

passage

quoted

from

Stephen

Pruslin's

article. To

begin

with

he

must

teach

himself

to

respond

to the

multiple

stimuli

contained

within

the score. But

after

the initial

learning pro-

3

Stephen

Pruslin,

'Maxwell

Davies's

Second

Taverner

Fantasia',

Tempo,

Ixxiii

(Summer,

1965),

2.

4

See,

for

example,

Peter

Westergaard,

'Webern

and

"Total

Organi-

sation":

An

Analysis

of the

Second Movement of

Piano

Variations,

Op.

27', Perspectives

f

New

Music,

i/2

(Spring, 1963),

107-120.

75


5/13

SOME

ASPECTS

OF

CHANGING

RELATIONSHIP

cess has been

completed

the

possibility

of

interpretation-by

which I mean a more complete projection of the structure of

the

music-will

present

itself.

This

point

is

implied

but

not

specifically

stated

by

Pruslin.

I

would

therefore

like

to stress

that

this music

is

as

open

to

'interpretation'

as I have

just

defined it as

is

any

music

of the

past

or

present.

Stockhausen's

Piano

Piece

I

(1953)

will

show

how

a

degree

of'interpretation'

of

the written

notation is

necessary

to

project

its

formal,

dynamic

and

rhythmic

structure.c An

analysis

of this

piece

(the

first

prerequisite

for

any

successful

interpretation)

shows

that the music is divided into a series of short, clearly-defined

'groups'.5

The

performer

must

therefore

attempt

to articulate

these

groups.

Ex.

I

shows

two such

groups

(bars

47-50).

If

the

performer

plays

exactly

what

is

notated,

the

beginning

of

the

second

group (bar

48)

will

be

obscured

by

the end

of the

first

group.

He

might

therefore

make

a

slight

caesura

(whose

length

will

depend

on the resonance of the

piano

and

the

hall)

to

allow the

relatively

loud

and dense sound

at the end

of

bar

47

to clear

and

thus

to

mark

the beginning

of

the next

group

(pp)

with

maximum

clarity

and definition.

47

,

-

7:8a

-

4

ff

t"

4P _

f' Jr-.: t t

J^ro^..q

/

^

^

TSq.36o

Thr>e,

dfa

i

Itf

4 5 6

32, 16

32

be

determined

by

the context.

For

example

the

p

immediately

following

anfffin

bar 60

(Ex.

2)

must be

louder

than a

p

in

a

predominantly

soft

context,

otherwise it

will

simply

not

be

7.

....... ..........

.

perceptible

above

the

pedal

resonance

of

the

B

1b.

he bracketed

5

See Karlheinz

Stockhausen,

'Gruppenkomposition:

Klavierstuck

I

(Anleitung

zum

H6ren)',

Texte

zur

elektronischen

nd instrumentalen

Musik,

2

vols.,

Cologne,

1963-4,

i.

63-74.

76


6/13

SOME

ASPECTS

OF

CHANGING

RELATIONSHIP

dynamics

in

Ex.

2

are

my

own

suggestions

for

realising

this

bar.

They still preserve the inter-relationships between the four

dynamics,

but

render

their

structure

more

clearly

audible.

Ex. 2

-7:8---

,

60

l

,r

This

piece

also

poses

extreme

problems

of

irrational

rhyth-

mic

values.

In

an

article

on the

performance

of

contemporary

music

Gunther

Schuller

misunderstands the

purpose

of

these

complex

rhythmic

subdivisions.

Quoting

an

example ('hypo-

thetical,

but

similar

to

existing

ones')

which

has

exactly

the

same

rhythmic

structure

as

bar

6

of

Stockhausen's

Piano

Piece

I, he assertsthat 'there are several more logical and practical

notations

possible',

and

proposes

converting

the

whole

bar

into

semiquaver

triplets

at

a

faster

speed.

'It

is

hardly

likely',

he

writes,

'that

[this

conversion]

would

result

in a

difference

so

vital

that

the

loss

in

"serial"

pedigree

would not

be

more

than

outweighed

by

the

increased

playability

of

the

passage'.

To

grasp

the

real

purpose

of

these

rhythms

and

(therefore

their

correct

'interpretation')

we

must

recall

the basic

struc-

tural

premise

of

the

piece,

which

is

that

of

'group'-form.

Bars

5 and 6 (Ex.

3a)

are one

group.

Stockhausen's Piano Pieces

I-IV

are

all

to

be

played

'as fast

as

possible',

the basic

tempo

being

determined

by

each

performer.

A

tempo

of

,

=

Ioo

would

be

reasonable

for

the

first

piece

(anything

slower

than

this-Schuller's

'

=

60

for

instance-would

simply

mean

that

the

player

was

not

trying

hard

enough).

The

whole of

bar

6

is

a

quintuplet

(five

quavers

are

to

be

played

in the

time

of

four),

so

the

bar

can

be

converted

into

one

of

5/8

at a

tempo

of

Ir='?

=

125, a very substantial increase in speed. The

first

seven

demisemiquavers

of

this

bar

therefore

have a

speed

of

i=25x7

II

and

the

last

eleven demisemi-

quavers

a

speed

of

=''

-=2

115.

Ex.

3b

is

a

renotation of

Ex.

3a

with all

the

irrational

values

replaced

by changes

in

metronome

speed.

The

overall

structure

of

this

group

can

6

American

Performance

and

New

Music',

Perspectives

f

New

Music,

i/2

(Spring,

i963),

I-8.

77


7/13

SOME

ASPECTS

OF CHANGING

RELATIONSHIP

now

be

seen

quite clearly.

A

performer

would

attempt

to

project the group as follows: the first sub-group would be

slightly

faster than the

basic

tempo

and the

second

sub-group

would be

slightly

faster than the

first.

In

Schuller's

proposed

revision,

however

(Ex.

3c applies

his

'solution' to

the Stock-

hausen

example)

all

the

pitches

would

have

exactly

the same

duration;

moreover

the artificial division

into

triplets

obscures

the

overall structure

of

two

sub-groups

and

the internal

divisions

within

the

sub-groups.

Ex.

3

a)

r

--.

.............

.......

.....

iool

7:8

11:12

i

3^'

X

-,

Jf=

7

'--------fff

i

ff

if

372T

b)

us,

10i

4

r

^

32 a

In the

music

of

the

latter half of

the

1950s

composers

attempted

to liberate

the

performer

from the

very

severe

restrictions

which are

imposed

on him in

a

piece

such as

Stockhausen's

Piano Piece

I.

However the seeds

of

this later

development

are

already

present

in

this

piece,

as is

apparent

from

the

performance

of

the

passage

just

discussed

(Ex.

3a)

in

the

recording

by

Aloys

Kontarsky. Kontarsky

is

Stock-

hausen's

chosen

interpreter

of

his

piano

music

and

this

recording

was made

under

the

composer's supervision,

so

we

must

assume that

it

accurately

reflects his

present

thoughts

about

the

performance

of

his earlier

music,

filtered

through

78


8/13

SOME

ASPECTS

OF

CHANGING

RELATIONSHIP

the

experience

of

the

intervening

works.

According

to

the

score the duration of the pitches within each of the two sub-

groups

should

be

exactly

the same.

Although Kontarsky

perfectly

realises the

relationship

and structure

of the

groups

he does

not

play

their

pitches

of

equal

duration.

This

is

because

towards

the

middle

of

bar

6

(those

pitches

marked

x

in

Ex.

3a)

there occurs

a

succession of

very

wide

leaps

whose

performance

cannot

be

facilitated

by any

redistribution

of

the

pitches

be-

tween

the

hands.

We

are in the

realm of 'action durations'.d

The

possibility

of

incorporating

the

physical

aspects

of

per-

formance into the musical structure were first suggested by

Stockhausen

in

the latter half

of

his

article

'.

. .

How

Time

Passes ...'

7

Piano Pieces V to

X use

no

irrational

values

at

all

(except

for

occasional

triplets

in Nos.

VI and

IX).

Great

rhythmic

flexibility

(analogous

to

that

in Nos.

I-IV)

is

achieved

by

the

continual

movement

between one fixed

tempo

and

another

and

by

the

incorporation

of

groups

of

grace-

notes into

the

main

structure

of

the

work,

whose

durations

are

precisely

notated. The exact

rhythmic profile

of

these

groups

is

determined

by

their intervallic

construction,

by

the

dexterity

of

the

performer

and

by

the

way

in which he

chooses

to

finger

them.

A

passage

from

Piano Piece

VII

played by

two different

performers

will

give

some

idea

of

the

degree

of

variation

possible.c

In

the

late

50s

more radical

attempts

were made to

integrate

the

performer

with

the

structuring

of a

performance.

Boulez's

Third

Piano Sonata

and second book

of

Structures,

Henri

Pousseur's Caracteres, nd Stockhausen's Zyklus, Refrain and

Piano

Piece

XI

are

all

examples.

The

performer

of

Zyklus

can

start

at the

beginning

of

any

one of the

work's sixteen

pages.

The

score

can

also

be turned

upside

down and

played

back-

wards,

so

that there

are

actually

32 possible

starting points.

After

deciding

where

to

begin

the

performer

must

play through

the

score

in the normal

way,

ending

with

the sound he

began

with.f

The

precise

extent of

the freedoms

available to

the

per-

former in the scores I have

just

mentioned are

frequently

misunderstood and

exaggerated.

In

most cases the freedom

of

the

performer

ceases to

exist

long

before the

performance

begins.

These

scores

are

so

complex

that it

is

necessary

for the

performer

to

decide

on

a

particular

ordering

and distribution

of

all

the

elements

before

commencing

rehearsal.

In an

en-

7

Die

Reihe,

iii

(I959),

Io-40;

see

especially pp.

29

ff.

79


9/13

SOMEASPECTSOF CHANGING

RELATIONSHIP

semble

or

orchestral work

(Refrain,

and 'Don' and

'Impro-

visation II' from Boulez's Pli selonpli) these pre-rehearsal

decisions become

imperative.

What is

eventually

heard

is

therefore

in fact a

fixed

version

prepared

by

one

particular

player,

or

group

of

players.

I

believe

that

the

importance

of these

works

lies not

so

much in

the

way

in

which the

composer/performer

relation-

ship

has

been

changed

but in the invention

of

new

formal

processes.

In

this

respect they

are

remarkably

varied

and

successful,

and initiate a

period

of

restructuring

(in

the

large-

scale sense) of the predominantly fragmentary musical dis-

course of the

early

I950s.

It is clear

that

works

with

variable

forms

must,

at the

same

time,

possess

very

strong

formal

characteristics if

these

are not to lose

their

identity

as

a

result

of

the formal

variability.

Also

the overall

trajectory

of

each

work

must

be

unmistakably

clear

if

it

is to be

interrupted

(as

it

is in

Refrain),

entered

at various

points

(Zyklus)

or

played

in

different

sequences ('Trope'

from

Boulez's

Third

Sonata)

and still retain its formal coherence.

One

of

the most

potent

influences

behind

the

introduction

of

indeterminacy

into

the

music of

European composers

was

the

philosophy

ofJohn

Cage,

and his

own

first visits to

Europe

in

the

middle fifties.

Cage's

first

indeterminate

compositions

were written

nearly

ten

years

before

the works

we have

just

been

discussing. Cage,

however,

approached

the

problem

from the

opposite

direction.

His

earlier

indeterminate

scores

are

fully

and

quite

conventionally

notated

and

played.

It

is

the musical material itself and its distribution which is the

result

of

chance

operations.

A

typical

example

is

the

series

of

84

pieces

called

collectively

'Music for

Piano'

(I952-6).

In

an

article

the

composer

has

described

the

compositional

procedures

used

in

these

pieces.8

The work

is

written on

sheets

of

transparent

manuscript paper.

Chance

operations

derived

from the

I-Ching (the

ancient

Chinese

Book of

Changes)

determine the

number of sounds

per

page.

The

corresponding

number of

imperfections

in

the

page

are filled in with

con-

ventional semibreves and

any

necessary ledger

lines added. A

coin

is tossed for each

pitch

to

determine

its

clef,

treble

or bass.

The

I-Ching

is

used

again

to

determine

whether

the

pitch

is

sharp,

flat

or

natural and

whether

it is to be

played

normally,

muted or

plucked.

8

John

Cage,

'To

Describe

the Process

of

Composition

Used

in "Music for

Piano

2I-52"',

Die

Reihe,

iii

(I959),

41-43-

8o


10/13

SOME ASPECTS OF

CHANGING

RELATIONSHIP

Thus almost

every aspect

of

the

compositional

process

is

removed from the conscious control of the composer. There

is no

need to

go

into the

highly developed

aesthetic which lies

behind

Cage's

work

as

this does

not bear

directly

on our

subject.

For us the most

important

aspect

of 'Music for Piano'

is that

it

extends

the freedom of its

interpreters

into realms far

beyond

those allowed

by

Stockhausen or

Boulez. The score of

'Music for

Piano

21-52'

contains

the

following

note:

The

pieces

constitute

two

groups

of

I6

pieces (21-36; 37-52)

which

may be played alone or together and with or without Musicfor Piano

4-19.

Their

length

in time

is

free;

there

may

or

may

not

be silence

between

them;

they may

be

overlapped.

Given

a

programmed

time-

length,

the

pianists

may

make a calculation

such that their concert will

fill

it.

Duration

of

individual notes and

dynamics

are

free.

Two factors

are fundamental

to

this music. One is the new

conception

of the

relationship

between the

composer,

the

performer

and

his instrument.

John Tilbury

dates this new

relationship as far back as Weber's Piano Variations, Op. 27

(

936):

I

would

like

to

draw a

distinction

between

playing

the

keyboard

and

using

the

piano

as a

sound-source.

I see

Webern's

Variations

op

27

as

the

start

of

'using'

the

piano,

as

opposed

to

playing

it

as a

keyboard

instrument

in

the

conventional

sense.

The

pointillism

of the

last

move-

ment dissolves the traditional associations of

keyboard

playing,

which

arise from the

use of

adjacent

fingers

for

adjacent

notes,

the

'normal'

hand

positions

for

playing

scales

and

arpeggios,

and

so

on.'

The same could be said

of

the

string

writing

in

Schoenberg's

Violin

Concerto

(Op. 36)

and

String

Trio

(Op.

45).

Since

that time the

sonic

possibilities

of each musical instru-

ment

have been

greatly

extended.

Although many

new effects

have been found

by

composers

themselves,

this is

another

field

of

composition

in

which the

role of the

performer

has become

increasingly important.

In their

response

to the new demands

of

verbal

and

graphic

scores,

performers

have

discovered

a

whole range of new instrumental techniques, and with regard

to 'live

electronic'

performance

one could almost

say

that

they

have

developed

a

whole new medium

for

composers

to

explore.

In the field

of

instrumental

virtuosity

the

relationship

of

composer

and

performer

has

also

changed-not

reversed,

but

rather reached

a

stage

of

mutual

co-operation.

During

the

9'The

Contemporary

Pianist:

John Tilbury

talks

to Michael

Parsons',

The Musical

Times,

cx

(1969), 150.

8i


11/13

SOME

ASPECTS

OF

CHANGING RELATIONSHIP

earlier

part

of this

century

it was

generally composers

who

demanded extensions of instrumental technique, with the

result

that

their

compositions

were

frequently

declared

to be

unplayable.

Now

there.exists

a

whole new

school

of

performers

who,

not content

with

merely

reproducing

after

the

event,

as

it

were,

are

playing

an active

part

in

the

development

of

new

music.

A

few

names from

an

increasingly

lengthy

list

are

Heinz

Holliger

(oboe),

Alan Hacker

(clarinet), Christoph

Caskel

(percussion), Cathy

Berberian

(voice),

Siegfried

Palm

(cello)

and

Vinko

Globokar

(trombone).g

The second

important

characteristic of

Cage's

'Music for

Piano'

series is the concentration

on

the

sounds for their

own

sake.

This

would

appear

to be

a

truism,

applicable

by

defi-

nition to all

music,

but

it

is

certainly

an

attribute which is

at

a

low

conceptual premium

in much

post-war

music.

Morton

Feldman is

particularly

insistent

on

this

point.

He

sees the

construction

of

music

to

be

a

concept

diametrically opposed

to its

sound.

In

order to

make his listeners

concentrate

on

the

quality of the sounds themselves, all Feldman's music is

predominantly

soft

and

slow.

Soft

sounds

have

a minimum

of

attack,

and it is that

part

of

a

sound

after

its

attack

which

Feldman believes

constitutes

its 'inner life'.

Western music

has

always

been

predominantly

interested

in the

attack

part

of

each sound

(this tendency

reaches

a

climax

in some of

the

music

mentioned earlier-Boulez's

Structures

a,

for

example),

and

Feldman's music

disturbingly questions

the whole basis

of our

Western musical

culture.h

The notion of liberating sounds from their necessity to

articulate

some

superimposed

structure

is

carried

to its

logical

conclusion

in

Cage's

music of

the

last

ten

years.

The series

Variations

I-VI

for

instance

do not

specify

duration,

number

of

performers

or,

most

importantly,

the

instruments

and/or

sound-sources

to be

used. These

are

scores

which,

in the

words

of their

composer,

are

'indeterminate

of

their

performance'.

These works

are in the

nature of

invitations

to

a

group

of

performers

to

cooperate

in

a mutual

activity.

In Variations

VI

symbols

are combined

randomly

to show

how

any

number of

speakers,

amplifiers

and sound

sources

must be

connected

together.

In Variations

IV

lines

are

projected

from

white

circles

through

a

number of

black

dots scattered

randomly

on

a

plan

of

the

building

in

which

the

performance

is

to

take

place.

Sounds

are

then

produced

along

those

parts

of

the

lines

which

lie

outside

the concert

area.

With scores

such

as these

that 'total

reversal'

of

the

com-

82


12/13

SOME ASPECTS OF CHANGING

RELATIONSHIP

poser/performer

relationship

which I mentioned at the

very

beginning of this paper would appear to have irreversibly

taken

place.

Everything

heard

in

Variations I-VI-the

nature,

length

and

disposition

of

the

sounds-is

the

direct

personal

responsibility

of

the

performers.i

The

performance

of

all

music

is

a

corporate activity

deman-

ding responsibility

on the

part

of each

player.

He must

remain

faithful to

the letter

and

the

spirit

of

the

score,

and

he

must be

sensitive to the

personalities

of

his

co-performers.

In the

music

of

Cage

and

that of

other

composers

who

share a similar

view

of the

activity

of

music-making-Cornelius

Cardew and

Christian

Wolff

for instance-this

principle

is

greatly

extended.

When

the

possibility

of

irresponsibility-to

the

composer

and

therefore to oneself

and one's

fellow

musicians-looms so

large,

a

sense of

personal

commitment

is

indispensable.

Not

surprisingly

there are

relatively

few

good performers

(and

therefore

performances)

of this music.

I

believe

that

by

participating

in

the

performance

of

such

music this sense

of

responsibility is developed. Performing becomes, in a sense, a

self-educative

activity.

It

seems

to

me

that

in

the future

this will

prove

to have been

the

most

significant change

of

all in

the

increasingly symbiotic

relationship

between

composer

and

performer.

This is

because

it

goes beyond

any merely

technical innovations and

implies

a

radical

restructuring

of the

activity

of

music-making

itself.

In

this

respect

some of Stockhausen's

recent

works-

Prozession

(1967),

Kurzwellen

I968),

and

Spiral

(1968)-are

important pointers towards the future. These scores are

notated

in

such

a

way

that

the

division between the

technical

and

interpretative aspects

of

performing

is broken

down.

Just

as

important

is

the

crucial

emphasis placed

on

the interrela-

tionship

of the

performers.

This

is

something

quite

lacking

in

Cage's

indeterminate

scores,

and it

is

a

lack

both

serious and

surprising

in

view

of

the

philosophy

expressed

in

his

writings.

This

paper

has

dealt

selectively

with

some

of

the

problems

facing

the

performer

and

the

composer in, basically,

three

different

kinds

of

music-totally

determined,

variable in

form,

and

indeterminate-a

sequence

which

characterises,

very

generally,

the

development

of

post-war

music.

As I

have

progressed

through

these three

topics

my

viewpoint

has shifted

-quite

unconsciously (but

not,

I

feel,

accidentally)-from

the

purely

technical

to the

wider

implications

of musical

composition

and

performance.

This

is,

in

itself,

just

one

symp-

tom of

a

widespread

change

of attitude

on

the

part

of

com-

83


13/13

SOME

ASPECTSOF CHANGINGRELATIONSHIP

posers during

the last

30 years-a

swing

away

from

an

obsession with technique as expressed on the printed page to

a

more flexible

approach

to musical creation.

This

implies

a

recognition

that

musical

creativity

is

not

just

the

prerogative

of

the

composer

but of all

musical

people

(and

not

only

'musicians').

This

recognition

has

had

several

consequences-

composers

have been able to broaden

the

range

of their

activities,

and

performers

have been

brought

into closer con-

tact

with

(and

therefore

understanding

of)

the

contemporary

composer.

In

other words

the

composer

and

performer

are

now in the process of drawing more closely together than,

perhaps, they

have ever been

in the

history

of

music.

I

feel

certain

that it

is in

the

nurturing

of

this

relationship

that

the

core

of

future

developments

in music

will

lieJ

The

following

illustrations were

played

during

the course

of

the

lecture:

a Gramophone recordings (LXT 2603 and SBRG 72357) of the opening of

Beethoven's

Piano

Sonata

in

C

minor,

Op.

Io,

No.

i,

as

played by

Wilhelm

Backhaus

and Glenn Gould.

b

The second movement

of

Webern's

Piano

Variations,

Op.

27,

played by

the

author.

c

Stockhausen's

Piano Piece

I,

played

by

the

author.

d

A

gramophone

recording

(CBS

32

21

0007)

of bars

5-6

of Stockhausen's

Piano

Piece

I,

played

by Aloys

Kontarsky.

e

A

gramophone

recording

(ibid.)

of

part

of

Stockhausen's

Piano

Piece

VII,

played

by

Aloys

Kontarsky,

and

the same

passage played

by

the

author.

f

A

gramophone

recording (Wergo

6oo

o)

of the

first

part

of

performances

of Stockhausen's

Zyklus

by

Max Neuhaus and

Christoph

Caskel.

g

A

gramophone

recording (DGG

o04

922)

of

Berio's

Sequenza

V for trom-

bone,

played

by

Vinko

Globokar.

h

Morton

Feldman's

Piano

Piecefor

Philip

Guston,

played

by

the author.

i

A

gramophone recording (Everest

3132)

of the

first

part

of

John

Cage's

Variations

IV,

played by

the

composer

and David

Tudor.

j

A

gramophone recording (ST

GBY

6r

5)

of

the

first

part

of

Stockhausen's

Prozession.

The music examples are reproduced by kind permission of the publishers,

Universal

Edition

(London)

Limited.

84

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