4- One Note Piece

The Task


Create a composition using only one note.

Transposition to different octaves is allowed.

No sustaining sounds and/or drones.

No drums or percussion is allowed.

Tips and Tricks:

Try and think about:

- The quality of that note.

- Rhythm.

- Texture.

- Dynamics.

- Silence?

Research

Gyorgy Ligeti (May 28^th 1923 – June 12^th 2006) was a Hungarian contemporary classical composer.  He is considered as

One of the most innovative, versatile, and influential composers of the second half of the 20^th century. (Cummings 2014)

The piece chosen to look at in detail is the first piece of his Musica Ricercata.   This piece is called Sonstenut-Misurato-Prestissimo and is performed on the piano using only one note (A).  Despite its melodic limitations, the piece is rhythmically, texturally and dynamically interesting and stimulating.  The piece disregards the restraints of the one note idea though, as right at the end, the final note is not the same as the others, causing, in fact, melodic interest.  This feature is a highly typical classical idea; the Tonic to the Dominant is an old classical movement used especially in order to change key.   In this case, it rises from the tonic note A, to the dominant D.

Musica Ricercatta.

Yves Klein (April 18^th 1928 – June 6^th 1962) was a French artist most known for the Nouveau Realisme artistic movement.  His composition, Monotone Silence Symphony was written in 1949 and it was only performed once in his lifespan- in Paris on March 9^th 1960. It is similar to Ligeti in idea of using only one chord- D major.  The piece is performed for 40 minutes, beginning with the D major chord for half that time by the orchestra and choir. 

The sound, a D major chord produced by an orchestra and a chorus, begins abruptly, full force, and fills the air for 20 minutes, like a sonorous foghorn with a stuck switch (Kennedy 2013).

Once the chord finishes, the performers continue with their recital by sitting in silence for the duration of the composition. 

 Monotone Silence Symphony.

The Composition

To create the piece, a piano recording session was set up using two AKG 414 microphones over the strings of the piano.  The piece uses a G# as the only note throughout.  The piece utilizes the rhythmical, textural and dynamic freedom and so was played with rubarto.  The piece has free time and was only recorded once (there was only one take).  The take was recorded and mixed in ProTools.  EQ and compression were applied and the channels were panned hard left and right in order to give a sense of space.

The piece was then processed through a sci-fi modulation unit.  The pre-set “Bad Radio 2” was used then edited as you can see in the screen shots below.   

1. Screenshot of settings used for the left channel

2. Screenshot of the settings used for right channel

Critical Analysis

While there are elements which are interesting (for example the idea of melody which is a recurring pattern), the piece doesn't really develop into anything and therefore leaves the listener a little bored and unfulfilled.  Maybe more movement in terms of rhythm, texture and dynamics would have made the piece more invigorating.  While the interpretation was rather close to the brief, the modifications/ effects are the main things that stand out and make this piece any different from any others. Perhaps a little more experimentation with the instruments, textures and rhythms would have helped to make the piece more interesting.

References 

Cummings, R. (2014) ‘Gyorgy Ligeti: Artist Biography by Robert Cummings’ from All Music from http://www.allmusic.com/artist/gy%C3%B6rgy-ligeti-mn0001319058/biography [14.5.14]

Kennedy, R. (2013) ‘A Sound, Then Silence (Try Not to Breathe): Yves Klein’s ‘Monotone –Silence’ Symphony Comes to Manhattan’ from The New York Times, published September 17^th 2013