2007/10/01 by Edward Gollin · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Computer Science · #Musicology and Musical Analysis #Music Technology and Sound Studies #Music and Audio Processing
paper · doi:10.1525/mts.2007.29.2.143
openalex publication_date 2007/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
The paper explores a class of compound interval cycles, full statements of which run though the tones of the aggregate two, three, four, and so on, times, and in which like pcs are distributed as evenly as possible throughout the cyclic ordering. Such cycles, called maximally-distributed, multi-aggregate cycles, maximize chromatic diversity over their spans while constraining harmonic variety. The paper examines the role of maximally-distributed, multi-aggregate cycles (or segments thereof) as compositional determinants in a variety of Bartók's works. In particular, the paper considers how cyclic unfoldings are used in conjunction with the technique of near-aggregate completion, how cycle adjacencies are often treated as salient harmonic entities in passages that feature cyclic unfoldings, and how the periodic intervals of such cycles are often manifest as salient transformational intervals in works that unfold those cycles.