Streams of Sound: Bregman's auditory stream theory as applied to Ives' "The Housatonic at Stockbridge" from "Three Places in New England"

Hannah Percival, Texas Tech University

Ives' "The Housatonic at Stockbridge" from Three Places in New England is characterized by complex layers of sound depicting flowing streams, which accompany hymn quotations. While the "water layers" are the most prominent feature at first experience, the various layers serve as accompaniment figures for the hymn melodies. These accompaniment layers group together despite differences in melodic and rhythmic content. Bregman's (1990) auditory stream segregation theory provides insight into the perceptual process of grouping these diverse layers. Bregman states that the variety of auditory stimuli striking the eardrum are perceptually grouped into streams of salient information. In this Ives piece, the grouping streams are based on the timbral similarity and pitch proximity. Within layers of similar melodic content, faster rhythmic groupings create different perceptual experiences, as explained by Körte's third law (van Noorden, 1975). Utilizing an approach similar to Iverson's (2011) work, this paper focuses on the internal accompaniment layers as a programmatic backdrop to the hymn quotations. This paper explores the delicate intricacy that is possible in accompaniment layers due to the perceptual construct of auditory streams.