A little piece in 11-limit just intonation.

Grey Skies (11 - Limit Experiment)

Intergalactic Lullaby begins with a brief prolation canon, and is in 7-limit just intonation with lots of syntonic commas(notes that are only 21.51 cents apart). The rhythm is mostly 3 against 4 where the right hand is playing triplets while the left hand is playing 16ths in groups of 6 and 3. 

Composed and performed by Stacy Fahrion for Piano Day 2022 using Pianoteq.

Intergalactic Lullaby in 7-limit Just Intonation

This piece started as a collection of possible improv patterns mostly riffing on ideas from my mentor, Michael Harrison.

Played on Pianoteq using 5-limit Just Intonation.

Tabla is from India by Native Instruments.

Incantation No. 1 in Raga Todi, Ektal - Stacy Fahrion - Piano Day 2023

This is a slightly psychotic big top arrangement of Yellow Dog Blues by Stacy Fahrion. Stacy lives in Denver, and you can find more of her music at WhimsicallyMacabreMusic.blogspot.com. 

Yellow Dog Blues, Whimsically Macabre Circus Clown Playing Piano Version

Whimsically Macabre Piano Solo by Stacy Fahrion

Hickory Dickory Dock

A quiet little anthem for introverts.

Sheet music available here: http://pianopronto.com/stacy-fahrion-awkward-waltz/

Awkward Waltz

Wishing everyone a whimsically macabre Christmas!

He Knows When You're Awake

A new whimsically macabre piano solo released in celebration of Piano Day, March 28th, 2016. (Piano Day is the 88th day of the year.)

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This is the Way

A mysterious, Chopin-esque waltz with a very un-Chopin-like modal middle section.

A Wistful Waltz

Whimsically Macabre's contribution to Piano Day, 2017

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The Rise of the Ingenue - Piano Day 2017

"What a sweet little 'God Bless America' trying to sustain itself over the crazy circus." ~Sara H. 

American Circus Daze begins with four ruffles and flourishes. Chaos ensues.

American Circus Daze

From the album Lullabies for Arachnophobes, now available on Bandcamp! https://whimsicallymacabre.bandcamp.com/album/lullabies-for-arachnophobes

Sheet music for Lullabies for Arachnophobes: https://pianopronto.com/composers-community/stacy-fahrion/stacy-fahrion-lullabies-for-arachnophobes/

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Jumping Spiders

A wise old owl lived in an oak
The more he saw the less he spoke
The less he spoke the more he heard
Why can't we all be like that wise old bird?

A Wise Old Owl

An odd-meter piano solo, mostly in 5/8, with subtle prepared piano sounds.

From the album These Are Odd Times, now available:
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Falling Slowly (for Piano Day 2018)

This piece is from the album Lullabies for Arachnophobes, available on Bandcamp: whimsicallymacabre.bandcamp.com

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from A Midsummer Night's Dream:
Philomel, with melody
Sing in our sweet lullaby.
Lulla, lulla, lullaby, lulla, lulla, lullaby.	
Never harm
Nor spell nor charm
Come our lovely lady nigh.
So good night, with lullaby.

Weaving spiders, come not here.
Hence, you long-legged spinners, hence.

Long-Legged Spinners

A piece in 5/4 that uses different versions of only two chords, F and GbMaj7/Bb. It also has 2 different 4-note isomelodies over the repeating 5-note accompaniment pattern that eventually combine into an 8-note isomelody.

The title is a phrase from The Listing Attic, by Edward Gorey.

Sheet music for many other Whimsically Macabre pieces, including These Are Odd Times and Lullabies for Arachnophobes: https://pianopronto.com/composers-community/stacy-fahrion/

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Thanks for listening!

A Strange, Overpowering Feeling - Whimsically Macabre

Just a simple arrangement of Silent Night with a few subtle reharmonizations. 

Sorry, this piece isn't whimsical or macabre. :)

Sheet music for this arrangement is available here: https://pianopronto.com/composers-community/stacy-fahrion/stacy-fahrion-silent-night/

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Silent Night - Arranged By Stacy Fahrion

This piece starts out mostly normal, staying close to Stephen Foster's piece, but then something goes awry and it suddenly ends up in the parallel minor. Beautiful Dreamer was originally published in 1864, a few months after Stephen Foster's death at the age of 37.

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Lyrics by Stephen Foster: 
Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,
Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee;
Sounds of the rude world, heard in the day,
Lull'd by the moonlight have all pass'd away!
Beautiful dreamer, queen of my song,
List while I woo thee with soft melody;
Gone are the cares of life's busy throng,
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!
Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me!

Beautiful dreamer, out on the sea
Mermaids are chanting the wild lorelie;
Over the streamlet vapors are borne,
Waiting to fade at the bright coming morn.
Beautiful dreamer, beam on my heart,
E'en as the morn on the streamlet and sea;
Then will all clouds of sorrow depart,
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

Beautiful Dreamer- Whimsically Macabre Version

“The one close to me now,
even my own body-
these too
will soon become clouds,
floating in different directions.” 
~ Izumi Shikibu

Piano solo composed for Piano Day 2019: www.pianoday.org

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Impermanence

Impermanence - Piano Day 2019

Sheet music for this arrangement: https://pianopronto.com/composers-community/stacy-fahrion/stacy-fahrion-patapan/

Patapan - Arranged By Stacy Fahrion

"Closed in a room, my imagination becomes the universe, and the rest of the world is missing out.” ~Criss Jami

Dance of Avoidance is a piece that explores 2 against 3 & 3 against 4 polyrhythms. Composed and performed by Stacy Fahrion for Piano Day 2020.

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Dance Of Avoidance - by Stacy Fahrion

I have deep respect for Joshua Trinidad and his music, and I'm excited to share this collaboration. Isolation features non-retrogradable/palindromic rhythms in the right hand of the piano part. The outer sections are in 5/4, and the middle section is in 9/8, in case you like to know such things.

Find out more about Joshua Trinidad here: https://joshuatrinidad.com/

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“Over time as most people fail the survivor's exacting test of trustworthiness, she tends to withdraw from relationships. The isolation of the survivor thus persists even after she is free.” ~Judith Lewis Herman

Isolation - with Joshua Trinidad, trumpet

A little improv in Pythagorean tuning by Stacy Fahrion. I'm currently using the free trial version of Pianoteq. It's an amazing program, and so far I actually love the creative limitations it imposes by leaving certain black keys out.

D Phrygian improvisation in 5/4 with 3-limit tuning by Stacy Fahrion

The cycle in the LH is 5+6+7+6+5, and the RH is playing a 3 over 5 polyrhythm.

Meditation on Time (29-beat pattern In G Dorian)

Now that I'm exploring microtonality I spend time deciding new things like whether or not the 2nd should be 10/9 or 9/8. 10/9 seemed a bit too mellow, so I went for 9/8.

D Minor 5-limit miniature with 9:8 E

5:4 with some 7-limit cubes

Exuberance is beauty." ~William Blake (one of the more perplexing phrases from Proverbs of Hell)

A few days ago, I programmed Michael Harrison's 7-limit Revelation tuning into Pianoteq using Scala, and I feel like I could spend years just experimenting with this particular tuning. I began by playing excerpts of his gorgeous, mind-blowing piece, Revelation, and then veered off into improvising with the tuning a bit. This is the first thing I came up with, and Michael Harrison's tuning is really what makes it sound cool. At the very least, it's fun to play. 

Find out more about Michael Harrison and his music here: https://www.michaelharrison.com/
Find out more about Michael Harrison and his music here: https://www.michaelharrison.com/

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Whimsically Macabre Sheet music, including my recent book, Polyrhythms for Pianists: https://pianopronto.com/composers-community/stacy-fahrion/

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(Watch for my album, Polyrhythmic Pieces for Piano, coming very soon!)

Exuberance (7-limit Revelation tuning)

Floating uses Paul Johnson's 11-limit Janus lattice, but I didn't play any of the 11-limit notes, so this is really a 7-limit piece. It's in E Phrygian/mostly E minor pentatonic, and the left hand pattern is 11 beats throughout.

Recorded on Modartt Pianoteq Steinway D.

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Polyrhythmic Pieces for Piano album coming soon!

Floating (7-limit subset of 11-limit)

This piece is loosely based on a korvai that BC Manjunath taught in the 2020 International Rhythm Course. The left hand is consistently a 5-beat pattern, while the right hand is doing its own thing. 

The tuning is The Janus Scale, the same 11-limit tuning from Paul Johnson that I used for my last piece, Floating, but this piece is centered a tritone away on B-flat instead of E. Since it's called The Janus Scale, I wanted to write a contrasting piece to pair with Floating. 

During this pandemic, I've been very fortunate to be able to study with teachers like BC Manjunath, Jacob Adler, Michael Harrison, and Ned McGowan, who all encourage their students to explore. I wrote this piece as a final project for Jacob Adler's microtonality crash course, and also in preparation for taking part in the continuation of the International Rhythm Course.

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Whimsically Macabre Sheet music: https://pianopronto.com/composers-community/stacy-fahrion/

Polyrhythms for Pianists book: https://pianopronto.com/composers-community/stacy-fahrion/stacy-fahrion-polyrhythms-for-pianists/

Whimsically Macabre recordings: https://whimsicallymacabre.bandcamp.com/
(Polyrhythmic Pieces for Pianists album coming soon!)

Khanda Etude in 11-limit Janus tuning

Stacy Fahrion is a composer-pianist and educator based in Colorado, and is currently creating music in just intonation that frequently features polyrhythms, polymeters, and isorhythm.

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