Toward a Theory of Timbre: Verbal Timbre and Musical Line in Purcell, Sessions, and Stravinsky

Toward a Theory of Timbre: Verbal Timbre and Musical Line in Purcell, Sessions, andStravinskyAuthor(s): Robert CoganSource: Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Autumn - Winter, 1969), pp. 75-81Published by: Perspectives of New MusicStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/832123 .

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TOWARD A THEORY OF TIMBRE: VERBAL TIMBRE AND MUSICAL LINE

IN PURCELL, SESSIONS, AND STRAVINSKY

ROBERT COGAN

TIMBRE, of all the parameters of music, is the one least considered. It lacks not only an adequate theory, but even an inadequate one. Its obscurity is in part notational, in part analytical - and in each respect historical. While every musician knows that the compositional act of fixing and notating the timbral features of a work is comparatively recent (1750 is a convenient date, as a norm), the peculiarity of timbral notation has not been recognized. Its usual notation indicates not timbres, but rather the means - particularly the instrumental means - used to achieve them. (This is analogous in many respects to lute and guitar notation of pitches based on instrumental finger positions. Can one imagine the problems for the theory of pitch relations if all pitch notation were based on instrumental manipulation, rather than on the resulting sounds?) Thus timbral notation not only followed cen- turies after pitch and rhythm notation; it has also remained one step further removed from its essential territory - the nature of timbre - than those other notations (however questionable and inadequate they may be).

Timbral analysis is even more recent than timbral notation. The essential formulations of Helmholtz date from 1850-80. Chapters V and VI ("On the Differences in the Quality of Musical Tones" and "On the Apprehension of Qualities of Tone") of his On the Sensations of Tone have provided the basis for all subsequent theoretical consideration of timbre. These later studies have been undertaken by acousticians, engineers, linguists, physicists, and psychologists (among others); rarely, if ever, by musicians. To be done with accuracy, timbral analysis requires sophisticated technology of a kind which has existed for less than fifty years. Even the observations of Helmholtz, remarkable for their period, contain inaccuracies due to technical limitations.

Helmholtz showed that timbre (which he called Klangfarbe, ren- dered as quality by his translator) depends principally upon the num-

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PERSPECTIVES OF NEW MUSIC

ber and relative intensity of the sounding partials of a fundamental. Thus timbral analysis requires measurement and consideration of the overtone spectrum of a sound. This is a matter requiring both technical and conceptual delicacy. In fact, the crude, specious use of the overtone phenomena by composer-theorists from Rameau to Hindemith, by pure theorists such as Schenker (despite much other admirable work), and by engineers such as Olson has in itself made more difficult the proper use of these phenomena to illuminate timbre. (Helmholtz was highly aware of the danger of inappropriate generalization from the overtone series and took considerable, if insufficient, pains to avoid it in his own work.)

This brief paper will not supply a theory of timbre as a whole. It does intend to show that using timbral information now (and for some years) available, certain aspects of music can be significantly illumi- nated-that it is possible to make a beginning toward the musical analysis of timbre.

I

Languages are timbral systems of considerable complexity and subtlety. They consist of a variety of attacks (consonants) and su- stained timbres (vowels and some vowel-like consonants). The acoustical nature of language sounds has been studied more thor- oughly than any other group of timbres. A section of Helmholtz' Chapter V is named "Vowel Qualities of Tone"; even during his time a number of others were working intensively in this field (including Melville Bell, father of Alexander Graham Bell). Since language timbre has been so greatly studied, and since language and its timbres are components of many musical works, it is a useful starting place for consideration of interrelationships between timbre and other musical features.

The basis of the timbral analyses in this paper are the spectrographic analyses of R. K. Potter, G. A. Kopp, and H. G. Kopp in Visible Speech (Dover Publications, originally published in 1947). Example I reproduces spectrographic analyses of the vowels of English. (The analyses were obtained by filtering and measuring the partials of each vowel. Potter and the Kopps used a filter with a band- width of 300 cycles, which results in the suppression of some minute details, but shows most clearly the concentrations of vibrating partials for each vowel. Such analysis was done in the range between 70 and 3,500 cycles, where the great bulk of vibration energy and variation in structure are concentrated.) It is the second bar from the bottom in each spectrograph which most strongly characterizes vowel sounds, due to its strength and variability of position. Potter and Kopps

S76



TOWARD A THEORY OF TIMBRE

............ . . : .. .. . . ..9..

eve ~ t .t. ... at ak fath.r ....b.y . oot b.t

Schematic Representation of the Spectrographs

i eve) r (it) a (hate) ? (met) to (at) an (s)

a(fa ther( )e) (put) i iboot

4 (u) a(bout) 4 (church) a (chureh) (Genera A a) (lsltern)

.... E x. .

!i~i~iiiii~i..........ii

.. . . . . . ? ........... ...... .., :!~ ii~i~~iiiiiiii~ll

...........

77 -




refer to the concentration of partials represented by that bar as the hub.

It is clear from these analyses that even when the fundamental pitch of vowels is identical (as in these spectrographs), vibrations are set up which vary in intensity in different frequency regions, depending upon the specific vowel. The overtone spectrum of each vowel emphasizes different partials and different regions of partials. The hub of each of the various vowels - their point of greatest intensity -

is different. (An analogous situation obtains for various instruments, of course.) While a vowel may be modified somewhat in various con- texts, it does not lose its individual structure and identity, even when unvoiced, as in a whisper (nor do differences of sex, range, or pro- nunciation affect these partial-concentration patterns significantly). The vowels can be arranged, then, in a scale according to the relative height of their hub; one might refer to this, as Helmholtz did, as a scale of brightness (the term is irrelevant for our purposes; it is the ordering which is important). (See the vowel order under "motion of the vowel hubs" in Exx. 2, 3, and 4.)

Only the diphthongs present ambiguities; their patterns are chang- ing rather than fixed. However, the change in any diphthong is as defined and constant as the structure of any other vowel. They are no more unanalyzable or arbitrary than other timbres.

II

Does the nature of vowel timbre affect their usage by composers, for example, in text settings for voices? One senses that the answer is yes, yet this intuition is never tested. Musicians have analyzed textual settings in a variety of other ways. Reese showed that Grego- rian chant frequently rises for an accented syllable (particularly in the example he chose, "Jubilate Deo"; Music in the Middle Ages, p. 166). It has often been suggested that words of semantic importance are placed prominently, at high, or occasionally low, points. Symbolic analysis is not unknown. Of these only the first has to do with the nature of sound, yet even that has to do with the rhythmic-dynamic structure of words rather than their timbral structure.

It is perhaps ironic that in the art of "sound and time," in Stra- vinsky's phrase, so little notice has been given to sound. For the most part one has been content with "pure musical analysis" of vocal music, the purity deriving in part from an assumption that the timbral ques- tion does not exist.

Examples 2, 3, and 4 constitute the bulk of this study. They present phrase-by-phrase analyses of "When I Am Laid in Earth" from Pur- cell's Dido and Aeneas, portions of Sessions' "On the Beach at Fontana,"

- 78.




and Stravinsky's "Full Fadom Five" from the Three Songs of William Shakespeare. The analyses consist in each case of the vowel spectra of the texts, from which is extracted the line of hubs. This line of hubs represents the essential acoustical motion of the text per se, a motion which, according to the succession of vowels, progresses through various frequency regions, high and low, as charted. (The consonants pro- vide only brief interruptions and articulations; as such they are less crucial.) The line of hubs is then compared with the linear motion of the voice melody; particularly interesting aspects of this comparison are detailed in commentary in the boxes below the linear graphs. Examples 2-4 should be considered in detail. The following serves only as a summary of what is revealed in them.

PURCELL. The phrase apexes of its rising principal line coincide with high-spectrum (bright) vowels: the "e" of "laid" and "may," the "i" 's of "re-(member) me." Descending motions of the melodic line into the inner voice lead into or coincide with low-spectrum (dark) vowels: the "3" of "earth"; the "6" of "wrongs"; the "A" and "a" of "trouble"; the "a" of "ah"; the "o" of "for-(get)." The apex of the entire piece is on the prolonged, stressed "i" of "me," the highest vowel spectrum in English. Textual repetitions reiterate and intensify these timbral-linear correspondences: the repetition of the high-spectrum "laid" (m. 3) and the later multiple repetitions of the high-spectrum "re-(member) me" are crucial in creating the apex of the principal timbral-linear structure of the piece. Likewise, the contrasting inner- voice descent, mm. 6-8 of the voice melody, depends upon the repetition of the low-spectrum "no trou-ble," just as the concluding linear descent depends upon the repetition (and prolongation !) of the low- spectrum "ah for-(get)."

SESSIONS. The verbal timbral design is characterized by prevailing high-spectrum sounds contrasted with an accented end-timbre (in 11. 2 and 3) of marked low-spectrum quality: "groan" and "stone." The structure of the melodic line is parallel. In addition, innumerable detailed correspondences are to be found: the linear apex coinciding with the highest vowel spectrum, the "i" 's of "sen-(ile) sea"; the setting of "numbers each," etc. In fact, omitting unstressed syllables, the details of timbre and line agree almost entirely.

STRAVINSKY. The line reproduces not only many specific details of the timbral contour, but also its general angularity. Particularly interesting is the treatment of the word "his." What is usually taken as Stravinsky's mannered and idiosyncratic way with a text turns out to be an exact correspondence of setting with timbre. His treatment of the diphthong "ai" is interesting: when the verbal timbre rises to the beginning of the diphthong, he considers it high; when it de-

. 79




scends to its beginning, he considers it low. This exaggeration of its ambiguity adds further angularity (completely consistent with the nature of the text and its setting).

Special attention must be given to the last fragment, "ding-dong bell." Here the timbre-the verbal onomatopoeia-is everything; meaning (in the semantic sense) and syntax disappear. The musical setting is a setting of almost pure verbal timbre, drained of its usual semantic-syntactic aspects. The melodic design, indeed, shows precise timbral correspondence. But there is yet a further correspondence. Example A shows spectrographs of "ing" and "ong." In each

ing ong Ex. A

case the ending "if" (ng) has the effect of continuing the structure of its preceding vowel, but in greatly diminished intensity. This agrees strikingly with Stravinsky's setting:

ding dong

III

Examples 2-4 have not been presented to settle and close the issue of timbre and its relationship to other musical parameters, but rather to open it. These examples have not been specially selected from a large number of samples; they are, rather, almost the first works to be viewed in this way. The correspondences seem consistent and important enough to indicate a possible fruitful direction of intensive questioning and research.

It is obvious that even where verbal timbre is an important factor in the determination of the total musical structure (as it seems to be in these examples), it is not a sole determinant. There will be cases where timbre is slightly relevant, and those where color derives from op- posing the purely timbral implications. "Music is the sum of total scat- tered forces," wrote Debussy, one of the great timbral composers (as another paper will show). The role of analysis is technically (and accurately) to reckon that sum; this can only be achieved by the

. 80.




precise appraisal of all of the forces, including the timbral. With the innovations of Debussy, Schoenbergian Klangfarbenmelodie, and elec- tronic freedom-of-synthesis, composition has moved through the sound barrier. It is left for theory to follow.

The organization of verbal timbre adds a third dimension to language structure, already defined in terms of semantic meaning and verbal rhythm. The aesthetic uses of these timbral possibilities are hardly known. Even more than with rhythm, the timbre of words is a point where language and music become almost one. The questions raised (the scaling and structuring of timbre, and the relationships between timbral structure and other dimensions of both language and music) point to a new crucial and deep level of analysis (and composition !), one whose implications and consequences are hardly foreseeable, yet, even at this stage, immensely suggestive. New England Conservatory of Music

.81 .



Vowel spectra: _

Vowels: ( e al a e a e I

Text: { When I am laid, am laid in earth,

i-

2-

A5-

a- U-

2 F- G- F-

Wa I j"

vl_-

The highest stressed vowel of the verbal phrase in te s of "earth" is the vowel spectrum low-point; it co,, of spectra and hub, the "e" of

"laid", coincides with the cides with the musical low-point, F#. In the piece each

stressed apexes, B6 and C, of the musical phrase. stressed vowel of low spectrum (', A, a, *) generates a melodic descent. Here the descent occurs on "laid in" after the apex, leading to the vowel-spectrum and

mel. odic low-point on "a".

(The sectional repetitions are omitted.)

When I am laid, am laid in earth,



Vowel spectra: -

Vowels: ( e a0 i e o A a o A a I a e

Text: ( may my wrongs cre - ate no trou - ble, no trou - ble in thy breast.

0- U- U-

S G- F-

SD - r- C-

"0 G - E F-

The new melodic apex, D, coincides Melodic descent coincides with low- The repetition of "no trouble" gives a preponderance with the return to high-spectrum spectrum vowel, "o" of "wrong". of low-spectrum vowels, "o, A, a". The melodic phrase vowel quality, the "e" of "may". largely abandons its upper region, the precedingline of

apexes BI-C-D for a lower (inner voice in Schenkerian terminology) region-A and G. The verbal repetition magnifies the vowel contrast (low-spectrum vs. previ- ous high-spectrum) and linear contrast (principal rising line vs. inner-voice line.)

may my wrongs cre - ate no trou ble, no trouble in thy breast. may my wrongs - cre- ate no trou ble, no trou - ble in thy breast.



Vowel spectra:

Vowels: ( i i i E i A a o a

Text: ( Re - mem - ber me, Re - mem-ber me, But ah! for - get

R' - mmB o * a-

U - u-

QG - 0 F-

,a D

"' c-1 C -

E: F-

"Remember me" repeats the highest vowel timbre, "i", at its beginning and Again an inner-voice descent is joined end. This high timbre coincides with the abrupt return to the upper-line D. to low-spectrum vowels, "A, a" The repeated D's parallel and intensify the repeated "i's".

Re - mem - ber me, Re - mem - ber me, But ah! for-get



Vowel spectra:

___

Vowels: ( ai e i e a i A a o e a e

Text: ( my fate, Re - mem - ber me, but ah! for get my fate!

0 -

D- A-

" G- F-

0 F G4

The high-point of the entire melodic The final filled-in octave descent is line, G, coincides with the stress of largely joined to the prolonged low- the highest possible vowel spectrum, spectrum vowels "A, a, o". "i" of me".

my fate, Re - mem - ber me, but ah! for get my fate!



mm. 1-11

Vowel spectra: 1

Vowels: { I aI a a I a a e i I e o

Text: ( Wind whines and whines the shin - gle, The cra - zy pier - stakes groan,

i-

G-

C-

A - 0- U-

G-

oF-

Dl-

Ce -

The single vowel "I" of "w'ind" and "shin-(gle)", and the pitch C join to fix a The abrupt drop of vowel timbre to the "o" of "groan" is precisely paralleled in pitch-timbral plateau at both ends of the phrase. The mid-phrase spectrum descent the melodic line. Not only does the overall motion of the vowels and melody is paralleled in a generalized way. match; many details-for example, the slight rise in the longer, accented-syllable

vowels "e" ("crazy") and "I" ("pjer")-do so as well.

Wind whines and whines the shin

Wind whines and whines the shin t ogle, The cra - zy pier - stakes groan,

x



Vowel spectra: _

Vowels:{ a i a i a 3 i I a aI I o i a I s o

Text: ( A se - nile sea num - bers each sin - gle slime - sil vered stone, Each slime sil - vered stone.

i-

G- 0 aG - 0

U - u -

G- o F-

6 c

E6 -

C,-

Abrupt rise to double-stress of the highest vowel- This phrase, too, drops to an accented low-spectrum vowel, "o" of "stone". Not only is spectrum, "i" of "se-(nile) sea". The vowel accent this parallelled in the melodic line, which leads to the Gb m.8 an octave below the high- is paralleled by the wide leap to the melody high- point; in addition, the verbal repetition "Each slime-silvered stone" allows the elaboration point, Gb-F, which is maintained throughout the of the low Gb -G on the low-spectrum "o" which balances the upper-level Gb -F on the

soundings of "i". (The high F returns with the "i" high-spectrum "i". of "each" at the end of the measure.)

r. ----2,

A se - nile sea_ numbers each sin - gle slime - sil - vered- stone,_

Each slime - sil vered- stone.



m. 1 mm. 2-6

Vowel spectra: _

Vowels: { v a aI a a a a A I o a o A e

Text: { Full fa - dom five thy Fa - ther lies, Of his bones are Co - rall made:

a- 1)-

u-

Db C- " A Ab-

FZ. S E6-

The parallelisms of vowel spectrum and melodic line are most exact The most striking feature of the setting of this phrase is the prominence if one regards the vowels of the accented syllables: "fa-(dom), five, of "his". It is placed on the highest note, Db, a relatively long note, and Fa-(ther), lies". The dipthong "al" is ambiguous-its setting in "five" occurs (the same word with the same highnote and duration) at both corresponds to its higher half, in "lies" to its lower half. ends of the phrase. This emphasis is inexplicable in terms of verbal

rhythm (it is a weak beat) or semantically. The melodic line does, however, parallel at those points the exact motion of the vowel spectra. The melodic retrograde brings out this similarity of the verbal structure of the phrase-beginning and ending.

ull fI - om fi th F,

te ls i" h bn a re ral meI

Full fa - dom five thy Fa - ther lies, Of his bones are Co rall made:



mm. 20-22

Vowel spectra: i

Vowels: o a a a a I I

Text: { Those are pearles that were his eies, ding dong bell.

o CA- a- 0s0 a-

U-

DI,-

.4 F F

Very close parallelism of melodic shape and vowel-spectra contour in this onomatopoetic phrase.

Those are pearles that were his eies, ding- dong bell.



Documents

Toward a Theory of Timbre: Verbal Timbre and Musical Line in Purcell, Sessions, and Stravinsky