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A falling four-note line over a pedal — 288 bars of e harmonic minor

% Four notes falling, over one note repeating — and that is the whole
% piece. 288 measures of it, in e harmonic minor, at a hard clip.
%
% The motto first. Three identical quarters, and there is no other
% repeated note anywhere in the piece: a repeated note ALWAYS means this
% figure and always means three of them. It is 47% of the notes.
 
bpm 240
meter 4
unit 1/4
key e4 harm
 
Ped ::= 1 _4*3
 
% And the line: the top of the scale coming down, four notes.
 
Run ::= 3 _4 2 _4 1 _4 .7 _4
 
% A measure is one or the other — never both, never anything else. The
% motto measures end by LEAVING the pedal, and the size of that departure
% is the only thing that tells one from the next, so the language says it
% as an interval rather than spelling a pitch. 's5' is five scale steps
% above whatever sounded last:
 
Wide ::= Ped s5 _4
Up   ::= Ped s2 _4
Lean ::= Ped s-1 _4
Drop ::= Ped s-5 _4
 
assert Up@~2 == g4 _4*3 b4 _4
 
% The first four measures: leave the pedal wide, fall, leave it by a step,
% fall again lower.
 
Wide Run@~2 Up@~-1 Run@~-2
 
 
% The next four. Two more shapes, and both are the motto with the note
% somewhere else in the bar: 'Pick' has it BEFORE the pedal and 'Under'
% after, with the pedal itself moved down the scale.
 
Arch  ::= .4 _4 .5 _4 .4 _4 .7 _4
Under ::= Ped@~-5 .6 _4
Pick  ::= .3 _4 Ped@~-3
 
Lean@~-2 Arch Under@~2 Pick@~2
 
 
% And the second half of the subject. 'Rise' is the falling line played
% backwards — '~' reverses with durations, so one rule covers both
% directions and the climb needs no definition of its own:
 
Rise ::= Run~@~1
Turn ::= 3 _4 4 _4 3 _4 2 _4
Long ::= .2 _4 .1 _4 ..7 _4 .5 _4
 
assert Rise == e4 _4 f#4 _4 g4 _4 a4 _4
 
Wide@~-2 Turn Up@~-3 Rise@~-2
Lean@~-4 Long Under Pick
 
% Sixteen measures, and they are the subject. Named, because everything
% after this is made of it:
 
ThA   ::= Wide Run@~2 Up@~-1 Run@~-2 Lean@~-2 Arch Under@~2 Pick@~2
ThB   ::= Wide@~-2 Turn Up@~-3 Rise@~-2 Lean@~-4 Long Under Pick
Theme ::= ThA ThB
 
 
% A SECOND SUBJECT, sixteen measures more, and the same two families
% build it — the motto leaving by an interval, and four-note lines. The
% only new idea is 'Tail', which like 'Pick' puts its note outside the
% pedal, this time after it.
 
Call   ::= Ped@~4 6 _4
Answer ::= Call@~-2
Over   ::= Ped@~3 2 _4
High   ::= Ped@~5 3 _4
Tail   ::= 6 _4 Ped@~3
Dip    ::= 5 _4 4 _4 5 _4 2 _4
Sway   ::= .6 _4 .5 _4 .6 _4 .7 _4
Climb  ::= 7 _4 '1 _4 '2 _4 4 _4
 
ReplyA ::= Drop Rise@~-4 Over@~-2 Rise Answer Dip High@~-2 Tail@~-2
ReplyB ::= Drop@~2 Sway Over 3 _4 Long@12 5 _4*2 6 _4 Climb High Tail
Reply ::= ReplyA ReplyB
 
ReplyA ReplyB
 
 
% Now the only structural idea in the piece, and it carries 256 of the
% 288 measures: the two subjects are stated TOGETHER, and each new
% entry is the same pair moved. Nothing is rewritten — a voice is one
% mark on the material already named.
%
% Two voices, mm.33-64. '@~2' steps through the scale; the shape survives
% the move where a semitone shift would bend it.
 
Pair ::= {Theme Reply, Theme@~2 Reply@~-2}
 
Pair
 
 
% Three, mm.65-96 — the new entry an OCTAVE up, which is '@12', a
% chromatic mark, because an octave is an octave in any mode.
 
Trio ::= {Theme Reply, Theme@12 Reply@-12, Theme@~2 Reply@~-2}
 
Trio
 
 
% Four, and then four times over: mm.97-224 are this one statement
% repeated, the fullest the texture ever gets.
 
Quartet ::= {Theme Reply, Theme@12 Reply@-12, Theme@~2 Reply@~-2, Theme@~5 Reply@~-5}
 
Quartet*4
 
 
% mm.225-256, and the only new music after m.97. The two subjects sound
% twice over against each other, and the two inner voices come in a half
% section late and BEND — each half of a subject moved a different way,
% which is the one place the piece stops being a simple stack.
 
Bend ::= {Theme*2, Reply*2, -*256 ReplyA@~2 ReplyB@~-2, -*256 ThA@~-2 ThB@~2}
 
Bend
 
 
% And the close, mm.257-288: the four-voice statement once more,
% note for note what mm.97-128 were. The piece ends as it stood at its
% fullest, with nothing added.
 
Quartet

% Four notes falling, over one note repeating — and that is the whole
% piece. 288 measures of it, in e harmonic minor, at a hard clip.
%
% The motto first. Three identical quarters, and there is no other
% repeated note anywhere in the piece: a repeated note ALWAYS means this
% figure and always means three of them. It is 47% of the notes.

bpm 240
meter 4
unit 1/4
key e4 harm

Ped ::= 1 _4*3

% And the line: the top of the scale coming down, four notes.

Run ::= 3 _4 2 _4 1 _4 .7 _4

% A measure is one or the other — never both, never anything else. The
% motto measures end by LEAVING the pedal, and the size of that departure
% is the only thing that tells one from the next, so the language says it
% as an interval rather than spelling a pitch. 's5' is five scale steps
% above whatever sounded last:

Wide ::= Ped s5 _4
Up   ::= Ped s2 _4
Lean ::= Ped s-1 _4
Drop ::= Ped s-5 _4

assert Up@~2 == g4 _4*3 b4 _4

% The first four measures: leave the pedal wide, fall, leave it by a step,
% fall again lower.

Wide Run@~2 Up@~-1 Run@~-2

% The next four. Two more shapes, and both are the motto with the note
% somewhere else in the bar: 'Pick' has it BEFORE the pedal and 'Under'
% after, with the pedal itself moved down the scale.

Arch  ::= .4 _4 .5 _4 .4 _4 .7 _4
Under ::= Ped@~-5 .6 _4
Pick  ::= .3 _4 Ped@~-3

Lean@~-2 Arch Under@~2 Pick@~2

% And the second half of the subject. 'Rise' is the falling line played
% backwards — '~' reverses with durations, so one rule covers both
% directions and the climb needs no definition of its own:

Rise ::= Run~@~1
Turn ::= 3 _4 4 _4 3 _4 2 _4
Long ::= .2 _4 .1 _4 ..7 _4 .5 _4

assert Rise == e4 _4 f#4 _4 g4 _4 a4 _4

Wide@~-2 Turn Up@~-3 Rise@~-2
Lean@~-4 Long Under Pick

% Sixteen measures, and they are the subject. Named, because everything
% after this is made of it:

ThA   ::= Wide Run@~2 Up@~-1 Run@~-2 Lean@~-2 Arch Under@~2 Pick@~2
ThB   ::= Wide@~-2 Turn Up@~-3 Rise@~-2 Lean@~-4 Long Under Pick
Theme ::= ThA ThB

% A SECOND SUBJECT, sixteen measures more, and the same two families
% build it — the motto leaving by an interval, and four-note lines. The
% only new idea is 'Tail', which like 'Pick' puts its note outside the
% pedal, this time after it.

Call   ::= Ped@~4 6 _4
Answer ::= Call@~-2
Over   ::= Ped@~3 2 _4
High   ::= Ped@~5 3 _4
Tail   ::= 6 _4 Ped@~3
Dip    ::= 5 _4 4 _4 5 _4 2 _4
Sway   ::= .6 _4 .5 _4 .6 _4 .7 _4
Climb  ::= 7 _4 '1 _4 '2 _4 4 _4

ReplyA ::= Drop Rise@~-4 Over@~-2 Rise Answer Dip High@~-2 Tail@~-2
ReplyB ::= Drop@~2 Sway Over 3 _4 Long@12 5 _4*2 6 _4 Climb High Tail
Reply ::= ReplyA ReplyB

ReplyA ReplyB

% Now the only structural idea in the piece, and it carries 256 of the
% 288 measures: the two subjects are stated TOGETHER, and each new
% entry is the same pair moved. Nothing is rewritten — a voice is one
% mark on the material already named.
%
% Two voices, mm.33-64. '@~2' steps through the scale; the shape survives
% the move where a semitone shift would bend it.

Pair ::= {Theme Reply, Theme@~2 Reply@~-2}

Pair

% Three, mm.65-96 — the new entry an OCTAVE up, which is '@12', a
% chromatic mark, because an octave is an octave in any mode.

Trio ::= {Theme Reply, Theme@12 Reply@-12, Theme@~2 Reply@~-2}

Trio

% Four, and then four times over: mm.97-224 are this one statement
% repeated, the fullest the texture ever gets.

Quartet ::= {Theme Reply, Theme@12 Reply@-12, Theme@~2 Reply@~-2, Theme@~5 Reply@~-5}

Quartet*4

% mm.225-256, and the only new music after m.97. The two subjects sound
% twice over against each other, and the two inner voices come in a half
% section late and BEND — each half of a subject moved a different way,
% which is the one place the piece stops being a simple stack.

Bend ::= {Theme*2, Reply*2, -*256 ReplyA@~2 ReplyB@~-2, -*256 ThA@~-2 ThB@~2}

Bend

% And the close, mm.257-288: the four-voice statement once more,
% note for note what mm.97-128 were. The piece ends as it stood at its
% fullest, with nothing added.

Quartet

running…edit it — it re-runs as you type

Opening…

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