Open AccessAn Analysis of Jonathan Harvey’s Speakings for Orchestra and Electronics
Author(s) -
Gabriel José Bolaños Chamorro
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
ricercare
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2346-4879
pISSN - 2346-4747
DOI - 10.17230/ricercare.2020.13.4
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , electroacoustic music , musical , narrative , electronic music , musical composition , perception , art , linguistics , visual arts , psychology , history , literature , philosophy , archaeology , neuroscience
In recent years an increasing number of composers have used speech as source material for instrumental, electronic and electroacoustic music. This article examines this particular intersection of music and language through an analysis of Jonathan Harvey’s Speakings for orchestra and electronics. I attempt to understand how Harvey made an orchestra sound like a human voice by analyzing his use of technology and his compositional techniques, particularly as they relate to existing theories of speech perception, acoustics and articulatory phonetics. This technical achievement is then placed in its broader musical context to examine the role that speech-sounds play in this piece, and the implications of hearing an orchestra speak in the context of this work’s narrative.