VARSE Spatial Environment; external dimensions of sound masses -Reputation for being difficult -There is no recognizable version of a classical

form in Varses work; each work possesses a definite structure of its own that does not share with any other (Debussy) -Traditional analysis is not an appropriate approach due to: i) lack of system ii) uniqueness of each work iii) various domains of musical sound (pitch, register, rhythm/duration, timbre) achieved a relative level of equality more than in any other modern composer, thus: iv) Usual hegemony of pitch is no longer valid Varse challenges the history of compositional practice in the first half of the 20th c. as that of dodecaphony and atonality on one hand, and vestigial tonality of neoclassicism on the other. A theoretical approach to Varses work must accept the norms of his SOUND-UNIVERSE as the only factors relevant to definition of structure in his work. Continuity must be found in his COMPOSITIONAL APPROACH. Starting Point, particular use of language

GEOMETRY When new instruments will allow me to write music as I conceive it, the movement of sound masses, of shifting planes, will be clearly perceived, taking the place of linear counterpoint. When these sound masses collide the phenomena of penetration or repulsion will seem to occur. Certain transmutations taking place on certain planes will seem to be projected onto other planes, moving at different speeds and at different angles In the moving masses you would be conscious of their transmutations as they pass over different layers, when they penetrate certain opacities, or are dilated in certain rarefactions. Varse. This must not be taken as a metaphor, but as a process literally taking place in the music itself. THE SINGLE UNIFYING PRINCIPLE OF HIS MUSIC IS THE MANIPULATION OF MATERIALS WITH REFERENCE TO A SPATIAL FRAMEWORK. i) ii) Varses insistence on a vertical dimension (vertical melody, the problem of spacing of chords) is another instance of this. The aspiration to represent volumetric counterpoint in which sound masses collide (sound simultaneously) and possess an aggregate function as well as keeping their independence.

CRYSTALS Crystal form, is characterized by both a definite form and a definite internal structure (which, the latter) originates in the smaller order of the atoms that has the order and composition of the substance. Varse showed special interest in the fact that despite the relatively limited variety of internal structures, the external form of crystals are limitless. This does not amount to the generative cell model of analysis proposed by George Perle; there is an initial idea but this is not necessarily anything more than a point of departure, the basis of an internal structure expanded into other configurations, which in turn produce others. Once heard, initially, may never be heard again. The formal implications of this technique may prove to be revolutionary; for the form of a work is the consequence of the interaction and expansion of its materials, as Varse said: form and content are one, form is a resultant- the result of a process. In conclusion

- Unity and continuity in the works of Varse springs as much from the consistent nature of the manipulative process applied to sound materials (collision, expansion, rarefaction), as from any overall similarity in the structure of the sound materials themselves. - To place process at a level of importance higher than result is to suggest that the music develops within a continuum of perpetual change. The Theory [In which we aim to show the mechanics of the process and the transformations that take place in short periods of time or restricted spaces. Leaves out the management of extended passages.] The formal limits of a composition (in space and time) are a SOUND SPACE. That which governs the laws of Varses sound space is SYMMETRY. In a SPATIAL CONTEXT criteria of absolute size and distance, in the vertical sense, must form the basis of structure. i) Equivalence of inverted intervals cannot exist ii) Octave equivalence must be ruled out, as events in different registers occur in different places (A# denotes a family resemblance but its location must also be given). [In some case, though, Varse made use of octaves simply to reinforce.] The equal-tempered system serves as a natural calibration of that portion of the frequency spectrum (seven octaves plus) available to conventional instruments. It provides a uniform measure of absolute interval size, of distance between upper and lower boundaries of sound masses.

CRYSTAL GEOMETRY (static view) will be used as an analogy to describe the activity within a sound space. o Mirror symmetry; a number of notes in the centre of a sound formation o Parallel symmetry; a sonority divisible into two or more groups that display the same intervallic order from top to bottom o Partial symmetry; the sonority shows partial symmetry but it is affected by other musical forces that determine its shape. -Ex. Intgrales, m. 78 -Upper half does not mirror or replicate lower half -Middle segment F5-C4 includes Eb4 & D5, which divide it in the pattern [11] [3] [11] -The remaining segments A1-C4 and F5 G#7 are equal in size -The overlapping of registers (of different sonorities) can often resolve in Varse by their Timbral qualities; these often act as boundaries of sound masses. - Timbral differentiation (the use of colour is not incidental, sensual, anecdotalbut an agent of delineation)

PROCESS (dynamic/interactive view): the previous symmetries observed in certain sound formations should not lead us to think that they are musical objects; they are manifestations of the musical process. Larger structures show how the principles of symmetry also control the working of the process. o Projection; is brought about essentially through the movement of outer boundaries from one location to another. This must preserve some characteristic of its source (similar motion is not enough). Internal detail is optional. o Rotation; often used in conjunction with projection and closely related to parallel symmetry. Rotation implies a succession of events I which the first causes another (or more) to occur. [As an inverted row starting on the same tone]. We avoid the word inversion due to its tonal connotations. o o Expansion; a symmetrical musical process in Varse which expands (or rarefies) the volume of a sonority. o Contraction; the symmetrical inverse process.

Intgrales is also an example of a large structure determined by the symmetrical processes described above.