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Elena Sokolovski

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Mathematical Music

As already mentioned, one of the forms of the students’ creative work on mathematical music was the arrangement of previously written pieces for another instrumental ensemble. This form of work was very fascinating for the students, since the original text of the pieces changed significantly during the transcriptions, especially in terms of musical form, texture, rhythm, and even more of timbre. This is how the piano Scherzo (first version) was transcribed for an ensemble of percussion instruments and piano (second version).

Mathematical music as a new means of developing compositional skills

The Eleventh Essay

The new version of the scherzo also required other changes. They touched upon the harmonic language of the piece and some of the melodic phrases, especially in the reprise. The middle of the piece also underwent some alterations – the students introduced separate sounds, which slightly changed the sound line set by the computer, as well as additional measures, and reduced the tempo. As a result, the contrast between the sections became even greater, and the figurative structure of the piece was enriched with new features.

As mentioned above, in some similar cases (for example, in the second version of the Waltz), S. Filatov-Beckman did not object to these minor changes, since he saw this as a further development of the creative imagination of the young musicians. S. Filatov-Beckman’s methodology was aimed precisely at ensuring that the young musicians, initially strictly following the conditions for handling a computer sound line, would gradually develop their creative imagination and step by step build up the experience of composing music, gaining more and more freedom in their compositions. In all the essays, this idea was conveyed repeatedly.

The arrangement of the piano version of the scherzo turned out to be very successful. The timbres of percussion instruments in combination with the timbre of the piano well embodied the figurative-genre nature of the music, revealing swiftness and some mystery with an ominous tinge. We adduce the musical example and the sound recording of the piece.

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One of the significant student works was another new version of the piece “Waltz”, which already had two piano versions. The piece “Waltz” was orchestrated. The students again introduced a number of changes to the piece. The musical form of the Waltz was enriched by a small introduction, links, coda. This collective student work literally flourished with a variety of timbre colors, numerous counterpoints, imitations, significant textural findings; the elements of polytonality appeared.

Comparing the orchestral version of the Waltz with the original and the second enlarged versions, one can see how significantly the skill and creative imagination of the young composers has increased over these years: all three versions of the piece were created by the same group of students during 5 years of study. The students, unfortunately, have not yet managed to organize a live performance of the work, but they managed to make a computer recording of the piece. We recommend listening to all three options and comparing them with each other (examples No. 38, 39, 51).

We present the orchestral version of “Waltz”.

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To be continued...