The Morphology and Meaning of Time: An Analysis of John Chowning’s “Sabelithe” Using the UST Method
Junsong Guo, Yudan Wang, Wenwen Zhang · International Theory and Practice in Humanities and Social Sciences · 2025
This paper employs the Unités Sémiotiques Temporelles (UST) method to systematically analyze John Chowning's computer music composition “Sabelithe (1971)” . By identifying and interpreting the various USTs present in the piece, the study explores how Chowning utilizes these temporal morphologies to shape the work's structure, tension, and expressiveness. Despite being composed of synthetic timbres, the piece embodies temporal semantics and dramaticism comparable to any traditional composition. This research confirms the effectiveness of the UST method in analyzing electroacoustic music and provides a new perspective for understanding Chowning’s compositional ideas.