#aleatoric

[f0restpunk]

[thetendertongue]

aleatoric music — music in which some element of the composition is left to chance, and/or some primary element of a composed work's realization is left to the determination of its performer

[ralphbellairs]

An excerpt from "Thoroughly agitated", my latest book of recycled poetry.

[therealuniverse]

HARMONY OF THE SPHERES: ASTRONOMY IN MUSIC "Harmony of the Spheres" (or "celestial spheres") traditionally refers to the philosophical concept dating back to Pythagoras. The Ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician discovered rules, whereby sounds are in harmony with each other if the lengths of strings on which they are played form simple mathematical ratios. 2:1 would be an octave, 3:2 a fifth, 4:3 a fourth etc. Philosophers thought back then that all celestial objects were affixed to crystal spheres surrounding Earth, which was located in the centre of the Universe. Each sphere was thought to emit an inaudible hum as it revolved around Earth and all of them together would create "Harmony of the Spheres".

Astronomical references in music can be found as far back as the 18th century, in pieces by the great composers Haydn and Handel, but not until the 20th century can we talk about whole works inspired by astronomy, astronomers and celestial objects. Gustav Holst wrote his very popular orchestral suite "The Planets" around 1916, although he was more inspired by their astrological meanings than astronomy. For the most literal link of astronomy with music, we turn to John Cage (1912-1992), an influential American composer of avant-garde classical music. Mid-20th century was a period in classical music when all kinds of boundaries were pushed to their logical (and often illogical) extremes. Composers experimented with non-standard ways to create and play music - often devoid of tuneful melody, familiar harmonies, regular rhythm, or even deliberate sound. John Cage took this trend to the extreme with his piece 4'33" during which the musicians remain silent for exactly 4 minutes and 33 seconds. (It's meant to make the audience listen to the ambient sounds that happen to be heard.) Around 1960, John Cage composed a few pieces of so called "aleatoric" music, in which notes are determined by chance. His 1961 piece "Atlas Eclipticalis" took its title from an atlas of stars published by the Czech astronomer Antonín Bečvář. To create the piece, Cage took pages from the atlas, like the one shown here, superimposed musical staves on the star charts and copied locations of the stars as musical notes. Cage tended to leave much interpretative freedom to performers of his music, so the piece can be played by any numbers of players at an arbitrary tempo, determined by the conductor. Atlas Eclipticalis was commissioned for a music festival in Montreal, Canada and is still occasionally performed in concert halls. You can listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epBkVgfoXNk And here's a list of other astronomy-inspired pieces: http://www.astronomy2009.org/static/resources/iya2009_music_astronomy.pdf - PZ Sources: http://johncage.org/pp/John-Cage-Work-Detail.cfm?work_ID=31 Image credit: http://www.ta3.sk/public_relation/becvar/atlasy.html

[sivatherium]

[minna-o]

Here goes... Something?

[soundstudiesresource]

From Burnley the tree’s profile will be visible on the horizon. It will appear and disappear in the mist. As the wind blows the tree begins to sing. Stories of its song would pass from mouth to ear. In cars and on foot people would make their way from the city and up the hill. The journey would be made to hear the wind make music with the singing ringing tree.

The tree is constructed of stacked pipes of varying lengths. Each layer differs from the next by 15 degrees to respond to the changing wind directions. As the wind passes different length pipes in different layers it will play different chords. Each time you sit under the tree you will hear a different song.

(via singing ringing tree | tonkin liu on Vimeo)

[iconist]

Karina Smigla-Bobinski