Recursion is the process of repeating something in a self-similar way. That is, repeating a thing in a way that’s exactly or approximately similar to a part of itself.  The whole has the same shape as one or more of the parts. In this case of this piece, the “thing” is an amount of musical time. Recursion is presented to the musicians using a graphic score. It shows a seven note melody plotted onto a series of circles, one large one, two half the size of the first inside the large one, and down smaller and smaller. The musicians are to take this image and interpret it by playing the notes a many different speeds which are all related to each other in a self-similar way. It is meant only to be a starting point for an improvisation and not a formal structure for the entire piece.

Recursion

Tate Carson