Microtonality Miniatures

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

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/

Connect with Whimsically Macabre on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WhimsicallyMacabreMusic/

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

Whimsically Macabre recordings: https://whimsicallymacabre.bandcamp.com/
(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.

Connect with Whimsically Macabre on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WhimsicallyMacabreMusic/

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

Polyrhythms for Pianists book (both digital and hardcopy): https://pianopronto.com/composers-community/stacy-fahrion/stacy-fahrion-polyrhythms-for-pianists/

Whimsically Macabre recordings: https://whimsicallymacabre.bandcamp.com/
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.

Connect with Whimsically Macabre on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WhimsicallyMacabreMusic/

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.