Jump to content

Variations on a theme by H. Cowell


Recommended Posts

The announcement of the new competition brought this to my mind.

In fact, only the 4 first measures are by Henry Cowell, and it's not part of a work. It's the start point for an exercise proposed by the author, just to make it polytonal. And so I did (I'll understand it's not for all ears). The idea was to keep the spirit of the choral.

Edited by Luis Hernández
An ametric variation added
MP3
0:00
0:00
PDF
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is really great. I love the fact I can tell the melody through the quarter note triplet figure, while everything cascades to the right cadence. Some of the whole note bars cut the action a little too abruptly sometimes, but I can tell that's a transition. How long did it take you to write this? You'd do well for the fall competition!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great! I think you succeeded in keeping the spirit of the original. In spite of the polytonal language, the music isn't "ugly" to me.

Is this exercise from "New Musical Resources"? I've been wanting to pick that book up for a while, if only I could find an affordable copy. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...