Program note

“Teal” is one of a series of pieces I wrote in 2007 studying one method of achieving the effect of a continuous harmonic change from one diatonic collection to the next. The method involves separating the music by pitch class. Each pitch class is attacked repeatedly at varying time intervals. When the particular pitch class is being attacked frequently, it feels like an important chord tone. When it is being attacked infrequently, it sounds like an “out note” or passing tone. I use the rhythmic gesture of a written-out ritardando to make pitches less prominent, and an accelerando to do the opposite. So for example, the key C minor is established by having the C’s in the piece (and E-flats and G’s, etc.) played more and more frequently, until they dominate the texture.

“Teal” is my seventh piece to employ this technique for shifting harmony. The title is the name of a color which is generally thought of as a blend of two more concrete colors. This is the effect heard when the music is in transit between harmonies.

Performances