EKPHRASTIC VOICE: ON JOAN LA BARBARA'S SOUND PAINTINGS

Ryan Dohoney

doi:10.1017/S0040298222000079

EKPHRASTIC VOICE: ON JOAN LA BARBARA'S SOUND PAINTINGS

Ryan Dohoney^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Music Studies

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

A considerable portion of Joan La Barbara's compositional work has been concentrated in her 'sound paintings' - works that translate into sound the visual and energetic sensation La Barbara experiences when encountering art. Many of these works are 'ekphrastic' - that is, they render aurally a pre-existing work. In this article, I analyse three such sound paintings: Klee Alee (based on Paul Klee's Hauptweg und Nebenwege), Rothko (based on Mark Rothko's Chapel paintings), and In solitude this fear is lived (inspired by the early work of Agnes Martin). I argue that these works extend the mimetic impulse of her vocal practice and use translational semiosis to produce their ekphrastic effects.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	73-85
Number of pages	13
Journal	Tempo
Volume	76
Issue number	301
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0040298222000079
State	Published - Jul 1 2022

Funding

Musicians supported by de Menil money include Feldman, Reich (whose Tehillim was commissioned for the Rothko Chapel), La Monte Young (supported by the DIA Foundation) and Philip Glass. 26

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Music

Access to Document

10.1017/S0040298222000079

Cite this

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title = "EKPHRASTIC VOICE: ON JOAN LA BARBARA'S SOUND PAINTINGS",

abstract = "A considerable portion of Joan La Barbara's compositional work has been concentrated in her 'sound paintings' - works that translate into sound the visual and energetic sensation La Barbara experiences when encountering art. Many of these works are 'ekphrastic' - that is, they render aurally a pre-existing work. In this article, I analyse three such sound paintings: Klee Alee (based on Paul Klee's Hauptweg und Nebenwege), Rothko (based on Mark Rothko's Chapel paintings), and In solitude this fear is lived (inspired by the early work of Agnes Martin). I argue that these works extend the mimetic impulse of her vocal practice and use translational semiosis to produce their ekphrastic effects.",

author = "Ryan Dohoney",

note = "Funding Information: Musicians supported by de Menil money include Feldman, Reich (whose Tehillim was commissioned for the Rothko Chapel), La Monte Young (supported by the DIA Foundation) and Philip Glass. 26 Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press.",

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EKPHRASTIC VOICE: ON JOAN LA BARBARA'S SOUND PAINTINGS

Abstract

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