I've mentioned before that McClintic Sphere keeps a much closer eye on the goings-on at TCF than I do; just last week he pointed me towards a new video there which really does merit the attention of any friendly experiencers who find themselves reading this. - And yes, I'm well aware that one or other of us is forever recommending videos of some sort, mostly of live performances; but worthwhile as those undoubtedly are, this one is another matter again, and more deserving of attention than even the 1991 Jazz Cafe sets by the Forces quartet.
This, you see, is a rather entertaining educational video, put together by Kyoko Kitamura, all about (the rather mysterious) Syntactical Ghost Trance Music.
As well as being worth a watch purely for fun, this is a mine of useful information for those of us who like to delve into the details. So it goes without saying that I commend it to the attention of any reader here, but I will also unpack it a bit in this post (not least for my own ease of reference, so that I can simply come back here if I need to remind myself of anything - without having to hunt back through the actual video).
The video begins with the opening bars from Comp. 254, one of the twelve full-length compositions which B. wrote for this most curious of subspecies - all twelve of which were recorded, by a choir of twelve voices, for the New Braxton House box set GTM (Syntax) 2017. The viewer is given the chance to do what most of us will seldom get the chance to do in life: follow along with the written score, as the ensemble sings out its cyphers. By seeing these latter written out on the score, we get a clearer understanding of the different pieces of information which the singers are expected to process - even if the meaning of the cyphers themselves remains opaque. (I doubt if even B. could tell us what exactly these "mean"; I would guess rather that they are similar to the graphic titles, in that he would know when they are right, but not necessarily be able to say why.*) The diamond clef is clearly marked at the beginning of the score; of course, we can hear for ourselves that this is in effect, meaning that the intervallic contours are prescribed, but not the precise pitches, which are left to individuals to choose.**
From here, we are brought into the studio, panning slowly round the circle as the camera introduces the different singers; and from here, we are brought to the first lesson, so to speak. For anyone out there who was still wondering, KK is about to lay out the different phases - or species - of GTM in general. - Or, to be precise, she is going to do that in basic terms and this will segue to a rehearsal studio in which the maestro himself gives a more colourful explication of this. First species: "a steady stream of eighth notes". Second species, "with more tuplets, and rhythmic diversity". Third species, "with even more rhythmic complexity". Fragments of relevant scores appear onscreen for illustration, although these are not really explained: for example, the staves illustrating third species at this point contain coloured notes, not just standard black ones - but this, at any rate, is not commented upon as KK runs through the different types: this is probably understandable, since after all this part of the video is essentially back story, so to speak. As KK reminds us that third species "includes a subset, called the accelerator class", the visual cuts to B. in the rehearsal room.
This portion of the video would appear to be from the preparatory sessions for the 2016 10+1tet concert in Knoxville, TN: on B's left we see Nate Wooley, then Ingrid Laubrock and Brandon Seabrook; I am not aware of any other event or recording of B's which featured all of these musicians***. (In due course it emerges that the band is about to start rehearsing two pages from the score of Comp. 206, a first-species GTM piece which is one of the tertiary materials worked into the 2016 extravaganza, and this seems to confirm it#.) In any case, expounding on the same exposition just given by KK, the composer gives his own figurative explanation: "There are three species of Ghost Trance: continuous state, continuous state with abruptions, continuous state with (insert hand gestures)... more moving material; the three primary species can be looked at as... if we would use the subway analogy: there is the local train, that stops at every stop - that's the continuous state, species one; you have the express trains, that will pass three or four stops, that accelerate along the way; and then species three is like the crosstown train, that represents a transfer in directions; the accelerator class compositions are like plugins. Like, if there's no subway line from Houston Street to Lexington Street, the accelerator class is like putting in a special subway line to get you to those points." ## I would suggest that this is the paragraph to which we should all return, any time we find ourselves a bit confused about the (3+1) different basic types of this music.
... and the band launches into a sight-reading of (two pages from) 206. With this laid out, at 4 minutes in, KK now proceeds to explain about Syntactical GTM as such, using extracts from the written score of Comp. 265 for illustration. Once again, though, what she says at first applies across the board to all types of GTM - and to other systems of B's music, besides. "The score... contains the primary melody, and in the back, secondary material: miniature pieces, which can be integrated into the performance." (###) This neatly sums up what I only just very recently figured out for myself, which is to say the difference between secondary and tertiary materials in these contexts^. Right away, though, KK proceeds to explain what makes SGTM distinct and different: "syntactical contains letters, syllables, numbers and words" - these being what I have collectively summarised as "cyphers" above - and again we cut away at this point to the maestro, in the midst of what is either an interview or a lecture, expounding on this in rather more detail^^. The units of his new language, he says, "will later be used, in the real-time space, for location, for transfers, for interlocking, for transposition, for tracing"... it is left to the viewer at this juncture to presume that such terms make more sense to those immersed in B's systems of musical thought than they will to most of us watching; but it's fascinating nonetheless to be invited "inside the door."
Kitamura next outlines us a principle which is true of B's musics generally, as it applies to SGTM: it can be used in small ensembles (cue clip of herself and Anne Rhodes singing 254 in a studio), in larger ensembles (a tentet of singers, performing live onstage), as "part of another composition, like the opera" (a tiny fragment of Trillium J, in which the cluster of musicians is flanked onstage by two groups of actors or dancers, each performing its own routine with a long skipping rope - and each at different speeds; the choir, meanwhile, is seated at the rear of the stage); it can also be used, she continues, "to trigger functions in another system, like Pine Top Aerial Music (Rhodes, seated at stage right, sings her lines while assorted dancers and musicians stand, move or walk around the stage)^^^.
- And now we are back to the maestro again, standing in front of his curtain while holding forth~. Redundant though it might seem, I am going to transcribe the next part what he said verbatim, in order to demonstrate how sure he is in deploying terminology which may mean little or nothing to the uninitiated - terminology, that is, which is fundamentally esoteric: "The Ghost Trance Musics are like a system of stop signs and lights - go this way, you can check into this... you can meet someone at the corner of - whatever, and go back (in)to the highway and go in different directions... As I began to evolve my work, it became clear to me that it could be a good thing to have a way of connecting materials, a way of using the materials to go to this point; a way of transposition, where a particular logic in one plane can be transposed to another logic in another plane, and at the same time, fulfil the mechanics of the system." Actually, what this transcription reveals is how quickly B's thought-processes can flip between something fairly exoteric, illustrated in a way readily comprehended by most, and something entirely esoteric, as above. The end of this declaration is accompanied by a firm stare towards someone off to his left; he is in no doubt that he's just made himself clear, even if many of us might be left wondering what exactly is meant by his words. (The thing is, his very certainty makes one feel as if it's up to us to catch up and find out - not up to him to spoon-feed us the meaning of his ideas.)
A brief slideshow follows, KK showing us some of the larger community which has grown up around this man and his work: many of them, she tells us, first met while working on Trillium E in 2010.
Unsurprisingly, the remainder of the video (from 8.08) is dedicated to the actual SGTM box set. Perhaps surprisingly - but it's a reassuring surprise! - we learn that the first task was to choose "appropriate tertiary material". This is the point at which the meaning of the latter term is spelled out for the viewer (although with the nature of secondary material already clarified, it will be pretty obvious to most of us what is left): "other compositions by AB~~, which can be used within the performance". And from here, we are whisked straight into the sessions themselves, where B. took a back seat for once, and just watched and listened...
Again at this point the viewer is given the chance to follow along with the score for Comp. 265 for a while as the ensemble sings it, KK having first established the mood and tempo to her liking. (Credited as co-producer on the box set, KK is not actually listed as director or conductor - or not that I could see - but it does seem clear nonetheless that she took the lead in these sessions.) One thing which is not explained, however, is the use of certain graphic symbols in the score: as the counter approaches the ten-minute mark, the staves we see onscreen include three successive notes with shapes attached, but the choir sings the notes themselves like any other note, and gives them no special attention; this is one detail that remains completely glossed over~~~.
When KK moves on to talk about how sections work - generally established beforehand under the subdirection of section leaders, as all serious listeners will already know by now - we get to see how the element of surprise works in practice: now watching the recording of Comp. 254, we hear one section riffing on "ta-ta-ta", to the apparent amusement and delight of another ensemble member who is laying out at this point; the section continues plugging away at this while others continue following the score, and then Rhodes starts up with some tertiary material on her own, speech-sung sentences (either from something like the much-collaged Comp. 173, or from one of the Trillium scores). With just these few minutes, we get to see exactly how such a complex meta-texture is constructed; we can of course apply this knowledge when listening to any of the SGTM pieces.
- Nor is the maestro completely left out of proceedings: "When in doubt," Kitamura narrates - as we see onscreen the daunting first page of Comp. 339 - "we ask Anthony Braxton". He then gives a solo demonstration of how to negotiate this intimidating accelerator-class material; naturally, he can't sing the way the rest of them can, but he does show them the way through the woods. As they applaud him, he chimes in: "- and children will dance to this, and the coins will come in!" - of course we are all to aware of how untrue this is, but at least he can make light of the situation after all this time. Following this, we hear, and see, the ensemble tackling the final part of the same score; after they finish, the final "N" decaying away in the studio air, we hear B's reaction: "Wow, wow, wow... that was great!" - and the reaction to that from the singers themselves, their absolute delight in the maestro's praise, is priceless. There must surely be extraordinary satisfaction to be gained from knowing that one has executed such demanding work in a way that pleases its composer.
To finish, we are back to B's interview, or pep-talk: "In a way, the work that we're doing is restructural; but actually, the work that we're doing is essentially traditional. The farther out we get, the farther in we are, as traditionalists" - cups hand dramatically to mouth as if whispering a secret - "... including romantics". He adds, with a suitably mischievous expression on his face: "I have my Johnny Mathis records, of course."
- And from there, we are back in the studio as the credits roll, watching another one of these fascinating pieces unfold. As the picture fades to black, and the sound fades with it, a statement from B. appears at the bottom of the screen which we must not miss: "SGTM unlocks every door in my music system." The last thing we hear as the video ends is Rhodes, speech-singing away: "I think we have... understanding". Well, quite a lot more than we did on the way in, I would say.
It really is a most instructive and enjoyable little film, with - as I hope I have shown - a great deal of educational matter crammed into its eighteen minutes. I will certainly be making much use of it, as I listen to the music...
* Of course, nobody but the maestro could confirm or deny this; I do remember reading a comment from him to the effect that, after years of using and developing the graphic scores, he was only just starting to comprehend how they work... naturally, I can't now remember where I read this...
** They are free to choose, up to a point: that is, they can visualise the clef as being either treble or bass, and adjust their understanding of the specified pitches accordingly. At least, I think this is the case. (Zappa, who also used this device once or twice - most notably in the early '70s piece called "Approximate" - gave complete free rein to the players for maximum harmonic anarchy, but only for those few minutes.) Even if it is just a choice between one register or the other, this must surely present musicians with yet another tough challenge, on top of the challenges implicit in the music to begin with: once you choose your clef, you must presumably stick to it, reading the pitches your way, regardless of what those around you have chosen to do - but of course you must still be fully open and responsive to what they are playing at other times.
*** Nobody else is clearly visible in this clip, although when Wooley sits up to play, we can see Carl Testa in the mirror behind Wooley's right shoulder...
# I eventually came across (a performance purporting to be) a full-length reading of 206, as noted in point 8 from one of my round-ups; but it does seem to be more commonly used as a partial/supplementary territory.
## I am aware that I have punctuated this transcription differently from the way the subtitles present it, onscreen during the actual video. This is the way I hear what B. actually said; also, I hear "...to get you to those points" at the end, where the subtitles have "... through those points". (Nothing if not pedantic, always....)
### The pages which appear onscreen at this point appear to be extrapolated well past the stage of just being language music - or rather, the graphic squiggles which make up the majority of the score's content for the secondary material probably are drawn from the language music, but mix the different types thereof very freely. Again, an awful lot is being asked of the musicians, who are expected to work very hard for the extra degree of personal freedom granted to them within B's music systems.
^ When I say "figured it out", I don't mean that I worked it out for myself, just that I got it (tentatively) straight in my head, having remembered for a change where I read the definition of these terms. This was only at the end of August, as detailed in the seventh footnote to my most recent GTM post before this one. (The definition of tertiary material is supplied later in the video.)
^^ You really need to see this bit for yourself...
^^^ Perhaps the rarest of all Braxtonian birds, PTAM has very seldom been committed to recording, doubtless (at least partly) because it makes no sense at all unless one can see it. NBH040 may indeed contain the only officially recorded rendition of a PTAM piece, which does not even have a primary opus number allocated to it. Probably other performances have been captured on video..?
~ What exactly provided the occasion for this is not explained, but it appears to be most likely a sort of introductory talk to the ensemble, at the time of the recording sessions for the eventual SGTM box set. B's eyes fix both to his left and right at different times; he is addressing more than one person, not just speaking to camera, and the acoustics etc - as well as the relatively close proximity of the camera itself - suggest that he is not addressing a lecture theatre either. Later on in the video, as he starts to talk in first person plural, things become a bit clearer...
~~ Pages from selected scores are shown successively onscreen during these next few seconds, generally without attribution or comment; the first score shown is that for Comp. 142, as it happens. (This one came up for discussion in passing recently, and I recognised the graphic title at once.) Just prior to this, as KK is saying that "we" had the task of choosing, we see a still of her seated on the floor, surrounded by charts, scores and empty filing boxes, opposite (what appears to be) Rhodes..? Kitamura's own seniority within the project is already pretty evident by this point, but who else was involved in these executive decisions is never actually made clear. (When I first wrote about SGTM, more than a decade ago, I just assumed that Rhodes took the lead on it - for lack of further information forthcoming.)
~~~ Shapes attached to musical notes on B's scores are not unique or specific to SGTM - I've seen them before. I also have a nagging feeling that their intended use or meaning has been explained somewhere, but...
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