chance music
- noun
- /tʃæns ˈmjuːzɪk/
- Specialized
:
música aleatoria
- Many composers explored chance music as a way to challenge traditional music structures.
Examples
-
"Tell me, Oscar, do you really believe in this inaudible chance music?"
Fiction book (1997) -
In her latest piece, she incorporated chance music to allow for spontaneous interpretation by the performers.
-
The concert featured chance music, where each musician created their part based on random selections.
Synonyms
Music where chance or the performer decides which sounds happen
Music where some parts are left to chance or the performer's choice during a performance
How Random
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'chance' (randomness) modifies 'music', so the phrase straightforwardly denotes music characterized by elements of chance or indeterminacy. Although the term names a technical 20th-century practice, its semantics are predictable from the constituents and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
The term chance music comes from the idea of letting some choices be decided by chance in the music. Composers might roll dice or let players choose certain notes, so the same piece can sound different each time. So, chance music means music where parts are not fixed and the result is often 'unpredictable'.
