GENESIS SUITE - Plainsong & Antiphon

[david n. siegel]

An experimental suite - not yet finished!

The most well-known form of Plainsong is the Gregorian Chant (MacGregorian chant?). I hope I have done this beautiful form of music justice here. The return to the E in each bar is deliberate.

This Plainsong will be played by a solo piper, with the band coming in on the next, the Antiphonic part.

An Antiphon is a classic Question & Answer form of choral music, with the choir split between two sides of the hall. One side sings the "question," and the other sings the "answer."

Here, the 1,3,5 etc. bars are the "question" phrases, and the 2,4,6 etc. bars are the "answer" phrases. Rather than start and stop two groups of pipers, I foresee a light, delicate use of the snare on the "answer" bars to give the desired impression of a reply.

The last bar in each part is the "resolution" phrase.

I use a "splash" harmony on the long notes--three notes together.

ADDED NOTE: Since sharper and flatter chanter tunings affect the chords to some extent (esp. use of High G, and D), I am still not certain on this.

As said, a work in progress.

Thanks for listening,
-David.

[awpiper]

The only word that comes to mind is WOW!.....Very ominous tune.....I can think of about 20 tunes to go with it right now.....I can't wait to see what else you add to it!.....As normal David....Very nice chune!
Mark

[Aaronjw]

Wow, that's lovely! What are your rules about other people playing your tunes in public?