By Nary was composed and premiered in Urbana, Illinois in 1987. Written for alto flute, trombone, custom-built chimes and piano, each octave of the piano is tuned to the first twelve prime-numbered partials {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37} in relation to a fundamental of "A". The chimes are tuned to the next six prime-numbered partials {41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61}. One aspect of this tuning system is audible difference tones, or lower pitches produced by two or more higher pitches. Another attribute is that, excepting octave transposition, no distances between any two notes are exactly the same. Meant to resist, and at the same time acknowledge, tendencies to dichotomy and traveling in pairs, the work is organized as duets, occurring both in series and parallel, that self-destruct, atrophy, or transform. These smaller formal components constitute two macrocosmic sections that divide the whole composition. The first is based on gradually expanding and contracting intervals. The second presents overtone relationships relative to fundamentals (always "A") that change by octave displacement.
credits
from A Still Subtler Spirit,
released September 15, 2003
Donnie Ashworth, alto flute
Doug Bristol, trombone
Kurt Carpenter, conductor
Gene Fambrough, handmade chimes and piano strings
Kevin Grigsby, piano
Monroe Golden is a composer from rural Alabama whose works explore microtonal systems, described by critics as “delightfully
disorienting,” “lovely, sumptuous, yet arcane,” and “irresistible music, full of wit and beauty.” There are two prior dedicated audio releases of his music: A Still Subtler Spirit (Living Artist Recordings, 2003), and Alabama Places (innova Recordings, 2007)....more
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