STEFAN WOLPE'S "PROPORTIONS": A TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY [WITH] "COURANTE" FOR ORCHESTRA (1983). (ORIGINAL COMPOSITION) (GERMANY, UNITED STATES).
Item
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Title
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STEFAN WOLPE'S "PROPORTIONS": A TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY [WITH] "COURANTE" FOR ORCHESTRA (1983). (ORIGINAL COMPOSITION) (GERMANY, UNITED STATES).
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Identifier
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AAI8501136
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identifier
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8501136
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Creator
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GREENBAUM, MATTHEW.
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Contributor
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Henry Weinberg
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Date
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1984
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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
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Abstract
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Stefan Wolpe (1902-1972) influenced a generation of American composers. Proportions, a lecture given at the Darmstadter Ferienkurse fur Neuen Musik (14 July, 1960) is an important self-examination of Wolpe's late compositional method. The lecture describes his use of symmetrical and asymmetrical pitch relations (Proportionen) as a basic element of musical design. There are 43 musical examples. The writing is highly imagistic; at times it proposes, and even lapses into, a surrealist aesthetic.;Wolpe examines various sizes, durations, and densities of proportions, and describes them as divisions of musical space (Tonraum).;The lecture shows the influence of the Hegelianism of the late nineteenth century and that of Theodor Adorno; but it reflects to an equal degree Wolpe's early training at the Bauhaus (here there are striking similarities to the writings of Paul Klee), his association with the New York Abstract Expressionist painters, and his studies with Anton Webern.;Going beyond 12-tone technique, Wolpe suggests this proportional approach in both the larger and smaller aspects of form. He designs "proportional sequences" of alternately contracting and expanding intervals that may be used as a basis for a polyphony, which, in its unusual imaging of musical space, approaches a sonic cubism.;Courante is a single movement multisectional composition for medium size orchestra. Its duration is approximately 13 minutes. The instrumentation is as follows: flute 1 (piccolo), flute 2, oboe, english horn, clarinet 1 in E(FLAT), clarinet 2 in B(FLAT), 2 bassoons; 2 horns, trumpet in F, trumpet in B(FLAT), trombone, tuba; (UNFORMATTED TABLE FOLLOWS).;percussion 1 shared percussion 2.;marimba orchestral bells 4 timpani.;2 bongos 4 cowbells glockenspiel.;3 tomtoms.;bass drum.;(TABLE ENDS).;piano; violin 1, violin 2, viola, cello, contrabass.;The title refers to the persistent appearance in the work of hemiola, and the development of this into smaller and larger rhythmic structures.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy Restricted.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Music