Transcript Pierre Boulez`s Repóns and Computer Science

Matthew Dyer
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Pierre Boulez was born in France on March 26, 1925.
Many of his works are largely unknown or unfinished despite him
being a popular composer
Composed in the Post-War era
He is also a conductor, and he still conducts at his current age of 90!
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Premiered October 18, 1981
“In Repóns, the association of
the electronic transformations
with a group of six soloists
dominated by tuned percussion
produces a brilliant,
kaleidoscopic surface, which is
enhanced by the spatial
element.” [1, pg. 58]
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Was composed at the school
Boulez founded (IRCAM)
“IRCAM, the Institute for
Research and Coordination in
Acoustics/Music, is one of the
world’s largest public research
centers dedicated to both
musical expression and
scientific research. A unique
location where artistic
sensibilities collide with
scientific and technological
innovation…” [2]
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“The piece was also among the first to use digital rather than analogbased computer technology to transform sounds made by the soloists in
"real time"—on the spot during the concert . . . Yet for all its
complexity, "Répons" pays homage to one of the oldest, simplest
musical forms—the call-and-response pattern. The title, which means
"response" in French, refers to the alternation between spatially
separated solo vocalist and choir in the responsorial portions of
Gregorian chant.” [5]
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The audio engineer also plays a vital role in Repóns, and most people
also consider him or her to be a musician in this piece of music.
Due to the fact that any piece of pre-recorded audio or type of digital
effect can be mixed into what the small orchestra and other
instruments are playing, this piece can never actually be played the
same way twice. [5]
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“Boulez's idea in the piece is simply enough to contrast
the natural sounds of the untreated ensemble, positioned
in the centre of a large auditorium, with the complex,
transformed patterns of the soloists who form a
rectangle enclosing both orchestra and audience and
whose sounds are received by the 4X computer and
instantly fed back, multiplied, distorted, intermixed, and
otherwise sea-changed, through six enormous loudspeakers. Contrast is enhanced by the choice for the
soloists of those percussive and resonating instruments-two pianos (the first dominates to an extent that makes
the piece almost a piano concertante; the second doubles
electric organ), harp, vibraphone, xylophone, and
cimbalom--excluded from the orchestra.” [3, pg. 27]
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In Japan, teachers are working
to combine music into the
teaching of programming:
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“Noticing some apparent
similarities between learning
musical scores and learning
computer programming
languages, the authors proposed
that incorporating study of
music is a reasonable and
interesting new way in learning
programming languages and
algorithms for senior high
school students.” [4]
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“It is clear that many
musicians are good
mathematicians [or
computer scientists], and
vice versa. In both fields,
the logical manipulation of
symbols is a key skill.
Furthermore, music and
mathematical symbols both
belong to a rigorous
framework and are bound
by well-established laws.”
[6, pg. 8]
[1] John Warnaby. 1999. Review of Boulez: Répons; Dialogue De L'ombre Double. Tempo, no. 209.
Cambridge University Press: 58–58. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/946688>.
[2] "WWW Ircam: Who Are We?" WWW Ircam: Who Are We? IRCAM, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.ircam.fr/ircam.html?&L=1>.
[3] Paul Driver. 1982. “Boulez's 'répons'”. Tempo, no. 140. Cambridge University Press: 27–28.
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/944835>.
[4] Takeo Tatsumi, Yoshiaki Nakano, Kiyoshi Tajitsu, Haruhiko Okumura, and Yasunari Harada. 2009.
“Incorporating music into the study of algorithms and computer programming.” In Proceedings of
the 2nd Workshop on Child, Computer and Interaction (WOCCI '09). ACM, New York, NY, USA,
Article 19, 8 pages. DOI=http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1640377.1640396
[5] Jepson, Barbara. "Both Challenging and Cool." WSJ.com. Dow Jones & Company, Inc., 5 Sept. 2009. Web.
01 Dec. 2015.
<http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204884404574362653571586442>.
[6] Gwee, Nigel. 2013. "Computer Science and the Liberal Arts: The Scientific Connection."Global Science
and Technology Forum. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1470883788? accountid=12144.