Exploring Sound through the Synthesizer in Ludmila Frajt’s Nocturne

Neda Nikolić

doi:10.5937/newso2463044N

Neda Nikolić University of Niš, Faculty of Arts

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5937/newso2463044N

Keywords: Ludmila Frajt, Nocturne, synthesizer, electroacoustic music, EMS Synthi 100, sound phenomenon, bordun basis, cluster, woman in music

Abstract

The constants and characteristics of the poetic expression of the composer Ludmila Frајt can be found in her composition Nocturne. Her desire to examine sound, nuances, and effects, led to exploring all the possibilities that electroacoustic devices, specifically the synthesizer, can bring forth. One of the constants that can be observed in the composition is the presence of the bordun basis, which was reproduced using an electroacoustic device and was formed as a cluster. Through its hybridity, it stands out as flexible enough to embody the deepest layers of man, but also to be a suitable ground for depicting the atmosphere of the night. The aim of this paper is to look at the way the synthesizer was used to explore the sound in Nocturne by Ludmila Frajt.

Author Biography

Neda Nikolić, University of Niš, Faculty of Arts

Neda Nikolić, M.A., completed her undergraduate academic studies at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade – Department of Music Theory (2017), where she completed her master academic studies – Department of Music Theory (2018). She was awarded by the Faculty of Music in Belgrade with the “Dejan Despić” Award, for the best master work defended during the academic year 2017/18, on the theme The Formality of a Formal Type of a Song in the Second Violin Concert of Stanojlo Rajičić under the mentorship of Ivan Brkljačić (2019). She also enrolled in doctoral academic studies at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade, Department of Music Theory, in 2018. Since 2019, she has been working as an Assistant in the narrow professional field – theoretical subjects at the Faculty of Arts in Niš. Also, she worked at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade (from November 2022 until February 2023) as an Assistant in the field of Music Theory – supplementary work at the Department of Music Theory.