Monday, September 22, 2014

Diabelli Project 058 - String Trio

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

This week's flash composition is the opening of a string trio. The notes are barred the way they are to show the structure of the motifs. Each part is also written as an isorhythm. This medieval technique has a set sequence of notes and a set rhythmic pattern. The idea is that the notes cycle through the rhythmic pattern. Carefully constructed, this can create a string of variations.


The bass, for example, has a five-note rhythmic pattern: quarter note, eighth, sixteenth, sixteenth, eighth. It also has six-note tonal pattern: G D C F G A. This means that every time the rhythmic pattern repeats, it starts on a different note in the tonal pattern.

So how long does this pattern continue? And does it evolve into a new one? That's up to you. As with all Diabelli Project sketches, you can use all or part of this music as you will. Just let me know the results.

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