Tell Me a StoryTeaching Music Composition

Through Narrative Design

by Greg Simon Assistant Professor of Composition

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

• Jon Franklin: “Narrative is a simple thing, at bottom: chronology with meaning.”1

• Roland Barthes: “There are countless forms of narrative in the world… among the vehicles of narrative are articulated language, whether oral or written, pictures, still or moving, gestures, and an ordered mixture of all those substances… in this infinite variety of forms, it is present at all times, in all places, in all societies…”2

1Jon Franklin, “The Narrative Tool,” in The Journalist’s Craft: A Guide to Writing Better Stories, ed. Dennis Jackson and John Sweeney (New York: Allworth Press, 2012), eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed March 23, 2018).2Roland Barthes and Lionel Duisit, “An Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narrative,” New Literary History Vol. 6, No. 2, On Narrative and Narratives (Winter 1975): 237.

Narrative (or storytelling): ordered expression of an aesthetic idea over time.

Music is Storytelling.Composition pedagogy: the pedagogy

of musical storytelling.

Narrative designs hold value for teaching composition.

OVERVIEW• What narrative design is not

• What narrative design is

• Campbell’s monomyth

• Freytag’s pyramid

• Narrative designs in musical forms

• The value and use of narrative design in the composition studio

CHAPTER 1What Narrative Design in Music Is Not

WHAT WE’RE NOT TALKING ABOUT• Narrative design is not programmatic music

• Narrative-designed music does not (necessarily) tell textual stories

• Musical storytelling is not literary storytelling

• Narrative-designed music is informed by structures in literary narrative

CHAPTER 2The Monomyth

THE MONOMYTH: OVERVIEW• Also known as the “Hero’s Journey”

• Popularized by Joseph Campbell (1904-1987)

• Multipart, circular narrative design

• Structuralist interpretation of mythic tales

Beginning: The Hero

THE MONOMYTH: OVERVIEW

Call to Adventure

Crossing of the Threshold

Road of Trials

Nadir of the Journey- Meeting of the Goddess - Atonement with the Father - Apotheosis - Theft of the Quest Object

EARTHLY REALM

SUPERNATURAL REALM

THE MONOMYTH: OVERVIEW

Call to Adventure

Crossing of the Threshold

Road of Trials

Nadir of the Journey- Meeting of the Goddess - Atonement with the Father - Apotheosis - Theft of the Quest Object

Refusal of the Return

Emissary Help/ Magic Flight

Return Across the Threshold

Master of Two Worlds

End: Freedom to Live

EARTHLY REALM

SUPERNATURAL REALM

Beginning: The Hero

“[The hero’s journey] is a magnification of the formula represented in the rites of passage…1 to conduct people across those difficult

thresholds of transformation that demand a change in the patterns not only of conscious but also of unconscious life.”2

–JOSEPH CAMPBELL

1Joseph Campbell, The Hero With A Thousand Faces (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968), 9. 2 Ibid., 30.

THE MONOMYTH: FIRST DISTILLATION

EARTHLY REALM (ORDER)

SUPERNATURAL REALM (CHAOS)

Beginning

Nadir (greatest distance from the earthly realm)

The return to the earthly realm, with a new

perspective gained from the supernatural

The earthly realm is established and

challenged

The threshold to the supernatural is crossed

The supernatural is understood and mastered

THE MONOMYTH: SECOND DISTILLATION

ORDER

CHAOS

Beginning

Nadir

Exploring two forces……then in collaboration.

…first in contrast…

THE MONOMYTH AND SONATA FORM

I V(unstable)

I (I) trans.

Primary themeSecondary/ Closing theme

Primary themeSecondary/ Closing theme

:

EXPOSITION DEVELOPMENT RECAPITULATION

ORDERORDER CHAOS

trans.

Establish orderCross the threshold

Departure from the known, first encounter with the unknown

Road of trials (challenge to earlier perceived truths)

Nadir of the journey

Refusal of return, flight

Return across the threshold (point

of greatest tension)

Master of two worlds, freedom to live

CHAPTER 3Gustav Freytag’s Pyramid

FREYTAG’S PYRAMID: OVERVIEW• Gustav Freytag (1816-1895): Freytag’s Technique of the Drama

• The five-act dramatic arc

FREYTAG’S PYRAMID: OVERVIEW

Exciting Force

Rising Actio

n Falling Action

Catastrophe

Climax

Exposi

tion

Denouement

–GUSTAV FREYTAG

“[In the rising action] the hero appeared… working from within outward, changing by [his] own force the life relations in which he came upon the stage. From

the climax on, what he has done reacts upon himself and gains power over him…”1

1Gustav Freytag, Freytag’s Technique of the Drama, An Exposition of Dramatic Composition and Art, trans. Elias J. MacEwan (Chicago: Scott, Foresman and Co., 1894): 106.

FREYTAG’S PYRAMID: DISTILLATION

Exposition

Rising Actio

n Falling Action

Catastrophe

Climax

PLAY The choices of the hero

COUNTERPLAY The consequences of the choices

FREYTAG’S PYRAMID: DISTILLATION

Exposition

Rising Actio

n Falling Action

Catastrophe

Climax

COUNTERPLAY Acted upon by external forces

PLAY Responses to those forces

I I IContrasting Key 1

Contrasting Key 2

A (refrain 1) A (refrain 2) A (refrain 3)B (episode 1) C (episode 2)

Climax

Exciting Force/ Exposition

PLAY COUNTERPLAY

Rising Action Falling ActionCatastrophe/ Denoument

Action in response to the exciting force

Strongest point of contact between Play

and Counterplay

abbreviated, reorchestrated, etc.

Events now consequences of earlier decisions

Response to the rising action

FREYTAG’S PYRAMID AND THE 5-PART RONDO

new orchestration, addition of material from B/C

Conclusion and resolution of all events

CHAPTER 4Using Narrative Design in the Composition Studio

THE UNIVERSAL SKILL OF NARRATIVE

• Narrative thought is a “natural impulse”1

• Van Dongen: Narrative understanding precedes development of literacy2

• Narrative understanding of musical form can precede theoretical understanding

• Enables discussion of structure at the beginning of musical training

1Hayden White, “The Value of Narrativity in the Representation of Reality,” Critical Inquiry 7:1, On Narrative (Autumn 1980): 5. 2Richard Van Dongen, “Children’s Narrative Thought, at Home and at School,” Language Arts 64:1, Literature and Literacy (January 1987): 82

• As a cure for writer’s block

• Ask the student: “What comes next?”

• Supplement (or replace) model composition projects

• Engage with concepts of pacing, structure, without rote repetition of classical forms

• Especially for students with non-classical music backgrounds

USING NARRATIVE DESIGN IN THE STUDIO

• Narrative designs can create more intentional musical structures

• Guide choices about tension and release

• Enhance student’s ability to elicit emotional response

• Help students integrate their cultural backgrounds into their expression1

1Van Dongen, “Children’s,” 80.

USING NARRATIVE DESIGN IN THE STUDIO

I I IContrasting Key 1

Contrasting Key 2

A (refrain 1) A (refrain 2) A (refrain 3)B (episode 1) C (episode 2)

Exciting Force/ Exposition

PLAY COUNTERPLAY

Rising Action

Climax

Falling ActionCatastrophe/ Denoument

Action in response to the exciting force

Strongest point of contact between Play

and Counterplay

abbreviated, reorchestrated, etc.

Events now consequences of earlier decisions

Response to the rising action

new orchestration, addition of material from B/C

Conclusion and resolution of all events

FREYTAG’S PYRAMID AND THE 5-PART RONDO

I I IContrasting Key 1

Contrasting Key 2

A (refrain 1) A (refrain 2) A (refrain 3)B (episode 1) C (episode 2)

Exciting Force/ Exposition

PLAY COUNTERPLAY

Rising Action

Climax

Falling ActionCatastrophe/ Denoument

Action in response to the exciting force

Strongest point of contact between Play

and Counterplay

abbreviated, reorchestrated, etc.

Events now consequences of earlier decisions

Response to the rising action

new orchestration, addition of material from B/C

Conclusion and resolution of all events

FREYTAG’S PYRAMID AND THE 5-PART RONDO

I I IContrasting Key 1

Contrasting Key 2

A (refrain 1) A (refrain 2) A (refrain 3)B (episode 1) C (episode 2)

Exciting Force/ Exposition

PLAY COUNTERPLAY

Rising Action

Climax

Falling ActionCatastrophe/ Denoument

Action in response to the exciting force

Strongest point of contact between Play

and Counterplay

abbreviated, reorchestrated, etc.

Events now consequences of earlier decisions

Response to the rising action

FREYTAG’S PYRAMID AND THE 5-PART RONDO

new orchestration, addition of material from B/C

Conclusion and resolution of all events

What are the consequences of the B choices?

• Melodically • Harmonically • Rhythmically • Texturally

THE MONOMYTH AND MUSICAL STRUCTURE

ORDER

CHAOS

Beginning

Nadir

Meeting the supernatural

Establishing and challenging the earthly

Mastering the supernatural, Resistance from the supernatural

Return with supernatural perspective

Tension increases…

Refusal of the return

Development (transformation, challenging, distortion)

Road of trials

Return across the

threshold

Magic flight/emissary helpWindow of greatest tension

(golden section)

Master

of both

worl

ds

Balance between order and chaos (melodically, harmonically, texturally)

Exposition of first material; characteristics define the coming material

Call to adventure

Crossing the threshold Exposition of second material Chaos is the opposite of order

Narrative is a guide, not a limitation.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

–JOSEPH CAMPBELL

“It would not be too much to say that myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the

cosmos pour into human cultural manifestation… The wonder is that the characteristic efficacy to touch and

inspire deep creative centers dwells in the smallest nursery fairy tale—as the flavor of the ocean is contained with a

droplet or the whole mystery of life within the egg of a flea. For the symbols of myth.. are spontaneous productions of

the psyche, and each bears within it, undamaged, the germ power of its source. ”1

1Campbell, Hero, 4.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

WORKS CITED AND FURTHER READING

Scan this QR code on your mobile device for a complete Works Cited list,recommendations for further reading, and to download a PDF of this presentation

or visit: www.gregsimonmusic.com/tellmeastory