Yao Yue: Carl Orff Competition 2019 Transcendence

“Transcendence” is my composition based on the two musical themes given by the Carl Orff Competition 18/19.

The mp3 file is a recording of my playing on the symphonic organ of magdeburg DOM (Schuke 2007: 4M/92R) on 26 February, 2019. To have a balance between clarity and reverberation, the uploaded mp3 file is a concatenation of several live recordings, some using unidirectional microphones and the rest using by omnidirectional microphones.

The piece is also playable on a symphonic two-manual organ. For suggested registration on the Riegner & Friedrich Organ in der Pfarrkirche Marie Heimsuchung in Utting, see Appendix B.

A detailed description of the composition is given blow. Its formatted form is in Appendix A of the PDF file.

The overall idea is self-transcendence, a process in which one surpasses seemingly impassable boundary and obtain the ability to handle the previously untameable energy.

This idea is similar to the one of Carl Orff in "De temporum fine comoedia”, which presents his view of the end of time: it is not only an end to the current world, but also a start of a new one. In particular, Satan is forgiven and restored to Angel Lucifer. So in the new world, all people and things, whether they were perceived as good or evil, find their proper places in the new system, which I call “Transcendence”. However, unlike "De temporum fine comoedia”, this 6-minute piece does not intend to present grand religious themes such as eschatology, but rather limits to the personal world: self-transcendence.

Of course, the idea is expressed in music. The foundations are three motifs:

Motif 1. The first half of the Mozart theme: C _ _ ♭E #F G ♭A C B. It symbolizes a protagonist, who is trying to ascend, with increasingly more difficulty (first in minor third, then in augmented second, then only in minor second). Before he achieves the objective, he falls back dramatically passing the origin C to B and C loses its status as the tonal center. In brief, the first part (ascending) of the theme represents ambition and strong will for development, while the second part (descending) shows depression and fear.

Motif 2. The second half of the Mozart theme: ♭E D, #F G. These two progressions of minor second, one descending, the other ascending, symbolize a partial relief. They confirm the new key G, in which harmonic context the end of Motif 1 is more acceptable. The motif ends in G major, strengthening the feeling of hope. In brief, Motif 2 symbolizes another “facet” of the protagonist: relief and hope. "We are not a good situation, but also not too bad."

Motif 3. The Orff theme from "De temporum fine comoedia”. The highly dissonant 9-note chord symbolizes a strong obstacle that seems be able to stop the development of anything. But from another perspective, it is also energetic and vital. The 9-note chord is actually made of 5 distinctive notes (after doubling octaves are removed), in which two minor seconds are concurrent spanning an interval of pure fourth.

So in my opinion, the minor second is the crucial element shared by all three motifs. In Motifs 1 and 2, the minor seconds are melodic, while in Motif 3, they are harmonic. In Motif 1, it symbolizes difficulty in ascending; in Motif 2, it symbolizes relief; in Motif 3, it symbolizes darkness.

Now I give a sketch of the piece based on the development of the motifs.

Part 1 (measures 1-10): Exposition of the Mozart theme (Motifs 1 and 2). In measure 3 and 6, the endings after Motif 2 give more hope. At the end of measure 9, it seems that the objective (C major chord) will be achieved in the next bar.

Part 2 (measures 11-14): Exposition of the Orff theme (Motif 3). Instead of a C major chord, the highly dissonant Orff theme appears. It blows away the development of the Mozart theme. The upper melodic line symbolizes the turbulent energy like tsunami.

Part 3 (measures 15-26). The Mozart theme tries out another solution to proceed. Driven by Motif 2 (hope) as a countersubject, Motif 1 (development) tries contrapuntal developments. It has two different attempts with stretto entrances in different keys, but both fail: the Orff motif returns and blocks them. Then in measures 23 and 25, both Motifs 1 and 2 occur in a highly dissonant, depressive form, but at the end, Motif 2 (relief) finds a way out and sheds light on hope.

Part 4 (measures 27-38). Motif 1 appears on a major key (A-flat major) for the first time, without stress. Then a chain of modulation occurs, which symbolizes self uplifting. Even the satisfactory harmony in measure 32 cannot stop the uplifting. This eventually results in a return to A-flat major in measurement 35, where a Mozartian triumph of Motif 1 begins. The Orff motif appears near the end. This time, however, it functionally resolves to F major and only confirms the F major key already established: the immense energy of Motif 3 is utilized "properly" for the first time.

Part 5 (measures 39-51). After a midstage triumph (on F rather than C), it is time to rest, sleep and dream. The intention of this exotic Chinese passage is to introduce contrast. Orff did similar things at the end of "De temporum fine comoedia”: in contrast to the earlier highly dissonant harmony, e.g., the Orff Motif here, the final 4-part canon is in the style of renaissance counterpoint: all chromaticism, accidentals and key signatures disappear. In this piece, I try to use another system: the pentatonic scale F-G-A-C-D with two additional rules: 1) F is the tonal center: no modulation is allowed; 2) All jumps must be held within the interval of pure fifth. This system serves as a drastic contrast to all previous sections: the minor second just does not have a place here, the jump from ♭A to C is no longer possible, harsh harmony is absent, and the uplifting in Part 4 is also prohibited. Therefore, all drastic effects disappear in this system of “middle way”. Now we “map” the motifs onto the new system. This is possible because if we ignore the last note B in Motif 1 (it is not allowed because it indicates a new key), Motif 1 has 5 distinctive notes, Motif 2 has 4 notes, and Motif 3 has 5 distinctive notes. Using F as the starting or ending point and mapping each note to the "closest" one in the pentatonic scale, “C ♭E #F” becomes “C D F”, and “#F G ♭A C B” becomes “F A G C F” (the second and third notes swap to avoid big jump, and the last note maps to F to get back to tonal center). Therefore, this part symbolizes that the protagonist, in a transformed and segmented form, is in a dream without worry. An inverted double pedal point consisting of three notes persist throughout this part, adding a hue of dream. But near the end, the dream becomes distorted (predicting the awakening) when more long-holding notes are introduced, which will finally lead to the Orff Motif in Part 6.

Part 6 (measures 52-55). The Orff Motif returns, which symbolizes awakening. The development becomes more turbulent, full of progressions of minor seconds.

Part 7 (measures 56-66). Motif 1 redoes the contrapuntal attempts, which failed in Part 3. The first attempt is also a failure: the nine-note Orff Motif enters in the low register immediately Motif 1 finishes its exposition in soprano. This time, however, instead the outbursting of the Orff Motif, the form of Motif 1 in the major harmony occurs with a little hint of the dream subject in Part 5, which gives hope. Then, Motif 1 starts the contrapuntal journey again. This time, after stretto entrances in C, D, B, #F, #G and F, in the driving force of the minor second motif in all other voices, it succeeds to reach C major.

Part 8 (measures 67-79). In this final triumph, transcendence is achieved. Motif 1 appears on C major in a form that has no accidental, no big jump, and keeps the tonality. The Orff motif, in the form of ascending chord series, serves as festive percussion. They do not contradict to each other any more, but coexist in a triumphal and joyful dance. At last, the dream subject introduced in Part 5 reappears, as an indication of the realized dream.