Latin American Electroacoustic Music Collection

Javier Garavaglia, Spectral Colours, 1996
(Argentina)



Recording time: 11 min 21 s.
Instruments: For ensemble and tape
Remarks: Ensemble Connecticut College. Michael Adelson, conductor.

Other resources available:
- About Javier Garavaglia
- Compositions by Javier Garavaglia

About this composition:

The piece is concieved only with the materials of 3 notes (C, D, and B flat in the very low register), with their first 13 overtones. These overtones were transported to a scale from the lowest up to the highest and the work begins almost in the middle of it. The intervals of this scale (taking the semitone as unit) give the following numbers: 11 (major 7th), 1 (minor second), 0.8 (a bit lower as a minor second) etc. The proportions that rule the whole work (form, rhythms, etc) are taken also from the relationship of the tones of the scale themselves.

The number 14 has also an important meaning for the whole: 14 overtones, 14 instruments, when the first 14 notes of the scale appeared, there are always 14 tones for each chord. The proportions that rule the whole work (form, rhythms, etc) are taken also from the relationship of the overtones themselves.

The tape was made also with the 3 notes mentioned above (but not in the very low register, naturally) played and recorded "sul ponticello" on a viola. These 3 notes were transposed and were treated with several filter chains and hall (mostly with Csound), so that the "overtone quality" of the "sul ponticello" notes could be mantained and increased also for the lower tranpositions.

Because the instrumentation changes the whole time, new "colours" come constantly from the ensemble, which plays the anew always different spectral results, always different "spectral colours".-

Technical data:
Ensemble with 14 instruments: flute, oboe, clarinet in b, Bass- clarinet in b (with low b), trumpet in c, horn, trombone, 1 percussion (see details on the score), piano, 2 violins, viola, cello, double-bass.

Stereo tape (DAT or CD). Quadraphonic projection (see Score for details).

One microphone for the percussion.

Time Code (or DAT or CD time) visible to the conductor.

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