Jonathan Harvey's string quartets

Seo, Ju Ri

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/44243 Copy

Description

Title

Jonathan Harvey's string quartets

Author(s)

Seo, Ju Ri

Issue Date

2013-05-24T22:05:17Z

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Tharp, Reynold

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Tharp, Reynold

Committee Member(s)

• Magee, Gayle S.
• Lund, Erik R.
• Heiles, William H.

Department of Study

Music

Discipline

Music

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

A.Mus.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Jonathan
• Harvey
• string
• quartet
• first
• second
• third
• fourth
• eclectic
• spectral music
• spectralism
• serial music
• serialism
• schenkerian
• melodic chain
• electronic music
• electronics
• live
• symmetrical harmonic field
• ambiguity
• spirituality
• buddhism
• modernism

Abstract

This study examines Jonathan Harvey’s core musical processes and spiritual background through his four string quartets—No. 1 (1977), No. 2 (1988), No. 3 (1995), and No. 4 (2003). The paper surveys Harvey’s eclectic background in religion and musical education, and several trends with which he is associated—serialism, spectralism, electronic music, and spiritual music. Four chapters are dedicated to discussing unique analytical aspects of each quartet. The First Quartet’s multiple structural levels show a Schenkerian global approach. At the local level, a governing principle of integral serialism is found. The Second Quartet’s primary materials derive from a melodic chain. The Third Quartet’s instrumental writing is inspired by electronic music and shows Harvey’s evolution in timbre. The use of a symmetrical harmonic field symbolizes a floating state and freedom from obsession. The Fourth Quartet, one of his most representative pieces incorporating electronics, uses several processing techniques (amplification, spatialization, harmonizers, time stretching, and granulation) signifying the ambiguity of the live sound source. The final chapter investigates Harvey’s ideas of spirituality. Some analytical findings are shown to have direct parallels with tenets of Buddhism.

Graduation Semester

2013-05

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/44243

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2013 Ju Ri Seo

Owning Collections