Microstructure and macrostructure

Abstract

Musical coherence is essential for the achievement of meaning in any particular work. While it is possible to speculate on a variety of reasons which may facilitate this coherence, many would agree that an important determinant may be found in the successful articulation of the work’s structure. Furthermore, structure is realised through discourse, which is dependent on the articulation of actual sounds: inflections, accents, local changes in tempo, etc., may alter the meaning of a passage significantly. Although this is true of any music, it acquires additional significance for the composer in the electroacoustic domain since she becomes responsible for the inner attributes of timbre.