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]

Taxonomy of concurrent auditory grouping phenomena

Timbral augmentation (sustained, stable): Debussy, La Mer, i, mm. 122–31

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, stable): Debussy, La Mer, i, mm. 6–17

Timbral emergence (sustained, transforming): Schoenberg, Five Pieces for Orchestra op. 16, iii, mm. 1–11

Timbral emergence (punctuated): Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique, iv, m. 17

Timbral heterogeneity (sustained, stable): Debussy, La Mer, iii, mm. 183–186.

Timbral heterogeneity (punctuated): Tchaikovsky, Nutcracker Suite, op. 71a, i, mm. 181–182

Taxonomy of sequential auditory grouping phenomena

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 (stable): Smetana, Die Moldau, mm. 185–194

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