PhD

Being in Crisis

(Mystical Theology and Contemporary Composition: Compositional Practice as projection of conceptual preoccupations related to human experience)

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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………………………………8
Audio CD Track Listing………………………………………………………………………………….9
Part I ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………11
1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………11
1.1 Aim and Context ………………………………………………………………………………….11
1.2 Structure of the Project………………………………………………………………………..12
2. Mystical Theology ……………………………………………………………………………………..13
2.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………13
2.2 Apophaticism……………………………………………………………………………………….13
2.3 Hypostasis and Interconnectivity ………………………………………………………….14
2.3.1 Eschatological Becoming …………………………………………………………………14
2.3.2 Hypostasis and Perichoresis………………………………………………………………15
2.4 Compound Virtues……………………………………………………………………………….16
2.5 Prayer………………………………………………………………………………………………….16
2.5.1 Self Propelling Prayer………………………………………………………………………16
2.5.2 The Silence of Nous…………………………………………………………………………17
3. Mystical Theology and The Aesthetics of my Music ……………………………………18
3.1 Introduction. A Phenomenological Analysis ………………………………………….18
3.2 Eschatological Becoming and Perichoresis…………………………………………….18
3.2.1 Eschatological Becoming: Three phases in Musical Practice ………………..18
3.2.2 Perichoresis: to Bring Closer, to Overlap ……………………………………………20
3.3 The Aesthetics of Contemplation of Sonority…………………………………………20
3.3.1 Eschatological Becoming: Transformational Sonorities and Personal
Experience ……………………………………………………………………………………………..21
3.3.2 Emerging and Fading-Towards-Silence Structures ………………………………24
3.4 Compound Virtues: Gestural Music and Bodily Action …………………………25
3.5 Eschatological Becoming: Structure, Form and Material ………………………26
4. Influences and Comparisons………………………………………………………………………27
4.1 Stravinsky: Block Form and Permeability…………………………………………….27
4.1.1 Cubism in Sound……………………………………………………………………………..27
4.1.2 Block Form …………………………………………………………………………………….28
4.1.3 Permeability ……………………………………………………………………………………29
4.2 Rothko’s Multiforms and Textural Block Form…………………………………….29
4.3 Haneke: Length (Duration) and Experience ………………………………………….30
4.4 Spectral Music……………………………………………………………………………………..31
4.4.1 A critique of the French School…………………………………………………………31
4.4.2 Romanian school: Iancu Dumitrescu………………………………………………….33
4.5 Sonority, Performance and Transformation………………………………………….34
4.5.1 Constructed Sonorities and the Pose of a Spectrum (French School) ……..34
4.5.2 Phenomenology of Sound (Romanian School)…………………………………….36
4.5.3 Transformational Attitude and the Aesthetics of Perichoresis ……………….37
4.6 Lachenmann and Relational Dialectics………………………………………………….38
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4.7 Two general Remarks…………………………………………………………………………..40
4.7.1 Handwritten Notation ………………………………………………………………………40
4.7.2 Intuition………………………………………………………………………………………….42
Part II…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..43
Analysis ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..43
5. First Phase ………………………………………………………………………………………………..43
5.1 Apla…anapofeukto ……………………………………………………………………………….43
5.1.1 Concept and Idea …………………………………………………………………………….44
5.1.2 Structural Development ……………………………………………………………………44
5.1.3 Structure…………………………………………………………………………………………47
6. Second Phase …………………………………………………………………………………………….50
6.1 Cardiogram ………………………………………………………………………………………….51
6.1.1 General Concepts and Design……………………………………………………………52
6.1.2 Continuity and Blocks ……………………………………………………………………..54
6.1.2.1 Absolute Continuity…………………………………………………………………..54
6.1.2.2 Absolute Continuity in Combination with Block Form: an Antinomy
of Form and Material ……………………………………………………………………………55
6.1.3 Antinomies……………………………………………………………………………………..56
6.1.3.1 Perception (Listening to the Music vs. Viewing the Score) …………….56
6.1.3.2 Sound and Silence……………………………………………………………………..57
6.1.3.3 Notation: Body and Soul…………………………………………………………….58
6.1.3.4 Duration and the Visual Representation ……………………………………….58
6.1.4 Textural Block Form, Textural Permeability……………………………………….59
6.2 Trio→Quartet ………………………………………………………………………………………61
6.2.1 Structure and Material ……………………………………………………………………..62
6.2.2 Sound and Techniques ……………………………………………………………………..63
6.2.3 Instrumentation ……………………………………………………………………………….63
6.2.4 Notation …………………………………………………………………………………………63
6.2.5 Bodily Action (Physicality) ………………………………………………………………64
6.3 Spectral Illusions ………………………………………………………………………………….64
6.3.1 Structural Model ……………………………………………………………………………..65
6.3.2 Form, Structure and Material…………………………………………………………….66
6.3.3 Intuition and Structural Logic……………………………………………………………67
7. Third Phase ………………………………………………………………………………………………68
7.1 The Towards Cycle ……………………………………………………………………………….69
7.1.1 Towards…I and III…………………………………………………………………………..70
7.1.2 Towards… II …………………………………………………………………………………..70
7.1.3 Towards…IV…………………………………………………………………………………..71
7.1.4 Towards… V …………………………………………………………………………………..71
7.2 Structure and Form……………………………………………………………………………..72
7.3 Sonorities and Multisonorities………………………………………………………………75
7.3.1 Multiformulas in Towards… I, II, III and IV……………………………………….77
7.3.2 Further Examples…………………………………………………………………………….78
7.4 The Bow Clef ……………………………………………………………………………………….80
7.5 Towards… V ………………………………………………………………………………………..82
7.5.1 Material………………………………………………………………………………………….82
7.5.2 ‘Scenario’……………………………………………………………………………………….83
7.5.3 Structural ‘Scenario’ ………………………………………………………………………..84
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7.5.4 Sound as Symbol …………………………………………………………………………….89
7.5.5 Length and Experience …………………………………………………………………….89
7.5.6 Theatrical aspects…………………………………………………………………………….89
7.5.7 Stereo and 8-Channel Version …………………………………………………………..90
7.6 Memories …………………………………………………………………………………………….91
7.6.1 Structure and Material ……………………………………………………………………..91
7.6.2 Perichoresis…………………………………………………………………………………….93
7.6.3 Transformational Sonorities ……………………………………………………………..93
7.6.4 Fading out Towards Silence ……………………………………………………………..94
7.7 Spectral Illusions, for Ensemble and Electroacoustic Sounds (Second
Version)…………………………………………………………………………………………………….94
Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………………………………95
Figures………………………………………………………………………………………………………….97
Part I: 1–8 …………………………………………………………………………………………………….97
1-4 Mark Rothko Paintings……………………………………………………………………………97
5-7 Iancu Dumitrescu Score Excerpts…………………………………………………………..101
Part II: 1-62 ……………………………………………………………………………………………….104
1-20 apla… anapofeukto ………………………………………………………………………………104
21-33 Cardiogram………………………………………………………………………………………..120
34-38 Trio Quartet ……………………………………………………………………………………132
39-43 Spectral Illusions ………………………………………………………………………………..136
44- 63 Towards…I, II, III and IV………………………………………………………………….140
Appendix…………………………………………………………………………………………………….156
Theologians and Saints …………………………………………………………………………..156
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Acknowledgements
I dedicate this PhD to my spiritual father Elder Maximos and my parents Ioannis and
Anna without whose unfaltering support, encouragement and personal sacrifices this
dissertation would not have been possible.
I wish to thank my brother and sister Andreas and Eleni for their love and
support throughout all these years.
I want to express my deep and sincere gratitude to my supervisor Roger
Redgate. His invaluable assistance in numerous ways and thoughtful guidance has
provided me a good basis for this thesis.
I owe to my warmest gratitude to my friend and colleague Dr. Dimitrios
Exarchos for our long and inspiring conversations and for providing me useful
suggestions for improving this paper. I am particularly grateful to him for sharing
with me his deep knowledge of Iannis Xenakis’ music.
I would also like to acknowledge the support in numerous ways of my friend
and colleague and inspiring composer Dr. Panayiotis Kokkoras.
I am happy to acknowledge my debt to my former teacher in composition and
distinguished Greek composer Professor Theodore Antoniou. His truly inspiring
teaching in the past was the foundation of my musical personality. During this PhD,
Professor Antoniou entrusted my work and gave me the opportunity to perform some
of my compositions.
Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Helmut Lachenmann
whose significant observations on several of my pieces, general advice and profound
thoughts were a major influence on my musical thinking.
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Audio CD Track Listing
(The CDs can be found attached on back cover)
CD I
1. apla…anapofeukto (2005) 9:37
(for flute, clarinet in Bb, 1 Percussionist, violin, viola and cello)
Greek Ensemble of Contemporary Music
Concert Hall of Athens, Conductor: Theodore Antoniou.
2. Cardiogram (2006) 9:08
(for string quartet)
Greek Ensemble of Contemporary Music
Conference Room in University of Patras. Conductor: Theodore Antoniou.
3. Cardiogram (2006) 8:52
(for string Quartet)
Idee FIxe Ensemble
Concert Hall of Thermi, 2009. Conductor: Theodoros Antoniou.
4. Spectral Illusions (2007) 8:26
(for flute, clarinet in Bb, violin, cello and piano)
Greek National Composition Competition synthermia 2007 (Thermi), Prize
Conductor: Miltos Logiadis.
5. Towards… I (2007) 10:05
(for flute, bass clarinet, bassoon, trombone, piano, violin, viola, cello, double
bass)
Greek National Composition Competition, Papaioanou 2009 (Athens).
Conductor: Theodore Antoniou.
CD II
1. Towards…III (2007-2008) 9:16
(for alto flute, oboe, bass clarinet, horn in F, trumpet in C, trombone,
Percussionist I, Percussionist II, harp, piano, violin I, violin II, viola, cello and
double bass)
Commission by ALEA III, ensemble in residence at Boston University.
Tsai Performance Room in Boston (USA). Conductor: Theodore Antoniou.
2. Towards…IV (2008) 6:46
(for amplified string quartet)
Idee Fixe Ensemble
Live in Thermi, Thessaloniki. Conductor: Theodore Antoniou.
3. Towards…V (2008) 13:47
(for piano and electronics)
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The electronics were realized in Stanley Glasser Electronic Music Studios at
Goldsmiths College (EMS). Pianist: Klimis Voskidis.
4. Memories (2008) 5:14
(for byzantine singer and electroacoustic sounds)
The electronics were realized at EMS. Byzantine singer: Themis Prodromakis.
5. Spectral Illusions (2008) 9:24
(for ensemble and electroacoustic sounds)
Idee Fixe Ensemble
Live in Thermi. Conductor: Miltos Logiadis
The electronics were realized at EMS.
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Part I

1. Introduction
1.1 Aim and Context
Being a spiritual person, in the deep sense of the word (that is, not relying on a
religious attitude which has a moral direction, but seeking for answers of existential
perspective), I spent many years reading books of the so called Orthodox Mystic
Fathers of the Orthodox Eastern Church, such as St Dionysious the Areopagite, St
Maximus the Confessor and St Isaak the Syrian, trying to understand the nature of
being and answers to my own existential questions. In these books, I was introduced
to terms such as eschatological becoming, apaphaticism and perichoricis, which
became essential to the development of my thought and consequently of my character.
At the same time, I was trained as a classical musician, as a pianist and contemporary
composer, and it was only natural that one day I would like to find a bond between
the two; and this research has exactly this aim: to bring closer (perichoresis) two
fields, that in the minds of most people, are considered to be opposites, contemporary
music and mystic theology.
The chronological point that sparked the beginning of this research ‘journey’
was a performance of a piece of mine at the concert hall of Athens (on May 2006),
titled apla…anapofeukto,. The reception of the piece by the audience was not that
great and I left the concert hall in a state of musical crisis. The reason was not the
‘not-that-good’ critique by the audience, but the fact that I realized that as a composer
I was ‘in front of a wall’. I felt that I was not going anywhere, musically speaking. I
was composing without having any real connection to my inner self, something which
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was obvious to the audience as well. It was not long after when I realized that what
was missing in my music was a certain context (theoretical context) that would
provide a significant theoretical substance, and for that, a certain direction. This led
me to the Orthodox mystic theology where I found the appropriate-to-my-needs
theoretical context.
1.2 Structure of the Project
This project is divided into two parts. The first part is focused on the theoretical
aspects of my work. It includes an overview of the Greek Orthodox Mystic Theology
and a discussion of how this informs the aesthetics of my music. Also in this part,
there is a reference to the main influences I had as a composer, such as spectral music,
the music of Helmut Lachenmann and some influences from different media such as
Rothko’s Paintings and Michael Haneke’s films. The second part is the analytical
part of my works where the gradual development in technique and aesthetic as
constant experimentation can be seen. However, it is structured as having three phases
(three sections), which are not chronological or biographical. This definition takes
place only in terms of research, that is, to make clear certain aesthetic concerns that
took place in time during this research.
There follows an overview of the Greek Orthodox tradition known as mystical
or apophatic theology. Based on this, I will later try to define how this informs the
aesthetics of my music, at least in phenomenological terms, in an attempt to show that
the structural procedures I am following in musical practice, are not based on abstract
ideas but can be considered as conceptual preoccupations related to human
experience.
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2. Mystical Theology
2.1 Introduction
To give a brief summary of mystical theology is a rather difficult task which would
certainly require a skilled theologian-scholar to do successfully. For this reason, I will
focus only on the notions that are pertinent to my compositional research, using the
writings of Vladimir Loscky, Fr. Nikolaos Loudovikos and Archimadrete Sophrony
Sacharov, which reflect on the thoughts of mystic fathers St Dionysious the
Areopagite, St Maximus the Confessor, St Gregory of Nyssa and St Isaak the Syrian
(see Appendix). Through them, I will emphasize only a few main aspects of the
Orthodox thought that interests me the most and are reflected in an obvious way in
my work.
2.2 Apophaticism
Mystical Theology is the theology of experience; it concerns all things inaccessible to
our (intellectual) mode of understanding, and can only be assimilated as a personal,
apophatic experience, only possible through prayer. While theology expresses
doctrines to be followed, mysticism is a realm inaccessible to understanding.
However, according to Lossky, if the mystical is a ‘personal working out of the
content of the common faith, theology is an expression […] of that which can be
experienced by everyone. […] There is no theology without mysticism. (Lossky 1991:
8-9). The bringing together of these two terms (mystical and theology) is related to
what in eastern Theology is called perichoresis: an existential relational characteristic
of human beings (interconnectivity). As I will show, this idea of bringing closer
opposites inspired my compositional practice to a great extent.
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Cataphatic (positive) and Apophatic (negative) Theology describe two paths
to an understanding of God: the former proceeds with affirmations and the latter by
negations. Apophaticism, a term attributed to St Dionysius the Areopogite, regards the
unknowability of God; St Gregory of Nyssa says that ‘every concept relative to God is
a simulacrum, a false likeness, an idol (in Lossky 1991: 33). Apophaticism, which
according to Lossky is mystical theology, is ‘an attitude of mind which refuses to
form concepts about God’ (Lossky 1991: 38-39). And for that matter apophaticism is
experience. The person (hypostasis) can have a non-intellectual understanding, a
hypostatic experience of things.
2.3 Hypostasis and Interconnectivity
2.3.1 Eschatological Becoming
We can understand the term hypostasis both as a personal way of existence and as a
common nature of existence; according to St Maximus
We are […] dealing with a work which has had a beginning; and a beginning
presupposes a change, the passage from not-being into being. The creature is
thus, by virtue of its very origin, something which changes, is liable to pass
from one state into another (in Lossky 1991: 93).
This shows a dynamic nature, a tendency for change, by virtue of which humans –
‘creatures’ move towards an end outside themselves: they are in ‘a perpetual state of
becoming’ (in Lossky 1991: 98). This assertion of St Maximus gives to the ‘state of
becoming’ an eschatological perspective. This term has nothing to do with teleology,
because the end towards which creatures move is outside themselves. It is an
eschatological epektasis (constant progress – see Appendix, St Gregory of Nyssa).
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St Maximus interprets further this motion as a ‘desire for its own natural and
fullness of being’ (1995: 21). On this issue he makes an ontological distinction
between natural will (desire) and personal (hypostatic) will, which is the critical
disposal of our faculty of inner determination – in other words, what makes personal
experience possible (see Loudovikos 1999: 187-92).
2.3.2 Hypostasis and Perichoresis
The ideas of ontological interconnection (common nature or consubstantiality) and
ontological difference (different hypostasis) refer to the connection between the
Hypostasis and consubstantiality. The relations of hypostasis are not something
external (and for that matter, not an issue of moral perspective), but something deeper,
internal. This existential perspective is offered by Loudovikos:
‘[E]ach one hypostasis exists by experiencing in love the whole depth of being
and truth of the other hypostasis who offers itself to the first, and the opposite’
(Loudovikos 2006: 83).
In Orthodox theology this is called perichoresis; there is no hypostasis without
relations. Only with the term perichoresis can we fully understand the term hypostasis
and therefore, hypostasis and perichoresis are ontologically connected.
The rejection of this existential dialogue means the rejection of being, which is
death. As Loudovikos points out, ‘this is hell: the absence of the desire (natural will)
of the Other; to go in search of the desire of the Other, which gives birth to your
subjectivity, your existence, and the impossibility to find it (2003: 31).
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2.4 Compound Virtues
In orthodox theology the body is not considered to be secondary compared to soul.
There are not only spiritual virtues but practical ones too: these practical virtues are
‘compound because each bodily action is the result of thought (action of mind). That
is, practical virtues require both theoria (contemplation) and praxis (action), the
combination of bodily and soul forces (St Isaac the Syrian 1995: 7). The respect that
the body deserves is an equal ‘part’ of the nature of being. This is a very important
principle in mystic thought and the foundation of Eastern asceticism; it demands the
full consciousness of the human person in all the degrees of its ascent towards the
fullness of being, towards deification.
2.5 Prayer
2.5.1 Self Propelling Prayer
According to the mystic fathers, the only way for human beings to fulfil their natural
desire for the fullness of being is through prayer. Already from the first centuries of
the orthodox tradition, a certain method was developed for that: a conscious, spiritual
and scientific application, a constant attitude that is not intellectual, but a spiritual
apophatic experience.
One specific prayer, the Jesus prayer, has been established with the above
method Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me. This is described as ‘self
propelling prayer’: ‘mind unites with heart through Divine action when someone
repeats the Jesus prayer for a long time (some times for many years) first with their
lips and then with their mind’ (Sakharov 2001: 113). Archimandrite Sophrony
describes this prayer as having five levels of development. The self-propelling prayer
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is the fourth level where the prayer is confirmed in the heart and, with no special
effort on our part, continues there, where the mind is concentrated. In the fifth and
final level, the prayer starts to act like a gentle flame within us, rejoicing the heart
with a sensation of divine love and delighting the mind in spiritual contemplation (see
Sacharov 2001: 113).
The prayer is not a ‘Christian yoga’ or ‘transcendental meditation’. Even
though at the beginning the same method is used, the higher levels can only be
achieved by Divine action as a response to the human being’s desire. There might also
be a moment when God does not respond at all and the feeling is one of emptiness.
‘At some moments his feeling of having been abandoned becomes so acute that even
a fleeting instant of it seems timeless […]. The purpose behind this withdrawal of
grace is to give [to the human being] the opportunity to manifest his freedom and
fidelity to God’ (Archimandrite Sophrony 2004: 129), which gives to the prayer the
character of a struggle.
2.5.2 The Silence of Nous
During the prayer of nous there might be a stage when ‘all movement is at an end, and
even prayer itself ceases (ecstasis). It is absolute peace and rest – […] silence […] without motion, without action, without the memory of earthly things. This
experience is called ‘spiritual silence’, which is above prayer’; a mystical experience,
which can be achieved only through prayer (in Lossky 1991: 209).
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3. Mystical Theology and The Aesthetics of my Music
3.1 Introduction. A Phenomenological Analysis
The aforementioned concepts of the mystic thought are not abstract ideas of some sort
of poetic value; on the contrary, they are related to the aesthetic concerns of my
compositions. These terms are, in fact, conceptual preoccupations related to human
experience and inform either a certain compositional attitude or certain structural and
formal procedures or both, or they are the basis for the whole structure of some pieces
for example Towards…V and Cardiogram, as will be seen later.
Nevertheless, this sort of analytical approach unavoidably falls to the realm of
phenomenology. The contextualization of artistic works, naturally, is a matter of
subjective interpretation and there is always the danger to function within imaginary
instead of pragmatic terms. However, the human experience should not be considered
as something scientifically or analytically invalid. In some respect, this can be the
only valid factor in the analysis of the artistic expression, since the definition of the
latter can equally be considered a term in the ‘mercy’ of subjective interpretation.
Taking this as a basis (seeing my analysis in phenomenological terms), I would say
that the analytical approach in this thesis, has a sort of mystical validity, since it is
based on thoughts related to personal mystical experience, as presented by the
orthodox mystic fathers.
3.2 Eschatological Becoming and Perichoresis
3.2.1 Eschatological Becoming: Three phases in Musical Practice
This particular term, with its dynamic content, informs my general compositional
attitude as a need to be in constant progress, and it is reflected in musical practice as a
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constant experimentation in certain aspects of composition. This gives to my project
the character and scheme of a one-way structure. Nevertheless, the structure of my
project can be loosely defined in three phases which, however, should not be seen as
biographical or chronological. This idea, of having a sort of ambiguous form for the
project is actually reflected in St Maximus’ description of the nature of beings, where
one can note a sort of antinomy which in its essence has the same meaning.
According to him creatures are a) in ‘a perpeptual state of becoming’, which suggests
a constant transformation and b) ‘liable to pass from one state to another’, which
again suggests a constant change but in this change there are obvious different stages
where someone possibly can observe characteristics which define those stages. The
secret here is that the passage from one state to another belongs to the realm of
transformation, that is, it is not something that happens abruptly. As I will show later,
this is also essential to the aesthetics of structure and form in my music.
In my project, surely, there was a beginning, right after the experience I had in
the concert hall of Athens (see Section 1.1), but this process does not follow any
certain/distinct chronological scheme. In a way, each phase is a transitional one that
incorporates old and new elements. Each piece addresses questions raised by the
preceding work. It is a continuous motion, a continuous development in technique and
aesthetic towards something yet unknown. It is a continuous line of transitional
phases. In that sense, what I am going to present in this project as my musical practice
is an extract of a larger process which has already started and is yet to be finished.
However, when I was composing (during and before the first phase) without having
this attitude, the changes were taking place at such a slow rate, I sometimes had the
feeling I was not changing at all. This seems to be the difference. This attitude, as a
sort of inner force, increases the desire to be in progress and gives to creativity an
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ongoing course. As I have mentioned earlier, in this project I aim to present this
distinction in three phases only in terms of research.
3.2.2 Perichoresis: to Bring Closer, to Overlap
This concept here, for obvious reasons1, is loosely translated as to bring closer or to
overlap and has a particular value for my project since it can be traced in both, in the
realm of contextualization and in musical practice. To begin with, it generated the
idea to allow mystical theology form the context of my compositional processes, that
is, to bring closer two fields that are considered to be opposites. In that sense, the term
perichoresis is the aim and at the same time the challenge of this research. This
incubated and gave birth to the idea of opening up my perspective, and adopting
perichoresis (along with the idea of eschatological becoming) as a general
compositional attitude to a) overlap different musical approaches (spectral music and
the music of Helmut Lachenmann b) overlap different techniques such as continuity
and block form (see Section 6.1.2), c) adopt technical processes from the world of art
(Rothko’s paintings) or from cinema (Haneke) and d) to bring closer the
electroacoustic sound world with the acoustic sound world. I will discuss each of
these in detail later in a separate section.
3.3 The Aesthetics of Contemplation of Sonority
The contemplation of sonority in my work is a sort of microcosm that assembles, to a
certain degree, my whole mystical philosophy. This, in musical practice, is
1 This concept has an existential perspective and according to mystic theology can only be applied in the
realm of the ontology of hypostasis (see Section 2.3.2).
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audible/present in the contemplation of material as a mixture of the following
characteristics: emergence or fade in of a certain sustained continuous sounds (a
single sound or chords) which are continuously transformed with the use of extended
techniques (transformation), and fading out of the sustained sound towards silence. In
order to make this clear is important to discuss it in different steps: a) eschatological
becoming, transformational sonorities and Personal experience and b) structures
emerging from and fading towards silence. In the second step, I will also include a
comparison between mystical silence and Cage’s silence.
3.3.1 Eschatological Becoming: Transformational Sonorities and Personal
Experience
The idea of constant progress (eschatological becoming) is actualized in my music as
the contemplation of constant transformational sonorities, be it a single sustained
sound or certain sustained chords, which are constantly transformed by the use of
extended techniques. In time this attitude subtracted from my music the figurative
character and made it more linear (see Towards…IV). The idea of sustained sound
(pitched sounds or noises) is vital, because it forces the listener to focus primarily in
one parameter: the transformation of timbre. It is widely known that by timbre we
mean the spectrum, the inner structure of a sound. This means that the constant
timbral transformation (caused by the use of extended techniques) gives to the inner
structure of a sound a dynamic character, which serves as a sort of metaphor for the
eschatological becoming (the inner ontological characteristic of the nature of beings).
But, in my opinion, this is not a simple metaphor, since, during the performance, the
listener and the performer have a certain subjective experience of that material which,
I believe, fulfils (subconsciously) their inner desire/need to be in progress (natural
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will, see Section 2.3.1). The idea of constant transformation finds its extreme
realization in my project in my string quartet Cardiogram, where I introduce the idea
of absolute continuity (a personal innovation and, as far as I am aware, an
unprecedented case in music literature) in combination with block form.
For the performance of the aforementioned material I require that the
performers interpret the given material in a very subjective manner (personal will, see
Section 2.3.1) which I call loose interpretation. The material is a sort of guide for the
performer to follow, without, at the same time, getting away from it. This is very
crucial because with this attitude, every performance becomes differentiated in a
distinct way. This reflects the idea of personal/hypostatic experience. In my work, the
material is a certain object, which is open to a subjective loose interpretation. I do not
want the performers, necessarily, to react to the given object completely as classical
musicians, that is, to justify themselves as good players from the exact, perfect and
objective performance of the given object-material, according to classical standards
(although, this is not excluded). After all, in my compositions, I am more focused on
the transformation of a sound than the sound itself.
The piece which basically triggered the idea of loose interpretation, was the
string quartet cardiogram. In the case of cardiogram it is actually impossible to
interpret the fluctuated line of the found object (the cardiogram itself) in a certain
way. So, the loose interpretation is, in a sense, a by default attitude of performance. In
the recordings of this project, I will provide two different performances of the work
which make evident the sound results of the loose interpretation in practice.
Another source which inspired the idea of loose interpretation (personal
experience of the object) is the approach to interpretation in traditional music, such as
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Byzantine music2. Different performers may sometimes interpret a certain melodic
line in a very different way and according to their vocal/instrumental possibilities. Of
course, the subjective interpretation is part of the classical training as well, and one of
the aims of the classical performance, but it is far more constrained within academic
classical rules than in traditional music.
This form of interpretation in traditional music (and especially in Byzantine
music) influenced my approach, but of course, it is not applied in my work in the
same way, it just has a similar approach. There are moments where I include many
details in the score such as detailed descriptions of how the bow should move (from
sul ponticello to sul tasto, changes from col legno tratto without drawing the bow to
col legno tratto with drawing the bow etc) and detailed descriptions of how the left
hand changes position on the fingerboard3 (see score, Towards…IV, bars 56 – 65), but
even then, I want a loose interpretation of the score. The notation is a sort of guide
according to the performer’s personal standards. This does not mean that I do not
want good performers. On the contrary, the better performers I have the better the
result I might have. Nevertheless, a performance is also possible by less skilled
players, and in a way, it is equally interesting because is a different interpretation of
the piece. What would be interesting to test in the future, as a sort of experiment, is a
performance of a piece of mine with traditional musicians.
The loose interpretation of a certain object reflects the two different paths of
theology, cataphatic and apophatic. The cataphatic is the certain object, the material
notated in a certain way (or the found object in the case of Cardiogram), which
2 At the same time with my training in classical music, I studied Byzantine music from 1996 to 2006 in
which I was awarded a diploma.
3 For all these, in the case of strings, I have invented a new clef (bow clef) for which I will discuss later.
24
should be interpreted in a specific way, while the apophatic suggests that a certain
object initiates a personal performative attitude – experience.
Later, when comparing my music with Spectral music, I will advert the
harmonic aspect of sonorities in my work (constructed sonorities).
3.3.2 Emerging and Fading-Towards-Silence Structures
This emergence and fading or fade-in, and fade-out structures towards silence,
contribute to the contemplation of sonority in my work, as a sort of meditation
technique, that is, prayer as a constant conscious attitude (see Section 2.5.1). For this,
the duration of the fading is very important. If for example, a sound is fading out for a
long time (see score, Cardiogram, pp18-19) towards silence, then there is a certain
point where the human ear tries to listen to an incomprehensible sound. This forces
the mind to focus even more than usual on the sound, and for that matter, the listening
process becomes a mixture of hearing and thinking where thinking becomes more
important. If now there follows silence, for a certain period of time, the mind is still
focused on a sound, which the ear does not fully understand whether it still exists or
the dynamics are very too low to perceive it. This concentration of the mind on a
particular thing (word, sound, image) is the essence of meditation translated here as
the scientific method of prayer. This structuring forces the mind to concentrate and
serves as a metaphor for the prayer of nous (concentration on a certain word-content
of a prayer) and spiritual prayer (the words, sounds or images which do not exist
anymore and the mind experiences silence as ecstasis), (see Sections 2.2 and 2.5).
From the above description, it is clear that the aesthetics of silence in my
music are totally different to those of Cage. According to Cage, silence creates a
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frame within which all the surrounding sounds to which you might not pay attention,
are now the material, the music: ‘Many people in society today go around the streets
and in the buses and so forth [listening to MP3 players] with earphones and don’t hear
the world around them. They hear only what they have chosen to hear. I can’t
understand why they cut themselves off from that rich experience which is free. I
think this is the beginning of music, […]’ (in Solomon 1998).4 In other words Cage’s
concept of silence goes in a totally different direction, undoubtedly very interesting,
but far removed from the function of silence in my music.
The use of silence in my work, as I have shown earlier, is rather mystical.
Silence for me, in contrast to Cage’s concept, indeed symbolises the absence of
sound: ‘one can only have a certain simple knowledge, above all words, elements,
images, colours, pictures, or names of whatever sort. This is the ignorance which
passes all knowledge’ (St Isaak, in Lossky 1991: 231). In theory, consequently,
silence is a symbol of the spiritual prayer (ecstasis), and practically, it is combined
with the emergence and fading structures, a different way of experiencing by using
your mind5; a meditative apophatic experience.
3.4 Compound Virtues: Gestural Music and Bodily Action
As I have already noted, the transformational sonorities are not the only characteristic
of my music. Another, resulting from the idea to bring closer Spectral music and the
music of Helmut Lachenmann, is the relational dialectics of sound objects with a
certain concern for gestures and bodily action (see Trio Quartet). This is very
important cause reflects the orthodox thought regarding compound virtues (see
4 This attitude is formulated for the first time in his famous composition 4’33”.
5 This experience in Orthodox Mystical Theology is called the silence of mind or the silence of nous
(Archimandrite Sophrony 1995: 236).
26
Section 2.4). This, in musical practice, is audible as my concern to see the
composition not only as an auditory experience (audience) but also as bodily
experience (performers). Most notably, my piece Trio Quartet is totaly concentrated
on this aspect (see Section 6.2.5). I will talk more about this in the next section when
reffering to the music of Helmut Lachenmann and in which ways this differs from
mine.
3.5 Eschatological Becoming: Structure, Form and Material
The idea of transformation (eschatological becoming) in my work is not only
reflected in the aesthetic of sonorities, but also (and in relation to the term
perichoresis) it is reflected in the musical material and structure. This is obvious when
bringing closer different types of material, either microscopically, where the
transformation takes place within a few bars (see score, Towards…I, pp 1 – 2, the
passage from pitched sonorities to noisy sonorities is smooth as a sort of
transformation) or macroscopically as in Trio Quartet where the whole piece is about
a transformation from an auditory experience to a gestural-bodily experience. Later, I
will discuss this in relation to the influence of Mark Rothko’s paintings and Michael
Haneke’s films.
As I have mentioned earlier (see Section 3.2.2), one of the aims that derives
from the concept of perichoresis is to bring closer, to overlap different techniques
such as continuity and block form which are reflected in the structure and form of my
work. But, the reason for doing something like that in this case, lies with the concept
of eschatological becoming, and in particular, on St Maximus’ description of the
nature of being (see Section 3.2.1). So, here the two concepts seem to find a link, a
27
connection. This means that continuity and block form are as important in musical
terms, as in theoretical terms, since in the combination of the two (most notably in
Cardiogram) I see the reflection of St Maximus’ ontological assertion. Another one,
related to structure is permeability, which is another way of seeing the term
perichoresis in musical terms, as I will show later.
4. Influences and Comparisons
4.1 Stravinsky: Block Form and Permeability
One of the composers who radically influenced my compositional practice at the
beginning of my compositional life, at least in relation to form and structure, was Igor
Stravinsky with his two masterpieces The Rite of Spring and Symphonies of Wind
Instruments. In these pieces two techniques were introduced for the first time:
permeability and block form. Both of them suggest a fragmentation of form and
structure which is also very significant to my thinking, at least during the first phase
of my project. In the second and third phases, under the influence of mystical thought
and Rothko’s multiforms, those techniques were transformed to something different
which I call textural block form and textural permeability.
4.1.1 Cubism in Sound
When referring to block form and permeability, a significant question arises: what is a
Block or how can we define a block? The answer lies in Stravinsky’s music and its
relation to Cubism. This is evident in the two ways in which Stravinsky builds his
melodies. The Stravinsky model is ‘repetition/variation and associated forms’ (Cross
2000: 24). In fact, we no longer talk about melodies, but rhythmic motifs which are
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repeated either as ostinati or rhythmically varied, and which are shifted in time
asymmetrically (but also in relation to rhythm as such, e.g. The Rite of Spring). It is
like listening to an object from different perspectives (in different ways) without this
object loosing its identity. This structuring of material gives the sense of something
being static, yet moving. But this motion is non-directional. It is a ‘Stasis in Progress’
(Cross 2000: 32).
4.1.2 Block Form
More than a technique, block form is a rather different attitude towards form. It is in
fact a process of anti-synthesis, similar to Cubism, by fragmenting the form. Igor
Stravinsky’s Symphonies of Wind Instruments is generally considered to be the first
(historically) and maybe the most characteristic example of block form. According to
Harrison Birtwistle, this piece has been constructed as a ‘juxtaposition of material
without any sense of development’ (in Cross 1998: 6). Louis Andriessen’s
description, however, in The Apolonian Clockwork (1989) gives the best and clearest
description:
Stravinsky […] used compositional techniques in the Symphonies of Wind
Instruments analogous to the film experiments of the same period: short,
continually-returning fragments each with their own identity, abruptly
alternated with contrasting structures, every one of which can be defined by a
limited number of characteristics. One of the characteristics of these
characteristics is that they are not developed (Andriessen and Schonberger
1989: 162).
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4.1.3 Permeability
In the above description of block form we have seen a juxtaposition of material which
takes place horizontally, in the sense that something is followed by something else.
But, as Cross puts it in Stravinsky’s Legacy (1998):
[T]his is not the only kind of juxtaposition to be found in Stravinsky. The
simultaneous juxtaposition of differentiated musical material in musical
layers or strata is also a highly characteristic device […]. Boulez’s less
prosaic term for this process is ‘“tiling”- the layering of developments one
on top of another’ and his favored instance is the Introduction to Part 1 of
The Rite ‘with the remarkable aggregations of individual developments’
resulting in a ‘complex structure’ (Cross 1998: 88).
This simultaneous existence (layering) of differentiated musical material is described
by Ligeti as permeability. In his article ‘Metamorphosis of Musical Form’ in Die
Reihe, in a rather brief but clear way he describes permeability as ‘structures of
different textures [which] can run concurrently, penetrate and even merge into one
another’ (Ligeti 1958: 17).
4.2 Rothko’s Multiforms and Textural Block Form
Rothko’s method of creating multiform works (a juxtaposition of different colourstates),
like in his Black on Maroon and Red on Maroon collections (figures 1-4),
relates in a way to the ‘ambiguity’ of St Maximus’ description of the nature of beings
(see Section 3.2.1). From a phenomenological standpoint there is a sort of
transformation when the color changes from one state to another. In spite of the fact
that the next colour-state is established, the previous colour is still visible (see figure
4), and this creates a sort of formal ambiguity: it is at the same time a single form and
a multiform.
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Rothko’s influence has to do with block form transformation, the passage
from one block to another, and the formation of the block itself. This is more obvious
in pieces like Cardiogram, Trio Quartet and Towards…IV.
The passage from one block to another (from the second phase of my work) is
not as distinct as in Stravinsky’s music (e.g. Trio Quartet, blocks 29 – 34 or
Towards…I, pp. 1 – 2). As in Rothko’s paintings, the material of a block is related to
texture (transformational sonorities, sound objects), therefore it is a case of textural
block form. Blocks themselves are not that differentiated from each other: some ideas
(techniques or musical ideas) are still present in the next block (permeability, see Trio
Quartet, blocks 28-31), or there might be such a vast mixture of techniques that all
blocks have a common abstract character (Cardiogram, pp 10-12).
4.3 Haneke: Length (Duration) and Experience
The duration of certain sections in some of my pieces is on purpose very long (e.g. the
first, fourth, and sixth sections of Towards…V). This aims at either a very slow sense
of transformation (Towards…V, first and sixth sections) or at an immobile (timeless)
sense (Towards…V, fourth section or Towards…I, bars 65-75). Duration serves to
lead the audience to a different experience of the material; e.g in the fourth section (5′
20” – 6′ 50”) of Towards…V, the material alone cannot give the impression of
something timeless – this is achieved only by a lengthy, obsessive repetition. It is an
idea based on Michael Haneke’s filming techniques. In his 71 Fragments of a
Chronology of Chance (1994), there is one fragment, presenting a man playing tennis,
which lasts for 5 minutes. The camera is focused only on his repetitive body action.
Nothing happens:
Length must be determined by imagining how I, as a viewer, would react
when watching this. You see a boy playing [in a movie]. Soon, I tell to
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myself, ‘I get it, next scene’, as typically happens in movies. Then, it
amuses me. Then, it infuriates me. Then, it tires me. Then, I say, ‘Let’s
see where this goes’. And at one point, I begin to watch. And to have a
respiration that lasts the right amount of time is difficult to achieve. That’s
always the secret and it’s a musical matter’ (71 Fragments of a
Chronology of Chance, 2006).6
4.4 Spectral Music
4.4.1 A critique of the French School
Since its birth in the mid seventies in France, Spectral music’s motto has been: music
is sound involving time (Grisey 2000: 1). It is closely related to electronic music, in
the sense that both use technology in order to analyse the physics of sound, that is, its
spectrum (frequencies, temporal aspects and amplitude). This analysis then, is used as
a model in musical practice (acoustic domain) in order to re-synthesize sound. But,
contrary to electronic music, the re-synthesis of a spectrum (sound) using acoustic
instruments (where each instrument is supposed to play certain partials of a certain
spectrum) is, in a way, a utopian aim. There are two reasons for this:
a) Acoustic instruments play real sounds. Therefore, every harmonic is linked to
a certain fundamental related to the tuning of the instrument, and certainly not
to the one that the composer has in mind (a harmonic of a fundamental at a
certain position).
b) The use of microtones on acoustic instruments for the acoustic realization of
frequencies is based, most of the time, on approximations. This is because: 1)
it is practically impossible for most instruments to perform some, or most, of
the frequencies (especially the high ones), such as winds or piano; 2) it is
6 The movie was originally made in 1994. This is Haneke’s commentary on the DVD release of 2006.
32
impossible for the human ear (performer) to confirm the difference between
micro-intervals; and 3) each utterance of a tone is unique, since the
instruments do not always emphasize the same harmonics, which differ for
many reasons, such as the manufacturing of the instrument, the embouchure of
the performer, the room, etc (see Dumitrescu and Avram 1994).
In the same way, it is equally difficult, if not impossible, to control in real time (in
musical practice) the amplitude and temporal aspects of a sound.
But the properties that are impossible in acoustic music are possible in
electronic music. However, treating a sound with electronic means creates another
problem which relates to the idea that we are dealing with a sound as being a ‘dead’
object. Maria Avram, of the Romanian spectral school, makes a valid point and, in a
way, reveals the essence of spectral music:
In electroacoustic music […] one can do anything. All is possible, but
note the difference between the possibility of organizing and the
possibility of realizing. […] [W]ork with the spectrum by making
additions and subtractions does not have anything to do with the theory
of the spectrum. For what use is it to use a living organism which is the
sound with its harmonics, to treat it as if were a dead material? One will
never be able to feel a music as spectral which is not made in this spirit
(Dumitrescu and Avram 1994).
The observations of Avram are very significant, as they present sound as a living
organism and, for that, as having a dynamic nature. Of course, such assertion has
more phenomenological than scientific concerns. As I will show later, this is very
important to my compositional thinking in relation to the aesthetics of contemplation
of sonority and brings my music closer to the Romanian school than to the French
one, without excluding the influence that the latter had on my own attitude.
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The above critique does not deny the significance of the French spectral
school, or generally of spectral music which, along with electronic music, caused a rebirth
of musical perception and consequently changed compositional thinking in
general (see Harvey 2001: 11). Spectral music, undeniably, opened our eyes to new
ways of dealing with the material, structure and form. As Grisey puts it, ‘from its
beginning this music has been characterised by a hypnotic power of slowness and by
a virtual obsession of continuity, thresholds, transience and dynamic forms. It is in
radical opposition to all sorts of formalism which refuses to include time and entropy
as the actual foundation of all musical dimensions’ (Grisey 2000: 2); he then goes on
to say that ‘the spectral adventure […] is not a closed technique, but an attitude’
(Grisey 2000: 3).
4.4.2 Romanian school: Iancu Dumitrescu
In Romania, the spectral movement had a different direction from that in France. It is
not a case of scientific modelling of harmonic spectra (although not excluding it), but
a practical research of how a sound behaves in ‘real time’, in a live situation where, as
if a living organism, is amenable to many changes. This results in a transformational
language where the processing of a sound in a live situation involves Listening, as a
subjective dialectic reaction and not scientific analyses. The person who is more
evolved in this dialectic process is the conductor. This makes clear that the Romanian
composers see sound in phenomenological terms.
Iancu Dumitrescu, along with Horatiu Radulescu, is undoubtedly a leading
figure of the so-called Romanian school and the one who influenced me the most. His
34
scores use mostly graphic notation and, because of that, there is a certain degree of
improvisation (a vital feature in the creation of a dynamic form; see figures 5-8). His
scores are neither about notes nor about the ‘pose’ of a spectrum (see Murail 2000:
173)7, but they are about indications (a collection of tablatures of techniques), which
cause a certain transformation of sound. So, the performance of a Dumitrescu score is
more about what the performers should do rather than what note should they produce.
(His music is usually concentrated on one pitch, similar to Scelsi’s; see figures 5 and
7).
Dumitresctu also sees a relation between the action parts (sound) and the rests
(pause). The former is active and the latter passive; there must be a balance between
them, something that derives from the influence of Zen philosophy (see figure 6). As
he explains: ‘the action of the active part gives a deformation of the inactive part.
When the “one” is accentuated more […] it is necessary that the pause is a little
longer’ (Dumitrescu and Avram 1994). The conductor has the place of the subjective
factor, he/she is processing the sound in time, in an unpredicted way, in a dialectic
between the score tablatures, the sound created by the performers and Listening.
4.5 Sonority, Performance and Transformation
4.5.1 Constructed Sonorities and the Pose of a Spectrum (French School)
In my first pieces of this project, Cardiogram and Trio Quartet, as far as the
contemplation of sonority is concerned, the idea of transformation was taking place,
mostly, in a linear way. As a next step, I had the desire to experiment more with the
7 ‘We no longer seek to com-pose, juxta-pose, or super-pose, but rather to de-compose, or even, more
simply, to pose the sonic material (poser le son)’ (Murail 2005: 173).
35
‘harmonic’ aspect of sustained sounds, which ultimately led me to the idea of
constructed sonorities. The idea was to present these sonorities in combination with
fading structures in order to create the meditative experience I described in the second
chapter (see Section 3.3.2). In these sonorities the linear transformation is far less
dense, as they are focused more on the ‘harmonic’ relation of real sounds. The sense
of transformation here is transferred in the structuring of the sonority its self, as I will
describe below.
The idea was to create a sonority that is neither a spectrum nor harmony, that
is, the sonority is not governed by internal rules. It is just an outside-time intervallic
succession, a construction, which in musical practice is translated as polyphonic
(chordal) intervallic combinations of real sounds. In terms of construction, this
sonority is a multiformula (created by basic mathematics) which is an addition of
many simple formulas. As a result, the whole intervallic succession (multiformula) is
an addition of small intervallic successions (formulas). These formulas are potential
musical units which form tetrachords, trichords, pentachords, etc, that is, simple
sonorities. As a result, a multiformula is the matrix of a multisonority. I was inspired
for this idea by Xenakis’ theory of sieves and also from Byzantine music where a
scale is the addition of two tetrachords, which can be interchangeable. So, I thought
why not having a whole chain of small units (tetracords, trichords, etc), which
involves the whole register of a piano, or a cello, etc. As a next step, this multiformula
becomes the prototype that generates several multiformulas by a simple interchange
of simple formulas. The interchange again is based on a basic mathematical procedure
(rotating the original numeric series). It should be clear that I am not interested in the
notes of a chord, but in the intervallic relations of the chords. Sound is seen as a living
organism whose functionality I cannot grasp by using mathematical procedures. The
36
aim is to create certain intervallic relations of potential ‘chords’ (cells whose structure
is based on intervals and not on notes), according to which sounds are going to react
in a certain way, which I could not have predicted. Consequently, they are transferred
to a different range (interchange of positions) where they have a different timbre,
although the material of the multisonority remains the same.
In this structural interchangeability of the multiformula, I see a reflection of
the concept of eschatological becoming: a (multi)sonority, ‘by virtue of’ its structure,
has the possibility of being interchangeable. This sonority is deployed in time in an
intuitive way and with the factor of loose interpretation becomes rather ‘lively’ in
performance.
4.5.2 Phenomenology of Sound (Romanian School)
Most of my scores are specifically notated; all the structural action is created
intuitively and is placed within bars (or blocks in the case of Trio Quartet). It is a
closed environment and the dynamic nature of the score (of the sound) relies on the
loose interpretation of the material by the performers. What is dynamic here,
transformable within certain structural constraints, is the timbre of the sound. This is
where the phenomenological treatment of the sound takes place in my pieces, which
relies more on the performers, in contrast to Dumitrescu’s scores, whose
interpretation relies more on the conductor. In my work, the conductor controls just
the general tension of the sound (the general structural deployment of the material and
the dynamics). Both composer and conductor are unaware of the exact timbral sound
result until the performance. And this, the awareness of the timbral and the textural
sound results, is again dependent on the piece. As I have already mentioned in Section
37
3.3.1, loose interpretation is the default attitude for the performance of Cardiogram;
this is imposed by the nature of the material, be it the cardiogram itself or the
techniques used on top of the cardiogram (see Cardiogram, pp. 10-12).
Another significant difference, again in the domain of phenomenology, is the
idea that the rest (pause) in my work is not a passive ‘object’ in relation to an active
one (sound). As I have explained in Section 3.3.2, silence in my work has a totally
different perspective: it is usually part of an emerging and fading-out structure,
creating a meditative experience.
4.5.3 Transformational Attitude and the Aesthetics of Perichoresis
It should be clear by now that the direct and profound effect of Spectral music on my
work is more notable in the creation of transformational sonorities, continuity and
generally in the concentration on timbre; in other words, in the attitude towards
sound. Although Cardiogram is also a conceptual art work, it takes this approach so
rigorously as no other piece in music literature – at least to my knowledge. At the
same time, as a sort of antinomy, it takes it to a different direction in a strange
combination of absolute continuity and block form (see Section 6.1.2.2).
As I have shown however, the idea of transformation in my work is a
reflection of the concept of eschatological becoming, as is reflected in many and
different aspects of my project (see Sections 3.2.1 and 3.3). It stretched from a general
compositional attitude to certain characteristics within each piece related to material,
structure, and form. For example, in Trio Quartet the idea of transformation is
reflected in the passage from a pitch sound world to a gestural activity (see analysis
Trio Quartet).
38
In my project, each of my pieces moves forward to different directions, from
questions, which usually are posed by the previous pieces, and this is maybe the main
difference between my compositions and spectral music. The Towards cycle, for
example, has different compositional and contextual aims from Cardiogram. One of
the objectives of the former is to bring closer (perichoresis) the spectral attitude and
the music of Helmut Lachenmann. This can also be seen as an extension of an
approach of collage of diverse material, which differentiates my approach from that of
Spectral and Lachenmann’s music.
4.6 Lachenmann and Relational Dialectics
From the point of view of sound, Lachenmann’s music it is not far away from spectral
music but, of course, he works in a very different way. He describes his music as
musique concrete instrumental, with a direct reference to Schaeffer. Lachenmann recontextualizes
the acoustic sound by giving to it its original status, as ‘referential
listening from the cause of production to the sonic result’ (Nonnenmann 2005: 6).
However, he does not use as material everyday sounds like Schaeffer does; rather, he
would de-musicalise conventional musical sounds by revealing them as profane results
of the effort required to produce them on the part of the players and instruments.
Lechenmann’s new expressiveness – his ‘transcendental experience’ – rejects the
aesthetic apparatus of tradition and ‘becomes a non-music that suspends all preexisting
interpretative, referential and communicative contexts’ (Nonnenmann 2005:
7).
In Lachenmann’s music it is not the sound that is dynamic, but the relational
dialectics of the sound objects. That is, his music has a progressive attitude by creating
39
new objects constantly, whose relations are redefined continuously. As Lachenmann
himself puts it, ‘the relationships are not jut created consciously but they continue to
be used. This means that the relationships that have been created think about
themselves’ (Helmut Lachenmann, 2005). There is the element of unpredictability in
his music: there are no structural procedures in the old sense, ones that force the
listener to absorb them, such as contrapuntal techniques. His process is not referential.
In Lachenmann’s rejection and in the idea of non-music I saw a reflection of
the apophatic attitude (see Section 2.2). For that, I embraced the use of extended
techniques and the relational dialectics of sound objects. But the way this attitude is
developed in practice is very different. First of all, my approach is very simple by
comparison and, in a way, minimalistic. I usually create a small number of sound
objects and then I create relations among them. These objects can be expanded
(augmentation) or compressed (diminution) but in general they form a certain closed
environment, like a microorganism. In structural and formal terms, my process is
open to traditional techniques. For example, within a block form structure (e.g. Trio
Quartet) some blocks are repeated in a variety of ways. This is a conscious act and
shows my intention to move forward to new things, to express something different
(apophatic), without hesitating to use past knowledge. So, my attitude creates a
different concept, distinct from Lachenmann’s rejection: not complete rejection, but
challenging the past and at the same time embracing it. This is very important since it
reflects the idea that apophaticism and theology (tradition) are not in fact opposites
(see Section 2.1).
Furthermore, I find a parallel between the physicality of Lachenmann’s music,
and the idea of ‘compound virtues’, as described by St Isaak (see Section 2.4). But
the aesthetics of this relation (sound source and sound result) in my work is
40
different. The performers reveal this relation with a loose interpretation of the sound
objects. The bodily action in my music is not an effort to produce a sound, but an
action with its own experiential identity. The sound in this case is a natural
consequence of the bodily action, and for that, by default loosely interpreted. All the
information, dynamics, accents etc, refer to the bodily action. In order to clarify this
difference with Lachenmann’s music, especially for the strings, I had to invent a new
notational symbol: the bow clef (see Section 7.4).
In Trio Quartet the idea of physicality goes to a more extreme level, where
sound is not important at all. At the end (blocks 29-39) the piece becomes very
gestural in bodily terms, and the sound is only a result of this action (in the same way
that a carpenter working in the laboratory produces sounds). This is a symbolic act; it
challenges the idea of expression as the jewelry of artists. Expression reveals natural
will (desire) and is deployed in everyday life through personal (choosing) will (see
Section 2.3.1); it is to the same degree an inner and a bodily experience, in the sense
that a farmer or a carpenter expresses equally themselves through their work.

4.7 Two general Remarks
4.7.1 Handwritten Notation
My decision to use handwritten notation, although more time-consuming, was a
conscious and necessary action and reflects my ideology. I could summarise the
reasons for this in four points:
a) Notation software can be very helpful for a composer but at the same time it
can be a manacle for the mind. The fact that one can listen to what one writes
creates, quite often, an idiomatic ‘temptation’: to trust the sound produced by
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the computer and compose according to it. This can affect radically the initial
musical idea and sometimes changes it completely. In time, this can
influence one’s entire compositional attitude. I realised that the best solution
would be to take advantage of both ‘old school’ handwritten notation and
notation software (as another manifestation of perichoresis).
b) Handwriting during the compositional process offers a more immediate
contact with my music. This happens because handwriting is also a bodily
action (using pencil, eraser, ruler etc). This presents the act of composition as
an open ‘space’ where human beings can act as a whole: mind and body – an
approach not unrelated to the notion of ‘compound virtues’ (see Section 2.4).
c) A handwritten score is also symbol with which I can make a statement: the
existence of traditional routes in every progressive action, even the most
experimental one. In a way, this reflects the aim of this research, that is to
bring closer two fields that are considered as opposites: mystical Theology
and contemporary music.
d) Painting was one of my first ‘loves’ when I was teenager. For several reasons
I never followed this path in my life. Handwritten notation (especially when
using graphics) offers a painting-like quality (straight lines, curved lines,
lines which form cardiograms, etc). This means that notation, regardless of
the sound, carries and delivers its own meaning as a visual experience (e.g.
Trio Quartet, blocks 31-34). Exactly for this reason, even when using
barlines, I provide lines to indicate the duration.
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4.7.2 Intuition
There is a certain style which has been developed over time in my music with certain
characteristic, such as block form, constructed sonorities, etc. But the way those
things are deployed in time is intuitively made. I could not for example justify the
duration of a section or some decisions related to orchestration or why I have chosen
some specific notes from a constructed sonority for one instrument, etc. Most of the
times my choices are intuitively made.
Intuition for me is the ultimate tool to an unconditional ‘diving’ within our
unconscious, and understand things, which are hidden.8 These things are imprinted
within the work (the work is the experience of our inner selves) and by understanding
the structure of the work, it is possible to have a better understanding of our selves. A
good example of this is Spectral Illusions (see Section 6.3.3) where I used a sort of
logic similar to the Fibonacci series without realizing it. I discovered this after having
completed the piece, by analysing the score. After I discover something within a piece
of mine, then I can use it consciously in the next work. This process enriches my
compositional practice and at the same time helps me avoid impositions of techniques
which are not related to my inner self.
8 In Antonioni’s film Blow up there is a scene where a painter, explaining his compositional process,
says: ‘I don’t mean anything when I do them. Just a mess. Afterwards, I find something to hang on to,
[…]. Then it sorts itself out and adds up. It’s like finding a clue in a detective story’ (Blow up, 2004).
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Part II
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