'Correntandemente' for ensemble (16 players), duration c.11 minutes.
- Submitting institution
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Royal College of Music
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- 26
- Type
- J - Composition
- Month
- -
- Year
- 2015
- URL
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https://www.babelscores.com/catalogs/instrumental/4279-correntandemente-running-ly-ish
- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
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- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
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-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- My aim was to explore the potential for new hierarchies in harmonic and tonal method and examine their potential for generating an innovative grammar of harmonic tension and release; to find a means to use recognisably ‘tonal’ and triadic material but free from the unthinking use of conventional tonal practice. The initial impetus came from an analysis I had made of Magnus Lindberg’s Corrente. (My title pays homage to that!) My first step was to move away from what I felt to be constrained harmonic stasis (Lindberg) and to generate a more liberated and flexible sense of forward momentum, not merely by rhythmic means but also by re-introducing the idea of ‘passing’ or ‘non-essential’ notes (and by extension harmonies and rhythms). I therefore limited my fundamental harmony to sequences of triads (major/minor/quartal/diadic/diminished/augmented) my melody to a single line of (usually five-note) motifs (in what I termed ‘major’ and ‘minor’ versions) and my rhythm to a single isorhythmic ‘talea’ which might speed up or slow down but which always maintained the same fundamental sequence of ratios. I then considered deviation from these as they moved from one to another, to be ‘non-essential’ and played with the tensions that resulted as my musical intuition pulsed between adherence (to these fundamental patterns) and digression. The result opposed periods of movement against those of (relative) stasis each highlighting the different approaches taken to harmonic pacing and structural rhythm. The tonal fluidity at which I had aimed seemed evident and I was satisfied that I had achieved a degree of impulse which was at least in part generated by purely harmonic means. First performed at the RCM, Correntandemente was selected for performance at the Beijing Modern Music Festival at the ISCM World Music Days May 2018.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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