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Dodecaphonic Etude I (2009)
for piano
This piano piece is the first part in a series of dodecaphonic works for various instruments. Aside from Webern's Opp. 25 and 27
there are very few dodecaphonic pieces I like. Dodecaphony naturally attracts contrapuntal writing and/or the tendency to bend
the rules of the system in order to give the composer more freedom. This renders the vast majority of dodecaphonic pieces extremely
predictable and unattractive. I've composed dozens of works trying to break free from both tendencies and achieve aesthetically
pleasing results, and this series of etudes comprises the more successful of these works.
The etude in question is program music. The normal version of the row is stated several times in the bass, every time in a different
way. These repetitions summon the inversion, which appears in the top voice and distorts the texture, then dissolves the entire piece.
After a final statement of the row that spans a wider range than before, and a long pause, the piece ends with the first eight notes
of the row compressed into a single chord. The quote before the score comes from Virginia Woolf's The Waves, but the actual wording
is from Jean-Luc Godard's late short, Dans le noir du temps.
PDF score
Audio:
– MP3