Modern composers with an original harmonic language

[karlhenning]

I don't say they're unique to Common Practice, but they're certainly well enabled by it. A perfect cadence is, if not perfect, damn useful 

Sure. And as a composer, I think, what does a perfect cadence do (of itself, as opposed to allude to a thousand perfect cadences we've heard before), and how else might what it does, be done?

[karlhenning]

. . . It is impossible to write new music using the same language that Beethoven did.

QFT.

Why, it's even inm;possible to write new music in the same language as Mendelssohn ; )

[Grazioso]

Sure. And as a composer, I think, what does a perfect cadence do (of itself, as opposed to allude to a thousand perfect cadences we've heard before), and how else might what it does, be done?

That's why I'd like to study psychoacoustics. You have to wonder if there's something strictly physiological in how certain frequency ratios affect us so readily, or is it culturally conditioned, or both?

Not only are composers different 200 years removed from Beethoven's compositional language, but, so are audiences, as well as, the world we live in.  It is impossible to write new music using the same language that Beethoven did.  Yes, one can do it, but it fails to past muster as a worthwhile contribution.

Today's popular music, enjoyed by millions across the globe, is built from the same fundamental system he used.

[CRCulver]

Jonathan Harvey and Anders Brødsgaard are two composers interested in spectralism, but at some point were unwilling to completely leave behind serialism or total chromaticism. Harvey's Bhakti and Brødsgaard's Galaxy are examples of works that mix those two seemingly opposite approaches to harmony and come up with a new system that sounds very original (and the two composers sound nothing like each other). I think Brødsgaard's Galaxy would impress a lot of the regulars on this forum.

[Cato]

Alexander Tcherepnin's ideas on harmony and scales (often 9-tone ) and on polyphony (he had a variation called Interpoint)
can be found here:

http://www.tcherepnin.com/alex/basic_elem2.htm

Avenir de Monfred had a polymodal method he called New Diatonic Modal: look for a book called The NDM Principle of Relative Music.

Also see:

http://www.youtube.com/v/v/VLolbPZVuQA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/v/v/PKZ6dK56UxU&feature=related

And then there is Tibor Serly and his Modus Lascivus method, which involves creating scales and polyphonically restricting certain voices only to certain scales, which later in a movement are played simultaneously.  (A simplification: imagine "Section A" using a scale of C-F-B-C, "Section B" uses "C#-D-F#-G#-A-C#", and "Section C" reuses both A and B by playing them on top of each other.

His Concertino 3x3 uses this technique brilliantly.

http://www.amazon.com/Tibor-Serly-Designs-Concertino-Concerto/dp/B000ION68G/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1310604100&sr=1-1

[Luke]

And then there is Tibor Serly and his Modus Lascivus method, which involves creating scales and polyphonically restricting certain voices only to certain scales, which later in a movement are played simultaneously.  (A simplification: imagine "Section A" using a scale of C-F-B-C, "Section B" uses "C#-D-F#-G#-A-C#", and "Section C" reuses both A and B by playing them on top of each other.

Sounds familiar....     Very familiar indeed. Was he copying me? 

(Cato - will reply to your email when I get the chance to give it the time it deserves!)

[escher]

Alexander Tcherepnin's ideas on harmony and scales (often 9-tone ) and on polyphony (he had a variation called Interpoint)
can be found here:

http://www.tcherepnin.com/alex/basic_elem2.htm

Avenir de Monfred had a polymodal method he called New Diatonic Modal: look for a book called The NDM Principle of Relative Music.

Also see:

http://www.youtube.com/v/v/VLolbPZVuQA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/v/v/PKZ6dK56UxU&feature=related

And then there is Tibor Serly and his Modus Lascivus method, which involves creating scales and polyphonically restricting certain voices only to certain scales, which later in a movement are played simultaneously.  (A simplification: imagine "Section A" using a scale of C-F-B-C, "Section B" uses "C#-D-F#-G#-A-C#", and "Section C" reuses both A and B by playing them on top of each other.

His Concertino 3x3 uses this technique brilliantly.

http://www.amazon.com/Tibor-Serly-Designs-Concertino-Concerto/dp/B000ION68G/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1310604100&sr=1-1

thank you Cato, i've heard something of both  Tcherepnin and Serly some time ago but i was forgetting about them. They are very interesting composers, thank you for the reminder. Never heard of Avenir de Monfred. Great post

[escher]

Jonathan Harvey and Anders Brødsgaard are two composers interested in spectralism, but at some point were unwilling to completely leave behind serialism or total chromaticism. Harvey's Bhakti and Brødsgaard's Galaxy are examples of works that mix those two seemingly opposite approaches to harmony and come up with a new system that sounds very original (and the two composers sound nothing like each other). I think Brødsgaard's Galaxy would impress a lot of the regulars on this forum.

thank you too CRCulver, never heard of both those composers.

[Grazioso]

A good candidate for interesting harmonies: Gloria Coates, with her microtonal dissonances.

http://www.youtube.com/v/wQH17p-zGv8

[Cato]

Alexander Tcherepnin's ideas on harmony and scales (often 9-tone ) and on polyphony (he had a variation called Interpoint)
can be found here:

http://www.tcherepnin.com/alex/basic_elem2.htm

Avenir de Monfred had a polymodal method he called New Diatonic Modal: look for a book called The NDM Principle of Relative Music.

Also see:

http://www.youtube.com/v/v/VLolbPZVuQA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/v/v/PKZ6dK56UxU&feature=related

And then there is Tibor Serly and his Modus Lascivus method, which involves creating scales and polyphonically restricting certain voices only to certain scales, which later in a movement are played simultaneously.  (A simplification: imagine "Section A" using a scale of C-F-B-C, "Section B" uses "C#-D-F#-G#-A-C#", and "Section C" reuses both A and B by playing them on top of each other.

His Concertino 3x3 uses this technique brilliantly.

http://www.amazon.com/Tibor-Serly-Designs-Concertino-Concerto/dp/B000ION68G/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1310604100&sr=1-1

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Spectralism was the first thing that came to mind when I saw this thread, but I see that's been discussed already.

I suppose I could mention Elliott Carter. He catalogued every possible chord using the 12 note chromatic scale and used some of them as the basis of his pitch material in his later works. I believe his opera 'What Next?' for example uses a 4 note all-interval chord and a 6 note polychord made up of two triads as the basis of all the melodies and harmonies used over the course of 40 minutes. It's a much more conservative approach to composition, which is very much rooted in melody and harmony, compared to what many of his contemporaries were doing.

[Cato]

Spectralism was the first thing that came to mind when I saw this thread, but I see that's been discussed already.

I suppose I could mention Elliott Carter. He catalogued every possible chord using the 12 note chromatic scale and used some of them as the basis of his pitch material in his later works. I believe his opera 'What Next?' for example uses a 4 note all-interval chord and a 6 note polychord made up of two triads as the basis of all the melodies and harmonies used over the course of 40 minutes. It's a much more conservative approach to composition, which is very much rooted in melody and harmony, compared to what many of his contemporaries were doing.

Many thanks for the reminder!  Given the "Atonal - Tonal" discussion elsewhere (q.v.), I thought members might be interested in reviewing this topic.

Gloria Coates was mentioned earlier: some of her works may be too static for some.  Here are two examples:

https://www.youtube.com/v/436fRvk3b34

https://www.youtube.com/v/3TO6D6S2oNk

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Hah, compared to Eliane Radigue  (a composer for whom I have much admiration) Coates can whizz by at an incredible pace.

[Cato]

Hah, compared to Eliane Radigue  (a composer for whom I have much admiration) Coates can whizz by at an incredible pace.

Wow!  Music at 16 2/3 RPM! 

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Wow!  Music at 16 2/3 RPM! 

[pedroiaco]

Guinga

[Cato]

Guinga

An example would be nice!