JAVS Fall 2024

produce extraneous noise due to the increase in bow pressure which yields hard attacks, several changes in string direction, and bow placement closer to the bridge. As the tremolo transitions to straight double stops, the noise increases due to the molto accelerando. This is because the double stops require rapid string crossings across all four strings; as the speed increases, the friction between the bow and the strings decreases, which inhibits the performer from managing the tone quality in real-time. The increase in noise through the rhythmic acceleration is likely intentional and serves to enhance the chaotic energy of the acceleration. As the music decelerates into a ricochet stroke, as required in the fifth system, the amount of noise decreases—

although some uncontrolled noise results as well, especially at the forte dynamic. Some factors that impact noise of the ricochet include height of bow bounce and speed of the fall and release, whether the ricochet hits other strings, amount of bow hair used—as more hair likely means more pitched sound—and bow placement, since placing the bow too close to either the bridge or the fingerboard results in more unpitched noise. After all the disturbances to pitches throughout the transition, the agitation finally resolves to a resolution with a long fermata D4. This pitch could be played on an open D string, exhibiting one of the most fundamental sounds on the viola.

Figure 7: Transition 2 from noise to sound, starting from the fourth system of the second page to the fermata in the seventh system. The pitch density in the fourth system creates a jumble of partials and extraneous noise. As the density decreases, identifying the overtones of individual pitches becomes easier. This is most apparent from 126-128 seconds, or the singular D4. However, one can start to see the appearance of identifiable overtones starting at around 123 seconds, or the start of the ricochet at the end of the sixth system.

(2011). 22 Both Saariaho and Grisey’s diagram, found in Figures 9 and 10, respectively, represent a rough outline of their compositions, depicted in color and/or abstract shapes. Saariaho’s diagrams use wedge shapes to represent large-scale shaping and opaque in contrast to translucent shading to represent inharmonicity to harmonicity. 23 Grisey’s diagram, on the other hand, represents the piece’s general shape, tension and release, and hypothetical durations. 24 Saariaho, Grisey, and Murail emphasize the importance of musical form in their compositions and its connection to sound throughout time. 25 Therefore, while this paper has focused on transitions across microforms, the minutia must be viewed from the perspective of the entire piece.

How Transitions Create Macroform Figure 8 is an idea for a “roadmap” of the piece. This roadmap serves as a zoomed- out visual, which can be challenging to observe on a sound analysis software. The roadmap and color-mapping system were conceived through several close-listening sessions with the score only acting as a supplement. This roadmap was inspired by the form diagrams in Kaija Saariaho’s article “Timbre and Harmony: Interpolations of Timbral Structures” (1987) as well as the formal outline of Gérard Grisey’s Périodes in the article “The Emergence of Spectra in Gérard Grisey’s Compositional Process: From Dérives (1973-74) to Les Espaces Acoustiques (1974-85)” by François-Xavier Féron

32

Journal of the American Viola Society / Vol. 40, No. 2, Fall 2024