Papers by Iva Oplištilová
The main focus of the thesis is the issue of non-teleological listening strategies for music. The... more The main focus of the thesis is the issue of non-teleological listening strategies for music. They are described based on a phenomenological approach from the first person perspective. Phenomenological reduction is suggested as a method of work with phenomena for which classical tools of musical theory have proven insufficient. Non-teleological compositions are related to J. T. Fraser´s theory of temporalities, specifically to non-linear temporalities. The characteristic phenomena in non-linear temporalities are described as experiences, i.e. phenomenologically, as well as from the viewpoint of the material utilized, i.e. as compositional procedures. The main concepts explored are duration, musical object, continuity and gesture. The significance of context and the listener´s range of perspective have been emphasised, i.e. the issue of scales. The last chapter deals with various types of silence. They have been differentiated based on the context where they are used.
My dissertation is based differentiating individually experienced, musical time, and shared, astr... more My dissertation is based differentiating individually experienced, musical time, and shared, astronomical time. I combine the knowledge gained in cognitive science experiments with music-theoretical approach following the path from sound received to the hierarchized representation of the temporal component of music. My focus are those possible mechanisms that allow deviation of musical time from the astronomical one and the factors influencing them. As concerns music theory, I chose the analytical tools provided by the General Theory of Segmentation and the Recontextualization Theory by D. A. Hanninen. The inner sharing of pulse by the listener or performer with the pulse of sounding music I consider to be the decisive moment for/in the deviation of musical time. I link the pulse boundary with prospective and retrospective strategies of the perceiving person. My considerations unfold on an axis between two poles of pulse and gesture, i.e. between full kinaesthetic synchronization wi...
This study is a result of parallel reading of a relatively new book Lost River of Cinematography ... more This study is a result of parallel reading of a relatively new book Lost River of Cinematography (2013) by Martin Čihák and proofreading of the English version of a considerably older music-theoretical book Foundations of Modern Harmony (1965) by Karel Janeček. Both the authors deal with the new, their need to classify and clarify the situation, to express an obvious shift. To give the reader an insight into their thinking, they search for analogies, comparisons or even metaphors but their resulting aim is to make terms more precise, to clearly define categories. Čihák explores the compositional procedures used by the film avant-garde, Janeček deals with-what seemed to be-infinite harmonic possibilities of tempered chromatic system. Their vocabulary differs very much. Čihák declares an articulate opinion, mercilessly, even aggressively judging from the standpoint of " the new ". Janeček detects hints of the future tendencies (now we can admire how sensitively he anticipated compositional and music-theoretical procedures of today), however, viewed from the standpoint of " the old " , i.e. judging and denying within the then aesthetic limits. Therefore both the authors evaluate but as if standing on two opposite shores. Seemingly, these shores are completely separate. However, reading, I have realized that I know both of them very well, it means once I had to be on the " older " shore meaning I had to cross from one to the other. One can imagine the " shores " to be paradigms. Čihák warns his readers right at the flyleaf: " Recognition of the actual face of film is irreversible. Therefore who wants to go on indulging in the beastly illusionistic cinematography, do not even turn to the next page. " There is no discussion needed as concerns the irreversibility of the recognition itself. Less certain is whether an unambiguous shift in evaluation must follow with the consequent loss of the ability to " indulge ". Analogically to Čihák' s opposites of illusionistic cinematography vs. pure film procedures, in music we can consider the dichotomy of the compositional methods based on tonality and those of modern and contemporary music. In the following text I will try to argue in favour of my opinion that the irreversibility relates rather to the fact that the perceiver's horizon gets broader. Yes, his/her thinking will change due to its becoming part of a broader structure (the curse of being aware of the context), however, he/she will not lose the possibility to choose how to evaluate a piece in question. I present the thinking structure transformational process of constructing a new paradigm as an argument against the fear of avant-garde / contemporary compositional methods and as a tool for broadening the horizon with art students, mainly at the university level. To allow them to decide about the focus of their activities in as broad a context as possible, to ask questions, and with valid arguments to face even the intimidating force of the majority opinion. In my study, I will take paradigm as a generally accepted scheme, a thinking pattern. 1 I will describe the possible path from the " old " paradigm for perceiving art pieces to the " new 1 I am aware of a shift in understanding the concept as compared to the original Kuhn' s use: paradigm-generally acknowledged scientific results representing in the given moment, and for the expert community a model of problems and their solutions. (Kuhn, The structure of scientific revolutions, pp 10, 37.)
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Papers by Iva Oplištilová