Conlon Nancarrow's Study # 27 for Player Piano Viewed Analytically

Author(s): Jan Jarvlepp

Source: Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 22, No. 1/2 (Autumn, 1983 - Summer, 1984), pp. 218-
222
Published by: Perspectives of New Music
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Conlon Nancarrow's
Study #27 forPlayerPiano
viewedanalytically

Jan Jarvlepp

Nancarrow'sStudy#27forPlayerPiano,subtitled"Canon
-5%/6%/8%/11%," is an example of modern polyphony
createdusingtemporalcompositional techniquesto whichpitch,
dynamics and ordinaryrhythmictechniquesare of secondary
importance. The composeroriginally punchedthepieceontotwo
playerpianorollsto be playedsuccessivelyon twoplayerpianos.
GordonMummasuggestedthathe had to repunchthepieceonto
a singlerollmovingat a slowerspeedbecause it was impossible
to getthesecondpiano tobeginat thesame tempothatthefirst
finished.'However,Nancarrowexplains:
The problemwithtworolls was not as describedby him,
because afterall it wouldbe verysimpleto startthesecond
rollat thespeedthefirstone ends.Hereis theexplanation.
The pianos can be adjusted to a speed fromzero to about
fifteenfeeta minute.WhenI workon a pieceI usuallythink
ofa speed roughlyin the middle,so whenI put it on I can
adjust thespeeda littlemoreor a littleless. Buton thisroll
I made a bad mistake.The moreI playedit at topspeedthe
moreI realizeditwas tooslow.So I re-drewand re-punched
thewholething.You haveno idea theamountofworkthat
involved,but since I ratherliked the piece,I wantedit to
be right.,
Anessentialfeatureofthispieceis thealways-recognizable
ostinato-like middlevoicecomposedonlyofstaccatonotescon-

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 219

stantlyin the same tempo.Nancarrowsaid, "I thoughtof the

ostinatoas the tickingof an ontologicalclock."3It is based on
thepitchesF,G-flat, D#and E abovemiddleC. Althoughthecom-
poser was not aware ofit at the timeofcomposition,theseare
the B-A-C-Hmotive pitches transposed a diminished fifth
downwards.4
The ostinatovoiceis thefirstheardand staysin its basic
singlepitchformatuntilpage 29 at whichpointitis embellished
by major and minorthirds.5These thirdscan appear above or
below the main ostinatopitchesrepresenting an unusual ap-
proach to chordbuildingsince traditionallychordshave only
beenbuiltupwardsfromthemainpitch.On pages42-47, triads
are builton themainpitcheseitheraboveor belowas in thecon-
structionofthemajorand minorthirds.On pages47-651, similar
four-notechords are built on these pitches.
The main pitchesdisappear fromthe ostinatoon pages
53-55 but are heard one octavebelow and two octavesabove
theiroriginallevel.Thereis a surpriseendingin thelast second
of the piece wherethe ostinatovoicesuddenlyjumps to A-flat
and G. However,it stillfulfillsitsreferential functionas an audi-
ble ostinato-likevoice.
The entireostinatovoice is notatedin proportionately
spaced staccatoeighthnoteswithoutthe use of trillsor other
embellishments whichwould disruptits function.Thereis no
meterbut the eighthnotesare beamed togetherin groupsof 1
to 8 notes.The sequence ofpitchesand groupedeighthnotesdo
notrepeatin any predictablefashionas one mightexpectfrom
a traditionalostinato.Pitchsequences and rhythmicpatterns
are notthe main concernsofNancarrow;his ostinatois one of
consistenttempo-a referencepointto which the othervoices
can be compared-and therefore is a strictostinatowithinthe
parameterof greatestimportanceto the composer.
As thesubtitlesuggests,thereis thepossibility ofaccelera-
tionand ritardandoat theratesof5%, 6%, 8%, and 11%.A clear
example of how this is used appears on page 1 of the score. The
ostinato voice is heard first,establishing its functionas a tem-
poral referencepoint. Next, the firstnon-ostinatocanonic voice
enters with a 6% rate of acceleration thus establishing a kind

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 220

of temporal"friction"betweenthe two voices. The new voice

startsat a certainrate,as comparedto the existingvoice,and
thenproceedsto alterthe relationshipby shiftingahead caus-
ing a formof "temporaldissonance."A second canonic voice
enterswithan 11% accelerationfurthercomplicatingthe tem-
poral relationship.This is a strictcanonic entryat the major
sixth.Thetwocanonicvoicesundergopreciseritardandosof6%
and 11% on page 2.
Sincethesetwovoicesdo notchangetheirratesofaccelera-
tion simultaneously,a furthertemporalcomplexityresults.
Whileone has alreadystartedto ritard,one is stillaccelerating
and theostinatois constant.Whereaspreviouslythereweretwo
similar acceleratingvoices and one constantone, now there
are threedissimilarones (one accelerating,one ritardingand
one constant).
Thesecanonicvoicesare writtenin proportional notation
in which a half inch space indicates a tempo of P = 220. There-
"
fore,one minuteof music requires110 of staffpaper (exclud-
ing margins).
Onthebottomofpage7 and on page8, a four-voice canonic
textureis established around the referentialostinato voice.
Whereasthecanonicvoicesat theopeningofthepieceused ac-
celerandoas theirmodeofentry,thisfour-voice textureis built
of entriesof 5%, 6%, 8% and 11% ritardandos.This structure
lasts frompage 7 to page 10 and is the mostcomplexsuperim-
positionoftemporallayersyet.It is difficult forthe listenerto
sortout pitchand rhythmic constructions, yetthereis no doubt
thatthelistenerwill be able to hear the effectsofthe temporal
activity(evenifunable to organizeanalytically).This seems to
be the composer'sintention.
On pages 10-14,the techniqueofretrograde is employed
in a four-voicecanonic texture.The firstvoice enterswith an
accelerationof 6%, the second witha ritardandoof 8% (thus
forminga retrogradetempo canon with pitches that are a strict
imitation at the major second). The third voice enters with an
accelerationof 11% and the fourthvoice (on page 12) with a ritar-
dando of 6% (again a retrogradetempo canon but a strictlyim-
itative pitch canon at the minor 7th).

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 221

One of the most dense and temporallymost interesting

areas of the piece is the canonic structureappearingon pages
29 to 42. For example,on page 31 thereare eightcanonicvoices
plus the ostinato.Twovoicesaccelerateby 5%, twoby 6%, two
by8%, and twoby 11%.Allvoicesarein different tempi,creating
a complexsensationof increasingenergyand motion.
On pages 33 and 34, one hearseightcanonicvoices,above
the ostinato,of which fouraccelerateand fourritard.This is
an exampleofmaximumtemporaldissonance.If one imagines
eightvariablespeed tape recordersall acceleratingor ritarding
at independentrates,thenone would have an idea of the tem-
poral richnessand conflictin this passage.
On pages 35 and 36, twovoicesritardby 5%, twoby 6%,
twoby 8%, and twoby 11%creatinga temporaltexturewhich
is a mirrorimage of the acceleratingsectionon page 31. The
listenerexperiencesa loss ofenergyand temporaldensityin this
sectionwhich nonethelessis highlytemporallydissonant.
A visuallyclear exampleof accelerationcan be seen on
page 52. Here all voicesaccelerateand ascend simultaneously
creatinga graphicrepresentation of the sonic resultwhich is
a helpfulaid in understandingthis piece.
The ending,on page 55, meritsspecial studybecause of
itsunusual texturaland temporaldensity. Allfourcanonicvoices
have trillsbetweentwonotescreatinga massivetemporalcon-
fusion.The canonicvoicesacceleratetheirrateofpitchchange
creatinga verydense "cluster"ofattacksin thelast twoseconds
ofthepiece.This is a temporalequivalentofthemass pitchand
timbretexturesfoundin some modernorchestrations. It is a
surprising ending to a canonic piece in which all the other
canonic structuresend in the traditionalmanner.
Thefollowing chartindicateshowNanoarrowtooka series
of temporalcanons, whose primeelementis relationshipsof
tempo,and formedtheminto a unifiedcomposition.

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 FormalStructure
Section Page # No. of voices Remarks
1 1-7 2 basic, unornamented
canonic material
2 7-10 4 texturaland temporal
elaboration
3 10-14 4 retrograde"temporal
dissonance"
4 14-18 4 fastertempos
5 18-24 4 trills,ostinatoin octaves
6 24-29 5 eighthnotesin ostinato
and canonic voices
7 29-42 8 thirdsand triadsin
ostinato,greattemporal
complexity, varietiesof
ritardand accel. and equal
mixturesof both
8 43-47 4 trills,chords
9 47-51 4 wide range "voices,"unlike
normalvoices
10 52-53 4 high pitched,ascends and
accelerates
11 53-55 4 trills,massiveending,3-5
octaveostinato

Footnotes
1) ConlonNancarrow,SelectedStudiesforPlayerPiano,Sound-
ings,Book4, PeterGarland,editor(Berkeley: SoundingsPress
1977).
2) Personalcommunication fromMr.Nancarrow, Feb. 28, 1982.
3) Ibid.
4) Ibid.
in SelectedStudiesforPlayer
5) Thescoreis printedin itsentirety
Piano. Page numbersreferto score pages ratherthan the
book's pages. The book and a recordingof the workcan be
obtainedfrom1750 ArchRecords,1750 ArchStreet, Berkeley,
CA 94709.

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