Extended technique as the primary material of music composition

• Grant number: 16/01610-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2016
• End date: December 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Music
• Principal Investigator: Silvio Ferraz Mello Filho
• Grantee: Guilherme Ribeiro da Cunha
• Host Institution: Escola de Comunicações e Artes (ECA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Only in the mid-twentieth century the exploratory instrumental practice, increasingly present in the compositional field of the West, won a specific name: extended technique. This is, roughly, the investigation of unusual and speculative ways of using musical instruments and voice in order to obtain new sounds. The emergence of the name comes from the fact that new techniques appearing in musical works no longer as mere expressive resources, but as an important factor of the structuring and compositional material. This project will be sought to analyze and understand the functionality of contemporary extended technique in the recent repertoire pieces (20th and 21st centuries), as well as investigate the relationship of these techniques with the creative processes of contemporary composers. As a first step of a wider research project, the focus here will be the presence of extended techniques in the writing of German composer Helmut Lachenmann. It will be also, as part of this work, composed a piece (duo) for cello and piano in order to demonstrate and implement the study proposed in this project.