Between Perception and Semantics

A Discourse Analysis of Timbre Narratives in Orchestration Treatises

Abstract

Research Question/Problem

The analysis of orchestration treatises reveals a phenomenon that goes beyond mere technical instruction: the omnipresence of a richly figurative semantic field in the description of timbre (Wallmark, 2019). The apprehension of timbre is not restricted to strictly acoustic parameters; it is systematically projected onto domains of sensory and bodily experience. Consequently, the technical language of orchestration itself is a group of metaphors that mediates both perception and discourse (Siedenburg et al., 2016; McAdams, 2019; Noble et al., 2020; Rosi et al., 2022). Therefore, the problem investigated is: What is the role of metaphor in the perceptual and discursive processes concerning timbre within orchestration treatises?

Objectives

General: To understand the role of metaphor in timbre discourse within orchestration treatises.

Specific: (1) To conduct a brief literature review on the phenomenon of metaphor and multimodal psychoacoustic research regarding timbre; (2) to analyze timbre discourse, with a focus on the flute, identifying discursive shifts and/or continuities over time.

Method

This study articulates a transdisciplinary literature review anchored in Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff & Johnson) and the literature on timbre semantics and psychoacoustics. Discourse Analysis (Orlandi, 2001) is employed to understand the role of metaphor in the treatises of Hector Berlioz (1843/1882), Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1913), Walter Piston (1955), and Samuel Adler (1986/2016), in dialogue with writings and citations from Robert Schumann, Arnold Schoenberg, and Pierre Boulez. To facilitate the analysis, the Western concert flute is established as the focal instrument.

Main contributions

The results indicate that the retraction of subjective descriptors follows the decline of Romantic narratives. However, the reduction of adjectives did not signify the abandonment of metaphor; metaphorical language remains the foundation for apprehending a phenomenon that, despite being physically measurable, retains an intrinsically intangible nature.

Implications

Future developments are suggested to expand this methodology to other instrumental groups, such as the brass or string families, whose physical particularities may generate new metaphorical fields. Furthermore, future research could contemplate the analysis of specific works from the contemporary repertoire in light of the semantic dimensions identified in the treatises of their respective eras.