By: Rachel E. Mann, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Abstract of Video:
Roberto Gerhard’s Metamorphoses, a reworking of his Symphony No. 2 (1959), left unfinished at the time of his death in 1970, has a variety of serial elements at play. Like all of Gerhard’s serial works from the 1950s onward, the piece begins with the presentation of what he calls a combinatorial code. This brief video outlines how Gerhard established this combinatorial code and how he used it throughout this work to govern pitch and temporal elements.
Bibliography:
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Gerhard, Roberto. “Developments in Twelve-Tone Technique (1956)” and “Functions of the Series in Twelve
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About the Author:
Rachel Mann is an associate professor of music theory at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and senior content developer for the NSF-funded, part-writing and analysis app, Harmonia by Illiac Software. Her research interests include the music and writings of exiled Catalan composer, Roberto Gerhard; DEIB issues in the theory classroom; and educational technology. Her work is published by Oxford University Press for the British Academy, Routledge, Cambridge Scholars Press, Ashgate, Salem Press, and the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy. She is a question leader for the College Board AP Music Theory Exam and she has been a featured guest on the Note Doctors and Picardy: Parallel Motion podcasts.