The Music of James Tenney

Robert Wannamaker is Associate Dean for Academic and Special Projects in the School of Music at the California Institute of the Arts. He is a composer, improviser, music theorist, mathematician, and educator.

Preface xi

Conventions and Abbreviations xv

1. Introduction 1

1.1. A Summary Chronology 3

1.2. Aesthetic and Methodological Bases: Music in Sound 10

2. Early Works and Influences (1934-59) 18

2.1. Stan Brakhage and Interim (1952) 19

2.2. Manhattan and Meeting Carolee Schneemann 21

2.3. Lionel Nowak, Carl Ruggles, and Charles Ives's Concord Sonata 23

2.4. Seeds (1956/1961) 25

3. Tape Music and "Meta/-Hodos" (1959-61) 31

3.1. Lejaren Hiller and Harry Partch 31

3.2. The University of Illinois Electronic Music Studio 32

3.3. Collage #1 ("Blue Suede") (1961) 34

3.4. "Meta/-Hodos" (1961) 41

4. Computer Music and Ergodicity (1961-64) 48

4.1. Edgard Var se, D'Arcy Thompson, and "Growth to Form" 51

4.2. John Cage, Variety, and Ergodicity 54

4.3. Max Mathews and MUSIC 59

4.4. The Acoustic Correlates of Timbre 62

4.5. Algorithmic Composition 63

4.6. Analog #1 (Noise Study) (1961) 68

4.7. Phases (1963) 76

5. Performance and the Social (1964-68) 83

5.1. Downtown in the 1960s 83

5.2. Tone Roads and an American Experimental Tradition 86

5.3. Fluxus and Friends 89

5.4. Carolee Schneemann, Antonin Artaud, Wilhelm Reich 93

5.5. Choreogram (1964) 97

5.6. Fabric for Che (1967) 101

6. Process and Continuity (1969-71) 110

6.1. Gradual Processes 112

6.2. For Ann (rising) (1969) 118

6.3. Postal Pieces (1965-71) 124

7. Interlude: Harmonic Theory 135

7.1. The Meaning of Harmony 137

7.2. The Harmonic Series 140

7.3. Interval Tolerance and "The Language of Ratios" 144

7.4. A History of Consonance and Dissonance 147

7.5. Roughness and Beating (CDC-5) 148

7.6. Toneness and Harmonicity (CDC-2) 149

7.7. Harmonic Space (CDC-1) 155

7.8. Harmonic Measures and Their Applications 165

8. Canons and the Harmonic Series (1972-79) 169

8.1. The Harmonic-Series Music 170

8.2. Clang (1972) 172

8.3. Spectral CANON for CONLON Nancarrow (1974) 176

8.4. Harmonium #1 (1976) 183

8.5. Three Indigenous Songs (1979) 189

9. Harmonic Spaces (1980-85) 193

9.1. The Harmonic-Space Music 193

9.2. Harmonium #3 (1980) 195

9.3. Bridge (1984) 199

9.4. Koan for String Quartet (1984) 216

10. Transition and Tradition (1986-94) 224

10.1. Critical Band (1988) 225

10.2. Flocking (1993) 231

11. Spectra and Diaphony (1994-2006) 237

11.1. Dissonant Counterpoint and Statistical Feedback 237

11.2. In a Large, . . . (1994-95) 241

11.3. Diaphonic Study (1997) 246

11.4. Arbor Vitae (2006) 250

12. A Tradition of Experimentation 259

Appendix A. Acoustics, Sensation, and Logarithmic Models 261

Appendix B. Spectrographic Analysis 265

Notes 271

References 301

Index 315