Space - Time Dialogue - An Analysis Of The "Neighborhood" Of The Rahmanman Orchestra

This thesis is regarding the orchestra work Accanto of HelmutLachenmann as the research object, the composer which one of the bestknown living composers who was born in Germany. Undoubtedly, as one ofthe most distinguished western composers at present, Lachenmann deservesspecial attention. He has inherited the tradition of German-Austrianmusic and formed his own style of musique concrète instrumentale in theend of1960s, successfully implanted the concrete sound in the tradionalacoustic instruments creating, opening a new door for the landscape ofmusic at that time and was considered to be a paragon of avant-garde.Inthe middle of1970s, Lachenmann started to explore the new concepts andtechniques on composition and put forward the“aesthetic apparatus”.Orchestral music is among Lachenmann’s major outputs, until2003he has composed in total fourteen orchestral works, more than works forany other forces. Accanto for clarinet and orchestral was finished in1976, and represents the composer’s stylistic maturity. The thesisfocuses on the question what is the functional analysis and exegesis tothis work. Major concerns include performance techniques and figurationof sound, as well as background and aesthetics.The thesis divides into three chapters. Chapter One is the outline,which includes biographical information of Lachenmann, the context ofAccanto, survey of literature and an evaluation of the research. ChapterTwo analyses the figuration of sound. What Lachenamnn asks from concreteis the widening of performance techniques and materials, resulted afterstudy into the instrument’s physics. Therefore this chapter focuses onadvanced performance techniques and Lachenmann’s characteristic soundfigures. Sound events are grouped into three types, points, lines andplanes. Chapter Three delves into the composition’s concept, asks thehumanistic message and aesthetics. First we differentiate indefinitepitch and pitch, and then we analyze the usages Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A Major, Werbenesque pointillism and traditional tonality.We conclude that based on musique concrète instrumentale, Accanto isa fusion of traditional and beyond. It reflects social situation andhuman expression, creates and re-creates aural discrepancies, and atlast constructs conflicts in music hall. Such a dialogue between old andnew represents Lachenmann’s particular artistic concerns.