{"title":"TIME, MYTH AND NARRATIVE IN BEAT FURRER'S NUUN","authors":"Gabriel Jones","doi":"10.1017/s0040298223000669","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>The title of Beat Furrer's <span>nuun</span>, for two pianos and chamber orchestra (1996), invites two principal readings. As a pun on the German ‘nun’, meaning ‘now’, it invokes a presentist mode of musical thinking, whereby each moment is heard to exist in a continuous state of development. It also invokes myth, as suggested by Wolfgang Fuhrmann, in its palindromic reflection of the name of the Breton goddess Nu, who, in medieval mysticism, ‘had the power to let time stand still’. In this article, I use Byron Almén's 2017 theory of musical narrative as the basis for a narrative analysis of <span>nuun</span>, aiming to reconcile these allusions with the aesthetics and formal processes of the piece, as well as Furrer's documented preoccupation with notions of storytelling in music. In doing so, I expand upon the hermeneutic readings of the piece proposed thus far, establish connections with textural archetypes in Furrer's oeuvre, both pioneered by and preceding <span>nuun</span>, and consider lines of dialogue with broader discourse on time in contemporary music.</p>","PeriodicalId":22355,"journal":{"name":"Tempo","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Tempo","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0040298223000669","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"MUSIC","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The title of Beat Furrer's nuun, for two pianos and chamber orchestra (1996), invites two principal readings. As a pun on the German ‘nun’, meaning ‘now’, it invokes a presentist mode of musical thinking, whereby each moment is heard to exist in a continuous state of development. It also invokes myth, as suggested by Wolfgang Fuhrmann, in its palindromic reflection of the name of the Breton goddess Nu, who, in medieval mysticism, ‘had the power to let time stand still’. In this article, I use Byron Almén's 2017 theory of musical narrative as the basis for a narrative analysis of nuun, aiming to reconcile these allusions with the aesthetics and formal processes of the piece, as well as Furrer's documented preoccupation with notions of storytelling in music. In doing so, I expand upon the hermeneutic readings of the piece proposed thus far, establish connections with textural archetypes in Furrer's oeuvre, both pioneered by and preceding nuun, and consider lines of dialogue with broader discourse on time in contemporary music.
期刊介绍:
Tempo is the premier English-language journal devoted to twentieth-century and contemporary concert music. Literate and scholarly articles, often illustrated with music examples, explore many aspects of the work of composers throughout the world. Written in an accessible style, approaches range from the narrative to the strictly analytical. Tempo frequently ventures outside the acknowledged canon to reflect the diversity of the modern music scene. Issues feature interviews with leading composers, a tabulated news section, and lively and wide-ranging reviews of recent recordings, books and first performances around the world. Selected issues also contain specially-commissioned music supplements.