Assignment 2: Indeterminacy

It could be said that the desire to break away from traditional musical conventions of structure and tonality led to a ‘melting-pot’ of ideas, methods and modern thinking throughout the twentieth century, with a vast number of ‘experimental’ compositions emerging (Cook and Pople 2004).  Styles such as minimalism, serialism and neo-classicism were suggesting a new-found freedom from convention.  However, it was composers such as Cage and Boulez whose ideas surrounding ‘indeterminacy’ created a whole new wave in terms of musical possibility and expression.

Indeterminacy in music was a phrase coined by the composer John Cage in the 1950’s, who stated that the term “refers to the ability of a piece to be performed in substantially different ways.” Pritchett (1993:108).  More specifically, Weaver (n.d.) describes a number of different techniques that Cage used when composing indeterminate or ‘chance’ music.   He writes that Cage categorised ‘indeterminacy’ in two forms; 1) in relation to performance, and 2) in relation to composition.  Techniques in relation to a performance would include freedom for musicians to interpret their parts, including the variation of duration, pitch or dynamics.  In contrast, techinques relating to indeterminacy at a compositional level require some elements of chance being applied to the writing stage.  Texts such as I-Ching (n.d.); an ancient Chinese text detailing a divination system designed to distinguish certain 'changes' using a system of 'hexagrams' and three coins, and musical dice; a twelve-sided dice with each face containing one of the 12 notes in the western scale, have been known to form the basis of a composer's ‘indeterminate’ compositions.  Inspired by Schoenberg’s techniques of arranging the twelve tones equally, modern composers such as Iannis Xenakis have adopted computer programmes to generate their compositions.

However, when considering the pioneers of ‘indeterminacy’, many European composers such as Boulez and Stockhausen also adopted their own methods of ‘chance’ during the 1950’s.  Terms such as ‘Aleatoric Music’ began to appear across the Atlantic, holding a very similar definition to Cage’s.  Sweetwater (2004) provides the follwoing definition of Aleatoric Music:

“Aleatoric Music or Aleatoric Composition is music where some element of the composition is left to chance.”

Despite the differences in terminology between indeterminacy and aleatory, it seems that composers such as Stockhausen and Cage worked along similar lines of thinking, but adopted very different methods.  Marshall (n.d.) describes Cage’s use of the ancient Chinese book of I-Ching to ‘lead’ the direction of his composition, whilst Boulez and Stockhausen were noted to give their performers more choices in the actual playing of the piece.  In the case of Cage’s 4’33"” (1952), ‘environmental’ noises play a key role in a composition which requires no input from musicians, but just ‘listens’ to the reactions of the audience and environmental noises during the silence, e.g. coughing or rain falling.

Despite the ‘pioneering’ indeterminacy movement from the 1950’s onwards, ideas of the application of chance to music have been present throughout history.  Musical dice games were invented during the nineteenth century and it is suggested that composers such as Mozart used these methods during composition.  Both Henry Cowell’s Mosiac Quartet (1934) and Marcel Duchamp in Erratum Musical (1913), which appeared before the work of Cage, demonstrate techniques using applications of chance.

Xenakis’ Pithoprakta (1956) demonstrates experimentation with unusual intervals and chord-progression, ‘tweaked’ dodecaphonic techniques and complex mathematical theory.  This piece, written for brass, percussion and a large string section, blends dissonance with a feeling of an unstable rhythmic pattern, resulting in a rapid changing ‘mood’ to the composition.  Similarly, Cage’s Concerto for prepared piano and chamber orchestra (1950-51) adopts elements of ‘chance’ within the composition process.   Pritchett (2009) describes Cage’s methodology, stating that Cage composed 115 individual ‘musical events’ and used the ancient Chinese book of I-Ching to decide the order in which to mix these ‘events’ with periods of silence.  This method provides a wildly ranging, but very disjointed feeling to the piece, offering the idea of small ‘bites’ of music, lacking the traditional ‘flow’.

Stockhausen’s Klavierstucke XI (1956), was also composed in ‘musical events’, but this composition relied on the performer choosing the order of the 19 events, spontaneously during the performance.   This method results in a ‘clumsy’ feel, but offers great variety between the live and recorded performances.   Wendt (2012) suggests that Boulez adopted similar techniques although, “a more tightly-controlled variety than that composed by John Cage”, using a series of 8 musical ‘events’ which the pianist controls the order of.   However, unlike Klavierstucke XI, the ‘events’ in Boulez’s Piano Sonata No.3 (1958) seemed to offer a more purposeful and fluid performance.

In order to communicate these sometimes complex ‘variations’ to musicians, it was necessary to update the traditional form of notation to include their modernist sounds.  These ‘graphic scores’ were specifically designed using pictures, shapes, symbols, drawings or colour to represent each musician's part.  The performers would then ‘interpret’ the image and create their music accordingly.  The extract below from Cathy Berberian’s Stripsody (1966), demonstrates the use of a graphic score based upon the ‘stave’ system, contrasted by the more artistic interpretations of Xenakis’ Oersteia (1970) score.

Zamarin (1966)

Xenakis (1970)

When analysing graphic scores, Bergstroen-Nielsen (1993:40) argues that these ‘graphics’ made it easier to understand the score, even to those musicians who do not read music.  However, due to the complexities of some of these scores, glossaries began to appear to enable musicians to clearly understand the directions.

Like many forms of music which experiment with rhythm and atonality, Indeterminate Music has received a very mixed reception.   When considering public reactions to this experimental movement, specifically Cage’s 4’33”” Solomon, L. (2002) writes:

“Some people assume that Cage did it to shock. Others have regarded it as a deliberate affront or insult, either to the audience or as an attack on music as an art form. Still others thought it was the act of a fool, a charlatan, or that it was too easy.”

However, Classical Music Journal (2006) writes that Cage’s and other Indeterminate works of the time “changed the nature of music and composition by removing the necessity of intention from composition”.

In conclusion, the Indeterminate Music movement created a great source of inspiration for composers to free themselves from the constraints of conventional diatonic music.  However, when considering the definition of music, it is hard to draw a comparison of some of the more alternative Indeterminate Compositions such as 4’33””.  Dictionary.com (n.d.) describes music as “an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color”.   However, many pieces composed in this Indeterminate style seem to lack a formal tonal or rhythmic centering.

However, it is clear that pieces such as Stockhausen’s Klavierstucke XI are deeply rooted in traditional musical values and composers such has Xenakis and Cage seem to have drawn upon a wide range of influences from the serialism, minimalism and impressionism to create pieces with a more melodic form.  Due to the vast array of techniques and methodology involved with indereminacy, Feisst (2002) suggests that perhaps the term would be better referred to as ‘improvisation’ writing that:

“Due to misconceptions in regard to improvisation and due to varying new artistic approaches, many composers came up with new terms such as indeterminacy, aleatory, open form, experimental, and meditative music and provided their own new definition of improvisation.”

This opinion offers an entirely different way of perceiving indeterminate music, offering a ‘solution’ for the sometimes-indecipherable musical messages portrayed.

However, although arguments continue as to whether Indeterminacy can be considered a serious contribution to musical history, I feel that if nothing else, there is clear evidence that this movement inspired composers and musicians to challenge the limitations of music and explore the more ‘unknown’ side of tonality.