music for a house
music for a house is a piece written for an animated photograph (a GIF) by Samantha Harvey. GIFs consist of a number of frames displayed successively. Hence, this composition reflects their method of construction, whereby 3 musical frames, each ending with a long pause mark, are repeated indefinitely, just as the house is trapped in its own cycle.
It was exhibited in a film for METAPHONICA at Central Saint Martins 2015 (see right). A night of musical experimentation, noise, music, sound and silence.
The significance of the alternative tuning lies in the intervals produced by playing all of the open strings simultaneously i.e. major 6th beneath quintal harmony, which is a bewitching chord and a prominent feature of the piece.Frame 1 portrays the static yet erratic nature of the photograph by focussing on an F (sounding) pedal, which quivers like the house. This F holds much gravitas and constantly pulls the struggling melody back down into its austere low sonority. Hence, we have the first musical representation of how the house is stuck in its vibrating loop; the music is littered with little inflections that nourish feelings of tension in the listeners’ ear. The combination of narrow intervals and plasticine momentum also reflects the dark colourings of the image.
Frame 2 introduces a lyrical melody, which develops with support from the opening material. The relevance of this is that while the picture is beautiful, its solemn air is unrelenting. Furthermore, while GIFS are made-up of repeated frames, the minute differences between them could cause each change to go unnoticed. Therefore, the music develops subtly. The pace of frame 2 is later disturbed by interrupting pizzicato fluctuations on open strings, which fully showcase the harmonic structure brought about by the use of scordatura. Harmonic counterpoint is therefore implied every time melodic patterns from different frames are played in conjunction with one another.
Frame 3 brings space to the piece with swelling chords, consisting of natural harmonics alongside tremolos and solitary plucked notes. The chordal progression outlines 8 harmonies (see below), that are all variants of chords containing the down-tuned note F, which have been suggested since the beginning of the piece. Here, the left hand continues to take on an identity of its own, with frequent tremolos underneath right hand-bowed sustained notes. Many of the ornaments utilise all fingers- while one finger plucks, the remaining fingers might position themselves for a harmonic. Therefore, rhythmic counterpoint is present when different patterns, in each hand, are played simultaneously.
The piece is accompanied by the sound of waves, looped on a nearby CD player, to recreate the acoustic soundscape of the house’s natural setting for listeners. This is especially effective during moments of space in frame 3, when the waves atmospherically creep out from underneath the sustained chords.