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Listening Report of Pauline Oliveros’ “Lear”

 

Patryk Merci

The Future of American Music

Matriculation number: 7613841

Dr. Herzogenrath

WS 22/23

Listening Report 4

 

Listening Report of Pauline Oliveros’ “Lear”

 

The music piece begins with deep, electric humming which is mixed with a sound of a trumpet, and together, they sound like a warning signal or like an alarm. As if to alarm the listener to pay attention to what is to come next. The sounds slowly intensify as the piece progresses, with the trumpet getting alternately higher and lower. There is also a distant piano sound, but it does not play a main role, which allows for a better emphasis on the trumpet and humming sounds. Throughout the beginning, the listener can spot a very pleasant, reappearing sound which reminds of a lute. However, there also is a certain feeling of being overwhelmed with the amount of different sounds, which make some instruments, just like this lute, to be less easily distinguishable within the humming rhythm. Eventually, a very squeaky flute is integrated into the rhythm, and together they create a calm, yet also sad atmosphere, which is accompanied by electric sounds that also make it mysterious. Later on, a very distant, high voice can be recognized in the background of the many sounds included in the piece. It is quite impossible to tell whether the voice is natural or artificially created. It sounds like a sad female singer, and it fits the atmosphere and the sound of the piece very well. The distant voice and the electric sounds now alternate as the main parts of the piece, with one constantly stopping and making place for the other, creating a good harmony. However, they also overlap in some moments throughout the piece, as if to indicate that every harmony can be disturbed. Although the sounds in “Lear” are very numerous and original, the piece does not really change its rhythm or atmosphere, which entirely removes any excitement after first ten or fifteen minutes of listening. The piece appears to be too long for the rhythm and sounds it offers. The experience could be compared to having the same five-minute song on repeat, which obviously does not necessarily devalue the piece, but does not really make it exceptional either.

 

While it is true that new instruments, such as the violin towards the end, are actively included as “Lear” continues, they do not really change the original sound and rhythm of the piece, and they are also mostly overwhelmed by the deep, electric humming which is present since the beginning of the piece. As “Lear” comes to end, the distant voice stops and becomes rather absent to the very end, with few short exceptions, which once again places the deep, electric humming into the spotlight.

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