Friday, May 31, 2013

4.) Raison d'être May 31, 2013


Continued experimentation with a few of Messiaen's techniques.  The three voices are composed of three transpositions of the fifth mode of limited transposition.   Then there are three repetitions of this theme that make use of rhythmic augmentation, followed by a recapitulation of the original statement.  In each of the middle repetitions, I added the same amount of total value to each voice, so that the voices would stagger, and then line up together again at the end.  I'm not sure how crazy I am about the result, but I am satisfied with the experiment.

I put space for improvisation between each repetition, creating a rondo form of sorts.  I've done this before in other pieces and the challenge is to make it flow as a whole.  Sometimes this kind of form sounds chopped up, but it seemed natural to give it a try again here.  

Raison d'être means "Reason to Be", and that's something that I always seem to think about this time of year.  I think people generally use this phrase in reference to their muse.  I'm thinking about it in terms of my life's purpose.   Spring is a lovely time, but it can also hang you up the most.  Ever year I find myself wondering if I'm doing the right thing, and if I'm on the right path, probably because it seems difficult to work this time of year.   I'm ready to relax, ready to travel a bit, and I'm definitely ready for the ocean.  But nonetheless, forward I must go.  

4 comments:

  1. I really like this one a lot. Keep working, ignore the sun. ;-)

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  2. Hey everyone. Sorry, I had the wrong setting on the PDF score. It should be viewable by all now. Thanks for checking it out.

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  3. Dear Jesse, unfortunately the mp3 file is damaged or something. Can't get the whole composition to listen.

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    1. Thanks for the heads up, Leobard. I think I fixed it. Let me know if you still have problems. Thanks for checking out the project!

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