Toward a Theory of Timbre: Verbal Timbre and Musical Line in Purcell, Sessions, and Stravinsky Author(s): Robert Cogan

Source: Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Autumn - Winter, 1969), pp. 75-81 Published by: Perspectives of New Music Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/832123 . Accessed: 06/12/2013 04:29
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TOWARD A THEORY

OF TIMBRE:

VERBAL TIMBRE AND MUSICAL LINE IN PURCELL, SESSIONS, AND STRAVINSKY

ROBERT COGAN

of all the parametersof music,is the one least considered. It lacks not only an adequate theory, but even an inadequate one. Its is in part notational,in part analytical - and in each respect obscurity historical.While every musician knows that the compositionalact of and notatingthe timbralfeaturesof a workis comparatively refixing cent (1750 is a convenientdate, as a norm),the peculiarity of timbral notation has not been recognized. Its usual notation indicates not but ratherthe means- particularly theinstrumental meanstimbres, to used achieve them. (This is analogous in manyrespectsto lute and guitarnotationof pitchesbased on instrumental positions.Can finger one imagine the problemsforthe theoryof pitchrelationsifall pitch notation were based on instrumentalmanipulation,rather than on the resultingsounds?) Thus timbralnotationnot only followedcenturies afterpitchand rhythm notation;it has also remained one step - the nature of timbre furtherremoved fromits essentialterritory than those other notations (however questionable and inadequate they may be). Timbral analysis is even more recent than timbralnotation.The essentialformulations of Helmholtz date from 1850-80. Chapters V and VI ("On the Differences in the Quality of Musical Tones" and "On the Apprehension of Qualities of Tone") of his On theSensations of Tone have provided the basis for all subsequent theoreticalconsideration of timbre.These later studies have been undertaken by and psychologists acousticians,engineers,linguists, physicists, (among others); rarely, if ever, by musicians. To be done with accuracy, timbralanalysisrequires sophisticatedtechnology of a kindwhichhas existed for less than fifty Even the observations of Helmholtz, years. remarkable for their period, contain inaccuracies due to technical limitations. Helmholtz showed that timbre (which he called Klangfarbe, rendered as quality by his translator)depends principally upon the num. 75TIMBRE,

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PERSPECTIVES

OF NEW MUSIC

of the sounding partialsof a fundamental. ber and relativeintensity Thus timbralanalysisrequires measurementand considerationof the overtone spectrumof a sound. This is a matterrequiringboth technical and conceptual delicacy. In fact, the crude, specious use of from Rameau to the overtone phenomena by composer-theorists such as Schenker (despite much other Hindemith,by pure theorists admirable work), and by engineers such as Olson has in itselfmade the proper use of these phenomena to illuminate more difficult timbre.(Helmholtz was highlyaware of the danger of inappropriate generalization from the overtone series and took considerable, if insufficient, pains to avoid it in his own work.) This brief paper will not supply a theoryof timbreas a whole. It now (and forsome information does intendto show thatusingtimbral illumiyears) available, certain aspects of music can be significantly nated-that it is possible to make a beginning toward the musical analysisof timbre. I Languages are timbral systemsof considerable complexity and subtlety.They consist of a varietyof attacks (consonants) and sustained timbres (vowels and some vowel-like consonants). The acoustical nature of language sounds has been studied more thoroughly than any other group of timbres.A section of Helmholtz' Chapter V is named "Vowel Qualities of Tone"; even during his time in this field(including a number of others were workingintensively Melville Bell, father of Alexander Graham Bell). Since language timbrehas been so greatlystudied, and since language and its timbres are components of many musical works,it is a useful starting between timbre and place for consideration of interrelationships other musical features. The basis of the timbral analyses in this paper are the spectrographic analyses of R. K. Potter,G. A. Kopp, and H. G. Kopp in VisibleSpeech (Dover Publications, originally published in 1947). Example I reproduces spectrographic analyses of the vowels of and measuringthe English. (The analyses were obtained by filtering of each a filter vowel. Potter and the used witha bandpartials Kopps widthof 300 cycles,which resultsin the suppressionof some minute of vibrating details, but shows most clearlythe concentrations partials for each vowel. Such analysiswas done in the range between 70 and 3,500 cycles,where the great bulk of vibrationenergyand variation in structureare concentrated.)It is the second bar fromthe bottom in each spectrographwhichmoststrongly characterizes vowelsounds, due to its strengthand variabilityof position. Potter and Kopps S76

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TOWARD A THEORY

OF TIMBRE

............ ..9.. . ..

eve ~ t

.t.

at

ak

fath.r

b.t oot .... ....b.y

Schematic Representation of the Spectrographs

!i~i~iiiii~i..........ii

i eve)

r (it)

a (hate)

(met)

to(at)

an (s)

.. . . . . . ? ........... ......

..,

:!~ii~i~~iiiiiiii~ll

...........
a(fa
ther( )e)

....Ex. .

(put)

iboot

4 (u)

a(bout)

a (chureh) 4 (church) (Genera A a) (lsltern)

77 -

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PERSPECTIVES

OF NEW MUSIC

refer to the concentrationof partials representedby thatbar as the hub. It is clear fromtheseanalysesthateven when the fundamentalpitch of vowelsis identical(as in these spectrographs), vibrations are set up which vary in intensity in different frequencyregions, depending upon the specific vowel. The overtone spectrum of each vowel emphasizes different partials and different regions of partials.The hub of each of the various vowels- theirpoint of greatestintensity is different. (An analogous situationobtains for various instruments, of course.) While a vowel may be modifiedsomewhatin various conand identity, even when texts,it does not lose itsindividualstructure of sex, range, or prounvoiced, as in a whisper (nor do differences nunciation affectthese partial-concentration patternssignificantly). The vowelscan be arranged,then,in a scale according to the relative height of their hub; one mightrefer to this,as Helmholtz did, as a scale of brightness (the term is irrelevantfor our purposes; it is the ordering which is important).(See the vowel order under "motionof the vowel hubs" in Exx. 2, 3, and 4.) Only the diphthongspresentambiguities;theirpatternsare changing ratherthan fixed.However, the change in any diphthongis as deof any other vowel. They are no fined and constantas the structure than other timbres. more unanalyzable or arbitrary II Does the nature of vowel timbreaffecttheir usage by composers, for example, in text settingsfor voices? One senses that the answer is yes, yet this intuition is never tested. Musicians have analyzed in a varietyof other ways. Reese showed thatGregotextual settings rian chant frequently rises foran accented syllable(particularly in the he the Music in Middle chose, "JubilateDeo"; example Ages,p. 166). It has often been suggested that words of semanticimportanceare at high, or occasionally low, points. Symbolic placed prominently, is not unknown. Of these onlythe first has to do withthe naanalysis ture of sound, yet even that has to do with the rhythmic-dynamic structure of words ratherthan theirtimbralstructure. It is perhaps ironic that in the art of "sound and time,"in Stravinsky'sphrase, so littlenoticehas been given to sound. For the most part one has been contentwith"pure musicalanalysis"of vocal music, the purity derivingin part froman assumptionthatthe timbral question does not exist. the bulk of thisstudy.They present Examples 2, 3, and 4 constitute of I Am Laid in Earth" from Pur"When phrase-by-phrase analyses cell'sDido and Aeneas, portionsof Sessions' "On the Beach at Fontana," - 78.

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TOWARD A THEORY

OF TIMBRE

"Full Fadom Five" from the ThreeSongsof William and Stravinsky's The Shakespeare. analyses consistin each case of the vowel spectra of the texts,fromwhich is extractedthe line of hubs. This line of hubs representsthe essentialacousticalmotionof the textper se, a motion which,accordingto the successionof vowels,progressesthroughvarious frequency regions,highand low,as charted.(The consonantsprovide only briefinterruptions and articulations;as such theyare less crucial.) The line of hubs is then compared withthe linear motionof the voice melody; particularly interesting aspects of thiscomparison are detailed in commentaryin the boxes below the linear graphs. Examples 2-4 should be considered in detail. The followingserves only as a summaryof what is revealed in them. PURCELL. The phrase apexes of itsrisingprincipalline coincide with (bright)vowels: the "e" of "laid" and "may,"the "i" 's high-spectrum of "re-(member)me." Descending motions of the melodic line into the inner voice lead into or coincide withlow-spectrum (dark) vowels: the "3" of "earth"; the "6" of "wrongs"; the "A" and "a" of "trouble"; the "a" of "ah"; the "o" of "for-(get)."The apex of the entire piece is on the prolonged, stressed "i" of "me," the highest vowel reiterateand intensify these spectrumin English.Textual repetitions timbral-linear correspondences: the repetitionof the high-spectrum of the high-spectrum "laid" (m. 3) and the later multiplerepetitions "re-(member)me" are crucial in creating the apex of the principal of the piece. Likewise,the contrasting timbral-linear innerstructure voice descent,mm. 6-8 of the voice melody,depends upon the repetition of the low-spectrum "no trou-ble," just as the concluding linear descent depends upon the repetition(and prolongation!) of the lowspectrum"ah for-(get)." The verbal timbraldesign is characterizedby prevailing SESSIONS. sounds contrastedwithan accented end-timbre(in 11. high-spectrum 2 and 3) of marked low-spectrum quality: "groan" and "stone." The of the melodic line is parallel. In addition,innumerabledestructure tailed correspondences are to be found: the linear apex coinciding withthe highestvowel spectrum,the "i" 's of "sen-(ile) sea"; the setting of "numbers each," etc. In fact, omittingunstressed syllables, the details of timbreand line agree almost entirely. of the timbralcontour, but also its general angularity.Particularly is the treatment of the word "his." What is usually taken interesting as Stravinsky's mannered and idiosyncratic way witha textturnsout to be an exact correspondence of settingwithtimbre.His treatment of the diphthong "ai" is interesting: when the verbal timbrerises to the beginning of the diphthong, he considers it high; when it de. 79
STRAVINSKY.

The line reproducesnot onlymanyspecific details

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PERSPECTIVES

OF NEW MUSIC

scends to its beginning,he considers it low. This exaggeration of its ambiguityadds furtherangularity(completelyconsistentwith the nature of the textand its setting). Special attentionmust be given to the last fragment, "ding-dong bell." Here the timbre-the verbal onomatopoeia-is everything; meaning (in the semanticsense) and syntaxdisappear. The musical drained of its usual settingis a settingof almostpure verbal timbre, The melodic semantic-syntactic aspects. design, indeed, shows precise timbralcorrespondence.But there is yet a further correspondence. Example A shows spectrographsof "ing" and "ong." In each

ing
Ex. A

ong

case the ending "if" (ng) has the effect of continuingthe structure of its precedingvowel,but in greatly diminished This agrees intensity. with strikingly Stravinsky's setting:
ding dong

III Examples 2-4 have not been presentedto settleand close the issue of timbreand itsrelationship to othermusicalparameters, but rather to open it. These examples have not been speciallyselected froma worksto large number of samples; theyare, rather,almost the first be viewed in thisway. The correspondencesseem consistent and imto indicate a fruitful direction of intensive portantenough possible questioningand research. It is obvious thateven where verbaltimbre is an important factor in the determination of the total musicalstructure it in seems to be (as these examples),itis not a sole determinant. There willbe cases where timbreis slightly relevant,and those where color derives fromopthe "Music is thesum of totalscatposing purelytimbral implications. tered forces,"wrote Debussy, one of the great timbralcomposers (as another paper will show). The role of analysis is technically (and accurately)to reckon thatsum; thiscan onlybe achieved by the . 80.

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TOWARD A THEORY

OF TIMBRE

precise appraisal of all of the forces,includingthe timbral.With the and elecinnovationsof Debussy, Schoenbergian Klangfarbenmelodie, tronic freedom-of-synthesis, composition has moved through the sound barrier. It is leftfor theoryto follow. The organizationof verbal timbreadds a thirddimension to lanalready defined in termsof semanticmeaning and guage structure, verbal rhythm.The aesthetic uses of these timbralpossibilitiesare the timbreof words is hardly known. Even more than withrhythm, a point where language and musicbecome almostone. The questions raised (the scaling and structuring of timbre,and the relationships between timbralstructureand other dimensions of both language and music) point to a new crucial and deep level of analysis (and composition!), one whose implicationsand consequences are hardly foreseeable,yet,even at this stage, immenselysuggestive. New England Conservatory of Music

.81

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Vowel spectra:

Vowels:( Text: { iA5aU2-

e
When

al I

a am

e laid,

a am

e laid

GF-

j"

Wa

vl_-

in te s vowel of the verbal The stressed phrase highest ofspectra with the co,,andhub,the"e" of "laid",coincides
stressed apexes, B6 andC,ofthemusical phrase.

repetitions areomitted.) (Thesectional

When

am

laid,

am

laid

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Vowel spectra:

e may

Vowels: ( Text:(

a0
my wrongs

i cre -

e ate

o no

A trou -

a ble,

U-

0U-

GF-

SD

G"0 FE

C--

r-

Thenew melodic descent coincides lowwith D, coincides Melodic apex, withthe return to high-spectrum spectrum vowel,"o" of "wrong". vowelquality, the "e" of "may".

Therepetition of "notr oflow-spectrum vowels " abandons itsuppe largely BI-C-D for a low apexes a terminology) region-A thevowel con magnifies oushigh-spectrum) andli linevs.inner-voice line.)

may
may

mywrongs

my wrongs -

cre- ate
cre-

ate

no
no

trou

trou

ble,

ble,

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Vowel spectra:

Vowels: (

Text:(

Re - mem- ber

me,

Re - mem-ber

me,

R'

o * aU u--

mmB

QG 0
,a

FD

"' c-1 C E: F-

The D'sparallel and repeated the "i's". intensify repeated

"Remember me" repeats thehighest voweltimbre, "i", at itsbeginning and end. Thishigh timbre coincides with theabrupt return to theupper-line D.

an inner Again tolow-spectr

Re - mem -

berme,

Re - mem

ber me,

But

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Vowel spectra:
___

Vowels: ( Text:(

ai my

e fate,

i me,

A but

a ah!

Re - mem - ber

A-

D-

"

GF-

0 F
G4 oftheentire melodic Thehigh-point of thestress with line,G, coincides vowel thehighest spectrum, possible "i" ofme". is octave descent The final filled-in lowlargely joinedtotheprolonged vowels "A,a, o". spectrum

my

fate,

Re - mem -

berme,

but

ah!

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mm. 1-11 Vowel spectra: 1

Vowels: { Text:(
iC-

I Wind

aI whines and

a whines

a the

I shin - gle,

a The

cra -

A0GU-

G-

oF-

DlCe
-

The single vowel "I" of "w'ind" and "shin-(gle)",and the pitch C join to fix a descent pitch-timbral plateau at both ends ofthephrase.The mid-phrase spectrum is paralleledin a generalized way.

The abrupt drop of vowe the melodic line. Not on match; many details-for vowels "e" ("crazy") and

Wind

whines

and

whines

the

shin

Wind

whines

and

whines

t the shin

ogle,

The

cra

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Vowel spectra:

Vowels:{ Text:( i-

a A

i se -

a nile

i sea

I sin -

a gle

aI slime -

I sil vered

- bers each num

0 aG G0

GuU-

F-

E6 -

C,of thehighest riseto double-stress Abrupt vowelaccent sea". Thevowel "i" of "se-(nile) spectrum, is paralleled highbythewideleapto themelody the is maintained which throughout point, Gb-F, F returns with the"i" of"i". (Thehigh soundings of"each"at theendofthemeasure.)

Thisph this par in point; of thel high-s

r. ----2, A se nile sea_ num-bers each sin gle slime sil vered-

sto

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m.1

mm. 2

_ Vowel spectra:
Vowels: { Text:{ v Full a fa - dom aI five a thy a Fa
-

a ther

a lies,

a1)u-

"

A AbFZ. E6-

CDb

and melodic The parallelisms of vowelspectrum lineare mostexact of theaccented the vowels if one regards five, syllables: "fa-(dom), in "five" lies". The dipthong setting Fa-(ther), "al" is ambiguous-its in "lies" to its lowerhalf. to its higher half, corresponds

fi ull fI -om
Full fa - dom five

th
thy

F,
Fa
-

te
ther

ls
lies,

i"
Of

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Vowel spectra:i

Vowels: Text:{

o Those

a are

a pearles

a that

a were

I his eies,

o CA0s0 a-

U-

a-

.4

DI,-

Those

are

pearles

that

were

his

eies,

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