Aleksandra Vojcic | University of Michigan (original) (raw)
Papers by Aleksandra Vojcic
Music and Space: Theoretical and Analytical Perspectives, 2021
This essay explores broad parameters of musical time-space formation and introduces an analytical... more This essay explores broad parameters of musical time-space formation and introduces an analytical representation-a pulse-stream graph-to illustrate how a unitary temporal pattern can give rise to the overall shape and form of a musical work or how multiple temporal patterns interact when unfolding in rhythmic polyphony. The time-space is stratified according to distinct cognitive processing of one of three types of memory (echoic, short-term, and long-term), requiring different analytical considerations depending on the timescale of the events under scrutiny (foregroud, middleground, and background). As one form of temporal continuity, rhythmic processes-closed, open, or flexible-outline different pathways through time. Analysis of György Ligeti's etude Entrelacs and Elliott Carter's work 90+ illustrate how compositional treatment of rhythmic processes and their interaction with other aspects of the musical work imply different sense of time, despite basing the work on conceptually identical long-range polyrhythms.
Page 1. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI f... more Page 1. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face ...
Current Musicology, 2014
In his study of Steve Reich's phase-shifting music, Richard Cohn points to a specific analytical ... more In his study of Steve Reich's phase-shifting music, Richard Cohn points to a specific analytical challenge that transcends the repertoire at hand: "Given the relative poverty of our rhythmic terminology, the challenge for the theorist is to discover a means to characterize this material that is not only descriptively adequate, but also allows for exploration of its properties, its behavior under transformation, and its relations to other potential material" (1992, 149). 1 This essay responds to Cohn's call to action, singling out one of the many under-determined modes of rhythmic continuity in post-tonal music-(asymmetrical) composite meters. It rehearses a wideranging application of a new conceptual framework that can be used in accounting for the frequency and formal salience of composite meters in twentieth-century repertoire. Through analysis of select musical examples, I relate composite asymmetrical meters to compound and aksak meters, showing how certain types of "asymmetrical" meter exemplify non-isochronous duple and triple meters and, further, how composite meters combine two or more different metric units into a recurring whole (e.g., isochronous duple followed by non-isochronous triple meter). Along the way, I introduce a number of new concepts (meta-measures, duplication) and a new form of graphic representation (the time signature map).
Theoria, 2014
Theoria 21/2014 https://mhte.music.unt.edu/theoria
![Research paper thumbnail of Temporal Structuring in Colin Matthews's Eleven Studies [Inventions] in Velocity](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/39616361/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Straightforward [auffrichtig] instruction, in which amateurs of the keyboard, and especially the ... more Straightforward [auffrichtig] instruction, in which amateurs of the keyboard, and especially the eager ones, are shown a clear way not only (1) of learning to play cleanly in two voices, but also, after further progress, (2) of dealing correctly and satisfactorily with three obbligato parts; at the same time not only getting good inventiones, but developing the same satisfactorily, and above all arriving at a cantabile manner in playing, all the while acquiring a strong foretaste of composition. (J. S. Bach)
Perspectives of New Music, 2010
Many of Alexander Scriabin's preludes feature quixotic or rhythmically inaccurate notation, inclu... more Many of Alexander Scriabin's preludes feature quixotic or rhythmically inaccurate notation, including time signatures that do not correlate with rhythmic events in the foreground. From the standpoint of performance practice, I introduce an interpretive approach that focusses on rubato as a causal factor of Scriabin's notational idiosyncrasies and argue that they represent an act of selfanalysis, pointing to a conscious imprint of pre-compositional planning on the final product in the choice of metric notation. In this study, preludes are classified according to two criteria: (1) the type of primary metrical dissonance they engender, which includes Type A rubato, i.e., an expressive anticipation or ornamentation of the melodic line against the accompaniment in strict time, and Type B rubato -temporary displacement of the entire texture; and (2) the type of approximation in time signature notation. The focus of this study are the early preludes (up to 1903) as Scriabin's attention in the later preludes appears to increasingly turn toward the harmonic dissonance and away from rubato and hand synchronisation issues. I present notational variants to three preludes from op. 11 that serve as an investigative tool into Scriabin's compositional process. Finally, I offer suggestions regarding performance considerations as well as the historical evaluation of Scriabin's oeuvre in light of the analyses presented in this study.
Books by Aleksandra Vojcic
The Oxford Handbook of Music and Medievalism, 2020
Aleksandra Vojcic "The idea of canon or round, for instance, has influenced motets, fugues, and t... more Aleksandra Vojcic "The idea of canon or round, for instance, has influenced motets, fugues, and then, among others, the music of Anton Webern and my own phase pieces.. .. Good new ideas generally turn out to be old. "1-Steve Reich The Chantilly Codex is undoubtedly one of the most important collections of late fourteenth-century music, nowadays referred to as Ars subtilior.2 Among the most distinguishing features of Ars subtilior, besides rhythmic and melodic sequences, canonic instructions, and chromatic inflections, is its richly varied notation primarily used to represent rhythmically complex relations that include syncopation and proportion on various levels of rhythmic structure. Similar to much twentieth-century modernist music, music of the Ars subtilior has in the recent past been viewed as a hyperintellectual experiment in complex rhythmic notation.3 Characterized by Willi Apel as nothing more than a demonstration of technical prowess, Ars subtilior compositions were thus deemed unsuitable, if intended, for performance. In discussing the notational intricacy in fourteenth-century madrigals, James Haar suggested that the written notation approximated fluidity and projected "a fully developed rhetoric of the song. "4 Anne Stone applied this observation of notation as descriptive, rather than prescriptive to the Ars subtilior repertory and suggested that the notation aimed to capture "habitual rhythmic gestures that were either performed or heard by whoever notated the music. "5 As we shall see, the notation appears complex because it aims to capture in some detail the thriving practice of virtuoso (vocal) improvisation. However, as Donald Greig illustrates, 0004501067.INDD 340 10/12/2019 3:52:12 PM Dictionary: NOAD Rhythmic Complexity of Codex Chantilly 341 performing music transcends performing its notation.6 Analysts and performers (including this author) of rhythmically complex music written six hundred years after the songs of Ars subtilior face similar challenges, both in deciphering the notation and in understanding its message. This chapter explores and classifies different types of medievalism in twentiethcentury Western concert hall music. It illustrates the medieval ancestry of many compositional techniques developed for and popularized in numerous posttonal works, beyond the small selection included in this chapter. The process of defining this far-reaching ancestry unfolds in the context of a broad range of contemporary repertory that is often distinct in sound from its medieval antecedents but exhibits tangible conceptual connections. The types of medievalism under scrutiny process medieval ideas and patterns in a fairly functional and nonsentimental way. As Stephen Meyer articulates it, "Instead of emulating easily recognizable medievalist markers (e.g., drones or chant-like melodies harmonized in parallel fifths), these composers focus on the deeper rhythmic and structural elements of their conceptual antecedents. "7 This chapter aims to underscore the conceptual connection in complex rhythmic organization between late medieval music (exemplified by Ars subtilior) and twentieth-century modern and postmodern music utilizing what I refer to as structural medievalism.8 Lawrence Earp draws a similar parallel between medieval and twentieth-century practices by positioning isorhythmic motets of Machaut as a "realization that comes closer to the most progressive music of our time than any music of the common practice period. "9 I contend that the medieval ancestry is not a simple matter of direct influence, appropriation, or emulation. Rather, I wish to show how both eras experienced a dramatic increase in compositional and performative interest in the rhythmic domain and that this exploration took a similar path in both centuries. My examples from the Chantilly Codex illustrate a progression from the relative proportional simplicity in Suzoy's ballade Pictagoras, to an increase in foreground rhythmic dissonance (e.g., cross rhythms) and syncopation in Senleches's En attendant, and finally to the emergence of the quixotic, particolored note values of Uciredor's Angelorum Psalat. In the twentieth-century repertoire, proportional tempi and simultaneous use of related meters are illustrated with examples by Carter, Ligeti, and Lutosławski, progressing to the structurally more complex use of 2:3 proportion in Maxwell Davies and concluding with time value notation in Adès, which parallels explorations of Uciredor. Leslie Workman defines medievalism as a continuous (and continuing) process of recreating, re-enacting, and reinventing medieval culture.10 In recent years, the concept of neomedievalism has gained prominence, defined by Elizabeth Emery and Richard Utz as ahistorical "medievalism of popular culture. "11 But the idea of neomedievalism can also be extended beyond the realm of popular culture. Robinson and Clements discuss neomedievalism as a "post-modern ideology of medievalism, " in that it is an independent, detached, conscious, and purposeful alternative to medievalism.12 My view is closest to that of Nils Holger Petersen, who attributes a "lack of interest in building up a historical authenticity" to the medievalism of the twentieth-century avant-garde.13 Whereas certain domains of medievalism may attempt to reconstruct and (re)present
Birtwistle Studies, 2015
Birtwistle claimed that his orchestral works "Night's Black Bird" (2004) and "The Shadow of Night... more Birtwistle claimed that his orchestral works "Night's Black Bird" (2004) and "The Shadow of Night" (2001) begin and end in the same manner. I take his metaphors of sameness and the concept of a journey through related, yet alternative routes, as analytical inspiration. Concentric circles, varied repetition, and ostinato patterns in these two works are compared and contextualized relying on the piano work "Ostinato with Melody" (2000) as a guide.
Music and Space: Theoretical and Analytical Perspectives, 2021
This essay explores broad parameters of musical time-space formation and introduces an analytical... more This essay explores broad parameters of musical time-space formation and introduces an analytical representation-a pulse-stream graph-to illustrate how a unitary temporal pattern can give rise to the overall shape and form of a musical work or how multiple temporal patterns interact when unfolding in rhythmic polyphony. The time-space is stratified according to distinct cognitive processing of one of three types of memory (echoic, short-term, and long-term), requiring different analytical considerations depending on the timescale of the events under scrutiny (foregroud, middleground, and background). As one form of temporal continuity, rhythmic processes-closed, open, or flexible-outline different pathways through time. Analysis of György Ligeti's etude Entrelacs and Elliott Carter's work 90+ illustrate how compositional treatment of rhythmic processes and their interaction with other aspects of the musical work imply different sense of time, despite basing the work on conceptually identical long-range polyrhythms.
Page 1. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI f... more Page 1. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face ...
Current Musicology, 2014
In his study of Steve Reich's phase-shifting music, Richard Cohn points to a specific analytical ... more In his study of Steve Reich's phase-shifting music, Richard Cohn points to a specific analytical challenge that transcends the repertoire at hand: "Given the relative poverty of our rhythmic terminology, the challenge for the theorist is to discover a means to characterize this material that is not only descriptively adequate, but also allows for exploration of its properties, its behavior under transformation, and its relations to other potential material" (1992, 149). 1 This essay responds to Cohn's call to action, singling out one of the many under-determined modes of rhythmic continuity in post-tonal music-(asymmetrical) composite meters. It rehearses a wideranging application of a new conceptual framework that can be used in accounting for the frequency and formal salience of composite meters in twentieth-century repertoire. Through analysis of select musical examples, I relate composite asymmetrical meters to compound and aksak meters, showing how certain types of "asymmetrical" meter exemplify non-isochronous duple and triple meters and, further, how composite meters combine two or more different metric units into a recurring whole (e.g., isochronous duple followed by non-isochronous triple meter). Along the way, I introduce a number of new concepts (meta-measures, duplication) and a new form of graphic representation (the time signature map).
Theoria, 2014
Theoria 21/2014 https://mhte.music.unt.edu/theoria
Straightforward [auffrichtig] instruction, in which amateurs of the keyboard, and especially the ... more Straightforward [auffrichtig] instruction, in which amateurs of the keyboard, and especially the eager ones, are shown a clear way not only (1) of learning to play cleanly in two voices, but also, after further progress, (2) of dealing correctly and satisfactorily with three obbligato parts; at the same time not only getting good inventiones, but developing the same satisfactorily, and above all arriving at a cantabile manner in playing, all the while acquiring a strong foretaste of composition. (J. S. Bach)
Perspectives of New Music, 2010
Many of Alexander Scriabin's preludes feature quixotic or rhythmically inaccurate notation, inclu... more Many of Alexander Scriabin's preludes feature quixotic or rhythmically inaccurate notation, including time signatures that do not correlate with rhythmic events in the foreground. From the standpoint of performance practice, I introduce an interpretive approach that focusses on rubato as a causal factor of Scriabin's notational idiosyncrasies and argue that they represent an act of selfanalysis, pointing to a conscious imprint of pre-compositional planning on the final product in the choice of metric notation. In this study, preludes are classified according to two criteria: (1) the type of primary metrical dissonance they engender, which includes Type A rubato, i.e., an expressive anticipation or ornamentation of the melodic line against the accompaniment in strict time, and Type B rubato -temporary displacement of the entire texture; and (2) the type of approximation in time signature notation. The focus of this study are the early preludes (up to 1903) as Scriabin's attention in the later preludes appears to increasingly turn toward the harmonic dissonance and away from rubato and hand synchronisation issues. I present notational variants to three preludes from op. 11 that serve as an investigative tool into Scriabin's compositional process. Finally, I offer suggestions regarding performance considerations as well as the historical evaluation of Scriabin's oeuvre in light of the analyses presented in this study.
The Oxford Handbook of Music and Medievalism, 2020
Aleksandra Vojcic "The idea of canon or round, for instance, has influenced motets, fugues, and t... more Aleksandra Vojcic "The idea of canon or round, for instance, has influenced motets, fugues, and then, among others, the music of Anton Webern and my own phase pieces.. .. Good new ideas generally turn out to be old. "1-Steve Reich The Chantilly Codex is undoubtedly one of the most important collections of late fourteenth-century music, nowadays referred to as Ars subtilior.2 Among the most distinguishing features of Ars subtilior, besides rhythmic and melodic sequences, canonic instructions, and chromatic inflections, is its richly varied notation primarily used to represent rhythmically complex relations that include syncopation and proportion on various levels of rhythmic structure. Similar to much twentieth-century modernist music, music of the Ars subtilior has in the recent past been viewed as a hyperintellectual experiment in complex rhythmic notation.3 Characterized by Willi Apel as nothing more than a demonstration of technical prowess, Ars subtilior compositions were thus deemed unsuitable, if intended, for performance. In discussing the notational intricacy in fourteenth-century madrigals, James Haar suggested that the written notation approximated fluidity and projected "a fully developed rhetoric of the song. "4 Anne Stone applied this observation of notation as descriptive, rather than prescriptive to the Ars subtilior repertory and suggested that the notation aimed to capture "habitual rhythmic gestures that were either performed or heard by whoever notated the music. "5 As we shall see, the notation appears complex because it aims to capture in some detail the thriving practice of virtuoso (vocal) improvisation. However, as Donald Greig illustrates, 0004501067.INDD 340 10/12/2019 3:52:12 PM Dictionary: NOAD Rhythmic Complexity of Codex Chantilly 341 performing music transcends performing its notation.6 Analysts and performers (including this author) of rhythmically complex music written six hundred years after the songs of Ars subtilior face similar challenges, both in deciphering the notation and in understanding its message. This chapter explores and classifies different types of medievalism in twentiethcentury Western concert hall music. It illustrates the medieval ancestry of many compositional techniques developed for and popularized in numerous posttonal works, beyond the small selection included in this chapter. The process of defining this far-reaching ancestry unfolds in the context of a broad range of contemporary repertory that is often distinct in sound from its medieval antecedents but exhibits tangible conceptual connections. The types of medievalism under scrutiny process medieval ideas and patterns in a fairly functional and nonsentimental way. As Stephen Meyer articulates it, "Instead of emulating easily recognizable medievalist markers (e.g., drones or chant-like melodies harmonized in parallel fifths), these composers focus on the deeper rhythmic and structural elements of their conceptual antecedents. "7 This chapter aims to underscore the conceptual connection in complex rhythmic organization between late medieval music (exemplified by Ars subtilior) and twentieth-century modern and postmodern music utilizing what I refer to as structural medievalism.8 Lawrence Earp draws a similar parallel between medieval and twentieth-century practices by positioning isorhythmic motets of Machaut as a "realization that comes closer to the most progressive music of our time than any music of the common practice period. "9 I contend that the medieval ancestry is not a simple matter of direct influence, appropriation, or emulation. Rather, I wish to show how both eras experienced a dramatic increase in compositional and performative interest in the rhythmic domain and that this exploration took a similar path in both centuries. My examples from the Chantilly Codex illustrate a progression from the relative proportional simplicity in Suzoy's ballade Pictagoras, to an increase in foreground rhythmic dissonance (e.g., cross rhythms) and syncopation in Senleches's En attendant, and finally to the emergence of the quixotic, particolored note values of Uciredor's Angelorum Psalat. In the twentieth-century repertoire, proportional tempi and simultaneous use of related meters are illustrated with examples by Carter, Ligeti, and Lutosławski, progressing to the structurally more complex use of 2:3 proportion in Maxwell Davies and concluding with time value notation in Adès, which parallels explorations of Uciredor. Leslie Workman defines medievalism as a continuous (and continuing) process of recreating, re-enacting, and reinventing medieval culture.10 In recent years, the concept of neomedievalism has gained prominence, defined by Elizabeth Emery and Richard Utz as ahistorical "medievalism of popular culture. "11 But the idea of neomedievalism can also be extended beyond the realm of popular culture. Robinson and Clements discuss neomedievalism as a "post-modern ideology of medievalism, " in that it is an independent, detached, conscious, and purposeful alternative to medievalism.12 My view is closest to that of Nils Holger Petersen, who attributes a "lack of interest in building up a historical authenticity" to the medievalism of the twentieth-century avant-garde.13 Whereas certain domains of medievalism may attempt to reconstruct and (re)present
Birtwistle Studies, 2015
Birtwistle claimed that his orchestral works "Night's Black Bird" (2004) and "The Shadow of Night... more Birtwistle claimed that his orchestral works "Night's Black Bird" (2004) and "The Shadow of Night" (2001) begin and end in the same manner. I take his metaphors of sameness and the concept of a journey through related, yet alternative routes, as analytical inspiration. Concentric circles, varied repetition, and ostinato patterns in these two works are compared and contextualized relying on the piano work "Ostinato with Melody" (2000) as a guide.