Diffused paradigms: musical depictions of biodegradation, refraction of sound, and memory deterioration in Sorensen's Sterbende Garten

Update Item Information
Publication Type dissertation
School or College School of Music
Department Music
Creator Thomas, Brian David
Title Diffused paradigms: musical depictions of biodegradation, refraction of sound, and memory deterioration in Sorensen's Sterbende Garten
Date 2011-05
Description In Sterbende Gärten (Decaying or Dying Gardens) Bent Sørensen employs specific compositional methods in order to depict biodegradation of plants, refraction of sound, and memory deterioration in each of the three movements of the work, respectively. He obscures the formal design of the first movement, and the stylistic genres on which the second and third movements are based, by diffusing the melody of the violin solo through heterophonically placed orchestral lines that replicate the violin solo with variation in duration, timbre, pitch and rhythm. This results in saturation that, through the projection of pitches by the orchestra, produces diatonic implications. In the first movement, Sørensen employs motivic replication and transformation that produce the saturation that clouds the musical surface. These motivic copies are produced with slight variation in rhythm and pitch, and placed simultaneously against the generating motive. The application of these copies results in varying degrees of depictions of degenerating plant life. In the second movement, Sørensen utilizes the transference of the "choral series"-a series of thirds that contain a half-step relationship between components of a third to the next concurrent third-as a way of representing the refraction of sound. In the last movement, Sørensen employs phased relationships between different strands of the orchestra as a way of representing a clear or a vague perception of a specific memory. While Sørensen references each depiction, the obscuring techniques that depict the degenerative associations are similar, but the generating motive is different. Along with the copying or transferring of musical figures, pedal tones and glissandos obscure the musical surface, adding to the saturation of the work. In each movement Sørensen alludes to a diatonic framework for pitch generation, but more specifically he utilizes centric notes that result from the overlapping of vertically produced similarities derived from the heterophonic placement of motivic gestures. The employment of repetition and contextual reinforcement of pitch through pedal tones and glissandos enhance the centric nature of the work.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject Bent; Gärten; Music; Sørensen; Spectral; Sterbende
Language eng
Rights Management Copyright © Brian David Thomas 2011
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 23,424,913 bytes
Identifier us-etd3,14066
Permissions Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/details?id=1310675
ARK ark:/87278/s6765w1v
Setname ir_som
ID 194308
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6765w1v
Back to Search Results