ï~~CHARACTERIZING MUSICAL TEXTURES
David Huron
Conrad Grebel College
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Canada N2L 3G6
Early music, electroacoustic music, and non-western musics have challenged contemporary music theorists to provide analytic tools which are less genre-specific and more
universal in their-scope of applicability. The notion of musical 'texture' is a promising topic
for the development of analysis tools since, as with the terms 'timbre' and 'sonority,' the
notion of musical texture has an apparent universality which seems to be less true of concepts such as harmony. It is possible to imagine music without harmony, but it is difficult to
imagine sounded music which would be devoid of texture. Texture may thus provide a useful probe by which, for example, the organization of electroacoustic works may be directed
related to the organization of music of the common practice period, or even to non-western
traditions.
This paper briefly synopsizes a project whose goal was the derivation of an analytic
model for characterizing musical textures. The model was derived through a four-part analytic process. First, a semantic analysis was carried out on the term 'texture' as used in normal musical discourse. Such an analysis can alert us to subtleties and distinctions which can
assist in model-building. Second, various textural 'factors' were proposed-- that is, quantifiable characteristics of a musical work which may contribute to the formation of the work's
texture. Third, the proposed textural factors were combined and permuted to form all possible models. Each of the derived models was evaluated according to its ability to correctly
classify the texture of a number of a priori classified works. Fourth, the models were
evaluated with regard to their conceptual elegance- that is, the degree to which a model
provides a conceptual framework which helps to explain or clarify what we mean by texture.
Semantics of 'Texture'
Lexicographers and linguists have shown that concepts can be clarified through detailed
examination of the semantic context in which the utterance is made. To this end a sample of
English-language[1] writings on music were perused and a body of 109 quotations assembled
in which the word 'texture' appears. These quotations were then analysed according to the
denotations or connotations entailed. The word 'texture' was found to occur in a wide
variety of circumstances and with innumerable shades of meaning. Despite this diversity
there appear to be three common meanings characteristic of the term 'texture.'
1. A term referring to the number or volume of simultaneous things happening in a sound
field; that is, to the density of concurrent sonic images or sources.
2. A term which refers to the diversity of elements or activities in a sound field; that is, a
term which characterizes musical passages on a continuum from homogeneous activity
to heterogeneous activity.
3. A generic term for the general sonic activity entailed in a work; a very broad term for
what is going on - but a term which always connotes a sonic or 'surface level' grounding in the description.
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