12 Variations in S-Mode (Armstrong, Peter McKenzie)

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Synthesized/MIDI

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 * *****WORK INFO*****


 * Work Title=12 Variations in S-Mode
 * Alternative Title=
 * Opus/Catalogue Number=
 * Key=Synthetic mode on C
 * Number of Movements/Sections=15 short sections:
 * Intro
 * Theme
 * Vars. 1-12
 * Coda


 * Average Duration=3 minutes
 * Dedication=Ellen
 * First Performance=
 * Year/Date of Composition=1971
 * Year of First Publication=
 * Librettist=
 * Language=
 * Piece Style=Modern
 * Instrumentation=Piano solo
 * Tags=variations ; pf


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COMPOSITION NOTES
This student work, written at Yale in 1971 for Alexander Goehr's seminar, was my first experiment with synthetic modes. I built a heptatonic scale having two augmented 2nds, keyboard symmetry, and a leading tone at the "wrong" end. Respelled here for convenience:


 * C  C#   D#   E   G   G#   A   (C).

I decided to use as well, separately or in combination, its pentatonic compliment,


 * A#  B   D   F   Gb.

Variations offered a likely compositional way to proceed, and Beethoven's 32 in C-Minor, which I was playing at the time, inspired a dare to make my theme short.


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