A Study of Coloristic Effects in Joan Tower’s Works for Piano: Petroushskates, Ivory and Ebony, and Sixth Fanfare for The Uncommon Woman

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine Joan Tower’s treatment of sound and coloristic effects in selected chamber and solo works for piano. Prior to the twentieth century, timbre, modes, and other coloristic effects were often associated with a mood, character or emotion, and were primarily presented by various tonal intervals. With the rise of fin-de-siècle avant-garde trends such as impressionism, the association of color and music became integrated. As Jörg Jewanski has noted, the concept of color was equated with individual musical parameters in the twentieth century. One composer who has shown a particular interest in color is Joan Tower, who is celebrated as one of the most important contemporary American composers. This study will analyze factors of coloristic traits in three of Tower’s piano works. Tower consistently applies multiple musical elements in her works. For example, Tower has several musical influences including various composers that she wrote in the style of, such as Debussy, Messiaen, and Stravinsky. She also found out that a powerful tool in projecting pitch content is the use of register. In addition, she is interested in varied rhythmic patterns, which she has said results from her upbringing in South Africa.