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Galileo
New articles added.
The tilework series continues, rational harmonies
begin, and listeners receive a test in aural perception
KIRKMAN'S LADIES (2005)
Rational harmonies in three voices, preferably for three flutes, or
solo harp. 10 euros
Thomas Penyngton Kirkman (1806-1895)
In 1847 Reverend Thomas Penyngton Kirkman, an English
pastor who was also an amateur mathematician, proposed several
solutions to this problem:
Fifteen young ladies in a school walk out three abreast for seven days
in succession; it is required to arrange them daily so that no two
shall walk twice abreast. (Ladies and Gentleman's Diary, Query VI, p.48)
His work can be considered the first “block
design,” a subject that was to become a serious study in
combinatorial mathematics. Of course, the discussion quickly grew to
include all sorts of investigations of the possible combinations of
sub-groups within larger groups, and even the original 15-ladies
problem did not end with Kirkman, as mathematicians began to wonder
whether it would be possible for the ladies to continue their daily
walks for a complete semester of 13 weeks, so as to include all 455
possible three-lady combinations, once each. It was not until 1974 that
R. H. F. Denniston of the University of Leicester published a solution,
probably the only one, and thanks to him, I can now give you the music.
Each lady/note appears once in the daily phrases of five chords, each
pair of ladies walks together once a week, and by the end of the 13
weeks, about 13 minutes in musical time, all 455 possible trios of
women have passed by, as have the 455 chords that represent them. I am
particularly indebted to Paul Denny, a computer scientist at the
University of Auckland, whose correspondence helped me to find this
information and to understand it.
I like to imagine my three-note chords played by three flutes, or as a
harp solo, though an interpretation with three oboes, three strings or
one vibraphone might also be just fine, and since the music is really
only notes and numbers, I would not want to prevent one from playing it
on the piano or with some other instruments. We should leave the chords
in this register though, and always keep the ladies clean and pretty.
It seems safe to assume that the sun is always shining - otherwise they
would not be taking walks.
844 CHORDS (2005)
Rational Harmonies in Five Voices for Amplified Ensemble
After some months of work and hundreds of experiments,
the music that finally became 844 Chords was defined with a few
remarkably simple rules: Use only the intervals between the minor third
and the octave. Begin with the five-note chord where the intervals
between the instruments are 3, 4, 5, and 6 semitones, which give a
total of 18 semitones, an octave and a half. Continue with the four
chords having a total of 19 semitones: (4,4,5,6), (3,5,5,6), (3,4,6,6),
and (3,4,5,7) and ask the computer to continue this logic with the 9
chords having a total of 20, the 16 having a total of 21, and so on.
The result was a tonal-atonal mathematical sequence with inevitable
regularity, but at the same time, with continually surprising
juxtapositions and modulations. Sometimes one even hears reappearances
of chromatic harmonies from the era of Franck and Wagner, though their
sensuality is essentially arithmetic rather than emotional. The 136
chords having a sum of 31 bring us to a cadence in G major that seems
to have been prepared for a long time, and I found it unthinkable to
continue the logic beyond this point, chord 844.
At first the piece seemed destined to be for a classical string
quintet, but the energy of the harmonic progressions required a driving
rhythm and a louder sound, so I scored it for two solo lines, guitar,
bass and synthesizer. The piece lasts about 20 minutes.
TRIO
288 three-note chords with sums of 72 (middle C = 24),
preferably for violin, viola, violoncello
score and parts 10 euros
As in all the music in the Rational Harmonies series, I
want to deduce my chords, rather than choosing them according to the
usual musical and esthetic criteria. To compose the Trio I defined a
chromatic scale with notes numbered 0 to 48 and counted all the
combinations of three notes having sums of 72, permitting octave
relationships, but not unisons. Then I found a chain connecting all 288
chords, requiring that each chord have one note in common with each
subsequent chord, the remaining two voices moving by half steps in
contrary motion with no crossing of voices. The performers may wish to
make little glissandos as they move from one chord to the next.
The piece seems best as a trio for violin, viola and cello, with a
tempo of about mm. 40 and a duration of about seven minutes, although
interpreters may transpose and arrange the music in other ways if they
wish. Faster tempos may be tried as well, although it is important that
we hear harmonies and not melodic motion.
TILEWORK Series of Fourteen Solo Pieces
complete series 35 euros, individual pieces 10 euros.
How can different rhythmic patterns be combined in such a way that no
two patterns ever occur simultaneously and every beat is filled?
"Tiling the line" is a subject that Johnson and several mathematicians
have been investigating (see the text from the IRCAM lecture of
February 2002), and the original Tilework series, published in 2003,
consists of 14 pieces for solo instruments, that employ these
techniques: Tilework for Flute, Tilework for Oboe, Tilework for
Clarinet, Tilework for Bassoon, Tilework for Saxophone, Tilework for
Horn, Tilework for Trumpet, Tilework for Trombone, Tilework for Tuba,
Tilework for Percussion Solo, Tilework for Violin, Tilework for Viola,
Tilework for Cello, Tilework for Double Bass.
New pieces of TILEWORK
Tilework for Piano
10 euros
Premiered in June 2004 by John McAlpine, this composition tiles a line
of 15 points with five voices in tempos 7 : 5 : 4 : 2 : 1 and lasts
about 10 minutes. It is a structure known as a “perfect
tiling,” and one may read about this the article about Tom
Johnson's music in the magazine Pour la Science (novembre 2004).
Tilework for String Quartet
score and parts 20 euros
Tilework for String Quartet is a compilation of all the ways one can
tile a line of 12 points by overlapping a single six-note rhythm. The
four musicians play these rhythms in canon for 10 minutes in a rapid
music requiring great precision. The work was premiered in a
KlangAktion concert in Münich in December, 2004.
Tilework for Log Drums
15 euros
Tilework for Log Drums is in seven sections, showing the seven possible
solutions for tiling a line of 18 points with six voices, each voice
inserting three notes in one of five tempos: 1 : 2 : 3 : 4 : 5. I
wanted to hear the music played on log drums mostly because I like the
sound of these instruments, but also because the notes of log drums
tile the playing surface a bit the way the rhythmic tiles cover the
18-beat phrases in this piece. I can imagine the music played as a
virtuoso solo, though the counterpoint will be clearer, and the rhythm
will flow more smoothly, if played by an ensemble of two to six
musicians. The score was originally published as Tilework for Five
Conductors and One Drummer, no longer available.
SAME OR DIFFERENT, for piano
12 euros
After each phrase, the listener is asked to decide whether the two
things heard were the same or different. This test of perception skills
can be presented silently and discreetly, or with vocal audience
participation, or with answer sheets and scores. A commission of VPRO
radio, premiered in Hilversum in 2004 by the Dutch pianist Dante Oei.
About 15 minutes.
In Preparation
360 Chords
Permutations of intervals forming 7-voice chords, for large orchestra, 3333,4331,3,str.
Block Design for Piano
30
minutes of continually changing arpeggios, following a set of
mathematically determined combinations, written for pianist John
McAlpine.
Kleine Choräle für kleines Klavier
Short sequences of rational harmonies, scored for toy piano, written for Isabel Ettenauer.
Galileo
Developed
gradually by the composer/performer since 2001, a score will soon be
available for percussionists who would like to construct their own sets
of five pendulums and work on this 45-minute solo piece.