For this exercise, I’m considering the works of four composers in a very distinct way of using colours. These composers use colour differently as they hope for a specific outcome. In the second part of Stravinsky’s (1882-1971) Rite of Spring (1913), the composer utilises the colours to create a layer of colours in a ghostly and metaphysical manner. To create this mood, he applied quiet dynamics with sudden swells. The techniques on the instrumentation perceive was sostenuto and muted brass, strings performing pizzicato, vibrato, sordino, tremolos and sostenuto. There seems to be a faster and more striking part where the percussion performs loud hits with two beaters, and the woodwinds’ small runs create a sense of intensity, drive and uneasiness. In a similar compositional style, Webern’s (1883-1945) Five Pieces for Orchestra (1913) utilisation of colour creates an ethereal soundscape with mainly quiet dynamics and sudden crescendos. He uses fewer instruments, so his sonic world has more space. I could perceive flutter tonging in the flutes and muted trombone. Adding a mandolin gives the pieces a subtle touch of antic and sophistication. The use of the percussion and the speciality of the triangle add sparks and brilliance to the pieces. There was a moment of contrast between the harp’s delicate sound and the oboe’s piercing tone. Overall, the piece’s colour could be described as somewhat cold and striking, with surrealism created by the instrumentation and the use of silence. In Britten’s (1913-1976) Four Sea Interludes (1945), concentrating on the first movement, Dawn, The composer uses light sostenuto with small swells using the string section to imitate the calm sea and a daybreak soundscape. The clarinet with a distinct run could imitate the seagulls flying around, whilst the brass section evokes the rising sun. All these elements are appropriately addressed with consonant harmony. However, when the stormy weather or the composer induces contrasts in the work, there are dissonant chords and a roll from the bass drum. The Gong seems to evoke the full rising sun with a climatic element supported by the roll in the bass drum and timpani. In contrast, when the composer wishes to evoke a Sunday morning, he mainly uses staccatos in the woodwinds and short notes to give a cheerful sense to the music. The combination of instruments to provide colouristic elements to the work appears to be traditional, as per Rismky-Korsakov’s Principles of Orchestration and other orchestration books like Samuel Adler’s The Study of Orchestration. Before delving into using colours in Xenakis’s (1922-2001) Pithoprakta (1956), I thought doing a little research on the work to fully understand it would be helpful. After understanding the laws governing it, although using colour appears to be a chance per the composition methods, the composer will seem to create sonic fields that interweave between them. The orchestration is set for 49 musicians, two trombones, percussion, and strings. The composer uses microtonal clusters and Glissandos to create colourful sonic spatial fields through time and space. The Cluster using pitches so close to each other produces an infrequent effect when combining instruments, which results in a dense and dissonant sonic effect.
Reference:
Britten. Four Sea Interludes. WDR Symphony Orchestra. Accessed on 25/08/2023 from: https://youtu.be/p4gZrpuVBMI?si=RC4F0QR-rALr88Yi
Harley, James (2004). Xenakis: His Life in Music, p.13. Routledge.
Hoffmann, P. (2001). Xenakis, Iannis. Grove Music Online. Retrieved 29 Aug. 2023, from https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000030654.
Stravinsky. The Rite of Spring‘s second movement, The Sacrifice. The Yale Symphony Orchestra. Accessed on 26/08/2023
Webern, A. Five Pieces for Orchestra. Ensemble intercontempoarin. Accessed on 26/08/2023 from: https://youtu.be/HwX7jPdFsD4?si=aIYQ45QnWTn3I5Xk
Xenakis, Iannis (1992). Formalized Music: Thought and Mathematics in Composition, p.15.
Xenakis, Iannis. Pithoprakta. Orchestre National de l’O.R.T.F. Accessed on 29/08/2023 from: https://youtu.be/yxAakHDWjrw?si=uKW9f_U6QeoFIuyM
Orchestration and Arrangement 