Name: Traill, John: Ground Bass & Dance
Price: 14.75 USD
Availability: BackOrder

Available to download immediately after purchase

Traill, John: Ground Bass & Dance

About
Explore

About

I was delighted to win the 2020 Norwich Baroque Losh Atkinson Historic Sounds competition with these two short contrasting movements. As it was the last edition of the competition, I thought it would be an interesting challenge to use a musical cryptogram to turn these words into groups of pitches; Hopefully striking a personal note, while at the same time exploring how the pitch material might be shaped into the ingredients of the baroque forms requested (Ground Bass and Dance). The soundworld of both movements is neotonal, and while there are clear tonal centres, the use of harmony is contemporary, with some reflection upon traditional species counterpoint but fused with quartal harmonies. Diatonic cryptograms ( see page 3) inherently generate partial, or complete, traditional church modes, perhaps suiting this project well.

The Ground Bass ( using the 'N-o-r-w-i-c-h B-a-r-o-q-u-e' cipher) has a flavour of G mixolydian, but missing the all too important 7th scale degree. The cryptogram is taken literally to create the Ground and a small ternary form enables brief sequential modulation of it, before the da capo reprise - abridged - is written out to facilitate alteration and closure.

The Dance hints at a number of dance styles ( e. g. Bourree, Galliard, Tordion, Rigaudon, and Gigue), at times very fleetingly (Gigue, in particular! ). The rhythmic motifs that can be used in the more animated of these dances ( e. g. Bourree and Rigaudon) are fused with a contemporary chord progression derived from the 'H-a-r-m-o-n-i-c S-o-u-n-d-s' cipher. The melody ( that most literally suggests a Galliard) uses an incomplete mode that is derived from the 'L-o-s-h-A-t-k-i-n-s-o-n' cipher.

The form of the Dance is quite free, at first hinting at a ritornello-solo alternations, before a middle episode sees the 'N-o-r-w-i-c-h B-a-r-o-q-u-e' cipher return as a literal quote of the first movement Ground Bass. The truncated da capo makes way for a short coda. The coda begins with the mildest of imitative entries (only very slight lip service, perhaps, to Gigue! ), this time introducting the 'N-o-r-w-i-c-h- B-a-r-o-q-u-e' cipher not just as a bass contour ( as can be seen at the very end), but also a four-part motif that is repeated until it has faded out completely - the final resolution, to an A, is contrary to the Ground, but necessary to the ear!

Sheet Music Download

Contents

Download queue