Baroque Roots, Post-Genre Voices: Caroline Shaw’s Partita and Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN.
Baroque “Partitas” and Dance-Suite Heritage
- “Partita” in Baroque era
- Used almost interchangeably with “suite” by J.S. Bach
- Typical contents: ordered set of stylized dances (e.g., Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue)
- Bach’s “partitas” are looser than his “suites,” but share core idea: multi-movement sequence of contrasting dance types
- Violinists encounter the term via Bach’s three Partitas for Solo Violin (BWV 1002, 1004, 1006)
- Naming conventions in Caroline Shaw’s work
- Movements “Allemande,” “Sarabande,” and “Courante” consciously reference Baroque dance types
- Fourth movement titled “Passacaglia” links to a different Baroque form (variation over a repeating bass line)
- Historical note: Genuine Baroque dance suites rarely—if ever—contain a passacaglia movement, underscoring Shaw’s hybrid/modern approach
Caroline Shaw – “Partita for 8 Voices” (2012)
- Composer background
- American composer, singer-violinist; Pulitzer Prize winner (2013, youngest ever)
- Member of vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth (commissioning body/performers)
- General stylistic traits
- Blends classical, folk, non-Western, and extended vocal techniques
- Interweaves spoken text from Sol LeWitt’s Wall Drawings with sung material
- Applies dance-suite architecture as broad scaffold rather than strict template
- Derivation of titles and movement sequence
- Movement I “Allemande”
- Movement II “Sarabande”
- Movement III “Courante”
- Movement IV “Passacaglia” (focus of transcript)
Movement IV “Passacaglia” – Detailed Walk-Through
- Opening harmonic cycle
- Ensemble articulates a repeating chord progression (acts like passacaglia basso ostinato)
- Progression presented three successive times, each with a distinct timbre/technique:
- Warm, rounded, traditional choral tone
- Mid-pitch timbral shifts – bright ⇄ subtle in a single sustained note
- “Chest voice” derived from Bulgarian women’s choir style – piercing, aggressive attack followed by audible “gasping sigh” release
- Layered textures & variation principle
- Chord progression reiterated underneath oscillating figures sung by half the voices (creates polyrhythmic shimmer)
- High melody in octaves emerges, then morphs into spoken excerpts from LeWitt’s Wall Drawing 305
- Extended vocal techniques featured
- Harmonic/overtone singing by male voices → singers manipulate low pedal fundamentals to project upper partials, painting a “rainbow” of whistle-like tones
- Chest-voice/Bulgarian timbre, Korean pansori-inspired grit, non-linguistic sighs & gasps
- Spoken-text cacophony
- One-by-one, singers abandon melody to recite LeWitt text simultaneously → dense polyphonic speech texture
- Isolated pitches from original progression intermittently “pierce” the speech cloud, maintaining structural memory of ostinato
- Climax & resolution
- Cacophony collapses into abrasive pansori-style growl that crescendos
- Growl morphs back into opening chord; ensemble delivers one last full pass of the progression in chest voice
- Begins a second final pass but is abruptly “derailed” by unexpected new chords (break from ostinato principle)
- Overtone singing ornaments the closing harmony; piece ends on an unresolved, shimmering sonority
- Significance
- Demonstrates 21st-century reinterpretation of Baroque passacaglia: variation occurs via timbre, texture, and vocal technique—not just melody/harmony
- Embeds conceptual art (LeWitt) and ethnically diverse vocal styles → underscores porousness of genre boundaries and art forms
- Serves as model for post-genre composition embraced by Pulitzer committee (Shaw won 2013 Prize for this work)
- Three finalists (descending order of “conventionality”)
- Michael Gilbertson – “Quartet” for string quartet
- Ted Hearne – “Sound from the Bench” (cantata for chamber choir + 2 electric guitars & drums)
• Text sources: U.S. Supreme Court rulings + ventriloquism manuals → critique of evolving legal concept of corporate personhood - Kendrick Lamar – album “DAMN.” (hip-hop) ← winner
- Historical context
- 75 yrs of Pulitzer tradition: award largely confined to “art”/classical music
- 1997: first jazz winner (Wynton Marsalis) already expanded boundaries, yet still within conservatory sphere
- Why Lamar’s win is groundbreaking
- First recognition of a popular genre artist with mainstream chart success and commercial clout
- Challenges assumptions that Pulitzers exist to elevate under-recognized, financially precarious “art” composers (Lamar did not need exposure/funding)
- Asserts that hip-hop meets standards of artistic “greatness” and possesses evaluative criteria comparable to classical or jazz
- Signals Pulitzer jury’s evolving value system; claims genre hierarchies may be obsolete (“good music is good music”)
- Jury citation language (“virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity…”) reveals tension: aims to speak classical vocabulary about hip-hop artifact
Kendrick Lamar – “DAMN.” (2017) & Track “DNA”
- Production credits
- Kendrick Lamar Duckworth – rapper, lyricist, conceptual architect
- Michael Len Williams II (a.k.a. Mike WiLL Made-It) – producer; previous work with Gucci Mane, Rihanna, Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus
- Genesis of “DNA”
- Originated from beat Mike WiLL prepped for Gucci Mane; Lamar repurposed, recorded first half over beat
- In studio, Lamar delivered a cappella verse → asked producer to “build a beat around his words” for second half
- Two-part structure
- Part I – original beat, steady pulse, lyrical exposition
- Part II – mid-track disjunction
• Pulse dissolves; sample: Geraldo Rivera (Fox News) quote: “Hip-hop has done more damage to young African Americans than racism…”
• Lamar’s flow accelerates; rhythmic complexity intensifies; impression: rapper “battling the beat” (producer’s intention)
• Beat becomes sparse; focus shifts to syncopated vocal–beat interplay, almost metrical free-fall
- Thematic content
- Recurrent motifs: Black identity (“I got loyalty, got royalty inside my DNA”), generational trauma, systemic disenfranchisement
- Track functions as sonic rebuttal to Rivera and broader sociopolitical critiques of hip-hop
- Musical characteristics
- Dense internal rhyme, polysyllabic patterns, abrupt metric shifts
- Production employs 808-style sub-bass, stuttering hi-hat triplets, layered ad-libs, glitchy samples in Part II
- Importance for Pulitzer decision
- “DNA” exemplified the album’s “rhythmic dynamism” and “vernacular authenticity” lauded by jury
- Illustrates hip-hop’s capacity for narrative depth, formal ingenuity, and cultural critique
Greatness, Genre, and Future Directions
- Pulitzer trajectory
- 1900\text{s} → Exclusively classical
- Late 20^{th} c. → Includes jazz (partly accepted as “art” via academia)
- 21^{st} c. → Hip-hop recognized
- Open questions
- What genres will next be canonized? EDM? Global pop? Video-game scores?
- Does “greatness” derive from notation-centric traditions or can oral/producer-based genres provide equally rigorous artistry?
- Cross-genre practitioner paradigm
- Increasing number of classical-trained musicians devoting equal energy to non-classical forms
- View genre as palette rather than hierarchy; “good music everywhere” ethos
Example Ensemble Blurring Boundaries – Alarm Will Sound
- New York City-based chamber orchestra (≈20 performers)
- Origins: founded by Eastman School of Music students (e.g., Gavin Chuck, Alan Pierson)
- Mission & repertoire
- Perform contemporary classical, but also re-imagine electronic/techno, pop, and world music through acoustic instruments
- Notable projects: acoustic arrangements of Aphex Twin electronica, collaborations with composer-producers (Tyshawn Sorey, Donnacha Dennehy, etc.)
- Embodiment of post-genre values mirrored by Pulitzer’s widening scope
Conceptual & Practical Implications
- Ethical/cultural
- Recognizing popular genres in elite awards can validate experiences of marginalized communities represented in those genres
- Industry equity: financial & institutional support may shift toward diverse creators
- Academic
- Curricula may increasingly incorporate hip-hop analysis, beat production, and cross-cultural vocal techniques (e.g., Bulgarian, pansori)
- Questions of notation vs. recorded media in pedagogy; transcription methodologies
- Real-world relevance
- Composers & performers draw from global idioms (Shaw’s vocal techniques; Lamar’s sampling, Mike WiLL’s trap production)
- Awards/funding bodies updating criteria can influence commissioning trends, programming, and public perception of “serious” art
