Lessons · Showcase

Siciliano

Compound meter, lilting

% Siciliano from the Violin Sonata in G minor: the movement stands in
% the relative major, B-flat. Its time signature is 12/8: twelve eighths
% a measure counted in FOUR groups of three, so one beat is a dotted
% quarter, six sixteenths long. Count sounds the four beats; Beat splits
% each of them into the three eighths it is made of.
 
bpm 60
instrument hollow
meter 12
unit 1/8
key bb4 maj
mode diatonic
 
Count ::= ..1 _6
Beat  ::= {..1 _2}*3
 
Count*4
Beat*4
 
 
% Inside the beat Bach almost never divides evenly. The signature
% figure is 3+1+2 (dotted eighth, sixteenth, eighth) and that is the
% Siciliano lilt: not an ornament laid over the meter but one way of
% counting to six.
%
% So write it as one: Lilt is the RHYTHM and nothing else, three holes
% with the durations between them. Rise is the violin's actual first
% line, a B-flat triad rising from below the staff. Pouring one into
% the other is Beat1, and @~2 restates that up the scale.
 
Lilt  ::= $1 _3 $2 $3 _2
Rise  ::= .1 .3 .5
Beat1 ::= Lilt(Rise)
 
{Beat1 Beat1@~2 Beat1@~4 Beat1@~2, Count*4}
 
 
% Beat two answers with four sixteenths falling 4-3-2-1, and lands on
% the double stop that rules the whole piece: a major sixth, stated 30
% times. Here @~1 takes it one scale step up, so what sounds is D and
% B-flat: a MINOR sixth, because a scale step is not a fixed distance.
% Beat1 and Fall together are m.1, beats one and two, note for note.
 
Maj6 ::= {7 _2, 2 _2}
Fall ::= .4 .3 .2 .1 Maj6@~1
 
Beat1 Fall
 
 
% Beats three and four are almost all double stops: the violin is its
% own accompaniment. The tonic triad, then that same sixth walked down
% the scale by @~-1 and @~-2, then one plain eighth to close, and Count
% underneath shows the four beats landing where they should.
 
Tonic ::= {.5 _2, 3 _2, '1 _2}
Bar1  ::= | Beat1 Fall Tonic Maj6 Maj6@~-1*2 Maj6@~-2 .4 _2 |
 
{Bar1, Count*4}
 
 
% Because the lilt is a division of the six and not an ornament, its
% long note is free to move. In m.2 the third beat rises through the
% same B-flat triad counting 2+3+1 (eighth, dotted eighth, sixteenth)
% and the fourth beat answers in three even eighths. Turn is that
% second grouping, written the same way the lilt was: durations with
% holes in them.
 
Min3 ::= {.7, 2}
Turn ::= $1 _2 $2 _3 $3
Arp  ::= Turn(.5 1 {3, 1})
 
{Arp Min3 _2 ..7 _2 .2 _2, Count*2}
 
 
% Two of the six groupings, on the SAME three notes. Nothing about the
% line changes between these (same pitches, same order) and only the
% way the six is divided underneath them does. That is the whole reason
% a rhythm is worth writing on its own: 3+1+2 and 2+3+1 are two ways of
% counting one beat, and either can carry any tune.
 
Lilt(Rise)
Turn(Rise)
 
% and heard against each other, both six sixteenths long
{Lilt(Rise), Turn(Rise) @-12}
 
 
% The opening phrase, mm.1-4 of the melody, on the rules above plus the
% notes each measure adds alone: 87 of the 99 notes Bach writes there;
% the twelve an inner double stop adds in mm.2 and 4 are left out. Every
% measure is twenty-four sixteenths and every beat is six of them
% however they are grouped inside, six groupings across the four
% measures: 3+1+2, 1+1+1+1+2, 2+2+2, 2+3+1, 2+1+1+2, and six even
% sixteenths. And the phrase closes by saying Beat1 Fall again, the way
% it began.
 
Bar2 ::= | .3 _2 {5 _2, 2 _2} Maj6@~-1 .2 _2 .7 _2 {3 _2, 1 _2, .1 _2} Arp Min3 _2 ..7 _2 .2 _2 |
Bar3 ::= | .5 _2 Min3 Min3@-2 Min3 _2 .4 _2 Min3 _2 {5 _2, 2b _2, .3 _2} .2 _2 {4, .6} {.5, 3} Tonic@-7 ..7 .2 .5 .7 Min3@3 6 |
Bar4 ::= | {5 _2, 1 _2, .3 _2} 4 3 .4 _2 Maj6@~-4 .4 _2 Maj6@~-4 Beat1 Fall |
 
Bar1 Bar2 Bar3 Bar4
 
 
% THE WHOLE SICILIANO: the lilt carried through, complete.
 
bpm 60
meter 12
unit 1/8
key bb4 maj
mode diatonic
 
% The cast, every motif and chord the lead line uses:
 
M14 ::= i-1 i-2
M9 ::= .5 _2 .4 M14 .1
S1 ::= .1 _3 .3 M9
M3 ::= {7, 2} _2
M16 ::= S1 M3@~1
M20 ::= 3 _2 2 _2
M21 ::= M3 .3 _2
M4 ::= {2, .7} _2
M22 ::= .1/2 .3/2
M25 ::= 4 3
M8 ::= .4 _2 M3@~-4
M33 ::= 1 .7 _2
M18 ::= .5 M14 .2
M23 ::= 2 _2 3 _2
Run ::= a4/2 bb4/2 c5/2
M34 ::= 6 3
M6 ::= {.6, .2} _2
M17 ::= .3 _3 .4 .3 _2
M11 ::= {2b, .5} _2
M35 ::= .5 .4 M14
S3 ::= .3 .6 _2 M18
M24 ::= 2 1
M5 ::= {4, .5, ..7} _2
M31 ::= 5 '1 _2 7b
M32 ::= 3 1
Q1 ::= s1 s-2 s-4 s9 s-6? {s-3 !s-3}
Run2 ::= 2/2 3/2 4
 
% mm.1-8: Run at +9, at -4, stepped through the scale, in retrograde, inverted; Run2; M3 stepped through the scale · 2 voices.
F1a1 ::= M16 .1Dia$5-3-1 _2 M3 M3@~-1*2 M3@~-2 M20@~-6 {5, 2} _2 M21@-2 .7 _2 {3, 1, .1} _2 .5 _2 1 _3 {3, 1} M4 ..7 _2 .2 _2 .5 _2 {2, .7} {1, .6} M4 .4 _2 M4 .2bDim$3-1-5 _2 .2 _2 {4, .6} {3, .5} ..4Dia$5-3-1 _2 ..7 .2 .5 M22@~6 4 6
F1a2 ::= .1Dia$3-1-5 _2 M25 M8 M8 M16 .5 _3 M33 M18@2 M3 ..6 _3 .6 M20@~-5 M3@~1 M21 2 _2 M3@~-1 .3 _2 1 _2 M21 M23 4 Run~@9 5b/2 Run~@~1 Run .6b _2 M34@7 '2 _2 .6 '1 7 6b M34 S1@~1 {7b, 2} _2
F1a3 ::= {6b, 2, .3} _2 1 _2 .6b _2 .6 _2 M6 .3 _2 M22 Run~^@-4 Run 3/2 M22@~8 3/2 M23@-12 .7 .6
F1a1 F1a2 F1a3
 
% mm.1-8: Run at +9, at -4, stepped through the scale, in retrograde, inverted; Run2; M3 stepped through the scale · 2 voices.
F9a1 ::= {.6, ..6} _3 .1 M9@~-2 M4@~-1 M17 M18@-5 M11 M11 M3@~-5 .2 .3 M35 M3@~2 .6 _3 S3 {'1, 5b} _2 M6@15 M4@~5 M9@~7 M11@9*2 M4@~4 M9@~-1 {6, 2, .7} _2 {5, 2, .3} _2 ..6 6 M4@~1 {4, 1, .2} _2 .5 2 M3@~-2 {.5, .1} _2 .6 _2 M23@-9 M24 3 2
F9a2 ::= .2Dia$1-5-3 _2 - S3@17 M5 .1Sus4$1-5-4 _2 3 M31 5 M32 .1Dom$1-5-3-7 _2 {6, .4} _2 !1 Q1 Q1(.7) Q1#2(g4) M31@-3 4 S1@7 M3@~-5 M17@~9 ..6Dom$1-5-3-7 _2 4 M14 2b M17@~8 M5 3 M24 .7 .1 _2 ..6 _2 .4Dia$1-5-3 _2 .1Dia$3-1-5 _2 M8
F9a1 F9a2
 
% mm.1-8: Run at +9, at -4, stepped through the scale, in retrograde, inverted; Run2; M3 stepped through the scale · 2 voices.
F17a ::= .6 _3 .4 M3@~-4 .4 _2 6 4 .1Dia$3-1-5 _2 5b _3 M33@7 {2, .6, .1} _2 M18@12 5 _3 3 4 _2 .5 '2 M18@17 M25 {6, .7, .4} _2 .1Dia$3-1-5 _2 Run2@~-6 M32 M3@~-5 M16 S1@7 M6@15 {7, 4, .1, ..5} _2 M3@~1
F17a

% Siciliano from the Violin Sonata in G minor: the movement stands in
% the relative major, B-flat. Its time signature is 12/8: twelve eighths
% a measure counted in FOUR groups of three, so one beat is a dotted
% quarter, six sixteenths long. Count sounds the four beats; Beat splits
% each of them into the three eighths it is made of.

bpm 60
instrument hollow
meter 12
unit 1/8
key bb4 maj
mode diatonic

Count ::= ..1 _6
Beat  ::= {..1 _2}*3

Count*4
Beat*4

% Inside the beat Bach almost never divides evenly. The signature
% figure is 3+1+2 (dotted eighth, sixteenth, eighth) and that is the
% Siciliano lilt: not an ornament laid over the meter but one way of
% counting to six.
%
% So write it as one: Lilt is the RHYTHM and nothing else, three holes
% with the durations between them. Rise is the violin's actual first
% line, a B-flat triad rising from below the staff. Pouring one into
% the other is Beat1, and @~2 restates that up the scale.

Lilt  ::= $1 _3 $2 $3 _2
Rise  ::= .1 .3 .5
Beat1 ::= Lilt(Rise)

{Beat1 Beat1@~2 Beat1@~4 Beat1@~2, Count*4}

% Beat two answers with four sixteenths falling 4-3-2-1, and lands on
% the double stop that rules the whole piece: a major sixth, stated 30
% times. Here @~1 takes it one scale step up, so what sounds is D and
% B-flat: a MINOR sixth, because a scale step is not a fixed distance.
% Beat1 and Fall together are m.1, beats one and two, note for note.

Maj6 ::= {7 _2, 2 _2}
Fall ::= .4 .3 .2 .1 Maj6@~1

Beat1 Fall

% Beats three and four are almost all double stops: the violin is its
% own accompaniment. The tonic triad, then that same sixth walked down
% the scale by @~-1 and @~-2, then one plain eighth to close, and Count
% underneath shows the four beats landing where they should.

Tonic ::= {.5 _2, 3 _2, '1 _2}
Bar1  ::= | Beat1 Fall Tonic Maj6 Maj6@~-1*2 Maj6@~-2 .4 _2 |

{Bar1, Count*4}

% Because the lilt is a division of the six and not an ornament, its
% long note is free to move. In m.2 the third beat rises through the
% same B-flat triad counting 2+3+1 (eighth, dotted eighth, sixteenth)
% and the fourth beat answers in three even eighths. Turn is that
% second grouping, written the same way the lilt was: durations with
% holes in them.

Min3 ::= {.7, 2}
Turn ::= $1 _2 $2 _3 $3
Arp  ::= Turn(.5 1 {3, 1})

{Arp Min3 _2 ..7 _2 .2 _2, Count*2}

% Two of the six groupings, on the SAME three notes. Nothing about the
% line changes between these (same pitches, same order) and only the
% way the six is divided underneath them does. That is the whole reason
% a rhythm is worth writing on its own: 3+1+2 and 2+3+1 are two ways of
% counting one beat, and either can carry any tune.

Lilt(Rise)
Turn(Rise)

% and heard against each other, both six sixteenths long
{Lilt(Rise), Turn(Rise) @-12}

% The opening phrase, mm.1-4 of the melody, on the rules above plus the
% notes each measure adds alone: 87 of the 99 notes Bach writes there;
% the twelve an inner double stop adds in mm.2 and 4 are left out. Every
% measure is twenty-four sixteenths and every beat is six of them
% however they are grouped inside, six groupings across the four
% measures: 3+1+2, 1+1+1+1+2, 2+2+2, 2+3+1, 2+1+1+2, and six even
% sixteenths. And the phrase closes by saying Beat1 Fall again, the way
% it began.

Bar2 ::= | .3 _2 {5 _2, 2 _2} Maj6@~-1 .2 _2 .7 _2 {3 _2, 1 _2, .1 _2} Arp Min3 _2 ..7 _2 .2 _2 |
Bar3 ::= | .5 _2 Min3 Min3@-2 Min3 _2 .4 _2 Min3 _2 {5 _2, 2b _2, .3 _2} .2 _2 {4, .6} {.5, 3} Tonic@-7 ..7 .2 .5 .7 Min3@3 6 |
Bar4 ::= | {5 _2, 1 _2, .3 _2} 4 3 .4 _2 Maj6@~-4 .4 _2 Maj6@~-4 Beat1 Fall |

Bar1 Bar2 Bar3 Bar4

% THE WHOLE SICILIANO: the lilt carried through, complete.

bpm 60
meter 12
unit 1/8
key bb4 maj
mode diatonic

% The cast, every motif and chord the lead line uses:

M14 ::= i-1 i-2
M9 ::= .5 _2 .4 M14 .1
S1 ::= .1 _3 .3 M9
M3 ::= {7, 2} _2
M16 ::= S1 M3@~1
M20 ::= 3 _2 2 _2
M21 ::= M3 .3 _2
M4 ::= {2, .7} _2
M22 ::= .1/2 .3/2
M25 ::= 4 3
M8 ::= .4 _2 M3@~-4
M33 ::= 1 .7 _2
M18 ::= .5 M14 .2
M23 ::= 2 _2 3 _2
Run ::= a4/2 bb4/2 c5/2
M34 ::= 6 3
M6 ::= {.6, .2} _2
M17 ::= .3 _3 .4 .3 _2
M11 ::= {2b, .5} _2
M35 ::= .5 .4 M14
S3 ::= .3 .6 _2 M18
M24 ::= 2 1
M5 ::= {4, .5, ..7} _2
M31 ::= 5 '1 _2 7b
M32 ::= 3 1
Q1 ::= s1 s-2 s-4 s9 s-6? {s-3 !s-3}
Run2 ::= 2/2 3/2 4

% mm.1-8: Run at +9, at -4, stepped through the scale, in retrograde, inverted; Run2; M3 stepped through the scale · 2 voices.
F1a1 ::= M16 .1Dia$5-3-1 _2 M3 M3@~-1*2 M3@~-2 M20@~-6 {5, 2} _2 M21@-2 .7 _2 {3, 1, .1} _2 .5 _2 1 _3 {3, 1} M4 ..7 _2 .2 _2 .5 _2 {2, .7} {1, .6} M4 .4 _2 M4 .2bDim$3-1-5 _2 .2 _2 {4, .6} {3, .5} ..4Dia$5-3-1 _2 ..7 .2 .5 M22@~6 4 6
F1a2 ::= .1Dia$3-1-5 _2 M25 M8 M8 M16 .5 _3 M33 M18@2 M3 ..6 _3 .6 M20@~-5 M3@~1 M21 2 _2 M3@~-1 .3 _2 1 _2 M21 M23 4 Run~@9 5b/2 Run~@~1 Run .6b _2 M34@7 '2 _2 .6 '1 7 6b M34 S1@~1 {7b, 2} _2
F1a3 ::= {6b, 2, .3} _2 1 _2 .6b _2 .6 _2 M6 .3 _2 M22 Run~^@-4 Run 3/2 M22@~8 3/2 M23@-12 .7 .6
F1a1 F1a2 F1a3

% mm.1-8: Run at +9, at -4, stepped through the scale, in retrograde, inverted; Run2; M3 stepped through the scale · 2 voices.
F9a1 ::= {.6, ..6} _3 .1 M9@~-2 M4@~-1 M17 M18@-5 M11 M11 M3@~-5 .2 .3 M35 M3@~2 .6 _3 S3 {'1, 5b} _2 M6@15 M4@~5 M9@~7 M11@9*2 M4@~4 M9@~-1 {6, 2, .7} _2 {5, 2, .3} _2 ..6 6 M4@~1 {4, 1, .2} _2 .5 2 M3@~-2 {.5, .1} _2 .6 _2 M23@-9 M24 3 2
F9a2 ::= .2Dia$1-5-3 _2 - S3@17 M5 .1Sus4$1-5-4 _2 3 M31 5 M32 .1Dom$1-5-3-7 _2 {6, .4} _2 !1 Q1 Q1(.7) Q1#2(g4) M31@-3 4 S1@7 M3@~-5 M17@~9 ..6Dom$1-5-3-7 _2 4 M14 2b M17@~8 M5 3 M24 .7 .1 _2 ..6 _2 .4Dia$1-5-3 _2 .1Dia$3-1-5 _2 M8
F9a1 F9a2

% mm.1-8: Run at +9, at -4, stepped through the scale, in retrograde, inverted; Run2; M3 stepped through the scale · 2 voices.
F17a ::= .6 _3 .4 M3@~-4 .4 _2 6 4 .1Dia$3-1-5 _2 5b _3 M33@7 {2, .6, .1} _2 M18@12 5 _3 3 4 _2 .5 '2 M18@17 M25 {6, .7, .4} _2 .1Dia$3-1-5 _2 Run2@~-6 M32 M3@~-5 M16 S1@7 M6@15 {7, 4, .1, ..5} _2 M3@~1
F17a

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

Siciliano · Showcase