Jonathan Harvey

This study examines the ways in which a relationship is created between the piano and electronic sound in order to clarify the prismatic structure of the piece. The analysis will both isolate the acousmatic material and consider it together with the piano part, using the listening experience, rather than analysis software, as its basis. The features of the piece will be defined employing the concepts and terminology of Denis Smalley's spectromorphology, cross referencing his definition of electroacoustic score. The analysis will explore, on the one hand, the relationship between the piano part and the notation employed for the acousmatic material, and on the other hand the piano-specific writing.
The dialectic interaction between the two sound spectra will lead to observations on how various declensions of the concept of mimesis, as expressed by Simon Emmerson, are realised. The concept of mimesis in this case also informs the syntactic aspect of the piece, in terms of both its writing and its micro-structure, which is largely contrapuntal, as well as presenting canonical-imitative situations.
Taking into account that the use of typo-morphological aspects would be more appropriate, particularly when considering the intertextual nature of the context, the study will define the functions of the segments of the piece in the light of their antecedent-consequent relationships and their function within the macroform, and will go on to propose further levels of formal synthesis. This methodology will identify a relationship with the figure of Messiaen and demonstrate the necessity for semantic listening.
The study will conclude by demonstrating how, in a mixed context with an objective bonding linked to concrete data, electroacoustic material might form part of the formal definition of the piece, re-contextualizing concepts of archetypically acoustic form.

The work of Jonathan Harvey (1939-2012) has been influenced by computer technology since 1969 at Princeton University, and later during a short course on MUSYS at the private EMS (Electronic Music Studios) of Peter Zinovieff. However, it was at IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique) in Paris that he could finally fully explore his aesthetic vision, a passion for compute music that lasted for twenty-eight years and resulted in eight pieces realised at the French Institute: among them the renowned tape piece Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco (1980) and Ritual Melodies (1990), but also mixed pieces like Bhakti (1982), String Quartet No.4 (2003), or Speakings (2008).
This article focuses on Harvey’s collaborations with IRCAM computer music designers Stanley Haynes, Jean-Baptiste Barrière, Denis Lorrain, Jan Vandenheede, Cort Lippe, Carl Faia, Gilbert Nouno, and Arshia Cont. This research, grounded on published and unpublished materials, and oral communications, does not focus on technical aspects, but rather on what Harvey and his collaborators did to create and organize smoothly their work, their modes of collaboration, their everyday workflow. Although relatively weak at the beginning, the evidence of collaboration and above all its recognition through available sources grows over time, since it is highly dependent on the awareness computer music designers have built up of their profession along the years. Moreover, the British composer is one of the few who always recognize, in statements, texts, articles or interviews, the important role of the assistants.

The work of Jonathan Harvey (1939-2012) has been influenced by computer technology since 1969 at Princeton University, and later during a short course on muSyS at the private emS (Electronic Music Studios) of Peter Zinovieff. However, it was at Ircam (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique) in Paris that he could finally fully explore his aesthetic vision, a passion for electronic music that lasted for twenty-eight years and resulted in eight pieces realised at the French Institute: among them the renowned tape piece Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco (1980) and Ritual Melodies (1990), but also mixed pieces like Bhakti (1982), String Quartet No. 4 (2003), or Speakings (2008). This article focuses on Harvey’s collaborations with Ircam computer music designers Stanley Haynes, Jean-Baptiste Barrière, Denis Lorrain, Jan Vandenheede, Cort Lippe, Carl Faia, Gilbert Nouno, and Arshia Cont. This research, grounded on published and unpublished materials, and oral communications, does not focus on technical aspects, but rather on what Harvey and his collaborators did to create and organize smoothly their work, their modes of collaboration, their everyday workflow. Although relatively weak at the beginning, the evidence of collaboration and above all its recognition through available sources grows over time, since it is highly dependent on the awareness computer music designers have built up of their profession along the years. Moreover, the British composer is one of the few who always recognize, in statements, texts, articles or interviews, the important role of the assistants.

The revolution of sound recording, analogue synthesis and the birth of computer music, caused the emergence of a new professional profile, the Musical Assistant – someone who collaborates with composers in the phase of researching, writing, creating new sounds, recording and/or performing live during concerts – whose presence remains hidden most of the time. How can we find traces of this collaboration in analysing electroacoutic music? I propose a unified methodology at the intersection of Music Analysis based on electronic and computer sources and instruments; the ethnographic research, being collaboration based on oral traditions and activities; the philology of music and source criticism. The article focuses on three Musical Assistants: Marino Zuccheri (1950s), Alvise Vidolin (1980s), Carl Faia (2000s). The choice is motivated by the significance of their work with composers such as Luciano Berio and John Cage (Zuccheri), Luigi Nono and Salvatore Sciarrino (Vidolin), Philippe Leroux and Jonathan Harvey (Faia). The collaboration I discuss here does have many facets and is rarely the same from author to author, from project to project. There are however several aspects that emerge such as diachronic versus synchronic collaboration, the mode of thoughts emerging from material and oral sources, intentions, actions, and constraints, psychology and authorship.

The work of Jonathan Harvey (1939-2012) has been influenced by computer technology since 1969 at Princeton University, and later during a short course on MUSYS at the private EMS (Electronic Music Studios) of Peter Zinovieff. However, it was at IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique) in Paris that he could finally fully explore his aesthetic vision, a passion for electronic music that lasted for twenty-eight years and resulted in eight pieces realised at the French Institute: among them the renowned tape piece Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco (1980) and Ritual Melodies (1990) but also mixed pieces like Nouno, and Arshia Cont. This research, grounded on published and unpublished materials, and oral communications, does not focus on technical aspects, but rather on what Harvey and his collaborators did to create and organize smoothly their work, their modes of collaboration, their everyday workflow. Although relatively weak at the beginning, the evidence of collaboration and above all its recognition through available sources grows over time, since it is highly dependent on the awareness computer music designers have built up of their profession along the years. Moreover, the British composer is one of the few who always recognize, in statements, texts, articles or interviews, the important role of the assistants.

This article aims at examining the relationship between spirituality and spectral thinking in Jonathan Harvey’s music; for this purpose I will consider three works by Harvey dating from 1994 to 2008: Tombeau de Messiaen (1994) for piano and tape, String Quartet no. 4 (2003) with live electronics and Speakings (2007–2008) for orchestra with live electronics. The analysis of these works enables us not only to highlight Harvey’s peculiar approach to spectralism, but also to see how new technologies were essential for him in order to create a spiritual music. There is a deep connection between Harvey’s idea of music as a path to emptiness and to a pure land (as Buddhist concepts) through detachment from body and suffering, and the concept of ambiguity in music. The latter is achieved through the melting of spectral thinking, intervallicism and new technologies. An ever changing and evolving sound, the difficulty for the listener to recognize sound origin, the halo that results from the creation of a spectral environment for a monodic line, the construction of timbral hybrids, all are aspects of ambiguity in music as a spiritual goal.

The juxtaposition of classicism and actuality is a good description of the
ambiguous position occupied by the Second Viennese School not only in the
eyes of the scholars who research it, but also of composers who can be regarded
as its successors. However, in the works and writings originating from the
Second Viennese School we find a concentration of problems encountered by
contemporary composers, especially the modernist ones.
The aim of this article is to examine the role played by the representatives of
the Second Viennese School in the reflections of selected twentieth-century
composers, concerning their place in music history, the expressive categories
present in their work, and their ambiguous attitude to tonality. A separate subject
to be explored is the discourse used by contemporary composers to describe the
music of their predecessors, full of both analytical categories and vivid metaphors.
The quoted composers (Witold Lutosławski, György Ligeti, Helmut Lachenmannand Jonathan Harvey) may be identified with more-or-less radical modernist
views. This article is guided by the thinking of Gianmario Borio and the idea of “historical appropriation”, according to which analysis of the works of the past helps composers to create their own artistic identities and to define their own place in the history of music.

Keywords: the Second Viennese School, Witold Lutosławski, György Ligeti, Helmut Lachenmann, Jonathan Harvey, historical appropriation, contemporary composers’ writings

To attempt to fill a perceived gap in Japanese aesthetics concerning music, this article sketches a possible way into conceptualising a Zen- or Kyoto-school-derived aesthetics of contemporary music. Drawing principally on Kyoto-School philosopher Ueda Shizuteru’s theories of language’s three levels (signal, symbolic, and hollow words), the author proposes a similar distinction between different kinds of musical experience. Analogous with Ueda’s analysis of poetry, the oscillation of signal or symbolic sound and hollow ones is found to be what gives certain contemporary music its spiritual power. By applying this poetic–religious theory of language to music, an entirely new way of understanding contemporary music becomes apparent. As test case of this new approach, Morton Feldman’s 1970 work The Viola in My Life (2) is analyzed. The final section addresses the differences between this method of understanding via nothingness and traditional Idealist approaches via the Absolute.

"Con il saggio di Mariachiara Grilli, la direttrice di indagine dei Quaderni volge dal versante ermeneutico a quello analitico: a restare immutate sono però le prospettive multiple dell'approccio, che in questo caso sono gli stessi oggetti dell'analisi a suggerire. Si tratta infatti di due composizioni particolari in cui la facies acustica del pianoforte si confronta con quella elettronica della parte preregistrata su nastro, in un rimpallo sonoro che chiama in causa dualità seminali – per così dire – della comunicazione musicale contemporanea. In questi lavori riecheggia infatti (è il caso di dire) il rapporto fertile e problematico fra oralità/scrittura, puro/impuro, suono/rumore, acusmatico/referenziale. Più in generale, le due composizioni incarnano quel paradigma elettroacustico che François Delalande individua come cifra della musica del nostro tempo, un sistema che pone l'ascolto come modalità centrale dell'esperienza del suono. E in modo significativo l'autrice sceglie di condurre l'indagine proprio attraverso un approccio esclusivamente uditivo, senza quindi l'ausilio di software di analisi: un ritorno all'archetipo acustico per comprendere come, a livello sintattico e semantico, l'oggetto sonoro configuri una possibile esperienza d'ascolto." - Luca Bertazzoni, Introduzione al volume: 8-9.

The paper focuses on the relationship between Jonathan Harvey’s spiritualism and spectralism. Through the analysis of some of his works, which see the interaction of instruments and electronics, it is possible to elucidate this relationship.
There is a deep connection between Harvey’s idea of music as a path to emptiness and to a pure land (as Buddhist concepts) through detachment from body and suffering, and the concept of ambiguity in music. The latter is achieved through the melting of spectral approach, serial writing and new technologies. Therefore, in Harvey’s music the coexistence of post-Webern serialism and of spectralism is justified by the idea of ambiguity as a thread to a spiritual music.
An ever changing and evolving sound, the difficulty for the listener to recognize sound origin (is it a string sound, a voice sound, or an electronic sound?), the halo that results from the creation of a spectral environment for a monodic line, all are aspects of ambiguity in music as a spiritual goal.
This paper will provide some examples taken from the following works: Tombeau de Messiaen for piano and prerecorded electronics (1994) – which explores the ambiguity between identity and duality –, the Fourth String Quartet with real-time electronics (2003) – which explores sound spatialization, in other words moving sound, as a spiritual journey – and Speakings for orchestra and real-time electronics (2007/2008) – which aims at erasing the borders between musical sound and speech sound –.

Numerous critics observed that the great majority of Jonathan Harvey’s works are in some way “spiritual”. The composer
himself (i.e. in his book 'In Quest of Spirit', Berkeley 1999) emphasized that music can give us more than just a sensual
experience – it “possesses a unique, mysterious capacity to speak of what lies beyond or beneath the everyday”. Harvey
singled out several features that allow us to consider the sound as a carrier of spiritual values. The composer also indicated
some particular techniques that, in his opinion, allow to “mediate the spirit”.
In my paper I present how these procedures are used in specific works: electronic composition 'Mortuos Plango,
Vivos Voco', church opera 'Passion and Resurrection' and 'Curve with Plateaux' for solo cello.