Clashing Harmonic Systems in Haas's<i>Blumenstück</i>and<i>in vain</i>

Abstract

Georg Friedrich Haas (b. 1953) has been recognized as a major second-generation “spectralist” composer, but that designation ignores the substantial influence on his music of earlier microtonal composers, especially Ivan Wyschnegradsky, a pioneer of microtonal equal temperaments, and Harry Partch, who developed a system of extended just intonation based on the intervals of the overtone series. Haas's recent works &lt;it&gt;Blumenst&lt;a&gt;&lt;ac&gt;u&lt;/ac&gt;&lt;ac&gt;¨&lt;/ac&gt;&lt;/a&gt;ck&lt;/it&gt; (2000) and &lt;it&gt;in vain&lt;/it&gt; (2000) create large-scale form by dramatizing the opposition between equal temperament and just intonation.