LIMITED APPROXIMATIONS, GEORG FRIEDRICH HAAS

In contrast to Partch and Sabat, Haas does not look to

just intonation as a basis for harmony andascribes no
inherent importance to pure intervals, even describing
the overtone series that informs so much of his musical
language as a construction that is “as arti cial as any
other musical material.”10 This statement is illuminating
in the analysis of Limited Approximations, as Haas
mixes several approaches to pitch uidly and does not
cohere to any systematic organizational principles in
regards to microtonality. Although Haas may not have
been considering his notes in terms of JI while
composing, it is nonetheless a useful, though
sometimes limited, tool for analysis. Indeed, one has a
sense of a more improvised approach to pitch in Limited
Approximations as compared to Sabat and Partch,
perhaps stemming from his understanding of microtones
after a lifetime of exploring microtonality through
composition. Haas was certainly aware of the music and
theories of Partch, Tenney, and other prominent JI
composers, but his approach to pitch in general is
purposely non-systematic. In Limited Approximations,
Haas doesn’t set a static scale, instead working with
various approaches to pitch within a 72tet system, often
approximating just intervals. The title, Limited
Approximations, refers to the 72tet tuning of the pianos
and their ability to attain just intervals with a reasonable
degree of accuracy. 72tet divides the semitone in six
equal parts, or 16.7 cents, and can therefore play any
desired pitch with a maximum deviation of 8.3 cents.
More importantly, 72tet can approximate any interval in
an 11-limit JI collection within 3 cents, a characteristic of
72tet that is outlined by James Tenney in his article on
Changes, his piece for six harps in 72tet.11 As a shift of
3 cents constitutes a skisma too minute to be heard as
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equal parts, or 16.7 cents, and can therefore play any
desired pitch with a maximum deviation of 8.3 cents.
More importantly, 72tet can approximate any interval in
an 11-limit JI collection within 3 cents, a characteristic of
72tet that is outlined by James Tenney in his article on
Changes, his piece for six harps in 72tet.11 As a shift of
3 cents constitutes a skisma too minute to be heard as
two discrete intervals in almost any context, 72tet is thus
adept at realizing 11-limit JI while maintaining an ease of
modulation and tonicization for any note in the 72tet
collection. However, the 13th partial, being 41 cents
higher than a 12tet minor 6th, is impossible to
approximate in a convincing way in 72tet as it is located
almost equidistantly between the minor sixth plus a third
of a tone and the minor sixth plus a quarter of a tone.
This inability to produce the 13th partial in 72tet may
enrich the meaning of the “limited” in the title of Limited
Approximations. As a nal general characteristic of
72tet, there is a certain practicality in terms of
instrumentation as 72 is a multiple of 12, which means
that 72tet can be attained by a combination of uniformly
transposed tempered instruments, as Haas does with
the pianos in Limited Approximations. As a
generalization, the 72tet system is more open and
adaptable than the more precise and uneven JI systems
of Partch and Sabat. With 72tet, one can approximate
almost any interval and still retain an ability to change
fundamental freely without altering how the new
fundamental may be harmonized. Conversely, 72tet
does not contain the variety of unique harmonic
possibilities that arise as fundamentals shift to notes in
the scale other than the 1/1, and this asymmettric array
of pitches in the works by Sabat and Partch produces
unique and interesting musical results. Haas takes
advantage of many of the possibilities presented by
72tet. Instead of a set scale or collection of intervals,
Haas explores the following four elements or
approaches to pitch:
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 of pitches in the works by Sabat and Partch produces
unique and interesting musical results. Haas takes
advantage of many of the possibilities presented by
72tet. Instead of a set scale or collection of intervals,
Haas explores the following four elements or
approaches to pitch:
1. Overtone chords, often with added notes
2. A 12tet chord made from alternating perfect fourths
and tritones
3. Microtonal clusters
4. Quasi glissandi created from segments of
consecutive 72tet notes

In Limited Approximations, the overtone chord, shown in

gure 6, is usually structured with prime number partials
1-3-5-7-11, with an additional tone that is related to a
secondary root note, the most prevalent being 13/9 and
10/7. A contrasting analysis would be to understand
these additional notes as high partials, the 23rd overtone
in particular, which is approximately an 8th-tone sharp
from a 12tet tritone. Adding secondary 3/2 intervals to
the partials of the overtone series is a recurring idea in
Limited Approximations and shows some similarity to
Sabat’s approach using the Euler lattice, with chains of
3/2 and 5/4 intervals. The second approach to pitch is
the use of a recurring 12tet chord, also shown in gure
6. This harmony is structured as a repeated pattern of a
tritone followed by a perfect fourth, these intervals
stacked to eventually contain the entire chromatic set of
12tet. Another way of understanding the 12tet chord is
as a tritone interval that repeats at the major 7th, which
complements the idea of stretching and shrinking the
octave that plays a role in this piece and is a
fundemantal aspect of spectral thinking in general.
Figure 6: JI chord and 12tet chord
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 12tet and overtone-based approaches to tuning
are not mutually exclusive and are often elided
and superimposed in Limited Approximations. A
combination of the overtone chord with 12tet
harmonies reminiscent of the Second Viennese
School constitutes an important feature of Haas’s
harmonic language, as can be heard in his violin
concerto (1998), in vain (2000), Blumenstück
(2000), and many other works. Haas discusses his
interest in the clashing of different tuning systems
within a single work, even mentioning the chord
structure speci cally used in Limited
Approximations, stating “the contrast between
temperament (in my case mostly tritone- fth and
tritone-fourth chords) and the overtone series was
to exercise my mind in many of my compositions
over the next thirty years.”12 The third pitch
element, microtonal clusters, is de ned as a group
of at least two notes heard simultaneously where

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Approximations, stating “the contrast between
temperament (in my case mostly tritone- fth and
tritone-fourth chords) and the overtone series was
to exercise my mind in many of my compositions
over the next thirty years.”12 The third pitch
element, microtonal clusters, is de ned as a group
of at least two notes heard simultaneously where
the intervals between adjacent notes are smaller
than a semitone. The microtonal clusters in this
work are mainly used to explore the perception of
interval versus pitch bandwidth in different
registers, which will be considered in depth in
chapter 2.3 on orchestration. The fourth and nal
approach to pitch is the multi-instrument glissandi,
which are realized through shifts in pitch by 12th-
tone increments. This technique involves
dovetailing single pitches in a sequence where
adjacent pitches are raised or lowered by a twelfth
of a tone from one to the next. This technique
provides the illusion of a glissando as a result of
the slightness of the incremental changes in pitch.
This technique can be heard in one of its most
salient forms at m. 57 of Limited Approximations,
shown in gure 7, where the pianos pass off
octave tremolandi in rising twelfth-tone increments.

Figure 7: Limited Approximations, quasi glissandi

at m. 57
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