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Divertimento for String Ensemble, Op. 19 - I. Invention


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With this piece, I wanted to explore the application of the five classical canons of rhetoric to music. These canons serve as an inspiration in some way to each of the movements; here, the first -- invention -- has its own form, and it also relates to "invention" in the musical sense, i.e. two-part counter-point (section F). It is also the literal act of producing material that can be used later in the work; I am still working on the following movements. Let me know your thoughts! 

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Very cool!  I love the almost hypnotic repetition of your main theme.  Listening to this without looking at the score I did not detect this feature of this piece but you seem to constantly play around with/manipulate the weak and strong beats at the resolution of the 8th note.  Like Tchaikovsky's Pizzicato Ostinato movement in his 4th Symphony or Stravinsky's F# major Etude from opus 7, you seem to shift your rhythms by an 8th note and stress the weak beats but you seem to do this in such a consistent way that the weak beats actually become the strong beats and no syncopation actually occurs.  I am puzzled by why composers do this as it seems to create no detectable difference in the performance as long as the performers realize what is happening and play it with the correct beats stressed.  But why would you write it that way instead of the simpler alternative of placing the strong beats where they belong and then adding in an 1/8 measure where appropriate?  Very cool piece but if you could answer that question I'd be really grateful!  Thanks for sharing!

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