Building an Imaginary Guitar in Ravel’s Alborada del gracioso — A Metatimbral Analysis
A Timbral and Orchestrational Pluralistic Analysis
Building an Imaginary Guitar
Ravel’s Alborada del gracioso — A Metatimbral Analysis
by Victor Cordero
Timbre and Orchestration Resource | Modules | Taxonomies of Orchestration
Published: April 19th, 2022 | Copyright 2022 TOR
Introduction
A metatimbre (Soden, 2020) is a collection of timbres presenting a strong perceptual similarity. They come at least from two different instruments within a family or ACROSS families. The sounds belonging to the same metatimbre class (metClass) have the same perceptual function and can be potentially exchanged without altering their salient timbral characteristics (they are interchangeable within an orchestration).
For example, we can create a metatimbre class taking the sound of the flute as the prototype sound. It means that all the sounds perceived as very similar to the flute sound will be classified together in this category. In almost every instrumental family, there is at least a member belonging to this class : all flutes, all clarinets (selected ranges and dynamics), the bassoon (selected ranges and dynamics), the muted french horns (selected range and dynamics), string harmonics, vibraphone with arco, etc. Let’s take a pianissimo G sharp as an example for a blind listening test, then with the instruments identified.
Rimsky-Korsakov was one of the first composers to point out those timbral relationships that go beyond the classical instrumental classification based on families. In his Principles of orchestration, he states that the sound of the piccolo and the string harmonics are perceptually so close that they create a strong link between the wood-winds and string families. It seems clearly to us as one early attempt to link those two sounds following only a perception criterion.
The metatimbral classification is obviously influenced by dynamics, instrumental register, orchestral register, articulation, playing techniques and the hall acoustics. Any alteration one any of these parameters can completely change the metatimbral classification (the same instrument playing the same note, with the same articulation and the same playing technique, but different dynamic can no longer belong to the same metatimbre class).
Let’s now try to create another metatimbre class that we will call plucked strings metatimbre.
This class will be a rich source of timbre material used by Ravel in his attempt to imitate the sound of the guitar in Alborada del gracioso. In this class we can obviously find all the sounds produced on stringed instruments using either fingers or plectrums (harp, guitar, lute, etc. ) Surprisingly, we can also see in this class one keyboard instrument that uses the same principle of sound production (the harpsichord). And there are also other instruments without strings in this metatimbre class, in particular beaten skins (timpani and bass drum). So… now stringed instruments can also belong to the plucked string class. It is because we use the perception criterion and instead of how the sound is produced. As an example, let’s compare three different instruments belonging to this class : the double bass, the harp and the timpani.
In Rimsky-Korsakov’s mind, the string pizzicatos were no longer a subcategory of the strings but a totally different sound much closer to other instruments (the harp) than the bowed strings themselves.
Dealing with metatimbre classes
As we can deduce, the sounds within a metatimbre class are potentially interchangeable. It does’t mean however that they are identical as they can differ in timbre (micro-variations), space (position on stage and sound projection) and intensity. Since the Metatimbre classification takes into account basically the timbral content of a sound, the main differences will appear in the two last parameters : space and intensity. Combining different timbres within the same metatimbre class can be useful for obtaining smooth changes or discreet timbre modulations without modifying the overall timbral color. Here is a good example on how Tchaikovsky uses two different sounds of the plucked strings metatimbre class in two consecutive subsections of the same passage (1st passage, 2nd passage).
The use of two different sounds of the same Metatimbre class creates a subtle evolution of the timbral qualities. We can call it a Microcontrast. As it happens within the same metatimbre, the effect could be considered as a metatimbral shift. In this example, a bass line staying within the same metatimbre reinforce the timbral coherence of the entire section. Low level changes tend to occur within a section, large scale changes between different sections, following a tree logic.
Common associations to the plucked strings metatimbre class
Some orchestral sounds are commonly used in addition to the plucked-strings metatimbre in order to create a compounded sound in order to create an artificial sustain or to reinforce the attack.
Let’s see one example of each type in Alborada del gracioso :
4 measures after 9, Ravel uses the same instruments (strings) for both create the attack and the sustain. Since the sustained notes are made of harmonics, strings are used here as members of two different metatimbre classes (Flute metatimbre and plucked strings metatimbre).
At the end of the first section, the contrabassoon is doubling the harp. It is very common to double the plucked strings metatimbre class with wood-winds staccatos in order to achieve more presence and widen the space.
A passage from Mahler’s fourth symphony can show the variety of effects obtained with this technique.
Building an Imaginary Guitar
Many passages of the original piano version recall the sound of the Spanish Flamenco guitar. Thanks to its timbre resources, the orchestra version can be seen as an intermediate stage between the piano version and an imaginary guitar version. There is an obvious relationship between the imagined sound of the guitar and the plucked-strings metatimbre. As we have seen before, wood-wind staccatos are often used to amplify these basic timbral colours.
Measures 1 to 5
Measures 1–5 of the piano score: Only these members of the plucked strings class can be used in the range of this passage : violins, violas, cellos and harps. What instrument should we choose ? Would it be redundant to make doublings with instruments belonging to the same metClass ? In order to better understand Ravel’s choices, we are going to propose several alternative versions among the original version.
1. Original version. Only strings . [29] No cellos are used in the string part. The violins and altos pizzicatos are very similar compared to those of the cellos, more resonant and powerful. Ravel uses a forte instead of the original mezzoforte, showing that the original piano dynamic marking is not always suitable if transposed to the orchestra. Since pizzicatos are less sonorous than arco strings, one higher dynamic level is needed to ensure the orchestral forte. The main melody played mainly by the first violins is underlined by the alto’s second division, widening the space. The second violins use a triple stop in the first measure imitating the guitar technique called rasgueado (the same for the alto’s last measure)
2. Alternative version n. 1 : Only two harps . It is impossible for one single instrument to play all the notes of this passage due to its chromatic nature. Two combined harps allow us to orchestrate the passage conveniently. It is not very common to give to the harp alone a forte or mezzoforte piano passage. This instrument is not loud enough to translate this piano dynamic marking to the orchestra. The harp can be used however either as a coloristic element or a relay for other instruments. One interesting example can be found in E. Chabrier’s España (1883), where the composer dares to use the soli harps almost alone to create an anti-climax before the brilliant ending explosion.
3. Strings, harps and bassoon. This is a very dense proposition in which all the instruments are used : There are two complete images of the original text, played by two members of the same metClass (string pizz and harps) plus a bassoon doubling the upper melody.
4a. Segmentation 1. In this version, the bassoon has been eliminated and the piano text is only completed when the string pizz and the harps are superimposed.
4b. Segmentation II. This elaborated last proposition is a mixed version between our last version and ravel’s one. A 4 +4 segmentation of the original text is created in order to underline the formal articulation.
5. Ravel’s complete version [34] In Ravel’s original version , the main melodic line is played by first violins, altos and harp. The harp plays près de la table, a technique that produces a sound much closer to the guitar and gives to the harp a more distinct timbre than that of the strings. The orchestration effect can change, depending on the individual musicians, hall acoustics, the conductor choices, the sound recording, etc.
This starting phrase is reworked on three other sections of the piece with timbral variations into the same metClass :
Measures 22-29. String pizz and harp.
End of the first section. String pizz, harp and contrabassoon (associated timbre to the main metClass).
Rehearsal number 29. For the first time, the harp is not playing this phrase. A new member of the plucked strings metClass is used : the bass drum !
Conclusion
In this presentation, we have seen how Ravel uses the sounds belonging to a metClass to imitate the sound of an imaginary guitar. The metatimbre concept is a powerful tool to better understand how different instruments are linked by timbre similarities instead of the traditional organologic classification.
References
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