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A Taxonomy of Orchestral Grouping Effects Derived from Principles of Auditory Perception
by Stephen McAdams, Meghan Goodchild, and Kit Soden
Copyright © 2022 Society for Music Theory | Link to original publication
This item appeared in Music Theory Online in Volume 28, Number 3 on September 28, 2022.
It was authored by Stephen McAdams (contact: stephen.mcadams[at]mcgill.ca), Meghan Goodchild, and Kit Soden, with whose written permission it is reprinted here.
The Timbre and Orchestration Resource reprint can be found here.
Auditory grouping gives rise to events from which perceptual properties are extracted, which then acquire musical functions within a given sonic context
Auditory grouping processes and the resulting perceptual qualities and corresponding orchestral effects. [Adapted from Goodchild and McAdams 2021, Fig. 1]
Timbral augmentation (sustained, transforming): Wagner, Parsifal, Overture, mm. 20–25
Timbral augmentation (punctuated): Sibelius, Symphony no. 5, op. 82, iii, mm. 474–482
Timbral emergence (sustained, transforming): Schoenberg, Five Pieces for Orchestra op. 16, iii, mm. 1–11
Timbral heterogeneity (sustained, stable): Debussy, La Mer, iii, mm. 183–186.
Timbral heterogeneity (punctuated): Tchaikovsky, Nutcracker Suite, op. 71a, i, mm. 181–182
Stream integration (stable). Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, vi (“Samuel Goldberg and Schmuÿl”), mm. 1–8, Score in C
Stream integration (transforming): Reynolds, The Angel of Death, S section, mm. 364–373; [From Touizrar and McAdams 2019]
Surface texture (transforming): Smetana, The Bartered Bride, Overture, mm. 89–99
Stream segregation (stable) of co-equal single-instrument lines: Vaughan Williams, The Lark Ascending, mm. 88–94
Example 18. Stream segregation (stable) of blended streams: Borodin, In the Steppes of Central Asia, mm. 210–218
Stream segregation (transforming) of blended streams: Stravinsky, Quatre Etudes, iv (Madrid), mm. 93–94
Stratification (stable) with three layers: Mahler, Symphony no. 1, ii, mm. 26–31
Stratification (transforming) in three layers: Borodin, In the Steppes of Central Asia, mm. 27–42]
Antiphonal contrast: Haydn, Symphony no. 100 in G major (Military), ii, mm. 61–64
Sectional boundaries: Dolan’s (2013b) orchestral graph of Haydn, Symphony no. 100, ii. Colors represent different instruments and the line thickness corresponds to notated dynamics.