IV. Tropes
Even in its unadorned simplicity, C-1 affords the speaker a unique opportunity for highly expressive poetic communication. The simple techniques and procedures presented in chaps. 2-3 enable the reader to begin using the "strict style" of C-1 almost immediately. Performances are generally enriched, however, by employing the "free style," in which basic speech patterns are altered by modifications of various kinds that occur before, during, or after recitation of the principal text. Such changes are called tropes, and they function to augment sonority, promote continuity, and enhance aesthetic interest. A table of some of the most commonly occurring tropes is shown in Appendix 3.
The use of both strict and free styles results in a "composite style" of C-1 recitation--a fusion of the rational Apollonian and passionate Dionysian aspects of musico-poetic art.
Tropes fall into various categories. Expletive tropes are modifications or insertions which do not convey any meaning per se, but which "fill out" the vocal texture. Semantic tropes, on the other hand, serve to impart or amplify meaning, usually in a manner complementary to the main text. Tropes that make use of the specific dialectal structures and resources of C-1 are chromatic. All others are parachromatic.
The theory of parachromatic troping allows for the use of any non-Chromatic sensory stimulus which amplifies, unifies, or beautifies recitation of a text. Parachromatic tropes are so numerous and diverse that the only sub-classifications possible are by sensory mode, viz., "visual," "aural," "tactile," "olfactory," and "gustatory." Obviously, such tropes are either expletive or semantic.
The value of parachromatic troping should not be underestimated. Percussion instruments of indefinite pitch, although incapable of speaking any C-1 dialect, are of great value in increasing overall sonic mass and in clarifying the meaning of the principal text. Certain words, for example, may receive special emphasis by percussive accentuation, and various other auditory effects lacking definite pitch may enhance the vocal fabric by promoting fluency and lending coloration. Rhythmic languages of various kinds might even be introduced in conjunction with the principal text: a percussionist, for instance, may opt to present a complementary poem in a rhythmic dialect based on the "talking drums" of Africa.
Aural parachromatic tropes could be complementary texts in conventional languages--e.g., a poem by Shelley, an Elizabethan ballad, or an improvised commentary. A vocalist might even add a text in English to a C-1 melodic line that recites a Latin excerpt from Ovid, creating, in effect, a monophonic homorhythmic motet. Quotations from music literature might also be introduced when appropriate, e.g., a Wagnerian leitmotif, a melodic fragment from a Beethoven sonata, or a fugue subject from Bach.
Parachromatic tropes in other sensory modes are potentially limitless, and should not be dismissed as undesirable pseudo-linguistic intrusions. Light projections, tactile effects, aromatic scents, or even distinctive flavors can each, in their proper contexts, add a dimension of meaning, unity, or beauty otherwise impossible to obtain. The pansensory aesthetic of C-1 is obviously not intended to open the door to all manner of wanton indulgences. Likely analogues to such parachromatic tropes include the presence of sacramental food and drink, censers, elaborate vestments, and stained glass windows in the Roman Catholic Mass; the addition of luminous effects to a musical score (as Scriabin attempted in Prometheus); the creation of al fresco sets for choreographic works originally conceived for indoor concert performance; or even a musical evening at a dinner theater.
Chromatic tropes lend themselves more readily to classification and description, and are either expletive or semantic depending on their function in a given context. They may be used in combination with parachromatic tropes, and like the latter, in combination with one another.
The simplest unit of spoken C-1 is the vowel, which in and of itself has little meaning. The vowel, which by definition is synonymous with a single musical tone, may be sustained, repeated, or used in various combinations with other tones that share its pitch letter name (e.g., as in a unison or octave tremolo). In C-1 theory, the term simplex is used to designate a trope in which a given pitch is successively repeated a minimum of three times in any register (with or without mutation).
The simplex should be clearly distinguished from the articulatory expletive--the single melodic unison or octave that indicates the point where one word ends and another begins. Thus the simplex is possible for the first and last vowels of a text, or for vowels within a word other than the first and last. Any pitch except the first or last of a given word may be repeated a minimum of three times, with or without mutation (register change). There is no maximum number of times the pitch in question may be reiterated. The minimum of three is required because, as explained previously, a single repetition would invite confusion with the articulatory expletive.
A series of expletive vowel sounds--with or without the successive use of the unison or octave--is called a vocalise. Vocalises may occur independently, but often they are heard in combinations of two or more called nests or nidi (pl. of L. nidus). Individual vocalises may intertwine with one another in such complex patterns that it is impossible to distinguish one from the other, particularly when there is no differentiation of tone color (as a mix of crisscrossing polyphonic lines played on a piano). In C-1 theory, however, any polyphonic complex or chordal succession which is purely expletive is reducible to constituent vocalises.
This trope may, of course, be preplanned or improvised. It may be introduced before, during, or after the recitation of a given text or any of its principal parts as a sort of prelude, interlude, or postlude. The vocalise might also occur simultaneously with the main spoken text. Care must always be taken to avoid drowning out or otherwise obscuring the latter, since no trope is not an end in itself and each plays only a supporting role. Just as in the natural world a nest securely surrounds and supports an egg without crushing it, so in C-1 the metaphorical egg is always the main text, and it should never be compromised by an excessively dense or complex nest.
The montage is a trope produced when one or more vowels are sustained while subsequent vowels are sounded in a word, text, or vocalization. Thus, a vowel series comprises not only the equivalent of a melodic line but may also, through montage, generate a sequence of harmonic sonorities. One extreme of this type of trope would be the creation of a sonic mass by holding down the sustain pedal on a piano while reciting a C-1 text. Exactly which tones are prolonged and their respective durations are left to the judgement of the reciter(s). The effect just described for the piano can obviously be replicated in ensemble situations. The selective sustaining of tones can in the right context produce series of harmonic progressions that suggest tradtional tonal or modal harmonic systems: C-1 is not invariably atonal. (See the first and final movements of my Strong Trio No. 1.)
By prior arrangement, parts of a spoken text or vocalise may be divided among various members of an ensemble, resulting in a trope known as hocket. When some or all members of the ensemble play instruments of different timbres, hocketing results in a Klangfarbenstimme or "tone-color voice." This expression derives from Schönberg's Klangfarbenmelodie, and constitutes a type of composite trope when employed together with montage.
Magadization is the simultaneous duplication of a spoken text or vocalise at the octave (or unison). Exact simultaneous duplication at any other interval produces an organum. Duplication of a recited text either before or after its initial appearance is termed canon, which may occur at any melodic or temporal interval. All three tropes under discussion increase sonority, but canon requires special attention to be used effectively.
Rarely is canonic duplication in C-1 exact except for the intervallic (melodic) sequence of events itself. If such imitation is not completely consistent with the meaning of the words and in every sense complementary to the spoken text from which it is derived, the listener may feel that what is being stated is losing clarity, focus, or definition. Like other polyphonic tropes, the canon may also erroneously suggest articulatory expletives where none are actually intended.
A greater level of meaning and complexity is reached by the actual addition of independent spoken C-1 texts before, during, or after the recitation of the main text. The content of these subordinate texts should obviously be consistent with that of the principal text except in those circumstances where contradiction or contrast is called for. These added texts, called glosses, may be composed by the speaker or quoted from other sources. These are generally planned in advance of a public lection, although skilled C-1 speakers may be able to improvise their own glosses. Whatever the case, the resulting "voice of voices" which characterizes the simultaneous performance of a main text and gloss(es) results in a motet. The texting by a vocalist of a sung C-1 text results in a monophonic motet, as previously described.
The trope known as a paraphrase may be classified as a gloss, but it is essentially no more than a rewording of the principal text. A variant, on the other hand, differs so little from the main text that it is not possible to consider it a gloss or even a true paraphrase. The repetition of a gloss, variant, or the principal text is a trope in its own right called redux or restatement. Transposition is a trope in which the various words in a text are rearranged, thus altering the original syntax. Needless to say, this technique must be exercised with the utmost caution and only under special circumstances, when an actual semantic change or further elucidation of the original meaning is intended.
By far the most interesting semantic trope is the glossolalia, an improvisatory utterance which is entirely--or almost entirely--neologistic. Such speech is ecstatic in character, and indicative of a profoundly creative state in which special insight into the text or its implications has been reached. Some glossolalias are not divisible into distinct words because of the absence of articulatory expletives; these may be taken as lengthy words in and of themselves. Generally, glossolalias result in the creation of entirely new words, and differ from vocalises because they are expressly semantic in function. Glossolalias may occur independently of textual recitations and are deeply musical in both substance and spirit as they do not admit of ready or specific translation. The simultaneous occurrence of glossolalias results in a composite trope called a matrix, from the Latin meaning "womb," which etymology implies that this trope is "pregnant" with meaning, although that meaning may not be completely obvious.
Troping is an art at once easy and difficult. It is easy because it demands no technical virtuosity per se. It is difficult because there is the ever-present danger of excess and self-indulgence. Tropists are most successful who fully comprehend the principal text and are thereby enabled to find exactly the right means of effectively amplifying its content.
