| Composition Year | 2019 |
|---|---|
| Genre Categories | Fantasias; For 2 violins, viola, cello; Scores featuring the violin; |
Complete Score
*#563599 - 0.29MB, 12 pp. - (-) - !N/!N/!N - 123×⇩ - MarkGotham
PDF typeset by composer
MarkGotham (2019/3/4)
|  |
| Work Title | Fantasia on a Pulse |
|---|---|
| Alternative. Title | |
| Composer | Gotham, Mark |
| I-Catalogue NumberI-Cat. No. | IMG 15 |
| Year/Date of CompositionY/D of Comp. | 2019 |
| First Performance. | 2019/03/02 |
| Dedication | For the Fitzwilliam String Quartet on the occasion of its 50th Anniversary: 2.3.2019 |
| Average DurationAvg. Duration | 7 minutes |
| Composer Time PeriodComp. Period | Modern |
| Piece Style | Modern |
| Instrumentation | 2 violins, viola, cello |
Purcell’s Fantasia Upon One Note has captured the imagination of many subsequent composers, even acting as a specific inspiration and model for pieces by Sally Beamish, Elliot Carter, and Oliver Knussen among others. The most striking feature of Purcell’s work is second-to-lowest part which plays the eponymous ‘one note’ – a middle C – repeated every bar throughout.
Fantasia Upon a Pulse is based on a transcription of the first phrase of Purcell’s Fantasia into the rhythms. The skeleton of the new work comprises the pitches of Purcell’s original harmonies set in a proportional relationship according to the harmonic ratios involved. For instance, the major chord in root position gives the proportion 4:5:6 – a relatively simply proportion. As Purcell’s harmonies become more complex, so too do the new rhythmic relationships.
Fantasia Upon a Pulse grows out of that core structure, redistributing elements, and adding ‘free’ parts based on the same structural principles. You could think of this piece as a kind of extreme close-up: a new look at a well-known object, revealing an uneven surface belied by the more familiar view from a distance.
