Composition for Four Instruments
Encyclopedia
Composition for Four Instruments (1948) is an early serial music
composition written by American composer Milton Babbitt
. It is Babbitt’s first published ensemble work, following shortly after his Three Compositions for Piano (1947). In both these pieces, Babbitt expands upon the methods of twelve-tone composition
developed by Arnold Schoenberg
. He is notably innovative for his application of serialism to domains other than pitch
, such as rhythm
and dynamics
. Composition for Four Instruments is considered one the early examples of this type of “totally serialized” music, and foreshadows the style and complexity of Babbitt’s later work. It is remarkable for a strong sense of integration and concentration on its particular premises—qualities that caused Elliott Carter
, upon first hearing it in 1951, to persuade New Music Edition to publish it (Carter 1976, 30).
The twelve-tone row upon which the entire composition is based is given by the composer as 0 4 1 3 11 2 : 8 5 9 7 10 6, and is generated by the first trichord of the piece (Babbitt 1976, 12). It never once appears complete as a melodic succession, however (Dubiel 1990, 222). The pitch array used in the first 35 bars of the piece is as follows (Dubiel 1990, 223):
The first section of the piece begins with a solo in the clarinet. The notes of this solo can be separated by register
into four distinct voices. Babbitt presents several instances of tone rows in the opening bars of the piece. A note-by-note analysis of the first nine measures reveals two such tone rows, the first beginning at measure one and the second at measure seven. A closer look at the separation of the opening into the four registers reveals two additional tone rows. The set of notes contained in the two high registers form a tone row, as do the notes in the lower two registers. The presence of serial constraints in both the horizontal and vertical dimensions, though not necessarily discernible by the audience, adds a level of complexity to the piece that is characteristic of Babbitt’s work.
The piece begins with a three-note motive, or trichord
(a collection of three distinct pitch class
es). In the first five measures, each of the four register voices contains a transformation of the opening trichord. The first three notes all belong to the lower-middle register, and are separated by +4 then –3 semitone intervals. Each of the three other registers contains a similar three-note motive, spread out over the five measures, with the interval patterns –4 +3, +3 –4, and –3 +4.
The entire opening clarinet solo can be analyzed as an array of these trichords—an "array"" being two or more simultaneous sets presented in such a way that the sums of their horizontal segments form columnar twelve-tone aggregates (Mead 1983, 90)—and their various inversions
and retrogrades
. The trichordal relationships between the notes in the four registers of the clarinet foreshadow the interaction between the four instrument voices in the conclusion of the piece. Also, the way in which the instruments unfold throughout the piece directly corresponds to the progression of the trichords in the clarinet solo. The organization of the pitch classes throughout the piece is consistently and undeniably self-referential
.
In addition to his use of multi-dimensional tone rows, Babbitt also serialized rhythmic patterns. He uses the duration row as his primary rhythmic structure in Composition for Four Instruments, each of which consist of four different durations. The durations occur in the pattern sixteenth, quarter, dotted-eighth, eighth, which can be represented by the sequence of numbers 1 4 3 2. For example, the first four notes of the opening clarinet solo follow the 1 4 3 2 duration pattern. This rhythmic pattern is then manipulated under the same transformations as the pitches in a tone row. These transformations include the retrograde (2 3 4 1), the inversion (4 1 2 3) and the retrograde inversion (3 2 1 4). Babbitt expands this idea in later pieces, working instead with a set of twelve unique durational units.
As he does in the pitch domain, Babbitt achieves additional variety in the rhythmic patterns of Composition for Four Instruments by manipulating the duration row and its three variations in different ways. At times, he expands the row by multiplying each duration in the pattern by the four other members. Applying this transformation to the original row 1 4 3 2 results in the duration rows 1 4 3 2, 4 16 12 8, 3 12 9 6, and 2 8 6 4. In the final three bars of the piece, the clarinet plays the retrograde of the opening duration row with each element multiplied by 4, giving the pattern 8 12 16 4.
A third domain in which Babbitt applies serial technique is that of dynamic changes. He uses dynamic contours as another type of row, which can be manipulated as effectively as pitch and rhythm. For example, starting in measure 22, the dynamic markings read ff > mf p > ppp ff mf. The following pattern is then found at measure 24: ppp p < ff mf ppp p. A graphical representation of the contour of these two dynamic patterns reveals that the second is a transposed inversion of the first. Babbitt’s manipulation of dynamic contours adds yet another layer of complexity to an already analytically rich composition.
Composition for Four Instruments holds a significant position as one of the early serial compositions, which draws from and reinvents techniques introduced in the work of Arnold Schoenberg
and Anton Webern
. The piece demonstrates Babbitt’s remarkable development of musical relationships and technical complexity which he continued to explore throughout his career.
Serialism
In music, serialism is a method or technique of composition that uses a series of values to manipulate different musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though his contemporaries were also working to establish serialism as one example of...
composition written by American composer Milton Babbitt
Milton Babbitt
Milton Byron Babbitt was an American composer, music theorist, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his serial and electronic music.-Biography:...
. It is Babbitt’s first published ensemble work, following shortly after his Three Compositions for Piano (1947). In both these pieces, Babbitt expands upon the methods of twelve-tone composition
Twelve-tone technique
Twelve-tone technique is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold Schoenberg...
developed by Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
. He is notably innovative for his application of serialism to domains other than pitch
Pitch (music)
Pitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...
, such as rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
and dynamics
Dynamics (music)
In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional . The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics...
. Composition for Four Instruments is considered one the early examples of this type of “totally serialized” music, and foreshadows the style and complexity of Babbitt’s later work. It is remarkable for a strong sense of integration and concentration on its particular premises—qualities that caused Elliott Carter
Elliott Carter
Elliott Cook Carter, Jr. is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer born and living in New York City. He studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris in the 1930s, and then returned to the United States. After a neoclassical phase, he went on to write atonal, rhythmically complex music...
, upon first hearing it in 1951, to persuade New Music Edition to publish it (Carter 1976, 30).
Structure and analysis
Composition for Four Instruments is scored for flute, clarinet, violin, and cello. An immediate division is apparent between the two wind instruments and the two strings. In addition to this, Babbitt makes use of every possible subset of the ensemble group within the different sections of the piece. He uses every combination of instruments only once, saving the full ensemble for the conclusion. The piece can be broken up into fifteen sections according to the subset of instruments playing. The instrumental subsets are arranged in complementary pairs, so that each instrument plays only once in every pair of sections. The four solos occur with decreasing frequency (at intervals of five, four, and three sections), "converging", so to speak, on the final quartet, which is just two sections after the violin solo (Dubiel 1992, 84).| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| Fl. | Fl. | Fl. | Fl. | Fl. | Fl. | Fl. | Fl. | |||||||
| Cl. | Cl. | Cl. | Cl. | Cl. | Cl. | Cl. | Cl. | |||||||
| Vn. | Vn. | Vn. | Vn. | Vn. | Vn. | Vn. | Vn. | |||||||
| Vc. | Vc. | Vc. | Vc. | Vc. | Vc. | Vc. | Vc. |
The twelve-tone row upon which the entire composition is based is given by the composer as 0 4 1 3 11 2 : 8 5 9 7 10 6, and is generated by the first trichord of the piece (Babbitt 1976, 12). It never once appears complete as a melodic succession, however (Dubiel 1990, 222). The pitch array used in the first 35 bars of the piece is as follows (Dubiel 1990, 223):
| G | A | F | G | E | G, | C | B | D | B | D | C; | G | E | G | F | A | F, | C | D | B | D | B | C. |
| D | B | D | B | E | C, | F | A | F | G | E | G; | C | E | B | D | B | C, | G | E | G | F | A | F. |
| B | E | C | C | B | D, | G | E | G | F | A | F; | D | B | C | C | E | B, | F | A | F | G | E | A. |
| A | E | G | F | A | F, | B | D | C | C | B | D; | F | A | F | G | E | A, | D | B | D | C | E | B. |
The first section of the piece begins with a solo in the clarinet. The notes of this solo can be separated by register
Register (music)
In music, a register is the relative "height" or range of a note, set of pitches or pitch classes, melody, part, instrument or group of instruments...
into four distinct voices. Babbitt presents several instances of tone rows in the opening bars of the piece. A note-by-note analysis of the first nine measures reveals two such tone rows, the first beginning at measure one and the second at measure seven. A closer look at the separation of the opening into the four registers reveals two additional tone rows. The set of notes contained in the two high registers form a tone row, as do the notes in the lower two registers. The presence of serial constraints in both the horizontal and vertical dimensions, though not necessarily discernible by the audience, adds a level of complexity to the piece that is characteristic of Babbitt’s work.
The piece begins with a three-note motive, or trichord
Trichord
In music theory, a trichord is a group of three different pitch classes found within a larger group . For example a continguous three note set from a musical scale or twelve-tone row. The term is derived by analogy from the 20th-century use of the word "tetrachord"...
(a collection of three distinct pitch class
Pitch class
In music, a pitch class is a set of all pitches that are a whole number of octaves apart, e.g., the pitch class C consists of the Cs in all octaves...
es). In the first five measures, each of the four register voices contains a transformation of the opening trichord. The first three notes all belong to the lower-middle register, and are separated by +4 then –3 semitone intervals. Each of the three other registers contains a similar three-note motive, spread out over the five measures, with the interval patterns –4 +3, +3 –4, and –3 +4.
The entire opening clarinet solo can be analyzed as an array of these trichords—an "array"" being two or more simultaneous sets presented in such a way that the sums of their horizontal segments form columnar twelve-tone aggregates (Mead 1983, 90)—and their various inversions
Inversion (music)
In music theory, the word inversion has several meanings. There are inverted chords, inverted melodies, inverted intervals, and inverted voices...
and retrogrades
Permutation (music)
In music, a permutation of a set is any ordering of the elements of that set. Different permutations may be related by transformation, through the application of zero or more of certain operations, such as transposition, inversion, retrogradation, circular permutation , or multiplicative operations...
. The trichordal relationships between the notes in the four registers of the clarinet foreshadow the interaction between the four instrument voices in the conclusion of the piece. Also, the way in which the instruments unfold throughout the piece directly corresponds to the progression of the trichords in the clarinet solo. The organization of the pitch classes throughout the piece is consistently and undeniably self-referential
Self-reference
Self-reference occurs in natural or formal languages when a sentence or formula refers to itself. The reference may be expressed either directly—through some intermediate sentence or formula—or by means of some encoding...
.
In addition to his use of multi-dimensional tone rows, Babbitt also serialized rhythmic patterns. He uses the duration row as his primary rhythmic structure in Composition for Four Instruments, each of which consist of four different durations. The durations occur in the pattern sixteenth, quarter, dotted-eighth, eighth, which can be represented by the sequence of numbers 1 4 3 2. For example, the first four notes of the opening clarinet solo follow the 1 4 3 2 duration pattern. This rhythmic pattern is then manipulated under the same transformations as the pitches in a tone row. These transformations include the retrograde (2 3 4 1), the inversion (4 1 2 3) and the retrograde inversion (3 2 1 4). Babbitt expands this idea in later pieces, working instead with a set of twelve unique durational units.
As he does in the pitch domain, Babbitt achieves additional variety in the rhythmic patterns of Composition for Four Instruments by manipulating the duration row and its three variations in different ways. At times, he expands the row by multiplying each duration in the pattern by the four other members. Applying this transformation to the original row 1 4 3 2 results in the duration rows 1 4 3 2, 4 16 12 8, 3 12 9 6, and 2 8 6 4. In the final three bars of the piece, the clarinet plays the retrograde of the opening duration row with each element multiplied by 4, giving the pattern 8 12 16 4.
A third domain in which Babbitt applies serial technique is that of dynamic changes. He uses dynamic contours as another type of row, which can be manipulated as effectively as pitch and rhythm. For example, starting in measure 22, the dynamic markings read ff > mf p > ppp ff mf. The following pattern is then found at measure 24: ppp p < ff mf ppp p. A graphical representation of the contour of these two dynamic patterns reveals that the second is a transposed inversion of the first. Babbitt’s manipulation of dynamic contours adds yet another layer of complexity to an already analytically rich composition.
Composition for Four Instruments holds a significant position as one of the early serial compositions, which draws from and reinvents techniques introduced in the work of Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
and Anton Webern
Anton Webern
Anton Webern was an Austrian composer and conductor. He was a member of the Second Viennese School. As a student and significant follower of Arnold Schoenberg, he became one of the best-known exponents of the twelve-tone technique; in addition, his innovations regarding schematic organization of...
. The piece demonstrates Babbitt’s remarkable development of musical relationships and technical complexity which he continued to explore throughout his career.
Discography
- Milton Babbitt: Composition for Four Instruments (1948), Composition for Viola and Piano (1950); John Bavicchi: Trio No. 4, op. 33, Short Sonata for Violin and Harpsichord, op. 39. John Wummer (flute), Stanley Drucker (clarinet), Peter Marsh (violin), Donald McCall (cello); Walter Trampler (viola), Alvin Bauman (piano); David Glazer (clarinet), Matthew Raimondi (violin), Assunta Dell'Aquila (harp); Robert Brink (violin), Daniel Pinkham (harpsichord). LP recording, 1 sound disc, 33⅓ rpm., 12 in. CRI 138. New York: Composers Recordings, 1960.
- Contemporary American Chamber Music. Volume 9: Elliott Carter, Sonata for flute, oboe, cello, and harpsichord (1952); Milton Babbitt, Composition for Four Instruments, for flute, clarinet, violin, and cello; Igor Stravinsky, Fanfare for a New Theatre, for two trumpets; Henry Brant, Angels and Devils, concerto for flute and flute orchestra. New England Conservatory of Music Chamber Players (David Reskin, flute; Tom Hill, clarinet; Michael Levin, violin; Ronald Thomas, cello; John Heiss, cond.). New England Conservatory Series. LP recording, 1 sound disc, analog, 33⅓ rpm, stereo, 12 in. Golden Crest NEC 109. Huntington Station, N.Y.: Golden Crest Records, 1975.
Further reading
- Cone, Edward T. 1967. "Beyond Analysis". Perspectives of New Music 6, no. 1 (Fall-Winter): 33–51.
- Perle, George. 1981. Serial Composition and Atonality: An Introduction to the Music of Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern, 5th edition. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.