Yahoo Tuning Groups Ultimate Backup mills-tuning-list Self-Similar scales correction

I need to make a correction to the note I posted this AM about
Self-Similar scales. The iterated type of Brian McLaren's that
I discussed is not octave limited, but rather, is bounded
by the generating relation itself. In his paper "The Uses
and Characteristics of Non-Just Non-Equal-Tempered Scales,"
1993. XH15:27-41, he generates one class of such scales
by taking a number (e, pi, etc.) converting it to cents
(1200*log(N)/log(2)) and sequentially dividing the cent
values by the original number. If pi is chosen, the initial
value is approximately 1982 cents, then 631, 201, etc. as each
term is divided by pi. He did not consider more than one such
cycle, that is adding multiples of 1982 to these numbers.

--John

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Actually there is a Universe Symphony version by Larry Austin that is
essentially a fantasy on some of the ideas of Charles Ives, but it
dramatically different from my realization which adds no new notes to the
sketches left by Ives. Since Mr. Austin took 20 years to make his
"completion" most people compare my work to his, never looking at the
original material left by Ives. For this and other reasons I thought
maybe it was a time to make a report of the concert.

The performance at Alice Tully Hall was by most reports about 85% full
and there was a 4 minute standing ovation for the 74 minutes of music
heard. A rush at the box office forced Lincoln Center to ask for us to
start late, by about 25 minutes.

I am might proud of my orchestra of 71 players and 2 assisting
conductors: the recording demonstrates _sans doubt_ that this performance
beautifully represents my score of the transcendental masterpiece (now
being debated in a described "firestorm" by music critics). The Ives
Society had previous to the concert already analyzed my score and
described it as "admirable." I was told to use the phaseolgy "realized
by Johnny Reinhard exclusively on Ives' Universe Symphony sketches" on
all publicity, to demonstrate that what one hears is what Ives devised,
and not another musical entity.

The transcendental factor - as well as visual "dissonance" interfered
with some listeners. The piece has no breaks: 10 cycles of percussion
divisions of a basic unit of 16 seconds is divided equally into whole
numbers from 1 up to 43. The opening "Prelude of the Cosmos" played by
13 percussionists in what was the most literal of all instructions by Mr.
Ives, is devilishly disorienting. This lengthy half-hour prelude is the
portal by which a listener enters a fantastic original time frame. My
4-square beat is not heard in the music! Some challenged my tempo of 16
seconds for a basic unit. Yet this is the indication in the sketch (Mr.
Austin thinks Ives made a mistake). After hearing the recording no one
has suggested changing the tempo at all. Put simply, 2 listening are
required by Mr. Ives to reach the transcendent level he called "parallel
listenings."

Of course, 2 live performances in a row would have been too much for an
orchestra playing 21st century music...81 years old. Most didn't believe
that one could feel such a slow tempo. More accurate is the difficulty
with which one hears Ives' Universe Symphony. After a couple of
listenings - again, demanded by Ives in his Memos, in case someone would
finish his work if he couldn't get to it - one apprehends a fast piece.
There is an constant cycling of a triplet of notes that is as celestial -
or cosmic - a sensation as I've experienced. Jon Catler shares all of
this, as does a good share of people.

Intonationally, this was beyond dispute. No one has ever brought it up.
The New York Times review of 6/8/86 titled BELLS AND MICROTONES - A
LEGEND COMES TO LIFE. Ives was very clear in his writings that an Fb was
lower than an E and accordingly, sharps are higher than flats. There
were microtonalisms on this level throughout the piece.

This work was not easy listening. But for those that come to the work
openly and not critically are in for a real treat. I mean critically in
terms of a left-brainish focus on a detail and missing the forest for a
tree. The rewards of listening to this piece will take years before it
is available commerically, frustratingly so due to several unions that
are involved (commercial release is a whole different level of payment),
and even Licoln Center itself. $150,000 ought to do it. I am able,
however, to use this recording for grants for the American Festival of
Microtonal Music (AFMM). :)

Being a live premiere that was demanding to the Nth degree for each
musician, there were surprises. The disorientation factor worked on the
musicians that felt like making early entrances. On the recording this
is beyond notice. The audience was exceptionally quiet and the recording
sparkles and shimmers, though the universe is a bit complex.

Johnny Reinhard
Director
American Festival of Microtonal Music
318 East 70th Street, Suite 5FW
New York, New York 10021 USA
(212)517-3550/fax (212) 517-5495
reinhard@styx.ios.com

On Tue, 25 Jun 1996 jpff@maths.bath.ac.uk wrote:

> Message written at 24 Jun 1996 20:41:14 +0100
> In-reply-to:
> (message from John Chalmers on Sun, 23 Jun 1996 09:35:05 -0700)
>
> May I ask a naive question about Ives' "Universe Symphony"? I thought
> I had seem an advert for a recording of this symphony in a completion
> by Larry Austin. Am I confusing two different works, or are there two
> completions? If the latter, how similar are they?
>
> I know I should have been listening more closely....
>
> ==John
>

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Self-Similar scales correction

🔗John Chalmers <non12@...>

🔗jpff@maths.bath.ac.uk

🔗Johnny Reinhard <reinhard@...>