Helmut Lachenmann's “Sound Types”

Abstract

HELMUT LACHENMANN’S “SOUND TYPES” MING TSAO ELMUT LACHENMANN, IN HIS ARTICLE “Klangtypen der Neuen Musik” (“Sound Types for New Music,” 1966), defines two classes of sound types that are perceived either as musical processes or objects.1 For a sound type to be perceived as process, the sound’s Eigenzeit or “own time” must be identical with its real time duration, in other words a sound type whose duration is dependent upon a “characteristic process of unfolding.”2 A Kadenzklang (or cadence sound), for example, is a sound as process where its Eigenzeit is identical to the time it takes for its characteristics to unfold and achieve cadence. For Lachenmann, the Eigenzeit of a sound structure that is identical with its real time duration (such as the Kadenzklang) can contribute to a more active listening.3 (See Example 1.) H 218 Perspectives of New Music Lachenmann’s Impulsklang (impulse sound) is a subclass of the Kadenzklang by reducing the Kadenzklang to a process of attack impulses followed by natural or artificially constructed decay. “Natural,” in this context, means assembling or disassembling the energy of the sound as part of the internal structure of that sound (usually through its resonance). On the other hand, “artificial” means assembling or disassembling the energy of the sound from without: i.e., as a composed process.4 The other types, Einschwingklang (attack sound) and Ausschwingklang (decay sound), are simply the two component parts of the Impulsklang.5 (See Examples 2 and 3.) For a sound type to be perceived as an object, the sound’s Eigenzeit is less than its real time duration, in other words a sound type whose characteristics are appreciable before the sound finishes. Examples of sound types as objects are Farbklang (color sound) and Fluktuationsklang (fluctuation sound), where both are defined by their static or periodic outer contour comprised either by a static sound (such as a sustained chord) or periodic internal processes that create an overall impression of a static sound (periodic arpeggiations, micropolyphony in a fixed register, etc.). With these examples, a listener can appreciate the sound type independent of the sound’s Eigenzeit through a shortening or lengthening of their durations.6 (See Examples 4 and 5.) EXAMPLE 1: A SCHEMATIC DRAWING OF THE TYPICAL SHAPE OF A KADENZKLANG, WHERE THE X-AXIS INDICATES DURATION AND THE Y-AXIS INDICATES AMPLITUDE (“Klangtypen der Neuen Musik” in Musik als existentielle Erfahrung: 3) Helmut Lachenmann’s “Sound Types” 219 HELMUT LACHENMANN, INTÉRIEUR 1, BLATT 1 UNTEN EXAMPLE 2: ASSEMBLING THE ENERGY THROUGH “NATURAL” MEANS: A COMPLEX SOUND IS BUILT THROUGH THE RESONANCE OF SINGLE ATTACKS ON INSTRUMENTS (“Klangtypen der Neuen Musik” in Musik als existentielle Erfahrung: 2) HELMUT LACHENMANN, INTÉRIEUR 1, BLATT 17 UNTEN EXAMPLE 3: ASSEMBLING THE ENERGY THROUGH “ARTIFICIAL” MEANS: A COMPLEX SOUND IS BUILT THROUGH COMPOSED GESTURES ON INSTRUMENTS (“Klangtypen der Neuen Musik” in Musik als existentielle Erfahrung: 2) 220 Perspectives of New Music Sometimes the outer contour of a Fluktuationsklang can itself be dynamic but periodic at the same time. In this case its Eigenzeit can be perceived after one or two of its external fluctuations. (See Example 6.) A more complex sound object is the Texturklang (texture sound), where the details of the sound are continually changing (making it internally more complex than the Farbklang or Fluktuationsklang whose internal details are static or periodic), but whose general shape is static, akin to a statistical sound field. Although every detail of the Texturklang is more or less different, its overall shape does not depend upon its real time duration of unfolding through relationships and is experienced after some time as an object.7 (See Example 7.) EXAMPLE 4: A SCHEMATIC DRAWING OF THE TYPICAL SHAPE OF A FARBKLANG (“Klangtypen der Neuen Musik” in Musik als existentielle Erfahrung: 8) EXAMPLE 5: A SCHEMATIC DRAWING OF THE TYPICAL SHAPE OF A FLUKTUATIONSKLANG: THE OUTER CONTOUR IS STATIC BUT INTERNALLY COMPOSED OF PERIODIC PROCESSES. THE TIME IT TAKES FOR A LISTENER TO REGISTER ITS EIGENZEIT IS ONE OR TWO OF ITS PERIODS (“Klangtypen der Neuen Musik” in Musik als existentielle Erfahrung: 11) Helmut Lachenmann’s “Sound Types” 221 Thus, Lachenmann has the following classification: SOUND AS...