Perpetually Descending Double Dodecaphonic Canon for String Quartet and Keyboard.

Based on two dodecaphonic dodecaphonic series, the first of which was inspired on the same procedure employed by the main dodecaphonic series in Anton Webern's Op. 28 String Quartet (quite a remarkable tone row which can be subdivided both into three identical tetrachords and the same four trichords corresponding to each of the four transformations (original, inverted retrograde, inverted, and retrograde respectively)), this perpetually descending double canon combines both tone rows at different pitches and entry points, perfectly calculated to limit the amount of clashing dissonances (such as major 7ths or minor 2nds).

The main difference between the first tone row and the one which inspired it is the fact it can be divided into four identical trichords, like in the case of Webern's own, but the fact that the jumping interval is a perfect fourth instead of a minor third as in the original means it cannot be divided into three identical tetrachords, nor can it be arranged so that one of them forms Bach's signature motif, which Webern specifically places at the beginning of his own series, perhaps as a reference, homage or even a tribute to Master Sebastian.

Even though the successive iterations (each one full step downwards from the previous one, covering the octave in a whole-tone scale pattern) could theoretically continue ad infinitum, for example, if using techniques such as Shepard tone, they are supposed to stop once a full octave downwards from the original entry has been covered when played with real instruments, with a tonal-sounding cadence added at the end to give a greater sense of resolution.

Enjoy!

YouTube video link: 

Hello
Sounds fantastic. A good example of a material deriving into something else very different.

Hey Pabio @Fugax Contrapunctus,

I really love this and your trying to employ your already perfected counterpoint to other style of music. Although I have read from Taruskin's Music History book that counterpoint without tonality would be not too meaningful without the rules for dissonances and its resolution, but it is clearly not correct here. Given your ultimate care for preventing clashing dissonances, I find this one actually quite melodious and even tonal, or at least pan-tonal. It definitely reminds me of the great Fugue in the 1st movement of Bartok's Music for Strings. Like you said the music can go on and on, and I would prefer a non-tonal sound ending actually! Thx for sharing!

Henry

Hello @Fugax Contrapunctus!

I like the idea of this piece but I personally would do a few things differently if it were mine to make it more expressive and bring out its best features.  The thing that bothers me most about it right now as-is is that the tempo it's played at and the fact that the piano starts it soon makes the individual voices hard to hear and instead ends up sounding like a sequence of chords metronomically and mechanically performed.  I think if it were played slower and with the piano removed it would bring out its best features of being a really great and haunting chromatic canon!  The other reason that this would work better (in my opinion) is that the listener would then be able to absorb the melodic material without immediately being interrupted with the stretto-like canonic treatment that you employ in the piano part.  Of course, you're the composer and I don't expect you to make these changes, but I thought I'd mention my rationale behind why I'd want it this way anyway for any benefit that it could possibly impart to you in the future.  But I thoroughly enjoyed this canon - thanks for sharing!