I learned from Stravinsky (by way of David Braid) that a composer (or any artist, really) should outline a list of constraints to breed the creativity needed to realize a work. In freedom, creativity dies and in constraints creativity shall flourish. I have some ideas that I will categorize by their size - I have some small ideas - seedlings, if you will. Some medium sized ideas - mostly generated from the ideas given to me by the students, and then there are large ideas - mostly based on the form of the composition.
As the piece will be based on the 4.37 from the Bhagavad Gita, I took the numbers 4, 3 and 7 and interpreted them in a diatonic context (i.e., in the key of C we would have E, F, and B). I then used these notes to explore harmonic possibilities. One of those possibilities lies in the D harmonic minor scale and its corresponding modes. Another small idea I had comes from the “fire of knowledge” with an emphasis on the word “Fire:” “Fi” = F# and “re” = D and a “fiery” sound being a tremolo that alternates between the two pitches will be used as an effect. Another idea that could be used as a sort of baseline lies in the word “Bhagavad” and interpreting using German notation I would have a baseline of Bb, B A, G, A, (V), A, D. That Bb certainly doesn’t work in the D melodic minor tonality, so I have to reconcile that. One way would be to be selective about my German usage and simply apply it to the “H” alone, rendering a B, B, A, G, A, (V), A, D line. I know that there are other possibilities through transposition, so I will play with that as well.
My next steps are to outline what Eric Whitacre calls “The Golden Brick” or the musical DNA of the piece - a string of notes that outlines the harmonic and melodic possibilities. Next, I have to set up a set of constraints for all musical elements, not just the harmonic ones, which I’ve mostly done at this point (rhythm, duration, melody, harmony, tempi/pulse/meter, timbre, form). That will be tomorrow’s quest!
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