Three bitonal and bimodal short studies

Hi,

One of my goals here is to show we have lots of compositional resources at hand. Of course, many of you know it, and use them. Sometimes I write very short pieces to "test" the effect of one or other harmonic combination. Later on, if I like the results, I take it for composing something more expressive.

In this case, I try to mix the eclesiastic modes (dorian, lydian, eolian, etc...).

When we use two modes at a time = bimodality

When we use two tonal centers at a time = bitonality

When we use two modes and two tonal centers at a time = bimodality + bitonality, which is what I did here.

The piano is perfect for this purpose: one hand one mode in a tonal center, the other hand in different ones.

Of course, every combination is different. I wouldn't say there are better ones, worse ones. Unavoidably, there are clashes here and there, but the task of a composer (even the amateur, like me) is to control them to create relax-tension.

Please, these pieces are not intended to be "beatifullly expressive". They are meant to show the effect of the combination. I wrote them in a few minutes.

Study I = D dorian + C lydian

Study II = D locrian + G mixolydian

Study III = G dorian + A eolian

I always encourage, particularly to amateur composers, to read about this stuff, to explore a little. The musical universe is endless, and it is there to expand our expressive possibilities.

Quick, and really nice! I was a little confused when just listening to the third study, as the 5/8+3/8 rhythm sounded like 4/4 to me, but other than that, these are cool!

Really impressive blend of sonorities! I'm a big fan of pure modal harmony (working on developing a form of "functional modality" for myself) and you balanced the consonances and the dissonances well - I especially liked the interplay of the LH/RH at the end of the second study. As for the 5/8+3/8 measures - I also heard it as 4/4, but in the context for the 5/8+6/8 at the end I guess it makes sense. It might read easier to someone sightreading as the two separate measures. Nice work!

Love these. There is so much to explore in the world of modes, they're quickly becoming one of my favorite tools, especially for creating melodies. I particularly like your use of the locrian mode, by far the least explored territory of the church modes. It is always nice to be reminded that even a relatively experimental palette relies on the principals of tension and release that has always dominated western music.