Music and Architecture

Architecture Becomes Music 6 May, 2013 By Charles Jencks

form and content

sound and sense

heighten the senses and make one perceive more sharply and emotionally.

Music is
. Stravinsky showed with Sacre that the time­imperative could be satisfied by a quick change from tonality, to rhythm, to tune, to orchestration - any driving pattern as long as the force goes forward compulsively.  experienced over time, whereas   architecture is grasped as a spatial whole

cosmic connections in simple ratios such as 1:1 (a sound repeating itself, or the architecture of a square room), and 2:1 (the octave, a string doubled or halved in  length, or in building the double­square front of a temple).

and then with the perfect harmonic sounds they produced (called ‘the perfect octave,  the perfect fifth (3:2)? the perfect fourth’ (4:3) and so on.

 geometrical ratios then united it to ceremonial architecture

 How different this is from a symphony which cannot, ordinarily, be sped up or  slowed down by the perceiver? or read backwards as architecture can be from the exit? or top­down as with a skyscraper.

 Pythagorean   proportions of column to intercolumniation, front to side, and   width to height (roughly 2:1 here) also determine many other   relationships of  the Greek temple

Architecture is a variably perceived art.

the feeling of finality by the absolute contrast between sunlight and blackness.

 this feeling of panic

 isolated, staccato beat Light/Dark, A/B

suddenly appear and disappear randomly

 stillness, or a shriek by silence

natural and conventional meanings in so simplified a form they raise  emotions to a high pitch.

 The composer Pérotin, working at Notre Dame in Paris

 harmonies of three and four melodies stacked above each other.

 stacking three or four levels (arcade, triforium, gallery, clerestory) in equivalent chords pleasing to the eye

 architectural polyphony,

Their experiments with four voices, and simultaneous clusters of chords, are  more complex than the nave elevation and much cheaper to build in music than stone. They emphasised harmonic ratios such as 3:2 (called with explicit Godly  overtones, ‘the Perfect Fifth’) and 4:3 (‘the Perfect Fourth’) and drew them  on lined bars as if they were the cornice lines drawn by the master builder

 more subtle harmonic relationships of 5:4 (‘the Major Third’) which was more  upbeat and happy than the poignant ratio of 6:5 (‘the Minor Third’) which became common to the melancholic laments, their Miserere.

Pérotin was superimposing one plainsong chant on top of another: musical   and architectural harmony developed in parallel through notation systems.

But it is to say the emotional experience of each is very different from the analysis, a point brought out when you enjoy a building inattentively as part of a background

The first are solid and stone relationships set in sequence, now it is the void and space seen as a whole, and contemplated with the entire meaning of the church (the heavenward gesture

We take the space in at a glance, while music is necessarily experienced in parts over time, and the two media are as opposed as light waves from acoustic waves.

Above all it is the heightening of emotions which in music, and with cathedrals and concert halls, is a common goal. Musicians are often taught the six basic moods, and modes, they can stress - sadness, joyfulness, fearfulness, tenderness, love and anger - and emotional articulation could be defined as a purpose of music.

where architecture and music have similar intent: extreme emotional arousal.

Extreme emotion and neutrality  

When he was 24, Le Corbusier experienced the Parthenon in vivid metaphors - ‘a brazen trumpet that proffers a strident blast

serene, harmonious peacefulness - is evoked by the Taj Mahal,

as Mozart juxtaposed joyful play versus seriousness

Beethoven’s signature trope - the loud flourish was followed by absolute silence

 Most of his large public spaces have a highly sculptural figure absorbed into and yet contrasted with a background massing, particularly the roofline.

The contrasting and smoothing of elements work to great effect.

Sturm und Drang

Architecture and music thus are not only supremely emotional, at moments, but semantic and meaningful at other times

. Music must provoke our expectation to want the next moment. Call this latent desire the ‘time­imperative’ of the dramatic arts, those that unfold in a sequence  of time.

unity of form and content

 The strength of our buildings is the immediate, visceral impact they have on a  visitor.’

 upwards and diagonal emphasis.

Reading horizontally gives some basic melodic lines, while   reading vertically  reveals both harmony and dissonance.

The result is contextual counterpoint, at once beautiful, funny and truthful.

Are musical chords like space? The parallels I have been pointing out between music and architecture - rhythm, emotion, meaning and the stereotype of genre - are well known and accepted. One omparison, however, is contentious: the equation between the spatial and time arts.

We project the future onto the present, the next phrase or chord onto music, the next  room inside a building - all the arts aspire to this condition of drama.

As brain­scans have shown recently, music opens up the equivalent three dimensional world inside our heads, the area of sight.

Rather, I believe, it is the lack of local momentum, the way randomness destroys the all­ important ‘time­imperative’

Some expectations must be created, whether by rhythm, tonality, themes, melody, or anything (including gesture and silence) for the mind and body to anticipate the next moment, the near future.

 but the spatial ones allow a perceiver’s participation and control in a way the time arts do not.

There is tonality but it is always melding, there are rhythms but they are always morphing.  

‘Man is a goal­seeking animal

 His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for goals.’   This has its parallel in the arts which, as they unfold, generate their own goal.
The timeimperative means that if our attention is not grabbed every now and then by both pattern recognition and the expectation of the   new, we will not be engaged. Putting together these thoughts, and the analogy between music and architecture, leads to further conclusions. The basic means in
common between the two arts consist in rhythm, harmony, emotional intensity, meaning, the reliance on stereotype (or genre) and the progression of chords  (or the comparison to an architectural journey through space). Many other details and figures are shared, such as chromaticism and glissandi, the use  of overtones and morphing. Architectural and musical ornament can sometimes  be more important than structure, and boredom and background are necessary for both arts.

Music, as a time­art, is also much more controlling and authorial, and not  meant to be experienced backwards or shift in speed with the perceiver

Stabat Mater Türkçe tercümesi

1. Stabat mater dolorosa
juxta Crucem lacrimosa,
 dum pendebat Filius.

Acıyla yanan bir ana burada duruyor,
Haçın hemen yanında, gözyaşları içinde,
Evladının asıldığı yerde…

2. Cuyus animam gementem,
contristatam et dolentem,
pertransivit gladius.

Cuyus ruh inlerken,
merhametli ve kederli,
Bir kılıç darbesiyle göçtü gitti.

3. O quam tristis et afflicta
fuit illa benedicta
Mater Unigeniti.

Oh ne kadar üzgün ve bağrı yanık
kutsanmıştı
Anaların anası.

4. Quae moerebat et dolebat, BİR ÖNCEKİ İLE BİRLEŞTİRİLMİŞ VİVALDİ
Pia Mater cum videbat
Nati poenas incliti.


Yas tutan ve üzülen,
Sevgili anne, gördüğünde
çocuklarının tarifsiz acısını.

5. Quis est homo qui non fleret,
Matrem Christi si videret
in tanto supplicio?

Gözünden yaş gelmeyen bir insanoğlu olur mu,
Mesih'in Annesini gören
böyle acı içinde?

6. Quis non posset contristari,
Christi Matrem contemplari
dolentem cum Filio?

Kim hüzünlenmeden,
İsa'nın annesine bakıp kalmaz
oğlu için matem tutan?

 7. Pro peccatis suae gentis
vidit Jesum in tormentis
et flagellis subditum.

Onun insanlarının günahları için
İsa'yı azap içinde gördü
ve kırbaçlandı.

8. Vidit suum dulcem natum                   BİR ÖNCEKİ İLE BİRLEŞTİRİLMİŞ VİVALDİ
moriendo desolatum,
dum emisit spiritum.

O sevgili oğlunu gördü
Harap ve bitkin öldüğünü,
Ruhunu teslim ettiğini.


9. Eia Mater, fons amoris,
me sentire vim doloris
fac, ut tecum lugeam.

Oh Anne, sevginin pınarı,
bana, acı hissetmeme
yas tutmama izin ver.

10. Fac ut ardeat cor meum
in amando Christum Deum,
 ut sibi complaceam.

Kalbim ateşle parlasın
Mesih'e Tanrı'nın sevgisinde,
Onu böylece memnun etmek için.
AMENNNNNNNN Vivaldi

11. Sancta mater, istud agas,
crucifixi fige plagas
cordi meo valide.

Kutsal ana, bu yaralar
çarmığa gerilirken boğdu
benim kalbimi gerçekten

12. Tui nati vulnerati,
tam dignati pro me pati,
poenas mecum divide.

Doğurduğun oğlun yaralı
benim için lutfedilen acıları çekmek için
benimle cezaları paylaştı.

13. Fac me tecum pie flere,
crucifixo condolere,
donec ego vixero.

İçtenlikle sizinle birlikte ağlamamıza izin ver,
Haça narince gerilmiş,
yaşadığım sürece.

14. Iuxta crucem tecum stare,
et me tibi sociare
in planctu desidero.

Gerildiğiniz haçın başında,
ve ben sana katılmak için
matem elbisesi içinde.

15. Virgo virginum praeclara,
 mihi iam non sis amara:
fac me tecum plangere.

Seçilmiş bakire,
ben zaten kin dolu değilim:
Seninle beraber ağlat beni.

16. Fac ut portem Christi mortem,
passionis fac consortem,
et plagas recolere.

Bahşet ki İsa'nın ölümünü taşıyayım,
Bu tutkuya ortak olayım,
ve yaraları sarayım.

17. Fac me plagis vulnerari,
fac me cruce inebriari,
et cruore Filii.

Bahşetki yaralanayım,
bahşet ki haçınla ıslanayım,
ve çocuğunun kanıyla.

18. Flammis ne urar succensus
per te Virgo, sim defensus
in die judicii

Alevler içinde yanmayasın diye
sen Meryem tarafından, beni koru
kıyamet gününde.

19. Christe, cum sit hinc exire,
da per matrem me venire
ad palmam victoriae.

Tanrım, ayrılmak zamanı geldiğinde,
annem bana gelip verecek
zafer palmiyesini.

20. Quando corpus morietur,
fac ut animae donetur
Paradisi gloria.

Vücut öldüğü zaman,
bahşet ki ruhuma
zafer cenneti verilsin.
Amen.

Prayer for my Mother - Annem İlahisi

Prayer for my Mom

My dear mom, my sweetheart
You have given us our lives
Our warmth, our tenderness
Our fragility, our hope

I fear for you
I am vigil for you
Mourning and sadness remain
For them passing away

The challenges the future poses
The scare for the unknown
To overcome them all
To be worthy of your existence

Pray for us my beloved
And sacred mother of mothers
To deserve your mercy
To be worthy of your existence

Ali Riza SARAL

Annem için ilahi

Biricik annem, bir tanem
Bizim hayatımızı veren
Sıcaklığımızı, narinliğimizi
Geleceğimizi, umudumuzu

Senin için korkarım
üstüne titrerim
yas ve hüzün var hep
kaybettiklerimiz için

Geleceğin güçlüklerini
Bilmediklerimin korkusunu
Yenmek için
Sana layık olmak için

Bizim için dua et sevgili
ve kutsal anneciğim, annelerin annesi
senin merhametini hak etmemiz için
Sana layık olmamız için

Ali Riza SARAL

At the Edge - Suite for Cello Solo

AT THE EDGE

Suite for Cello solo

This is the foreword, introduction and short analysis parts of my recent composition.

FOREWORD

                I travelled from Illinois to San Fransisco to write a computer generated music in 1990 Summer Course of Stanford University's CCRMA lab.

Piece for Computer and 4 Trombones

http://imslp.org/wiki/Piece_for_Computer_and_4_Trombones_(Saral,_Ali_Riza)

Its subtitle is 'Death on the Border'.  It is so amazing that now I have similar possibilities  on my table at my Home.

'At the Edge' is the sitution of human being in the world of 2017.  We are at the edge of enormous progress in science and technology, progress that we cannot even imagine.

The vast majority is only being swayed by the progresses that are happening and sometimes getting easily manipulated. 

A moral and social response has to be developed with a special emphasis on education and equal opportunity.

I tried to give a sense of this human situation by the cello performer's unavoidable difficulty while playing 'At the Edge'.

INTRODUCTION

This piece is an open-ended self discussion of what can be done as a computer aided music work.

The computer generated parts are sometimes mixed with manually composed sections.  Sometimes this mixture is done homogenuously, sometimes  heterogenuously.  This is achieved by manually changing/retouching computer generated parts.

The term 'Computer generated' should not mislead you.  Computer generation is based on composition algorithms which are manually programmed so that monotenuous effects are avoided unless it is required to increase tension.

For example an array of 5 notes  A, Gb, E, F, C# may be put into an array and a random number between 0 and 4 generated.  This produces a real randomness effect.  A note may be repeated

a number of times by chance.  This has to be changed, so that a pitch that has been played once may not be played for a couple of throws of the dice.  This is the random repetition depth.  An artificially beautiful randomness appears if repetition depth is increased. The depth decrease helps to increase tension where needed.

It is possible to imitate/approach human manual composition by deliberately changing and manipulating algorithms.  For example, you can put artificial randomness in not only pitch but also

rhytm values, etc.

It is also possible to imitate computer generation by hand but this effort is also limited by the sheer volume of the computer generation.

The computer generation may also be used just to produce the base line like a carpet veawer using a white layer of threads to tie the color nodes on.

Uniqueness and mutation are issues that has to be pondered upon in this approach to music composition.

  

ANALYSIS

Just a few words about the things I was faced with during the composition process of 'AT the Edge':

What is unique?  What is mutated?

Something unique can be differed from others.

Something unique has a unity.

Something unique has an identity.

A truly unique thing is something that can not be mutated.

A truly unique thing exists on its own, with nothing similar to or copied from it.

On the other hand, a mutation is not unique in the presence of an original.

By definition, sound/music is an episodic event queue of frequency, duration.

A melody becomes unique when it is heard for the first time provided that it has a unity.  If a change to the melody mutates  the melody but does not effect its percieved identity it is a non-destructive mutation.

Randomly generated mutations may be limited not to cause (or to cause) destruction of the unique melody.

What happens in the case of a random or limited alleatory melody?  Notes that are not generated according to the fundamental algorithm may destruct the limited alleatory melody depending on a definite condition.  This condition may change according to the character of the original limited alleatory melody.

A limited alleatory melody may be mixed with another melody.  For ex. introduction of constant pitches with constantly seperated instances, may give a unique perception of an atomic character.  Mixing of limited alleatory with a unique melody breaks the randomness, rather balances its effect.