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RE: Classical Musical Exploration: The Alternative Tuning and Just Intonation of Ben Johnston
I can't do a lot but listen (and I'm long overdue to be laughed on a TV show due to a candid camera that somehow got smuggled into my car) however it seems from my experience that a lot of the really serious composers and players have a good ability in math.
That clip has some parts near the beginning that are very entrancing. I've never heard anything like it. It makes me remember way too long ago when I was first introduced to syncopation and how different that was from anything I'd previously heard.
Are you a closeted car singer? Is that what you're saying? We'll have to talk to Doug about sneaking a camera in with you.
Johnston really gets into some crazy syncopated rhythms in his piano pieces.
Here's one with 6 over 5 polyrhythms (another way of putting your performer through some pretty brutal paces!) Parts of it make for pretty challenging listening, and other parts are absolutely entrancing - like melodious rain hitting the roof. (The whole thing is only a few minutes long.)
That is pretty powerful stuff. A lot of layers. The first part of this piece is so like rain - one of my favorite sounds. I love the unpredictability of the music. It takes some serious concentration to listen to properly so I can't even imagine how challenging it is to play.
When the music transitions about 1/3 of the way in it reminds me a bit of something I saw on TV a long time ago. The TV special's music left an impression on me at the time. The dance (it's hard to remember well but I think it was ballet) was something about a puppet with broken strings. I loved the correlation of the music and the way the dancer portrayed the broken toy that was uncoordinated and uncontrolled.
P.S. I deny all accusations of car singing and want to call my lawyer. 😉