"Passio": The iconography of Arvo Part.
Item
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Title
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"Passio": The iconography of Arvo Part.
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Identifier
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AAI9807965
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identifier
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9807965
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Creator
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Matthews Whiteman, Carol Leonore.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Leo Treitler
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Date
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1997
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Music | Religion, General
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Abstract
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Arvo Part's Passio is his largest work and the culmination of his tintinnabuli style. It is a 70 minute setting of the Passion according to John, characterized by highly static tonal centers, limited rhythmic motion, and repetitive melodic figures. This study develops the theory that Part's style is iconographic. That is, instead of giving dramatic shape to the music, Part deliberately subverts the events of the narrative in order to create a work of contemplation and veneration, much as the icon painters of the Orthodox Church would prepare and create visual icons. This study demonstrates how Part's very careful and mechanistic method, based on the actual number of words and phrases in the text, makes the normally foregrounded melody, harmony and rhythm secondary, and places the primary form and structure in the lines of texture, the changes of timbre, and the use of tessitura. With these parameters of musical structure Part does indeed construct an aural icon of the crucifixion, as delineated with and within the four voice groups.;Like the Russian icons of the crucifixion Part's construction is multi-layered and filled with symbols of the Passion, particularly that symbolism associated with the gospel of John. Crosses exist at all levels, from the note to note cross relations of the Chorus voice to the four great sections of the Evangelist voice. The pitch centers and durations for each voice group indicate their relationship to one another and to the great D major ending sonority, as figures in a visual representation might be related. All the symbols come together as the arms of the cross come together at Rehearsal 111, with the words "crucifige, crucifige eum," a point located exactly two thirds into the entire work,;As well as a full analysis of Passio, Part's relationship to the Eastern Orthodox faith, his use of bell tones, his connection with minimalism, and the relationship of his work to the art of creating icons is shown. Because Passio stands as both a pivot and a pinnacle in Part's mature works, the relevance of his choice of gospel offers a unique insight into and understanding of all of his work since 1976.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
