Pauline Oliveros
(born 1932)

HEIDI VON GUNDEN

Pauline Oliveros is a contemporary American composer who has written experimental compositions in the areas of improvisation, electronic music, theater music, ceremonial music, and sonic meditations. She is best known for her Sonic Meditations, and the three selected for this anthology are among the easier ones; anyone can perform and understand them regardless of previous experience with meditative techniques.

At an early age Oliveros knew that she wanted to be a composer. Since both her mother and her grandmother made their living by teaching piano, it did not seem unusual that she should pursue a musical career. At age nineteen she left her home in Houston, Texas, and moved to San Francisco in search of a composition teacher. During the early 1950s Oliveros decided that she would try to be always aware of what she heard. This dedication to listening is evident in all her compositions, especially in the Sonic Meditations.

The numerous articles Oliveros has written about her music are collected in Software for People. Of special interest in this volume are her articles “And Don’t Call Them ‘Lady’ Composers,” which was first published in The New York Times on September 13, 1970, and “On Sonic Meditation,” which discusses “Teach Yourself to Fly.”

Oliveros’s credentials are impressive. In 1962 her composition Sound Patterns (1961) for a cappella mixed chorus won the Gaudeamus prize in Holland for the Best Foreign Work. From 1967 to 1980 Oliveros was a faculty member at the University of California, San Diego. At the time of her resignation she was a full professor, an amazing accomplishment in academe, as Oliveros has only a bachelor’s degree. She has received awards from the Guggenheim Foundation and the city of Bonn, Germany; has had her music performed at several world’s fairs; and has been guest composer at many festivals and universities. Currently she lives at Mount Tremper, New York, and is a free-lance composer.

The 24 Sonic Meditations reflect Oliveros’s interest in consciousness studies, karate (she holds a black belt), world religions, and world music. Oliveros considers the Meditations to be physically beneficial because they can produce a calming effect and heightened states of awareness. Most of the Meditations are for voice, although several can be translated into instrumental sound. The scores are in prose and are explained in short, clear statements. Each score must be carefully studied and constantly checked to ensure that the correct interpretation is being followed, because performers often try to substitute something different, an idea of their own that the Meditations might have suggested to them.

In “Teach Yourself to Fly”, Sonic Meditation I, the performers’ attention is focused on breathing. The result of this tuning is that involuntary sounds begin to be made; the performers do not consciously try to make sounds. This meditation resembles waves of sound and should last at least fifteen minutes, so that all the performers have an opportunity to experience the effects of observing the breath:

Any number of persons sit in a circle facing the center. Illuminate the space with dim blue light. [It would be possible to perform this meditation without the dim blue light.] Begin by simply observing your own breathing. Always be an observer. Gradually allow your breathing to become audible. Then gradually introduce your voice. Allow your vocal cords to vibrate in any mode which occurs naturally. Allow the intensity to increase very slowly Continue as long as possible naturally, and until all others are quiet, always observing your own breath cycle. Variation: Translate voice to an instrument.

This meditation is simple to perform, although it helps to have an experienced leader who can begin the meditation. It will not take long before others join.

Each meditation is a prescribed tuning for hearing sound. During “Zina’s Circle” one actively makes sound. Some of the other meditations require imagining sound, listening to present sound, or remembering past sound. Each one uses either active or passive listening and sound making, and some can be complex. “Tumbling Song” and “Zina’s Circle” specify active listening.

“Tumbling Song,” Meditation XIV, should consist only of descending gestures. The score is as follows:

Make any vocal sound, but always go downward in pitch from the initial attack. The initial attack may begin at any pitch level. Go downward in a glissando or in discrete steps continuously. Go any distance in range, at any speed, dynamic or quality, but the breath determines the maximum time length of any downward gesture.

The performers should observe the duration of their breath, which determines phrase lengths. Therefore, phrases will not be the same, and some will overlap because not everyone will begin at the same time. Also, as “Tumbling Song” progresses, the phrases will become longer, because observation causes the breath to become lower, slower, and deeper.

Depending on the number of performers, there will be a variety of descending gestures, which are like ribbons of sound. Ideally there should be no audience, because everyone can participate. During a performance of “Tumbling Song” people will discover new ways to use their voices, and all should be aware of the sounds of the moment. Deviations from these directions will produce an improvisation, a performance mode that Oliveros does not intend. In an improvisation performers imitate and are affected by each other, thus limiting the sonic vocabulary. Simply observing the breath will protect “Tumbling Song” and the other meditations from becoming improvisations.

“Zina’s Circle,” Meditation XV, demands intense concentration even though the actions are simple. Breaks in the sound, hesitation, and laughter are indications that the directions are not being followed, whereas an alert awareness of sound, a feeling of ensemble precision, and a renewal of energy are signs that the meditation is being properly performed:

Stand together in a circle, with eyes closed facing the center. One person is designated the transmitter. After observing the breathing cycle, individually, gradually join hands. Then slowly move back so that all arms are stretched out and the size of the circle increased. Next stretch the arms towards center and move in slowly. Finally move back to the normal sized circle, with hands still joined, standing so that arms are relaxed at sides. Return attention to breathing. When the time seems right, the transmitter starts a pulse that travels around the circle, by using the right hand to squeeze the left hand of the person next to her. [The directions were originally written for a performance group called 9, the Women’s Ensemble.] The squeeze should be quickly and sharply made, to resemble a light jolt of electricity. The squeeze must be passed from left hand to right hand and so on to the next person as quickly as possible. The action should become so quick that it happens as a reflex, before the person has time to consciously direct the squeeze. Simultaneously with the squeeze, each person must shout had. This shout must come up from the center of the body (somewhere a little below the navel) before passing through the throat. There must be complete abdominal support for the voice. When the first cycle is complete, the transmitter waits for a long time to begin the next cycle. When the reaction time around the circle has become extremely short, the transmitter makes the cycles begin closer and closer together until a new transmission coincides with the end of the cycle, then continue trying to speed up the reaction time. If attention and awareness are maintained, the circle depending on its size, should be shouting almost simultaneously.

Variations: I. Reverse the direction of the pulse using the left hand to transmit and the right hand to receive. 2. Reverse the direction of each cycle. 3. Each person chooses which direction to send the pulse. The transmitter continues to control the beginning and ending of a cycle.