Varese : the chamber works of the 1920's: detailed analyses of Hyperprism, Octandre and Integrales.

Abstract

PREFACE The object of my analysis of Hyperprism, Octand.re and Intgrales is to explain the mechanics of the construction of Varse's works and., thereby, reveal his concept of music, in general, and the consequent treatment of the various parameters of music, in particular. These analyses have been written in a way that assumes almost constant reference to a score. In the text I refer the reader to bar numbers in the music for ease of the accurate pin-pointing of specific events. In the score of Intgrales bar numbers can be easily calculated because the rehearsal figures occur at ten-bar intervals; starting with figure D] which is bar 11, therefore, figure j] is bar 21 etc. When discussing the length of sections within a work I sometimes refer to the number of beats and at other times the length of a section is described in seconds. The reason for this is that when the portion of music being discussed is governed by a Bingle tempo indication the length can accurately be described in number of beats, but when changes of tempo are involved a time value is necessary in order to be able to effectively compare the length of one section with another. Note-groups describe all the chromatic tones used in between, and including, the named outer notes in ascending order, i.e. the note-group B-F consists of the tones B, C, C, D, D, E, F. In order to simplify matters, brass and woodwind instruments are collectively described as "wind" instruments and wide intervals, such as