Pierre Mercure and the Contemporary: Reflections of Influence and Ideology in "Tétrachromie" (1963)

Abstract

This thesis surveys, through his use of integrated serialism in Tétrachromie (1963), Pierre Mercure’s interest in contemporary compositional ideologies as influenced by prominent composers with whom he came into contact through the 1950s and early 1960s. Although largely not recognised as a composer of serialism, Mercure (1927–1966) uses a complex system of serial preogranisation in Tétrachromie. In 1951, Mercure studied at the Tanglewood Institute with Luigi Dallapiccola, from whom he initially learned the twelve-tone method. The summer prior to composing Tétrachromie, he attended the Darmstadt Ferienkurse where he most notably studied with Pierre Boulez, Henri Pousseur, and Bruno Maderna. Numerous aesthetic ideologies that existed among these composers adhere to structural elements in Tétrachromie, including systems of intervallic control and row construction. In an analysis of Tétrachromie, the author discusses how Mercure may have created his 24-tone series, and how this series is applied through melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic means, using intervallic analysis, pitch-class-sets, and Klumpenhouwer Networks to garner information about the row. Each of the four sections of Tétrachromie has a unique combination of musical textures, each texture adhering to various levels of serial organisation based on the 24-tone prime row. The analysis also contains some remarks on style and aural response based on a recording of the work’s only performance in 1964.