Hubert Howe

Fixed Media

Composer's Note:

Like my other Harmonic Fantasies, this one is pure overtone music, where the partials of all notes are specified individually, in two ways: either they fade in and out over the course of the note, or they are attacked separately. What is different about this work is that it is in 19-tone equal temperament.

I have studied 19-tone temperament, and there are so many more harmonies than there are in 12-tone temperament that the challenge is daunting. But there is only one set of 19-tone pentachords that contain all (19-tone) intervals, and the piece is organized around using these in all primary spots.

At the beginning of the piece, only higher overtones are used, so that the listener does not hear any of the fundamentals until 1:53 into the piece. After that, for the next couple of minutes, the only partials used are those that support the local harmony, so you get a sense of these 19-tone chords that are used. After 3:47, all partials of the tones are used, so you begin to hear complex timbre changes. At 4:25, the partials begin to be attacked separately, and this continues and intensifies over the next few minutes until a climax is reached at about 6:40. Then the sustaining instrument is reintroduced, and the piece concludes.

The piece was written in July, 2024 in a hotel room in Vienna, Austria, but revised after I got home. The piece was synthesized by the Csound program.

This is an archival item from ACA's catalog, and not currently available for purchase.