The Flow of (u)
Encyclopedia
The Flow of is a piece of music for three voices by Kenneth Gaburo
, composed in 1974.
The piece consists of "one note sung by three singers for twenty-three minutes" on u
whose goal is "to sing in tune to such an extant that … this would consist of phase-coherent waves of sound." This, however, proves impossible, as singers must breathe, beating
occurs between nearly in tune pitches, and the frequency spectrum
or harmonic
s: "Gently changing balances between the voices would result in very subtle glissandi of the harmonics of the spectrum being heard." The piece creates a "(sonic) universe in this (linguistic) 'grain of sand'" (Burt 2002).
Unlike other minimalist works in which, compared to serial music, "a certain level of articulational subtlety is eschewed in favor of an overall psycho-acoustic effect," in Gaburo's piece "the focus is even more intense, and the attention to dynamic shaping given to the lines … is here transferred to the micro-level" (Burt 2002).
An earlier work from Gaburo's Lingua series, Lingua IV (1970), for various media, bears a similar subtitle: "The Flow of (i)2" (Moore and Rosen 2001).
Kenneth Gaburo
-Life:Gaburo was born in Somerville, New Jersey. He served as a professor of music at the University of Illinois, the University of California, San Diego, and the University of Iowa. His notable students include James Tenney and Allen Strange...
, composed in 1974.
The piece consists of "one note sung by three singers for twenty-three minutes" on u
Close back rounded vowel
The close back rounded vowel, or high back rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is u....
whose goal is "to sing in tune to such an extant that … this would consist of phase-coherent waves of sound." This, however, proves impossible, as singers must breathe, beating
Beat (music)
The beat is the basic unit of time in music, the pulse of the mensural level . In popular use, the beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including: tempo, meter, rhythm and groove...
occurs between nearly in tune pitches, and the frequency spectrum
Frequency spectrum
The frequency spectrum of a time-domain signal is a representation of that signal in the frequency domain. The frequency spectrum can be generated via a Fourier transform of the signal, and the resulting values are usually presented as amplitude and phase, both plotted versus frequency.Any signal...
or harmonic
Harmonic
A harmonic of a wave is a component frequency of the signal that is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency, i.e. if the fundamental frequency is f, the harmonics have frequencies 2f, 3f, 4f, . . . etc. The harmonics have the property that they are all periodic at the fundamental...
s: "Gently changing balances between the voices would result in very subtle glissandi of the harmonics of the spectrum being heard." The piece creates a "(sonic) universe in this (linguistic) 'grain of sand'" (Burt 2002).
Unlike other minimalist works in which, compared to serial music, "a certain level of articulational subtlety is eschewed in favor of an overall psycho-acoustic effect," in Gaburo's piece "the focus is even more intense, and the attention to dynamic shaping given to the lines … is here transferred to the micro-level" (Burt 2002).
An earlier work from Gaburo's Lingua series, Lingua IV (1970), for various media, bears a similar subtitle: "The Flow of (i)2" (Moore and Rosen 2001).
Sources
- Burt, WarrenWarren BurtWarren Burt is an Australia-based composer of American birth. He is known for composing in a wide variety of new music styles, ranging from acoustic music, electroacoustic music, sound art installations, and text-based music...
. 2002. Liner notes for Kenneth Gaburo: Five Works For Voices, Instruments, and Electronics". New World Records 80585-2. Produced for CD by David DunnDavid DunnDavid John Ian Dunn is an English footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Premier League club Blackburn Rovers.-Blackburn Rovers:...
. - Moore, Keith, and Jerome Rosen. 2001. "Gaburo, Kenneth (Louis)". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley SadieStanley SadieStanley Sadie CBE was a leading British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , which was published as the first edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.Sadie was educated at St Paul's School,...
and John TyrrellJohn Tyrrell (professor of music)John Tyrrell was born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia in 1942. He studied at the universities of Cape Town, Oxford and Brno. In 2000 he was appointed Research Professor at Cardiff University....
. London: Macmillan Publishers.