Microtonal Fugue in A

@Henry Ng Tsz Kiu and I brainstormed a little bit about what I could write next to give me a small diversion from my giant variations project.  We decided that I could write another microtonal piece.  I have written microtonal inventions before, so now I tried my hand at a microtonal fugue.  It's a 4-voice fugue for string quartet and I tried to very scarcely use the microtones, only opting for occasional microtonal passing tones and sub-minor 3rds here and there.  Nonethless, I think the piece retains a different microtonal flavor to it, but let me know what you think!  I'd appreciate any observations, suggestions, critiques or comments!  Thanks for listening!

Wow, I guessed I have listened 3 times in a row to start to understand the piece😆 I enjoy the piece!

I love the development at m. 13-17, where the Violin I giving a slight breath to rest, with the ascending melody, from the ever-descending motive.

FIguratively, it would be like a nightmare where you try to do sth but never succeeding each time - pick something up and something missing😅

Btw, what notation software are you using? I kinda like the shifting sound and quality of the solo strings in the recording. 

Hi @HoYin Cheung and thanks for your review!

4 hours ago, HoYin Cheung said:

Btw, what notation software are you using? I kinda like the shifting sound and quality of the solo strings in the recording. 

Thanks!  I used Musescore Studio 4 and Musesounds for all the solo strings in this piece.  As can be seen in the score, I fussed around a lot with the dynamics in order to bring the different contrapuntal lines in and out of the foreground throughout the piece.  Thanks for listening and commenting!

18 hours ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

@Henry Ng Tsz Kiu and I brainstormed a little bit about what I could write next to give me a small diversion from my giant variations project. 

What's funny is you keep writing short microtonal pieces to give yourself a break from a large project, but the amount of pieces as a collection is kind of a large project too 😄 

This is cool, I think I've mentioned how much better your microtonal stuff sounds with strings versus harpsichord. This had such a "melting beauty" type of sound to me. The chromatics helped, but the 3 note pitch cell's descent or ascension maybe made me feel that way. Clever writing, I like 🙂 

I also really like the mix, you've gotten really good at that!

Nice job, Peter

Microtones work a lot better with strings because it just makes it sounds like the performers are slurring their notes. Funny how the whole piece is this eerie mood (bec of the microtones), but then you end in a major key. I love the part from 0:44 to 0:47. It's beautiful to my ears! Well done, you're nailing microtones in a way that makes the listening a fun experience.