Lecture at Goucher College, Towson, Md. May 15, 1967

1 lecture at Goucher College Towson Md. May 15, 1967

In one of his fascinating short stories dedicated to the idea of the labyrinth the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges introduces a Chinese wise man, name of Tsui-Pen, who after many years of a distinguished public career service retires in order to create write a novel and to create a labyrinth which should be infinite. When he dies thirteen years later, his heirs are sorely disappointed. There is neither a labyrinth to be found nor a novel, and only a heap of totally confused, repetitious literary fragments. In Borges' story an English scholar solves the myster puzzle when he finds in one of Tsui-Pen's letters this sentence: "I leave the garden of the ramifying pathways to the divers futures, not to all of them." The scholar says: "Almost upon reading this, I understood: the garden of the ramifying pathways - the labyrth - was the chaotic novel. The term: "divers futures, not all of them", evoked the image of ramification in time, not in space. In all works of fiction a character confronted with various possibilities chooses one of them and rejects the others. In Tsui Pen's utterly involuted work he chooses simultaneously all of them. He is In this manner he creates for himself diverse futures, diverse times which equally grow and ramify." Unquote.

It is not only in the work of fiction that a character choses decides for one of the possible avenues to take, but also the author of the work has to decide at any given point which one of the countless possible continuations he will choose, and so has the composer whose work unfolds in time. If In the old days - if he was

2

in doubt - he could invoke a rule. and decide whether to follow or to break it What is a rule? It is a description of procedure to be followed if certain results are to be ob- tained. If, for instance, somebody wishes to write music in the style of Palestrina, he has to follow certain well defined rules, which were derived from a detailed description and analysis of Palestrina's procedure. If he wishes to write a piece of music in E flat major - which is a much less narrowly circumscribed project - he will have to apply the rules of functional harmony in order to know at any given point which ones of the practically infinite number of possible continuations will be favorable and which others must be avoided. Rules of this nature are derived from existing practice. They are empirical. At the same time they are based on as- sumptions created by the human mind according to man's aesthetic aspirations and ideals which, as we know, are different in different civilizations and subject to historical change within the same civilization. In this respect they are in character related to the axioms of mathematics, just as a system of non-Euclidian axioms will create a perfectly consistent non-Euclidian geometry, a system of non-tonal aesthetic assumptions will describe technical procedure leading to the creation of non-tonal music.

In any period of change the defenders of the status quo will try to represent their theoretical assumptions as some- thing absolute and permanent, which cannot be changed, so that any attempt at changing it will must be condemned as presuming foolishness. The most promising way

3

of protecting an aesthetic theory against corrosion is to cover it with a layer of scientific veneer, in order to de- monstrate that the theory is an inevitable reflexion of material conditions, which of course can not arbitrarily at will be changed. The trouble with this kind of reasoning is that the results of scientific insight, as we well know, are far from durable. The theory by which Ptolemy explained the motion of the celestial bodies was not only an admirable product of acute thinking, but also almost entirely correct since it covered almost everything that he could observe in the sky. New methods of observation furnished results that required different interpretation, which was worked out by Galilei, Newton and others and superseded the old theory. In our own time however this new astronomy in its turn is becoming more and more a museum piece. Evidently a theory of musical composition will not be protected from obsolescence by making it appear to be the result of objective scientific investigation.

the inevitable result of scientific research into the natural conditions of the material,

Besides, we admire the great masters of the past not so much because they obeyed the rules particularly faithfully, but because of their ingenious ways of modifying, stretching or even breaking the rules. Mozart and Beethoven did not know any better than hundreds of many hackwriters of the period how to resolve a diminished seventh chord or how to modulate from here to there. But they constantly found new and untried methods of going through such elementary routines so that they would appear sound neither elementary nor routine-like. In other words, when they had to choose one of the in- finite possible ramifications of the path, they selected one that was just slightly off the well marked avenue

4

of tradition. This situation was aptly described by the American composer Carl Bricken in an analytical paper where he stated that the strongest artistic ef- fect is achieved by an event that is both: unex- pected and necessary. It must be unexpected, that is to say: it must contain an element of surprise. What we would expect is a sequence of events described by the accepted rules, which we either know explicitly as connoisseurs because we have learned them, or which we are aware of implicitly because we are accustomed to hearing music written ac- cording to the rules. To create something unexpected, that is to overstep the limits set by the rule is rather easy. To make it so that it will be felt as necessary is a much more difficult assignment. The inevitability of the unexpected event will be perceived only if through the context in which it appears we are prepared to expect the unusual. It is still unexpected because it is not what everybody else who was steeped in the traditional rules would have done, but it appears necessary because we, after by remembering what had happened before - that is, by being aware of the context -, knew that something unusual would have to happen. By appearing necessary the unexpected takes on the character of a unique solution. It is certainly not a chance result.

In the course of the 19th century composers be- came increasingly tempted to trespass on the traditional rules rather than to obey them. What caused this trend has been examined from a great many viewpoints, and more or less convincing explanations were propounded. We do not have to go into this field of inquiry, for here we are only concerned with the results of those processes. The fact is that the present-day composer in the case

5

of doubt has can not any longer find comfort in not any any recourse to referring to a rule, no matter whether he wants to apply or to break it, for there are not any longer any generally accepted rules. Mozart was still able to explain that in a certain aria in the Abduction from the Seraglio he would modulate to a more remote key than the one everybody would expect in order to demonstrate the mental derangement of Osmin, a procedure that could appear promising only on the premise that the audience knew exactly what key to expect if Osmin had not been mentally deranged. Today this sounds like a fairytale from another planet.

Ever since the advent of atonality, about fifty yea sixty years ago, we have been increasingly inured to the condition that "anything goes". The originators of the movement, Schoenberg and his immediate followers, tried to put brakes on the avalanche by suggesting other than the traditional criteria of "Stimmigheit", that which is a German term for meaning approximately correctness, appropriatness, being in tune with some overall principle and the like. If there were no rules any longer covering the simultaneity of sound Since the rules of tonal harmony which apparently had been the principal chief principle governing traditional music did not exist any longer, the twelve tone technique would substitute the new concept of consistent use of tone patterns, in which the faithfully adhered-to succession of the pitches would produce a new kind of context by which to measure the degree of surprise engendered by the musical process.

It is curious to notice that exactly the opposite happened. Undoubtedly a musical work completely executed in the dodecaphonic technique presents a high degree of

6

consistency because of the ubiquity of the tone patterns and tone configurations derived from the basic tone row. The listener does not have to perceive consciously this tones row, but according to the degree of his alertness and sensitivity he will be aware of the unity of design. However, this over-all unity does not affect the progress of the musical process in the same way as the directive ten- dencies inherent in tonal harmony had done previously In other words, nothing can be expected, which is only another way of saying that anything may happen. Obviously it is this lack of familiar landmarks which causes in many listeners a lack of orientation, and this feeling of being lost is the cause of the difficulties experienced in the acceptance of this new music.

The evolution of that music has gone one step, or even several steps further, in the realization of what is known today as serial music. Technically this means that the concept of overall unity is extended to cover all and any aspects of the musical process, not only the succession of pitches which used to be the prime concern of the twelve-tone technique. In fully worked-out serial music patterns of values are established not only for the ordering of the tones, but also for dynamic levels, timbres, densities and above all for rhythmic conditions, that is for time relations and durations. These patterns are premeditated and consistently adhered to, so that the composition is controlled in every detail and at any given point by the complex mechanism that the composer had set up in his system of patterns, not by his inspirational impulses as in the old days.

The complexity of the mechanism makes it im- possible to foresee with any degree of accuracy what is going to happen at distant points of the work,

7

although the elements constituting the particular event are predetermined. The unpredictable happens by ne- cessity. Since it is predetermined, it is objectively not to be described as a chance result, but since it is subjectively unpredictable, it contains an element of chance. Since it is the result of completely predetermined processes, it nothing else could happen at the point under consideration, so that the event does not offer any surprise. At the same time it may present produce confi- gurations which seem to contradict vehemently a context that the listener imagined to exist on the strength of his interpretation of what had been going on so far, so that the element of surprise is potentially present after all.

From utterances of composers and from other symptoms one may conclude that the essential motivation for the deployment introduction of complete serialization was the desire to impart to the music the character of complete chaos. It seems paradoxical that this should be achieved through the application of so strict an ordering as never before had been applied to a musical creation. The point is that However, it is just this ordering that makes the establishment and development of themes in the traditional sense impossible,

and this absence of tangible solid statement evokes the image concept of totally chaotic shapelessness.

It may be said that only through this move music became an abstract art in the sense in which we apply this term to painting, since serialization eliminates subject matter from music - by which I mean musical subject matter, for extra-musical subject matter has never existed in music except as a passing illusion of some theorists. Obviously one might think that nothing would be easier than to produce than chaos if this is what is desired, and that it seems to be ridiculous to construct a formidable system of predetermined organization with the aim of conveying the impression of disorder.

13'15 8

Practitioners of the game say that following the un- controlled impulses of the creative mind would too easily lead back of into traditional grooves, for inspiration is by no means so spontaneous and independent as most people like to think. It is very highly conditioned by historical heritage, up- bringing, training, environment and influences of many kinds, so that really original creation might be better left to the off under the control of a more objective organizing apparatus. It cer- tainly is true that in the course of an unfol- ding musical process generated by serial prede- termination frequently situations occur arise of which the composer may not have thought without being driven to them by his self-made serial vehicle, inhibited as he might have been by more conven- tional ways of thinking.

The most objective, completely depersonalized mechanism is chance. We know that there is a school of composition following this idea to its ex- treme end by letting the shape of musical events be decided through rolling dice turning a roulette wheel, tossing coins and related procedures. Perhaps one should not call it a school, since flipping coins or rolling dice does not require much study. This seems to represent the position of the individual in Tsui-Pen's infinite labyrinth who accepts simult- aneously all possible continuations at any point of ramifications by letting chance decide which one should be chosen in the present any particular round of the game. The implication is, of course, that the composer has completely abdicated as a generator of music. He has eliminated himself.

There are less extreme variations of the theme formulations of the role of chance such as for

arise 9

instance when the composer offers his interpreter space and time for improvisation. Usually this works to some satisfaction only if when the interpreters are so congenial and well versed in the mannerisms of the composer that they would be almost able to write the music which the composer for some reason did not want to write himself.

A more promising way method of assigning to chance a legitimate role in the process consists in preparing a set of fully worked-out musical elements and indicating a number of different ways in which these elements may be combined, according to the choice of the interpreter. This The motivation of such an arrangements is not really the urge to favor do the inter- preter with a favor by letting him manipulate the material, but the belief that the artistic problem that generated caused the work of art to originate has more than one solution and that several of these solutions should be presented. We are here in the position of the wanderer at the crossroads of the ramifying pathways who chooses divers futures, but not all of them.

This attitude seems so be typical of our relativistic frame of mind. It has to do with the frightening and precarious conditions of life into which we have manoeuvred ourselves. We have become doubtful of idealistic thought processes based on the firm belief in unique solutions,

If the elements constituting the material of such a work are meticulously reasoned out and unified through some serial construction, their various combinations will reveal more and more relationships between the par- ticles of the material and constantly changing and fre- quently surprising contexts. What is next to each other in one version, may be far apart in the following, centers of density will change their positions, and so forth. The underlying principle is related to the concept of the mobile in the spatial arts. 10

with the nourished by the assumption that we man knows how things ought to be and kept alive by the optimistic hope that things will ultimately be what we he thinks they should be. Classical music is shaped in the image of speech, having the character of logical discourse. It moves in one direction from point to point, from beginning to end, and in discussions of that music the term musical "logical" was frequently applied to characterize supposedly meaningful continuations. The new music is oriented rather toward existentialist patterns of behavior. It is quite typical that in some of its branches reversible configurations play an important part, models the groups of tones and sounds which may be played forward as well as backward. Instability and openness of form structure, stress emphasis on multiple choice, variability of combinations of elements and changeable form characterize the music that is dedicated to divers futures, if not to all of them.