“Ach Golgatha!” by Karel Goeyvarts in the Aspect of Synthesis of Serialism, Aleatory Technique and Minimalism

Karel Goeyvaerts was a Belgian composer whose musical output exerted an influence on Western European serial and electronic music. the compositional techniques which he incorporated into his music at various periods of time always served his main goal – to manifest the ideas of the Absolute and Perfection. During the 1970s and the 1980s the composer focused his attention on the aleatory technique and minimalism. His best compositions from those years include five “Litanies” written for various instrumental ensembles and the opera project “Aguarius”. The present article focuses its attention on the composition “Ach Golgatha!”, which was created in 1975 and turned out to be one of Goeyvaerts’ first minimalist works. Virtually the entire material of the composition is based on a single quotation – a one-measure accompaniment to the recitative “Ach Golgatha” sung by the alto voice in Johann Sebastian Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” which is subjected to deconstruction. The composition is written for harp, organ and percussion, while the score is written by means of graphic notation. On the basis of detailed analysis of the musical material, its pitch, rhythmical, registral and timbral structure, the author arrives at conclusions that this composition synthesized in an organic way Goeyvarts’ parametrical thinking, characteristic for the serial period of is work and distinctive for its analytical approach, and new tendencies connected with the aleatory technique and minimalism, which determined the variable nature of the musical text and the commenting type of thinking. Keywords: 20th century music, Karel Goeyvaerts, “Ach Golgatha!,” serialism, aleatory technique, minimalism, repetitive technique

Art · Art history · Human–computer interaction · Karel · Computer Science · Discourse Analysis and Cultural Communication · Philosophy

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