Leaderboard

Since this is in essence a revised version of my earlier Enharmonic Perpetual Canon No. 3, whose single contrapuntal flaw replicated across all voices required a modification of an octave leap which ultimately ended up necessitating a transposition of the whole canon a perfect fourth higher, I decided to change the title of the entire series thus far to "Pantonal Perpetual Canons", as the previous title didn't quite serve as an accurate descriptor of the technicalities within the compositional process that gave rise to these pieces. Due to the necessary integral transposition of this work, however, the coda's newly resulting ending key (F-sharp/G-flat major), the only key along with its relative D-sharp/E-flat minor that displays an equal number of accidentals when enharmonized, far too many inconsistencies relating to the enharmonization of melodic intervals can be found in this version. Normally I would have managed to transcribe the melodic theme across all its internal transpositions in a way capable of satisfying apparent melodic continuity throughout the notation process, but due to the ambivalent quality of this key when it comes to enharmonization, not even the coda could be perfectly transcribed without far too many double accidentals. As such, as much as it irks me to see it like this, I have had no choice but to leave the currently notated version of this canon as is. The choral lyrics of this canon (once again, in Latin) translate as follows: "Change is inevitable in all things. Everything flows in the balance of those who are tempestive." As for the coda, its own lyrics further drive the meaning of these aphorisms to greater clarity and realization. YouTube video link:

I tried

Lovely ... so well crafted~! Mark

Hello @Fugax Contrapunctus! I really enjoyed listening to your revised canon, as it sounds very harmonious and has a constant flow that could perhaps go on forever, musically underscoring the lyrics. As reading your introduction, I see how much effort you’ve invested to make the piece what it ultimately is, and that you have dealt with the challenges to finally find a satisfactory enharmonic notation that is both harmonically correct and easy to read, so I have not gone into detail about your score. Surprisingly, although the rhythmic texture consists of only a few motifs that are repeated dozens, if not hundreds, of times as they move through the voices and instruments, it is not boring, but illuminates the theme from so many different angles until it reaches the coda, which initially introduces more tension and finally resolves. In this context, I am reminded of Bach's D major fugue from WTC2, BWV 874, which also repeats its short fugue subject extensively. Now for some thoughts that should be understood not as criticism but as questions I am asking myself: Your canons, especially this one, are magnificent examples of how contrapuntal imitation techniques can be brought to absolute perfection. However, I am not sure whether a cycle of, say, six or twelve such canons would be presentable in a live performance for an audience other than a highly educated one. For such a purpose, I could imagine that the canons should alternate with “less demanding” pieces, such as fugues, chorales, etc. (That could also be the reason why The Art of Fugue contains only two canons, as far as I remember ...)