Turangalila and final projects

Thanks for your thoughtful analyses and reactions to this piece! Since there are 6 movements left in Turangalila and one week of class, I would like to assign individual movements to each of you to comment on below, as we've been doing for the other movements. I quickly assigned movements in class but I can't remember who is supposed to do what, so if you don't mind I will reassign as follows:

Matt, V. Joie du Sang des Etoiles
Cheryl, VI. Jardin du Sommeil d'amour
JP, VII. Turangalila 2
Mary, VIII. Developpement d'amour
Edo, IX. Turangalila 3
Kristin, X. Final

You're also welcome to take a look at the informative wikipedia page on this piece. For these remaining movements, instead of doing another form chart, discuss a topic of your choice such as motives, harmony, use of modes, rhythms, orchestration, poetry/extramusical ideas, etc. - try to write something interesting and enlightening about your assigned movement.

Don't worry if your posts are not in the order of movements; and to follow up on Matt's comment in class, you're all welcome to present other pieces if you wish, in addition to your work on Turangalila.

Final projects will be due on Friday, December 14. If people are free that day, I'd like to have a final class in lieu of an exam, to take a look at each other's final projects. Are people free at noon on Friday, Dec. 14?

Thanks and good luck!

Turangalila 4th movement

Here's a place to leave your analyses of the 4th movement. After this one only five more to go! If you haven't yet done this, please have all the first four movements done before class resumes after Thanksgiving break. We'll look at these, and look over your pieces in progress as well.

Turangalila 3rd movement

Dear composers, please comment on this post with your thoughts on the third movement, formal
and otherwise. Which of Messiaen's techniques do you think are most applicable to your own work so far?

Also, thanks to those who showed up at the Composer's Forum yesterday, I thought it was very interesting. I don't believe I saw any of you (ahem) at the composer concert last night - attendance at these events is important!

Turangalila, 2nd movement

Dear 206 composers,

As we discussed in class on Wednesday, please listen to and study the score of the second movement to Turangalîla; post your formal analysis as a comment here. And as we go through the piece, start thinking about the overall plan - what is the place of this movement in the grand scheme?

And if you still have not posted on the first movement, please do so before Monday.

Music 206: Turangalila

Dear 206 composers: I'm taking over this blog from a class I taught last summer on music since World War II (which you should check out if you're interested). For the remainder of this semester, I would like us to focus on a single work: Messiaen's gigantic Turangalîla-Symphony. I do not have this piece online, but there are several CD's in the library:

• CDISC M1001 M37T87
• CDISC M1001 M47T82 (also on reserve)
• DVD MT125 L438v.2 (DVD with Simon Rattle)

I will be leaving a copy of the score on reserve as well. For Wednesday, please listen to the first movement and make a chart of the form; we will discuss this in class today.

We're done!

Thanks to all of you for a really fun class - I hope you've learned as much as I did. I will be emailing each of you with comments on your presentation, exam, and paper; if you'd like me to send your hard copies to you, please just send me a mailing address. Thanks and good luck!

Assignment for Tuesday, July 31

I know you're all busy working on your final project, so I've been trying to go easy on reading. But here are a few items you may be interested in, on various topics starting with Morton Feldman:

• Dora Hanninen, "Feldman, Analysis, Experience." (pdf) Twentieth-century music 1/2 (2004), pp. 225-251. An interesting perspective on the difficulties in analyzing Feldman's music, with a detailed look at Coptic Light.
• The video by Kurt Ralske based on Feldman's Triadic Memories, which I showed last week in class.

On Nixon in China, there are many interviews with John Adams and the director Peter Sellars, which you can find easily; one of the more interesting analytical articles is here:

• Matthew Daines, "Nixon's Women: Gender Politics and Cultural Representation in Act 2 of Nixon in China." Musical Quarterly vol. 79 no. 1, pp. 6-34.

On British composer Thomas Adès, again there is lots of publicity material, but fewer in-depth looks (Adès himself rarely gives interviews). Here are some of the most interesting articles -

• Alex Ross, "Roll Over Beethoven: Thomas Adès." New Yorker, Nov. 2, 1998.
• Christopher Fox, "Tempestuous Times: the recent music of Thomas Adès." Musical Times, 145:1888 (Autumn 2004), pp. 41-56.
• An interview from February 2007 in The Telegraph.

On Chinese-American composer Chen Yi -

• A brief interview (transcript) from Minnesota Public Radio, 2001.
• A 2003 dissertation by Xin Guo on Chen Yi's music.

On Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho -

• Damien Pousset, "The Works of Kaija Saariaho, Philippe Hurel and Marc-Andre Dalbavie--Stile Concertato, Stile Concitato, Stile Rappresentativo." Contemporary Music Review; 2000, Vol. 19 Issue n3, p67-110. An examination of "post-spectral" styles.

Listening: Adès, Asyla for orchestra, movements 1 and 3; Chen Yi, Si Ji for orchestra; Saariaho, New Gates for flute, viola and harp.