Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation
5-2018
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
M.M.
Department
Music Theory
Degree Program
Music
Committee Chair
Jemian, Rebecca
Committee Co-Chair (if applicable)
Brody, Christopher
Committee Member
Brody, Christopher
Committee Member
Zahorik, Pavel
Author's Keywords
Lucier; perception; spectral music; acoustics; psychoacoustics
Abstract
Listeners often associate the music of Alvin Lucier with the practice of experimental music due to his unorthodox means of composition. By viewing his work in this way, whether consciously or subconsciously, his music is often treated as aleatoric. This classification ignores the compositional stimulus that fuels the creation of his music. Lucier’s compositions are driven by the exploitation of one facet (or phenomenon) of sound. These sound phenomena take the form of spectral particles: vibrating media, acoustics, and psychoacoustics. The spectral particles uncovered in his pieces combine to form a spectral atom. By analyzing four of Alvin Lucier’s works, Twonings,Silver Streetcar for the Orchestra,I am Sitting in a Room, andStill and Moving Lines of Silence in Families of Hyperbolas, I intend to extrapolate their spectral particles. A combination of these spectral particles will inform the spectral atom of the work in question.
Recommended Citation
Bausch, Timothy Carl, "The spectral atom : cohesion of spectral particles in the music of Alvin Lucier." (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2950.
https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/2950
