Redundens

Downloads: Redundens 6i is available as a score in pdf format, or as an mp3 recording (3'11", 1.35 MB).

 

The series of works collectively titled Redundens was begun in 2001. All the pieces take Arnold Schoenberg’s Three Pieces for Piano, Op.11 as their starting point: only the top line in Schoenberg's pieces is retained as an unaccompanied melody (or as a list of pitch classes if you’re more technically-minded.)

In Redundens 1, each pitch class keeps the same register and duration throughout the piece, determined by the nature of their initial appearances in the original.

Redundens 2 substitutes each pitch class in the melody of Redundens 1 with a different, dense chord or cluster of tones.

Redundens 3 focuses on a single pitch, with the melody coded as varying durations, dynamics, and/or overtone structures.

Redundens 4 removes the durations and rhythms from the melody of Redundens 1, always taking the smallest leap possible in moving from one melody-note to the next.

Redundens 5, like Redundens 4, removes the durations and rhythms from the melody of Redundens 1, but confines all notes within the range of a common octave.

Redundens 6 splits the melody of Redundens 5 into alternating voices. These voices may alternate in register, and may also be rhythmically shifted to form chords.

Redundens 6i for solo piano is, as its title implies, the ninth version of Redundens 6. The melody alternates between four voices, which are played simultaneously to form chords. Rhythm, tempo, and dynamics are unspecified. A score of this piece is available as a pdf file; or you can hear an mp3 of it (3'11", 1.35 MB).

Ben.Harper, 2007.