Analisis 4 piezas

1. 238
consistently"and notjump ''from note to note." AfterDithome andthe String Trio, Scelsi
had gathered all of the c o m t i d tools he needed to realize the music that Rudhyar
foretold.
TheMonotonal Breakthrough:The QwmoPeui forChamberOrchestra
ThoughScelsihad already accomplished music on a single note in the String Trio and
otherselectedworks,the Qunroptui (ciascunosu unanota sola)[FourPieces (eachone
ona single note)]of 1959representsaparticularly importantmilestone in his compositional
career and signals the attainment of his fully developed sonorist style. Scelsi himself
alwayslooked back on the work asperhapshis most impottant?9 and a number of external
f m indicatethat he intendedittoserve as a lan-. It was his fmt composition for
orchestra (albeit chamber orchestra) since La nascita &l verb of 1948, another piece in
which Scelsi attempted to synthesize his compositional knowledge. Y
e
tunlike La nascita
del verb, the Quatrropeui did not mark theend of a traversalof styles but thecomplete
maturation of a newly formed style. The didactic mbm of the Qwmo pezzi manifests
explicitly in its declaratory subtitle. The work provides a methodical demonstration of the
compositional techniques Scelsi had pamtakmgly devised over the course of the previous
sevenyears, applied tothehighly concentrated soundthat he referred toasa"note." At the
sametime,it serves to illustrateoneof thecentraltenets of Scelsi's spiritualist aesthetic: that
a single"note" is not vapid and static but complex and dynanuc, a limitlessmic10cosm of
sound.
The importanceof the Quamopeui as acompositionalmilestone, exceeding that of the
String Trio, lies in its application of the techniques for animating a focused sound in a
SgMichikoHirayama,interview with tbe author,Rome,3 May 1997.

2. timbdy diverst! context. The work requires twenty-six players comprising a brass- and
woodwind do^ chamber ensemble of alto flute, oboe, English horn, t
w
o clarinets,
bass clarinet, bassoon, four horns, saxophone (alto and tenor, one player), h e trumpets,
twotrombones,basstuba, saw (or flexatone60).timpani, bongos, tumba$l hanging cymbal,
small and large ram-tams, two violas, two cellas, and double bass. Except for the
percussion,allof the instrumentsin theensemblehave thecapacity toproduce quarter tones,
as indeed they all do at some point in the composition. Each of the four movements
feanuesa uniquecombination of instnunents; a few remain tacet in each movement but the
fourth, which involves all twenty-six performers. Scelsiexploits the timbral variety of the
ensemble by using a stratified approach to orchestration that resembles Schoenberg's
celebratedrealization of Klansfmbenmefodiein the third of his FiinfOrchesterstiicke,Op.
16. Because of the extremely limited pitch spectra in each of Scelsi's pieces, even more
distilled than Schoenberg's slowly changing harmonies, the overlapping entrances and
cessations of different instruments d e s t pnmanly as mutations of timbre. Another
noteworthyfeatureof Scelsi's orchestrationin the Quamopeui is the use of percussion to
activatecertaintimbres. Impo-t entrancesand timbral changes are seemingly sparked by
a simultaneousattack in the percussion,a technique t
h
a
tappears prominently in the music
of V
& amongothers$* In thecontext of Scelsi's spiritualist aesthetic, these percussive
activatiam may represent the moment when an "unstruck" sound (anrihata)is "struckn
(&ta)P3
6 0 ' b ~ modem instrument for special dfectp consisting of a small flexible metal shat suspended in a
wireframe ending in ahandle.A woodm knob mounted on a strip of spring stal lies an each side of the
metal sheet. The player shakes the insmunent witb a trembling movement which causes the beaters to
strike the sides of thc metal sheet. An & tremolo is thus poducad. and the pitch aheFed by variable
pressure on the sheet of metalu (7'he New Grove Dktionary o
f Music and Musicians, 2d ed.. s.v.
"m-").
6 1 ~
lagecongadrum.
Jonathan Eemard,TAc Muic of&mi V.&e, Composers of the TwentiethCentury. cd. Allen
Forte(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987) 15S163.
63see Chapter 3.

3. Scelsi dealt with hproblem of structurein the Quurrro pezzi by using four axes that
suggest an intenelationship: F-B-Ab-Ah. The axes of the first two movements form a
aitone,anintervalthat Scelsihadalreadydrawn on in Dithome t
osuggesttheopening up of
sonic space. Just as the trim divides the octave in M,
the third movement's axis of Ab
divides the F-Btritone equidistantly into two minor thirds, a
n inte~~al
that also makes a
prominent linear appamce in the first movement at the same pitch level. The A
h axis of
the fourthmovement rernaiasmoredifticulttoexplain. GiuIioCastagnoli suggests that this
note provides further subdivision of the minor third into its two intavallic segments: a
semitone (ALAN) and a whole-tone (A-B).a It is an intriguing hypothesis, although it
assigns an uncomfortable level of importance t
o the intervals of equal tempanmt, which
thedivisionoftheoctaveby the tritone and the division of the tritone into two minor thirds
do not. Albmatively, since the F-Bspace-opening d o n of the k t two movemenls
implies the primacy of F as the initial axis presented, the Ab and A
h of the last two
movements might suggest, by stmtud analogy, the consonance of major and minor
sonorities. Supportforthis hypothesisappearsin the l& motion h m F to Ab in the
firstmovement,and the furtiveyet significantreturn of F inthetimpaniin MovementIV.65
The first movement c
o
m
p
r
i
s
e
s four increasingly powerful surges of sonic energy
(beginning at measures 5,11, 17,and 27), articulated by a combination of means56 The
most prominent techniques are those that simply generate more sound, such as dynamic
64~iulio
Castagnoli,bbSuono
e pocessonei &
a
m pcui per m
h
e
s
m
a (ciascuno su u
m nom soh)
(1956) [sid d
i Giacinto Salsi," in @arkti di Mvsica Nuova, ed. Giulio Castagnoli, no. 1 (Turin:
Compositori Associati, 1987),101.
65~ee
Examples 84 and06.
66~astagnoli
designates these surges as amid motion (moro espliciro) (Giulio Castagnoli, "Swno e
processo nei Qumrro peai per m
h
e
s
t
m k
c
- su U
M MW soh)(1956) [sic] di Giacinto Scelsi:' in
Q u a h idi Musica Nuova, ed. Giulio Castagnoli, no. 1 r h :Compositori Associati, 198q, 93;
reprintedi
nGiacinroScelsi: Viuggiodcemodrl suono,ed. Piem Alkrt Castanet and Nicola Ciskrnino,
[La Spezia, Italy: Luna Editon, 19931, 251). He distinguishes only three passages of ocarol motion,
however. beginningat measures5, 18, a d 27. What I cwsidaa secoad surge beginning at mcasun 1 1,
Castognoliregardsasa continuationof thefirst.

4. 241
swells and itlMPased instrumental density. These combine w
i
t
h more distinctly Scelsian
techniques for the animation of concentrated sounds: active and energetic articulatians
(vibrato, triU, flutter tonguing, tnmolo), and pitch inflection up a quarter-tone above the Ftl
axis. Onesenses in listeningto thesesurgesthatthedynamicswells and overall increase in
sonic force somehow push the note up h m its axis, as if bending it. Of course the
principle of interdepen&llce amongthe sonicparametershad alreadybeen incorpomted into
earlier compositions of the sonorist style, and its manifestation in the Qwmo peui
confirms its importance. Indeed, this trait continued in most of Scelsi's later sonorist
music,in which microtonal inflectionstend to move upward rather than downward and are
usually accompaniedby,perhapsevencausedby,dynamicinteMcation.
TodemonstrateScelsi's employmentof thesetechniques,Example 83 shows the fourth
surge,thefinaland most activeoneof thefirstmovement. It begins w
i
t
h the dynamic swell
and upward microtonal inflection of the instruments aiready sounding (tenor saxophone,
second trumpet, trombones, violas, and cello) w
i
t
h immediate reinforcement and timbral
alteration supplied by the bass clarinet. Upon reaching thequarter-tone above the dF,
thesecondtrumpetbegins avibrato,energizingthepitch andjoining the continued vitnati of
thecelloandsaxophone. In measure 28, the upper woodwinds enter,affectingthe volume,
density,and timbre of theaggregatesonority. Threeof these instruments enter directly with
thequarter-tone,while the second clarinet oscillateson either side of it. The climax of the
surge begins in measure 29, w b the large tam-tam activatesthe horns and double bass.
Their second articulation on the downbeat of measure 3
0 (each horn sounding with a
Merent mannerof articulation)accompaniesstrikes of both the small and large tam-tarns.
In measure3I, thesmalltam-tam and hanging cymbal sctivate thefortissimo dynamics and
flutter tonguingof thebrass instruments.

5. f r u f - *
Example83. Scelsi:Quutrropew',MovementI, mm.27-31
Alternating with the four surges in Movement I are five passages of rrlative c
a
l
m
(beginningat measures 1,9,15,22, and 3
2
)
,distinguishedby quiet dynamic levels,sparse
instrumentation,lessactivemodesof sustain,a
n
d
-
w
i
t
h an importantexception-adherence

6. to thefi.axis.67Thesemomentss
e
e
mdesigned t
o evoke a cettainstillnessand quiescence
from which the surges emmak. Ya these calm passages never suggest complere stasis,
which would conflictwith Scelsi'sundersbmhgof thenature of sound.68 At theopening
of themovement,forinstance,follr measuresof seeminglystaticF$scoveringoneoctave a ~ e
enlivened by subtle dynamic fluctuations, a quarter-tone oscillation in the cello, and the
timbral mutations of the Klangfiarbenmelodische overlapping of clarinets, horns, and
trumpets.
The second calm passage, in measures %I I, features a distinctive geshm: a twmtage
linear sweep that Halbreich apparently considers melodic,fj9but in fact constitutes a brief
expansion of the sonic space to a minor third above the Fh axis (see Example 84). The
sweep begins with the strings and second clarinet sliding up a half step to Gb, while the
tromboneconcurrentlyslides up only a quarter-toneand the first clarinet remains fixed on
a. The combined result in this first stage is the Ixmmentary dilation of the axial note,
expanding upward to till the space between F and Gb. The third horn serves both to
reinforcetheother instruments' d v a l back on Fand tomod@ its timbre. The strings and
tromboneimmediatelyslideupward again,this time as far as Ab, and back down to F,their
amval maeked by the third and fourth horns. During this second stage of the sweep, the
first clarinet and bass clarinet remain fixed on F, while the second clarinet slides down a
67~astagnoii
characMizEs Lhese as potemid motion (moto hrentc) (Castagnoli, "Suono e QIUCC~,"
93). Again,his breakdown M e r s Frommine: he identiftesonly four such passages, beginning at merwFes
1,15,21, and 36.
680n this point I find Castagnoli's chawmbtions and choii of vocabulary flawed. In descriig
these passages as well as similar ones in the second movemcnt, Castagnoli uses the term "stasis* in an
absolute sense ("la stasi veran[mrstasis] [p. 9
3
1
)
. Not only does this assessment conwdict Scclsi's
spiritualist aesthetic,it is not bomc out by the music itself. Even when the amount of activity k c s e s
sharply, as it dues in these sectioas. then always remains some ongoing fluctuation in a
t least one
m t m -
6 9 ~ ~
Halbreich. liner notes to Accud CD 2Ml162. trans. Elisabeth Blnzrnd (1989): 24. Wbniih
refersonly gemrallyto hemelodic"unfoldingw
that takesplace in rhefirstmovement. Bbcaugethis sweep
(and Mother Like it towards the ad of the movement) constitutes the only mly linear activity. I wwld
assumethat Halbreich has this passagein mind.

7. half-step t
o Ek,once again suggesting the momentary expansion of the central note. The
i
m
p
o
r
t
a
n
c
eof the minor third mterval outlinedin thispassage (
F up to Ab) is difficult to
assess, but equally difficult to ignore. It minors the we-scale structd relationship
betweentheaxesof the firstand third movements,dividingtheF-B tritone equidistantly. At
the same time,its localizedarticulationprovides the linear suggestion of the minor mode,
traceableperhapsback to Scelsi's use of minor muddities in early sonorist works such as
Pwyll andthe Suiteforfluteandclarinet.70
cl. I&2
(ill C)
burcl.
hn.3&4
(in n
vh. l&2
Example84. Scelsi:Q
u
z
m MovementI,mm. 8-1 1
Thesecondmovement,focusedonB, includes a similar range of techniques along with
the subtleexploitationof the harmonicseries. Castaplihasconvincingly outlined a three-

8. partsarcture for the movenmt?1 'Ibe first section subdivides into three parts, articulated
by registnilexpansionfromoneoctave(B~-B~)
to twoactaves(B3-B4-BS)
and back qph.72
As Castagnoliokmes, t
h second of these t
w
o subsections (measures 1243) roughly
triples the length of the first (measures 1-11] and third [measures 44-55). 'Ihe
movement's central section (beginning at measure 55) comprises a sustained surge that
drives all of the sounding insauments up from dw: axial pitch. Reaching a climax of
density,volume,andxtivity inmeasures6 2 4 ,the thick t e x m includes sustainedpitches
aqw-toneaboveB,sustainedCk, semitonal oscillationsW e e n B and C, and q w -
tonalosdatimsbetween B andthe pitch above, alloccurringsimultaneously. The sonority
is animatedbyforte andfortissimo dynamic levels, a variety of energkd articulations, and
activationsby the percussion. After this surge,the third d o n rems to the axial B and
continueswithanespeciallycalmtype ofKZungfarbemelodie. Comprising the last twenty-
four measuresof the movemart, the third section contains no microtonal departures f
r
o
m
tfieaxis andonly one use of vibrato(the saw in measures91-93).
The third section does feature, however, timbrai enbancement of h e axial B by the
articulation and sustain of its third partial, FV. It begins in the waning measures of the
second section (at measure 73), as the surge subsides and retwns to he axis. The cello
articulatestheovertonein measwe73andagainin measure75; it is sustained alternately by
h e f h t and second horns until measure 99, just five measures From the end of the
movement. ScelsiclearlydidnotintendthisFtto beperceivedas a separate note forming a
mvmtional harmony witht
h
e Bbelow it. It isplayedasastringharmonic in the c
e
b
,and
the horns sustain t
kpitch at adynamic level o f m marked quasi impercertibile (almost
721employhmthe systemthat designatesmiddleC as C4. ~ O C C ,
the first octave p*cen$din dn
movement (9'-mcomprises the aotcs that lie a hakq below and a m
p
h seventh above middlc C.
Strictly, there arc intervals in this oping section other than the perfect octave, as some m i a m d
fluctuadon(upby aquarter-tone)daesamreRecognizing that their function here i
s to thicken the mud
of the axial pitch, Castagnoli ri@y simplif~sttse pitch contentto pcrfcct octaycs in orda to fditate
understandingofthe rcgisaalexpansion.

9. impercep'ble). W
i
t
hthisFl,Scelsi&hcately accentuates an overtone that already exists in
thetimbreof theB fundamental,enhancing an effect that occurs naturaUy in the perception
of complexsounds.
MovementIIIbegins with relatively w
i
d
e osdlatim, reaching a semitone below and a
whole-toneaboveitsAb pitch axis.73 T k movement's most distinctive f w , however, is
theemergenceof subhannonicsin the bassclarinet. On the whole,the music in Movement
III remains in the upper registers of the ensemble. When the oscillations reach their
highpointat measure24,the bassclatinerenters twoand ahalf octaves below the rest of the
ensemble(Example85).
brucl.
t
m
.la?
(inR
Example85. Scelsi:Q m opew',MovementIII,mm.24-28
73~astagnoli
has traced the fluctuatingambitof this oscillation in tfie first forty measures (Castagnoli,
"Suonoe pnmsso:' 99). Dcspitethe &tail of Casugnoli's breakdown, it is inaccurate. First, he takes no
accountofquarter-tones,outliningonlywhichtempendscaledegreesoccurinwhich measures. Second, he
makesoutrighterrors in thedetailsof thisoutline. He indicates,foriastaace,lhatbars6-9 include Abs a
n
d
Gbs,when in factthey includeAbs andGh, as well astheqwkr-tone inbetween. He also asserts that the
oscillationnaches as highasBli in measurr24,but it goesonlyas highasBb.

10. The bass clarinet's pitches (E-F#-G-Abin measures 242!5, and Bb-Ab-E-a in measures
27-28) donot derivespecificallyfrom any acousticalcalculation;they are not, for instance,
thedifferentialtonesproduced by the pitchessoundinginthehigher register. In this sense,
theeffectdiffersfromthatof tbeo v menhmcementof thepreviousmovement,in which
theF#third partial accuratelyreflectsthephysicsof theharmonic series. Here, the notes of
the bass clarinet create a resonant context for the tightly packed microtonal clusters of the
horns, t
r
u
m
p
e
t
s
,and alto saxophone, suggesting that they exist as part of a more complex
sonicenvelope.
Thefourth movement comprisesone sustainedand m
c
u
l
a
r
l
yforceful surge, with the
full power of the twenty-six performers brought to bear. Castagnoli describes the
movement as a "recapitulation" of the first three, in which the sonorist processes
previously introduced w a k e , r e i n f i g one anothcr?4 While most of the isolated
featuresof thefourth movementdooccur in earlier ones, certain distinctive techniques such
as overtonal and sub-harmonic enhancementdo not. Thus the final movement is perhaps
best characterizednot as a recapitulationof the earlier movements but as an intensification
of selected features,especially those hat Scelsi uses to e
n
- sonorities. The registral
expansion across here extends to cover as many as five octaves (measure 29). Rapid
reiterations in groups of five or six sinteenth notes had previously occurred only in the
brass (in the third movement),but now manifesta~oss
the full range of the ensemble. T
h
e
percussivetriggering of certain timbres also intensifies, the sharp attack of the bongo even
precedingby a thirty-second note thesfonundo entrancesof thewoodwinds in measure 32,
reinforcing the perceptionof acausalrelationship.
Liketheothermovements,thefourthbeginsquietlyand withsparse instrumentation,but
there are signs that the energy of the movemeat is already building. The triplet semitonal
oscillationof the third horn and the rapid staccato reiterations of thefirst viola provide the

11. 248
f h tindicationsof developingintensity. Thereiterations are taken over by the second horn
in measure 9,wherethe axialpitch ispushedup ahllsemitoneto Bb in thedoublebass and
low woodwinds a
t aforte dynamic levei. Entrams of the timpani in measure 11 and the
large tam-tam in measure 16 support the thickening texture. In measures 24-48 the
movement,and indeed the entire work, mhes the apex of its power. To sustain intensity
over a relatively long span, Scelsi combines nearly every technique at his disposal for the
animationof isolatedsounds,here layered atop one another in tomnts of sound. Registral
saturation expands to its widest compass of five octaves (measure 29). The percussion
instruments increase the range of theii d v i t y beyond isolated tirnbral aftivatim, now
providingcontinuousimpetusto thesustainednotes of the ensemble. With this dvity, the
timpaniarticulatesthe cyclicalreturn of F from Movement I,alternatingw
i
t
h thecurrent axis
of A (Example86).
Example86. Scelsi:Q w omi,
MovementIV,rnm.37-39 (percussion)
The rhythrmc dynamism of the percussion tbea extends to the rest of the ensemble
beginning in measure 41, where rapid reiterations are taken up by the horns and double
bass, quickly spreadingto otherinstruments. Thevisceralenergyof the fourth movement's
giant surge during these climactic bars is almost overwhelming. Whereas the first three
movementsof the Q m opzzi
providesomewhatmethodicaldemonstrationsof the means
by which Scelsiwas ableto animateandsustaina concentratedsound, the fourth movement
revealsitsfullintensityand sonic power.

12. Scelsihad alreadydevisedthe techniques necessary for sustainingconcentrated sounds
in earlier works, but their consummation r
e
q
m transference to a tirnbrally diverse
medium-the chamberorchestraof the Quamom
i
.
Scelsi'scontrol of the wide range of
timbral possibilities in this and subsequent orchestral works seems to k an extension,
perhaps even the perfection, of Schacnbcrg's concept of Klunsfi6enmelodie. In&ed,
from this perspective the lasting influence of the Second Viennese style on Scelsi's
conception becomes clear. Schoenberg's well-kuown explication of Klangfarbenmeludie
seemsappropriatenotjust in relation tothe surfacefeaturesof Scelsi's orchestration,but to
the very coreof his compositionalaesthetic.
The distinctionbetween tone color and pitch, as it usually expressed, I cannot mept
without reservations. I think the tone becomes perceptible by virtue of tone color, of
which one dimension is pitch. Tone color is, thus, the main topic, pitch a subdivision.
Now, if it is possible to create patterns out of tone colors that are differentiated
accordingto pitch, pattern we call "melodies," progressions whose coherence evokes
an effect analogousto thought processes,then it must also be possible to make such
progressions out of the tone colors of the other dimension, out of that which we call
simply"tone color" [timbte],progressionswhose relationswith one another work w
i
t
h
a kind of logic entirely equivalent to that logic which satisfies us in the melody of
pitches. Thathasthe appearanceof futuristicfantasyand isprobablyjust that. But it is
onewhich,Ifirmlybelieve,willberealized?s
Schoenberg articulates in this passage the notion that a single tone is multidimensional,
comprising bothtimbre and pitch (as well asvolume). The notion is,of course, fundamental
to Scelsi's sonoristaesthetic. To this Scelsi added the principle of interdependence,that
variations in onedimensioncanproducechangesin another. Ihe Quartro peui constituted
a compositional breakthrough not simply because each piece adheres to a single
note-which Scelsi had done in earlier works-but because the full control of timbre
allowedhim at lasttoreveal thatnote's iniinite variety.
H
a
v
i
n
gachievedthe consummation of his style in the Quurtropezi, Scelsi went on to
compose someof his most remarkable music during the 1%0s. In orchestral works he
7 5 h l dSchanbmg,Theoryo
fHarmony, &. Roy E. Carter (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University
of Californiah s , 1978). 421-422.

13. 250
expanded his timbral and dynamic palette even further, adding orchestral instnrments
(generallylow-pitchedones,w
i
t
hmoreresonant qualities),theorgan,and evenchorus. Yd
he clearly did not feel bound to the orchestral medium, compteting three string quartets
between 1961and 1964thatcrown his achievementsin chunk music. In 1960he began
working with Michiko Hirayam, whose background and extraordinary abilities
demonstrated thatthe compitional principlesof Scelsi's sonoriststylec d d be applied to
the solo vocal medium to p a t effect. In all of his works he expanded the harmonic
dimension of his style and &vised ingenious shuctural designs both between and within
movements. It isparticularlyinterestingthat, followingthe Quorrropezu',Scelsi felt free to
explore his unique brand of sonorism in any medium and without strict adhenence to a
single pitch axis. The Quatrro peui had demonstmted not that a piece of music must
adhereto a single note, but that it could. For even in the most infinitesimal portion of the
pleroma,carvedoutby thespiritualistartist,thereexistslimitlesspotential.