a piece I worked on from 2018-2021. the main thematic element is a rhythmic pattern that occurred in only one bar of the drum score to Frank Zappa's "Approximate" (1974) using a quintuplet and sextuplet of eight notes nested in a triplet of quarter notes. The composition process was inspired by certain ideas of Arnold Schoenberg, like non-repeating "developing variation" and his early tonal experimentations with atonalism (Op. 3, 4).

An Imitation of the Profound, Followed by Another Attempt at Approximating Movement

Out of all the musical styles I create, this way of singing seems to be the most unmediated raw expression of my soul. Both the language as well as the notation are a convergence of spiritual and cultural influences that have become individuated in me throughout my life. Like all my art, this song should not be perceived as a final stamp on my aesthetic development. It is an honest pebble in the great journey of becoming that can only arrive through its constant arrival. This is a surfacing of a certain convergence. It should be received that way.

An Imitation of the Profound, Followed by Another Attempt at Approximating Movement

John Bagby

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Lucien Dante Lazar

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