Madonna of Winter and Spring

Author(s): Jonathan Harvey

Reviewed work(s):
Source: The Musical Times, Vol. 127, No. 1720 (Aug., 1986), pp. 431-433
Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.
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Madonna

of

Winter

and

Spring

Jonathan Harvey
Jonathan Harvey's 'Madonna of Winter and Spring, commissioned by the BBC for the Proms, has its first performance at the Albert
Hall on 27 August.

There are obvious dangers in writing about a work that

has been composedbut not yet played.Nevertheless,it may
be of benefit at least to touch on aspects of the work, and
use those touchings as springboardsfor any more general
issues thus raised.
Madonna of Winterand Spring, for orchestra, synthesizers

and electronics, is a work of some 40 minutes. It is in four

sections which I hesitantly entitled 'Conflict', 'Descent',
'Depths' and 'Mary'. The first, 'Conflict', is constructed
on the principles of 'thematic working'. Thematic workas it has among
ing has been as tabooamongavant-gardistes
minimalistsor Cageians.The idea of having themes in the
old sense of memorablemelodic shapes was bad enough;
actually to 'work' them was outrageous: such practices
belonged to the sham rhetoricof a world long since found
to be emotionallyfalse - sure of itself in a context where
nothing is certain. Integral serialism, or similar-sounding
music, was an attempt to disinfect such diseased notions
from the soundworld.Post-modernismprefersthe universalist depersonalizationof pattern, pattern as continuum
ratherthan articulatemelody. So why have themes as opposed to cells, patterns, textures or gestures? Premature
senility? Arrested development?
Perhaps their treatmentin my work may suggest ways
in which something long avoided has seemed again
desirable,to one composer at least. There are 20 of these
'melodies',forming a linked chain. Each 'primary'melody
has, between it and its neighbour, a melody which is the
sum of them both. This latterrevealsthat the rests(or long
notes) in melody A are exactly the right length for inserting notes from melody B, and vice versa. So put them
together and the result is a busier melody, (A+B), made
up of both yet, I hope, with a clear coherence of its own,
existing as a statementin its own right. The last melody
links with the first, making the chain circular. It can be
modulatedalong, the melodiesgraduallytransformingone
into another(backwardsor forwards),or jumpedacrossat
a greater or smaller interval. The concept of an interval
between melodies here, therefore, means a quite precise
measurementin a universe of themes. Also importantto
this set-up is the notion of double or triple meaning. If
melodies are both strongly themselves and also embed
fragmentsof other melodies in themselves, then they have
what I alwaysseek, some degreeof ambiguity,some degree
of structuraldepth. (I am using the same ideas, but totally
different melodies, in an as yet unfinished work for tape
at IRCAM.)

Anotheraspectthat may distinguishthis type of thematic

workingfromthat of Beethovenor Schoenbergis thatthere
is much less that is not made of this material.There are
few transitions, bridge passages or the like. The themes
are almost always there (in 'Conflict') and it is their relationships,both successiveandpolyphonicallysimultaneous,
that provide the discourse. They are not 'heroes' in the
classicalsense, highlightedin a context of supportingsubsidiary material, made important on their entry. They
should be memorableand yet they can serve as texturefodderequally well, as for instancewhen all 20 are played
simultaneouslyby solo violins. (Though I would not concede that the 'texture' is simple or mono-dimensional,
ratherI seek an oscillatingforeground/background
shifting
quality,the strands,all equal,being now perceptiblein the
weave, now merged into a larger whole.)
So much for the linear and rhythmicdimension, the latter following largely from the exigencies of the interlocking rhythmicstructuresof the former.The harmonicstructure also raises some issues of a general nature, but as I
have discussed these elsewhere' they can be summarily
treated here. 'Conflict', 'Depths' and 'Mary' all use the
seven harmonies(or 'spaces',followingBoulez)with which
the work starts. Space 1, for instance, consists of the pitches shown in ex.1. Not all the pitches are used at once,
axis

Ex.l

_--

-e
-

ff

a.

1.

s.

- 8-

of course, but the field is always in play for enough bars

for its totality (barringthe very extremes)to be perceived.
The crucial factor is its mirrorsymmetryaroundthe central axis. That factorremainsconstantfor all seven spaces.
The music therebyloses to a large extent its sense of bass,
because symmetricalharmonies are not built up from a
foundationalbass but out from a pivotal centre. This is
in fundamental contrast to the last four centuries of
Western music (though not original to me).
The axis moves symmetricallydown for 'Depths' and
up for 'Mary',andthe seven harmoniesarecorrespondingly

'see Soundings, no. 1 (1984), 2-13

431

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Ex.2

JONATHAN

Conflict Depths Mary

Lo

transposed(ex.2). These are fairly rigorousconstraintsin

music of this length - there are no changes of octave
disposition, as in serialism, or passing notes, as in tonality. But there aremomentsof timbralhierarchizationwhen
violins form themselves into harmonicseries above a fundamentalmelody note. So they form a brightness,an aura
for the privilegednote, usually momentarily,quickly,slipping out into their own individualityagain - playingsome
melody. They sink individuality, become a part of
something else, and then almost imperceptibly regain
vibratoand selfhood and continue. The interplaybetween
'self and whole' in music has a Buddhist flavour and is
deeply fascinating - something especially to be pursued
in electronicmusic, I find. Fusion and fission areburning
issues in the new music, but this is not the right place to
broach them.2
The second section, 'Descent', is wholeheartedlyand
completelya transition.It simply slides an augmentedtriad
(an elementof space 2) down fromthe high climaxof 'Conflict' to the dark regions of 'Depths' over eight minutes.
The simplicityof the pitch and rhythmicstructureandthe
non-existenceof thematic working leaves space for other
things. Here words fail, or at least are inappropriate.The
experienceof sinking,slowly falling,is essentiallya psychic
one; the intellect has little play. Technically, it is effected
mostly by the synthesizers.They are able to decorateand
explore the inner timbrallife of the chord in a way which
leads consciousnessinward,away from the outer world of
discourseprevalentin the first section. I always associate
timbralexplorationleadingto inward-turnedconsciousness
not justwith Stockhausen,undoubtedlythe most celebrated
Westernexponent of this idea, but also, to an even greater
extent, to the sacred music traditions of the East, where
sound has long been understoodto aid the stilling of intellect and nervous system and the releaseof transcendental energy. So commonplacein the East, so strangeto the
West! Here the TX816 Yamaha tone generator is particularlybroughtinto play. It consists of eight synthesizers
played by one keyboard.The eight string-likesounds it is
set to in this section are all affecteddifferentlyby the same
pitch-glissandowheel. Some move more than otherswhen
it is turned. The further it is turned off centre, either up
or down in pitch, the greaterthe divergence of the eight
synthesizers,and thereforethe denser the cluster and the
more confusedthe pitch. This is just one of six dimensions
of colour-modulationactive on the descending chord.
If 'Descent'makesa changeof consciousness-gear,
a tran-

HARVEY

Faber Music is proud to have been the exclusive

publisher since 1977 of the music of Jonathan
Harvey.
Harvey, who achieved internationalrecognition
with a Koussevitsky Award in 1985, is already
celebratedat IRCAM as composer of two of
their most successful electro-acousticworks:
MORTUOS PLANGO, VIVOS VOCO and
BHAKTI. He is now writing a third
commission for them.
MADONNA OF WINTER AND SPRING
takes full advantageof his experiments at
IRCAM as well as using equipment widely used
in the world of pop music, but here developed
further. A sophisticated sound diffusion system
(involving 16 loudspeakerspositioned around the
hall) will also be an unusual feature of this
Promenade concert premiere on August 27. The
BBC television programmeabout Harvey, on
September 5, includes a relay of the complete
work.
Further inquiries to:
The Promotion Department,

Faber Music,
3 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AU
114

2see my essay 'The Mirror of Ambiguity', in S. Emmerson,ed.: TheLanguageof

Music (London, 1986 [forthcoming])
Electroacoustic

432

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sition, to 'Depths', 'Depths' itself is static, frozen: it has

no direction, except perhapsto get even more frozen. The
axis pitches of 'Conflict', middle E and F, become pedals
at the top of the sound for 'Depths'. Underneaththis hibernatingsurfacetherestir memoriesof the previousmelodies,
but there is no real movement.
I would pose a general issue arising from this in these
terms. How is it possible both to maintain a state of least
excitationof consciousnessand yet have significantmusical
shapes?There have been many drone pieces or hypnotic
pieces lately that easily preservea sense of stillness sacrificing thematicshapes,and of coursemanythathavechallenging musical shapes sacrificing stillness. Clearly, many of
the greatworksof the tonal periodachievesuch a synthesis
even while ostensiblyusing the dynamicsof functionalharmony. But how can it be achieved in 1986 terms? One of
the aims of transcendentalmeditation is to become aware
of the still, peaceful layer of transcendentalconsciousness
and yet be active in the fullest sense simultaneously.Actions performedfrom this level are more 'right' - in harmony with the laws of nature - and morepowerfulbecause
supported by nature.
I do not claim that 'Depths' necessarilyestablishessuch
stillness - it has other Indian clubs in the air as well merelythat its tendencyraisesthe issue. This issue, to find
the eternal behind or within the relative, the still whole
permeatingthe activeparticular,is the most importantissue
spiritually starved music has to face. Most composers
believed this, in the past, and most did so quite explicitly,
in words.
It is really the final section which, I feel, reflects the experience of action from this level, however imperfectly.It
is the longest section (250 bars out of a total 550) and is
predominantlygentle and songlike,giving birth to the first
new melody (the 21st) since the beginning, as befits its title 'Mary'. In terms of feeling it is, for me, Mary-like,Yin
as opposed to Yang - yielding as opposed to assertive and imbued with the gentle redemptive feminine touch
which characterizesthatbelovedChristianfigure.The main
assertionsof rhythmicstrengthare in termsof light-hearted
dance and, towards the end, fanfares.
In this section the issue of acoustic space is raised, for
it's here aboveall that the electronicdiffusionsystemcomes
into its own. There are many reasons why a composer
might want to give his audiencea sense of multi-directional
sound. There are those who say it is superficial, almost
irrelevantto the realessenceof the music, which must stand
on its own without such cosmetics (Hans Keller, my late
and deeply inspiring teacher, would probably have held
this view). My own reasons are as follows.
Music has two dimensions.One is its perceivedphysical
sensuous quality, which we usually perceive as a wellknown source, e.g. violins, muted trumpet etc. The other
is its constructed quality wherein we string together our
percepts in the mind and make shapes, melodies, forms.
It has often been my aim to make their borderlines ambiguous,for instanceby havingacousticstructureperceived

as form itself ratherthan as articulatingform. One reason

for diffusing sound is that it's a step in the direction of
makingmore ambiguousthe physical sourceof the sound.
It no longer issues from player X with the grey hair and
moustacheor playerY with red hairand glasses.It becomes
disguised, as in theatre, it moves about the ceiling, it inhabitsthe cornicesand arches.One is 'peopling'a building
with imaginarymusicalbeings, invisible spirits:one might
imaginethem as Tiepolo did in his ceiling and muralpaintings, or one might allowthe music aloneto engenderthem.

[photoJohn Carewel

And when the sounds aresufficientlytransformed,or purely electronic,the removalfromthe easy, unambiguouspicture of instrumentand player is complete, and we are encouragedas listenersto be more attentiveto the actualrole
of physical percept and its interfacewith structuredform.
Everything is called into question.
In Madonnathere are two quadraphonicdiffusion circuits, one low, one high. There is some projectionof instruments, untreated, but also of ring-modulated instrumentsand the three synthesizers.Reverberationplays
an important part, in prolonging quite short sounds indefinitely, so an orchestralmoment lasts on in the acoustic
space while the orchestramoves into new material.(Space
is peopled with memories,too.)
I was able to research into the use of the Emulator II
and Yamaha DX1 and TX816 synthesizers in the peace
of my own home (thanks to the generosity of Syco, the
piano and synthesizerdealers,and of Yamahathemselves).
This kind of sharingof technology between the more profitableside of music and our more impoverishedside gives
hope. The explorationof soundnow openingup on all sides
is too exciting and humanly rewardingfor prejudicesand
barriersto inhibit. That, however, is an issue in itself! But
like the issue of combining live electronics with instruments,it is not at all unique to my piece, and will have
to await another opportunity.
433

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