探索Charles Seeger與Henry Cowell的作曲理論，並以Cowell的《浪漫四重奏》為曲例

超現代運動 (Ultra-modern movement) 一詞已被某些美國音樂史的著作所採用，所指乃約在1920到40年間部分美國作曲家的實驗性創作，用以和當時繼承歐洲浪漫晚期傳統的美國作曲家們區隔。這些實驗性的作曲家們，雖然風格與手法各有不同，不過其中Charles Seeger (1886-1979) 以及他的兩個最主要的作曲學生 - Henry Cowell (1897-1965) 以及Ruth Crawford-Seeger (1901-1953)，可說是當中共同性較大的一群，他們一方面傾向於把當代音樂或是自己音樂作品的組織與寫作方法做一個系統化的論述，另一方面對非歐洲音樂抱持開放的態度來吸收，而這背後的動力之一是想要把音樂學，也就是「音樂的科學研究」(scientific study of music) 帶到美國的學術界與音樂界。本論文首先探討音樂學與音樂理論、作曲理論之間的範疇問題，Seeger一生有部分論述在探討音樂學的定義，早在二十世紀前半就主張對非歐洲藝術音樂的研究不該偏廢，而且不以研究對象的區域作為學科的劃分，這樣的前瞻性思考影響了後輩的音樂學家如Joseph Kerman (b.1924)。而Seeger以及Cowell早年的著作聚焦在音樂理論上，比方說諧和與不諧和在音高以及節奏組織上的認定，不過以音樂理論的角度觀之，他們的理論著作是有爭議且不周全的，比方說對和聲二元論在科學研究上的完全誤信，但他們的理論卻先現了二戰後不少作曲家所關注的要點，特別在開發新的節奏和音階之可行性上，因此以作曲理論稱之較為妥當。本書接著將概覽式地探討兩個關於作曲理論的著作，分別是Seeger於生前並未出版的《新音樂的傳統與實驗》以及Cowell的《新音樂資源》，這兩本書都把音樂素材分為音的 (Tonal) 以及節奏的 (Rhythmic) 兩方面探討。《新音樂的傳統與實驗》一書Crawford有相當高程度的參與，她不但負責打字，也對Seeger的文字提出不少看法與意見，而其中的某些概念也透過Crawford的音樂創作來發聲，該書關於不諧和對位的要點，以及Seeger的哲思、音樂史觀與美學觀，則對Cowell的《新音樂資源》有相當程度的影響，另一方面，Seeger書中關於節奏與音高間的相對性關係，則可能受到Cowell的影響。本書接著以Cowell的音樂作品《浪漫四重奏》作為分析的對象，本作是Cowell兩首《節奏與和聲作品》(Rhythm-harmony pieces) 的第一首，他先作一個如聖詠般的四部和聲主題，然後依照泛音列序數以及音程比例關係將音高化成數字，使其成為實體作品的節奏配置骨幹，不論在旋律的作法上與節奏的配置上都用到了不諧和對位，可說是前兩本理論著作的實踐之一。最後，筆者願對這樣一個在歷史上重視理論與作曲相互關係的現象提出思考。

關鍵字

新音樂的傳統與實驗；新音樂資源；浪漫四重奏；不諧和對位；超現代運動；西格；柯維爾；美國二十世紀音樂

並列摘要

Charles Seeger, one of the leading musicologists in 20th century America, endeavored to compose music and to conceive his dissonant counterpoint from the 1910s through the mid-1930s. His two prominent students, Henry Cowell and Ruth Crawford, wrote many experimental compositions using dissonant counterpoint. What exactly are the details of dissonant counterpoint? Why did they intend to systematize their compositional methods and embody the system to compose? In the present thesis, two prominent theoretical books are summarized, the first one being Seeger’s Tradition and Experiment in the New Music, and the second Cowell’s New Musical Resources. This is then followed by an analysis of Cowell’s Quartet Romantic, which presents how theories work in his musical composition. The first chapter of this document discusses the scope of music theory and compositional theory motivated by Seeger’s musicological writings, and introduces the musical milieu in early 20th century America. Chapter Two outlines Seeger’s Tradition and Experiment in The New Music, which was finished with Ruth Crawford’s collaboration in the early 1930s but published posthumously in 1994. In addition to Seeger’s philosophical thinking, this book also provides a manual of dissonant counterpoint. But what is the concept of dissonance from Seeger’s perspective? What is the connection between Seeger’s dissonant writing and his contemporary atonal or non-tonal composition? In Chapter Three, I survey Cowell’s New Musical Resources, this book was prompted by Seeger, who urged him to “systematize his use of musical resources.” This book shares many concepts with Seeger, such as harmonic dualism and the reciprocity of pitch and rhythm etc., but Cowell’s theory is based on harmonic series. Chapter Four provides an analysis of Cowell’s Quartet Romantic, which was composed while Cowell was studying composition with Seeger. The method used in composing this work was unusual in the early 20th century; Cowell pre-composed a four-part harmonic theme, then translated the pitch content into numerals to construct the rhythmic framework of the first movement. However, Cowell only provided one-third of this harmonic theme and slightly ignored the deviation of the frequency ratios between just intonation and overtone series. Thus, we could not easily reconstruct the entire harmonic theme. I have tried to reconstruct the rest of the harmonic theme and, moreover, illustrated that the fugal subject of the second movement was modified from the melody of the harmonic theme by using Seeger's theory. In the last chapter, I express my opinion about dissonance and further point out the traditional elements in the Quartet except those experimental ones mentioned in the previous chapter.

並列關鍵字

Charles Seeger ； Henry Cowell ； Tradition and Experiment in the New Music ； New Musical Resources ； Quartet Romantic ； Dissonant Counterpoint ； Ultramodern movement

參考文獻

主要一手資料 (Primary Sources)

有聲資料 (Discography)

其他二手資料 (Secondary Sources)

Bauer, Marion and Claire R. Ries. “Twenty-Five Years with the League of Composers.” The Musical Quarterly. Vol. 34, No. 1. (Jan., 1948): 1-14.

Bent, Ian. Analysis, with a Glossary by William Drabkin. The Norton/Grove Handbooks in Music Series. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1987.

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探索Charles Seeger與Henry Cowell的作曲理論，並以Cowell的《浪漫四重奏》為曲例

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