Jonathan Harvey's "Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco

CEC - eContact! 9.
2 - An Analysis of Jonathan Harveys Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco
CEC
10.11.09 14:07
Communaut lectroacoustique canadienne

Canadian Electroacoustic Community
Universit Concordia - RF-302, 7141 rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montral QC H4B 1R6 Canada
http://cec.concordia.ca cec@alcor.concordia.ca
SOURCE http://cec.concordia.ca/econtact/9_2/dirks.html
An Analysis of Jonathan Harveys Mortuos

Plango, Vivos Voco
By Patricia Lynn Dirks
Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco is a tape composition by British composer Jonathan Harvey.
Completed in 1980 as a commission by the Centre George Pompidou in Paris, it was realized
at IRCAM (Institute de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique-Musique) with the technical
assistance of Stanley Haynes (Harvey 1981, 22). The piece is based on two natural sound
sources; the great tenor bell at Winchester Cathedral and the voice of Harveys young son, a
chorister there from 1975 to 1980 (Manning, 233). The title and text of the work are taken
from the bells inscription: Horas Avolantes Numero, MortuosPlango: Vivos ad Preces
Voco [I count the fleeting hours, I lament the dead: the living I call to prayer]. Harvey
analyzed the bells harmonic spectrum with the fast Fourier transform (FFT) program at
IRCAM. Synthesizing and mixing was done with IRCAMs version of MusicV, originally
created by Max Mathews in 1969. (1) The boys voice was synthesized from a live recording
using the singing synthesis program CHANT developed by Gerald Bennett and Xavier Rodet.
(2)
I
http://cec.concordia.ca/econtact/9_2/dirks.html
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CEC - eContact! 9.2 - An Analysis of Jonathan Harveys Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco
10.11.09 14:07
conducted my own analytical research in relation to this work to further investigate the
harmonic spectra of the bell and the boys voice. Samples were taken directly from the
compact disc recording of Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco (Harvey 1990) and saved as Sound
Designer II stereo sound files at a sampling rate of 44100 Hz. All samples were analyzed with
the 1992/93 spectral analysis program AnnaLies Version 3.2, created by Chris Scallan and
Thomas Stainsby based on the 1991 program AnnaLies Version 1.0 by David Hirst and
Thomas Stainsby. (3) The software performs a Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT)
analysis of the samples and stores the information in a Fast Fourier transform (FFT) file,
which can then be displayed in a 2D or 3D format. For comparative analysis, all samples
recorded were analyzed at a window length and hop size of 4096 samples, with a hamming
window type, a start sample at 0Hz and end sample at 44100Hz. The purpose of this
investigation is to analyze the harmonic spectrum, find the formant regions present in each
sample and compare the results, especially in the vocal vowel sounds.
Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco contains eight
sections. Each of the sections is announced
by and based on one of the eight lowest
partials from the bells harmonic spectrum
(Harvey 1981, 22). Modulations from one
bell transformation to another are generally
Diagram 1. Golden Sections.
achieved by sine-tone glissandi and/or tacet
pauses. The partials present are related to the
following pitches and corresponding frequencies rounded up to the nearest whole number;
example 1 shows C3=138Hz, C4=261Hz,Eb4=311Hz, F4=349Hz, C5=523Hz, F5=698Hz,
G5=784Hz and A5=880Hz. The analyzed sample taken at (00:48) of the opening bell toll
verifies these eight harmonics and their intensities. Each harmonic present relates not only to
the pitch material but also to the duration of each section (Harvey 1990, liner notes), (i.e. the
higher the partial, the shorter the duration and vice versa). While the durations are inversely
proportional to the partials of the tenor bell, further calculations show that they are also based
on the Golden Section. This is proven when the ratio formed by the proportions of the longer
segment (A) to the shorter section (B) is equivalent to that of the whole to the longer
segment, where A:B::(A+B):A. (4) To calculate the Golden Section of this work, the total
duration of the work (08:58) is converted to 538 seconds and multiplied by the average
Golden Mean percentage of 0.618, producing the A value of 333 seconds. Then the A value
is converted back into minutes and seconds, with a result of 5 minutes and 33 seconds. On
comparing the A value to the existing sections of Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco, it is
discovered to be the exact starting time of Section G. To find the value for B, the same
calculations apply, this time with a starting value of 5 minutes and 33 seconds. The end result
for B is 3 minutes and 26 seconds, or 206 seconds. (Further calculations place the values for
A and B into the equation [B/A=A/(A+B)] producing the equal resultant ratio of 0.618...=
0.618... thus proving that the overall form is based on the golden mean). The A value
includes the Sections A through F and the value B, Sections G to the end of H, as delineated
in the analysis (see Diagram 1).
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Diagram 2. Legend of symbols used in the analysis.
The first section (Section A, 00:00

01:41) is based on the second partial
of the eight lowest partials of the
bell, C4. It is the second longest
section of the work with a duration
of 1 minute and 41 seconds (see
Section A and Diagram 2). Section
A begins with a quick succession of
tolling bells on various pitches. This
quickly chiming figure gradually
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slows down, decreasing in volume

and variety of pitches until it
eventually stops at 00:42. As the
chiming is fading out, a single
distinct bell toll on C4 is heard in
Click on image for a bigger view
intervals of 20 seconds at 00:00,
00:20 and 00:40. The boys voice
first enters quietly within multiple entries at 00:15 while chanting the text Horas Avolantes
Numero, Mortuos Plango on the pitch C4. The chanting varies in tempo and increases in
volume while the bells loudness decreases. At 00:34 the boys voice enters again on C4 (this
time as a solo voice), chanting Horas Avolantes Numero. When the single bell tolls again at
00:51 it is imposed with the envelope of the voice, thus producing a longer attack with no
immediate decay, prolonged sustain, and a gradual release. This seven note bell motive
(beginning with the pitches C4, G4 and F4) fades out to silence by 01:07 while the voice
merges chanting at 01:00 to 01:29. The chanting is first heard, with many voices chanting to
the same text, Horas Avolantes Numero, Mortuos Plango, at varying tempos. As the
chanting fades out, the seven note bell motive is repeated at 01:20 to 01:36. During the return
of the motive, at 01:34 to 01:39 the voice begins to sing alone quietly the text a-vo-lante,
mort. The last consonant of mort, is emphasized both by a strong accent from the voice
and by the absence of any other sounds. The consonant t is of a percussive quality and
contains mostly noise. When displayed in a 3D image it is clear that it has a short attack and
very little sustain, similar to that of a bell-like envelope (5) (see Example 2). Therefore, when
consonants occur in the voice, they are acting like the bell toll and when a bell sound has
been imposed with a voice-like envelope, it is acting as a vowel sound. In Section A the
consonant t is followed by one second of silence 01:40 to 01:41 representing the end of one
section and the beginning of the next.
Section B (01:4102:13) is based on the seventh

partial of the bell, G5, and is the shortest section,
with a duration of 32 seconds (see Section B). It
begins with a short bell toll on G5. The voice then
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10.11.09 14:07
enters with an accented solo spoken consonant t

at 01:46. The bell toll has been transforming since
the beginning of the section from a bell-like
envelope to a voice-like envelope. While this is
occurring the vowel sounds aa (father) and o
(more) at 01:49 are being sustained through
chanting. The vowel sounds are quickly
transformed by 01:51 into short consonants with a
bell-like envelope; a short attack, immediate decay,
little sustain, and a short release. Solo chanting
emerges at 02:09 on the texts phonemes, ha raa.
Here the last syllable aa is sustained until an
ascending and descending glissandi begins in the
voice. Taking a sample of this vowel aa
(father) the formant region can be seen occurring
on the third harmonic at 2640Hz with the
fundamental at 880Hz (see Example 3). Harvey Fletchers 1953 study states that the formant
region for aa is around the frequency region of 900Hz. When the fundamental of this
sample is taken down one octave and a fifth to D4 (294Hz), the formant region is almost one
third of the original at 882Hz, corresponding to Fletchers findings. (Fletcher, 53) Once the
glissandi begin, it is this figure that modulates the work into the next section. Modulation
between the bells partials, and thus the sections, occur either by tacet breaks or transforming
glissandi.
Section C (02:1303:31) is unique in this work as it is the only section where only the bell
sonorities are used. It is based on the fourth partial of the bell, F4, and is the third longest
section with a duration of 1 minute and 18 seconds. This section opens with both a short bell
toll on F4 and a bell sound with a voice-like envelope and a wide fluctuating vibrato. These
sounds continue until the next bell toll at 02:36. This bell toll is accompanied by a short
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cluster of quicker bell tolls in varying registers. Ascending and descending glissandi in the
lower register begins at 02:44, and is followed by an ascending and descending glissando in
the middle register at 02:50. Two more bell tolls are heard in succession at 03:05. While the
glissandi are transformed into an ascending glissando in the upper register which continues
until the tacet at 03:28 to 03:31. It is then both the glissandi and silence which usher in
Section D.
Section D (03:3104:10) is based on the sixth partial of the bell, F5, an octave higher than
the previous section. It is the third shortest section with a duration of 39 seconds. Like all the
sections in Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco, it is announced with a bell toll on a pitch from the
tenor bells harmonic spectrum. In this case, the voice announces the opening simultaneously
with the bell toll on the pitch F5 singing the text ha, a, a. Both the bell and the voice begin
with bell-like envelopes that quickly become voice-like envelopes by the end of their initial
releases. It is in this sustaining texture that the bell-like and voice-like qualities alternate in
prominence for most of the section. This changing of sound quality over time, is evident in
the 3D image of a sample taken of this event (6) (see Example 4). Here the voices intensity
is shown increasing over time while the bells intensity is decreasing over time. Such a
technique was accomplished by reading both the bell and boys voice sound files forward and
backwards in rapid oscillations of various rhythms (Harvey 1981, 24). It is these constant
transformations between the sounds of the boys voice and of the bell that unify these
contrasting sources of material (Manning, 233). By 04:03 the voice and the bell sonorities
have begun to decrease in dynamics and begin to glissando, ascending and descending
respectively. Both continue in opposite directions until the tacet occurs (04:0804:10), setting
up anticipation of the next section and signaling the close of Section D.
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Section E (04:1004:59) is the fourth shortest section in Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco, lasting
49 seconds. The pitch it is based on is C5, the fifth partial in the bells spectral analysis. The
section opens with three simultaneous events: the first being a sung vowel sound aa on C5.
The remaining events include a bell toll on C5 and a group of short bell sonorities at various
upper-register pitches. By 04:15 the bell sounds have ended and downward, continuouslyspiraling glissandi on the vowel, aa, begins. These glissandi continues until 04:46. The bell
sonorities at this point remain tacet for the remainder of the section. A chorus of voices enter
at 04:30 singing the text, preces with varying rhythms. At 04:46 ascending glissandi on
aa takes over all of the voices. It is this chorus of glissandi that modulates to the next bell
partial, A5, marking the end of Section E by 04:59.
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Section F (04:5905:33) is based on the eighth partial of the bell, A5, and is the second
shortest section in duration, lasting only 34 seconds. Similar to Section E, it begins with two
simultaneous events. The first is a sustained bell toll on A5 and the second consists of
chanting on A5 the vowel ee. Taking a further look into the vowel ee (eat) the formant
region occurs on the fifth harmonic at 4430Hz with the fundamental at 880Hz (see Example
5). When the fundamental is taken down one octave to A4 (440Hz) the formant region is half
of the original at 2215Hz corresponds with Harvey Fletchers 1929 study that states the
formant region for ee is around the frequency regions of 300 and 2300Hz (Fletcher, 53).
The bell toll with its voice-like envelope is sustained until the tacet at 05:19 to 05:24. The
vowel ee chanting continues until its transformation into the vowel aa (father) at 05:19.
This vowel aa is then repeated while its sound envelope changes from that of a voice-like
sustain to a bell-like attack. As the attack is being shortened, the text also undergoes a
transformation from chanted vowels to rapidly spoken consonants at 05:24. This process of
transformation then extends to changing the vocally produced consonants to rapidly tolling
bell sounds at various pitches at 05:27. It is these bell sonorities that continue while
decreasing in tempo and dynamics until the end of the section at 05:33.
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Unlike previous modulations, Section G (05:3306:33), is neither preceded by pitch

transforming glissandi nor by a tacet pause. This section begins with a pulsing bell toll on Eflat 4, the third partial of the tenor bell. The bell tolls dynamics continue to pulsate for the
remainder of the fourth longest section, exactly one minute in duration. The boys voice
enters at 05:44 singing on a vowel sound, aa (father) that pulsates and sustains to the end
of the section. At 05:44 bell sounds at various pitches are heard mixing in and out of the
pulsating bell tone that already exists. Mixed voices of varying tempos enter at 06:15 singing
the vowel aa, mixing with the previously sustaining aa still on E-flat 4. A chorus singing
the same vowel appears at a sforzando dynamic at 06:30 with a burst marking the end of the
section at 06:33. Section G does not end with a tacet pause or glissandi, like the ending of the
previous section.
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The last part of this work, Section H (06:3308:58) is actually on the first partial, C3, of the
bells spectrum. It is also the works longest section, lasting 2 minutes and 25 seconds. Like
Section A, it is announced with a bell toll that continues to toll on the pitch of the section
every twenty seconds. In this case, the bell toll is an octave lower than the opening on the
pitch C3. The other noticeable difference from the opening constant bell toll is the increased
reverberation. This is applied to the sound gradually and eventually takes over the bells
qualities and becomes the bell itself after 08:26 until it fades out to end the work at 08:58.
While this transformation and constant tolling occur with the bell sonorities, a chorus effect
of the boys voice sings a quick chord at various intervals (06:34, 06:49, 07:06, 07:18, 07:32,
07:41, 07:55, 08:15 and 08:26). From analyzing the harmonics present in the vocal chorus, it
represents a B-flat minor chord. (see Example 6) This is evident as the following pitches are
present in each chord; D-flat 3, B-flat 3, D-flat 5, F5, B-flat 5 and D-flat 6. The chord itself
has a unique quality as it uses the vowel sound oo (moon) and aa (father)
simultaneously adding a hollow, breathy like quality to the sound. It is this variance of
dynamics and timings that make these chords so effective against the strict tempo of the bell
tolls.
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In conclusion, Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco has best been described as an important addition
to the repertoire of compositions that employ digital signal processing (Manning, 233). From
its sonorities to the harmonic content of the work, the durational proportions of each section
and treatment of amplitude envelopes, it is clearly based on the tenor bell. The bells partials
are statically distributed in space producing the sonic impression of being inside the bell,
whereas the boys voice has the tendency to act as a free moving spirit throughout the concert
hall (Harvey 1990, liner notes p.14). One could take the contrast of the bell and the boys
voice one step further in regards to the inscribed text, Horas Avolantes Numero, Mortuos
Plango: Vivos ad Preces Voco, and interpret the bell as representing the dead and the boys
voice, the living.
Notes
1. For more information about the program MusicV, see Stanley Haynes, The Musician-machine
Interface in Digital Sound Synthesis, Computer Music Journal 4/4 (1980), 2344, and Max
Mathews, The Technology of Computer Music (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1969).
2. For a more technical discussion of Harveys analysis and synthesis techniques, see Jonathan Harvey,
1981.
3. For more information about the program AnnaLies, see David J.G. Hirst, Digital Sound Analysis and
Synthesis Using the Short-Time Fourier Transform (M.A. Thesis, La Trobe University), 1985.
4. Values used in the above calculations were rounded up to the nearest whole number for the purpose
of not dealing with units less than one second in duration.
5. This sample was re-analyzed at a window and hop length of 512 samples for the purpose of
producing a larger display area only.
6. This sample was re-analyzed at a window and hop length of 1024 samples for the purpose of
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References
Backus, John. The Acoustical Foundations of Music. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1977.
Fletcher, Harvey. Speech and Hearing in Communication. New York: D. Van Nostrand Company Inc., 1953.
Harvey, Jonathan. Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco. Computer Music Currents 5. Wergo, WER 2025-2, 1990.
_____. Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco: A Realization at IRCAM. Computer Music Journal 5/4 (1981), pp.
22-4.
Manning, Peter. Electronic and Computer Music. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993.
Biography
Canadian composer PATRICIAN LYNN DIRKS (1972) earned her Master of Music degree
in composition, with a special emphasis on electroacoustic music, from the University of
Calgary, and now resides in Ontario. Ms. Dirks also holds a Bachelor of Music in Honours
Composition from Wilfrid Laurier University. She has won various awards for her
compositions, previous works involved the integration of computer music and acoustic
elements. Currently she is a member of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community (CEC) and
holds the position of web administrator for the Association of Canadian Women Composers
(ACWC).
http://www.acwc.ca/members-info.php?id=45 (http://www.acwc.ca/members-info.php?id=45)
Other Articles by the Author

Reviews
Robert Normandeau, Claire de terre. Computer Music Journal (http://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/comj)
Vol. 29, No. 2 (Summer 2005), pp. 946.
Various, Electroshock Presents Electroacoustic Music, Volume VII. Computer Music Journal
(http://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/comj) Vol. 28, No. 4 (Winter 2004), pp. 968.
Various, Harangue II. Computer Music Journal (http://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/comj) Vol. 28, No. 4
(Winter 2004), pp. 98100.
Various, Presence II (Canadian Electroacoustic Community (http://cec.concordia.ca/CD) ). Computer Music
Journal (http://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/comj) Vol. 25, No. 2 (Summer 2001), pp. 845.
Hans Tutschku, Moment. Computer Music Journal (http://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/comj) Vol. 25, No. 4
(Winter 2001), pp. 100102.
Originally published in eContact! 9.2 Canadian Regions: The Prairies (index.html) . Montral: Communaut
lectroacoustique canadienne / Canadian Electroacoustic Community (../../index.html) , March 2007.
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CEC - eContact! 9.

2 - An Analysis of Jonathan Harveys Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco

Communaut lectroacoustique canadienne

An Analysis of Jonathan Harveys Mortuos

Diagram 2. Legend of symbols used in the analysis.

The first section (Section A, 00:00

slows down, decreasing in volume

Section B (01:4102:13) is based on the seventh

enters with an accented solo spoken consonant t

Click on image for a bigger view

Click on image for a bigger view

Click on image for a bigger view

Click on image for a bigger view

Unlike previous modulations, Section G (05:3306:33), is neither preceded by pitch

Click on image for a bigger view

Click on image for a bigger view

producing a larger display area only.

Other Articles by the Author

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