Spectral fun with Hyena

Advice on how to prepare the microtonal, spectral works for large ensemble and orchestra of Georg Friedrich Haas and other composers.

These remarks are a culmination of my years of experience playing spectral works and coaching the academists at the Grafenegg Festival 2026 for the premiere of Hyena II for Orchestra and Storyteller under the direction of Ilan Volkov. (See also important changes to the first flute part towards the end.)

Figuring it all out:

This is an example of the notation we were faced with:

Haas was very considerate in providing the following approximate accidentals:

Using these accidentals is a practical strategy for large orchestras. The indications allow players not familiar with spectral music to rely on their instincts to at least approximate the pitch. However, the circled numbers above the notes indicate the partial number and therefore the true pitch.

These partial numbers represent a position in an overtone (harmonic) series based (in this piece) on C0. Here I use the terms harmonics, overtones and partials interchangeably, although there are some subtle differences. Note that because this is a mathematical series that starts with 1 (not 0), the 1st partial IS the fundamental.

So the first thing you need to know for playing a harmonic series is: what is the fundamental? The score says only ca. 16 hz as an indication, because this will change according to what your group tunes to – A=440 or higher.

Once you know that fundamental, you “only” have to multiply that number by the circled number above your note. That gives you your frequency. However, for many musicians, it is easier to think in terms of cent deviations. Modern tuning apps give us these indications, so they have become a way many of us think when it comes to being sharp or flat.

I can understand a composer not wanting to put a cent deviation above each note of an orchestral score, that would indeed be messy. But it would have been practical to have this chart from Wikipedia, for example, in the performance instructions:

In order to make all this easier and to have a quick alternative to view these notes according to cent deviations, I created this app.

Here is the link

Note that the transpose feature will only change the “Nearest Note” display!

Troubleshooting for Partial Plus app:

• – Make sure JavaScript is enabled on your browser (see your browser settings).
• – Low frequencies need a lot of volume boost,
• – If your ringtone is muted, this may mute the sound of the app too. For iPhone, there is a small button on the side of the phone, on the upper left.
• – If you have an old phone (iPhone 11, for example) it just may not work. Use an iPad instead (or laptop).

Knowing what frequencies to play and what fingerings to use is only part of the work. There are two other important factors: listening and sound quality.

Listening:

Despite the mathematics involved, this work, and many other spectral works, involves listing, being able to hear and predict your pitch from either the fundamental or the fifth (which you can hopefully hear or remember).

With the app (or any listening aid), I recommend listening up to the first 16 partials. If you want to challenge yourself to a new scale exercise, learn the partials 8 – 16 in all keys! (It’s kind of a whole-tone bebop scale.) I am developing other exercises for listening, recognizing, and playing partials, so stay tuned.

To become confident in this music, you really need to hear up to the 13th partial. If the instrument playing the fundamental is sharp or flat, you may not be able to rely only on a fingering you learned, you have to be able to adjust in real-time. Remember, if you have to play the 2nd, 4th, 8th, or 16th partial, that is just an octave relationship to the fundamental. If you have the 3rd, 6th or 12th, that is a perfect fifth relationship. If you don’t get that right, the other players who have to play the partials of a 5th, 7th, 9th, or above will have trouble.

The very high partials can (at least in Hyena II, say, above 37) be relativized. That is, there is often a play between players, In the passage below, for example, the flutes, oboes and clarinets enter on pitches where each is slightly lower than the other. Tricky, yes! But doable by ear with practice.

Modulations:

Sometimes, especially in the works of Haas, the fundamental will modulate. This is a real challenge for the lower instruments, because sometimes their fundamental falls off the equal-temperament grid. In Hyena II, there is a chain of modulations where the 9th partial becomes the 7th partial of a new spectrum. For this I made the another modulator app. The instructions are pretty much identical to the one above, but it has the added modulation and “Apply” feature to calculate the fundamental of a new partial system.

Sound Quality:

Despite this being contemporary music, spectral music is often most effective (in an orchestral or large ensemble context) with a “nice” classical sound. That is, not too unfocused or airy. You have to produce a sound that others can easily tune to. The sound has to have enough partials in it to be interesting and to mix with the partials of other players – no matter what dynamic.

This is important to know when choosing fingerings. In our first session with the flutes, we were considering using some rather bamboo-sounding fingerings involving the trill keys. These didn’t really work in context – one also has to take into account the speed and dynamics as well as the sound color when choosing fingerings.

Important changes in the first flute part:

• Bars 722 – 731, and 856 should be played on piccolo (sounding as written, but notated for piccolo an octave below).
• Bar 471 F# should be an 1/8th tone up
• Bar 801 D natural should be a 1/6th tone down
• Bar 813 F natural should be a 1/6th tone down