Analysing Pitch Structure in Late-Period Recordings of John Coltrane: Interstellar Space and Stellar Regions (1967)
The impact of the saxophonist and composer John Coltrane (1926-1967) on music is remarkably broad, and reflective of a philosophy dedicated to finding new means of expression. Coltrane’s earlier tonal and modal music and their cultural-historical contexts are already well-documented; however, Interstellar Space and Stellar Regions — produced just one week apart in the final six months of his life — are among his least interrogated works.
The analytical core of this thesis investigates to what extent Coltrane’s performances on Interstellar Space and Stellar Regions, widely regarded merely as free improvisations, contain evidence of structural rigour and organised pitch structure. This research aims to challenge the ways that these last recordings are understood, prompting a new dialogue relating to the nature of his music and the meaning of free improvisation. While Coltrane’s late-period music is often characterized as motivic, this thesis evidences the widespread presence of trichordal pitch-class sets as a crucial means for achieving unity and binding the motivic surface.
Coltrane’s eclecticism and esoteric studies are also considered for their potential impact upon pitch structure (Chapter 2). The analysis is based on original transcriptions, utilizing a blend of post-tonal, voice-leading, and jazz harmonic and improvisational techniques, while focusing on Rahnian set theory as the primary methodology (Chapter 3). It is organized within three themes according to the music’s structural homogeneity or heterogeneity: trichordal and hexachordal determinacy (Chapter 4); emergent pc-sets and major-third cycles (Chapter 5); and pc-set generation, integration, and diversity (Chapter 6).
The construct (013), revealed as a constant reference in ‘Iris’, acts as a structural precedent for other pc-set formations within Interstellar Space and Stellar Regions, and more broadly in other similar loci through Coltrane’s late-period. This doctoral research establishes Coltrane’s improvisations as highly structured works of art, refuting the notion of free jazz as disordered or chaotic.
Conference papers
‘Pitch-Class Set Usage and Development in Late-Period Improvisations of John Coltrane’, Society for Music Theory Fortieth Annual Meeting, Arlington, Virginia. Nov. 2017
‘Set Class Usage and Transformations in the Late-Period Improvisations of John Coltrane’, Miles Davis and John Coltrane at 90: Retrospect and Prospect, University of Surrey, UK. Oct. 2016
Books
Twelve-Tone Improvisation, A Method for Using Tone Rows in Jazz. by John O’Gallagher. Advance Music Publishing. 2013
Articles
John O’Gallagher (2020) Pitch-Class Set Usage and Development in Late-Period Improvisations of John Coltrane, Jazz Perspectives, 12:1, 93-121, DOI: 10.1080/17494060.2020.1734055
