JOHN GRESCHAK
PENTOMINOES
for flute, trumpet and cello
(1998)
8:38
Program Notes
The musical material for this piece was derived from the
mathematical properties of
pentominoes.
Melodic Phrases
Form
Musical Characteristics
Counterpoint
Melodic Phrases
In this piece, melodic phrases are derived from the shape of the boundary
of a
pentomino.
The boundary is traveled in a counter-clockwise direction
beginning from the bottom left corner. A note is generated for each
line segment on the boundary. The duration of the note is proportional
to the length of the line segment. The pitch of the note is a function of the
distance from the leading endpoint of the line segment to the
centroid
of the pentomino. Endpoints that are closer to the centroid generate a higher
pitch.
Form
This piece has 4 sections.
The first and last sections are based upon isolated
pentominoes.
The second section is based upon
triplicate pentominoes.
The third section is based upon the 6x10
pentomino puzzle
that is shown
below. This puzzle is composed of the 12 triplicate pentominoes from the
second section.
Musical Characteristics
A different musical characteristic is assigned to each type of
pentomino.
For example, all phrases that are derived from the Z pentomino are loud.
Counterpoint
When traveling along a (parent) path around a given
pentomino
in a pentomino
puzzle, a child path (and thus a child melodic phrase) may be triggered
whenever the parent path encounters a neighboring pentomino.
PENTOMINOES
for flute, trumpet and cello
Music: By Instrument WAV Audio Scores
Links
Music by John Greschak
Other Work by John Greschak
Public Domain