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Hommage to Guido d'Arezzo

by Tom Bickley

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Norman Lowrey
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1.
Phasing Canons on Ut queant laxis 20:18
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2.
Hexachordal Meditation 12:18
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3.
Scherzo on Ut queant laxis 07:09
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11th century Camaldolese Benedictine monk and music theorist Guido d'Arezzo used the first notes and syllables of each of the first six phrases of the plainchant hymn "Ut queant laxis" to form what we know now as the solfeggio/solmization system (i.e., do, re, mi, fa, sol, la [ti came later]). The hymn itself is used for evening prayer for the feast of St. John the Baptist. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ut_queant_laxis to hear the chant hymn. I love this melody and have long admired Guido for his pedagogical innovation, which was the concept that allowed me to learn to sight sing.

In late June 2023 I was experimenting with loops of different lengths starting together and moving out of phase as they played. When I realized it was 24 June, and the feast of St. John the Baptist, I began playing with the notes (i.e., the six pitches or hexachord) from this hymn tune in various ways. The three pieces in this album are the result.

"Phasing Canons on Ut queant laxis" begins each phrase in temporal unison and gradually moves into polyphony via phasing through added silences in each voice. This procedure is followed for all seven musical phrases, ending with a brief canon on the notes for the "Amen" for this mode II piece. The piece gets slower and quieter up to the mid point, then gradually returns to the opening tempo and volume. This movement may be suitable for accompanying a nap or meditation. Instruments used are virtual harmonium, virtual fiddle, and virtual viola. The piece is enclosed in the acoustics of the Dan Harpole Cistern.

In "Hexachordal Meditation" two alto recorders explore the six notes of the hexachord (C D E F G A) used in the chant hymn. The occurrence of sound and silence is a result of constrained random processes. The reverberance is also from the Dan Harpole Cistern.

"Scherzo on Ut queant laxis" jumbles the motifs of each phrase of the chant hymn all together, building the phrases starting with the last note and adding the previous pitches. "Scherzo" here is intended to convey playfulness and very active energy. The percussion instruments (in order of entrance) are: Vibraphone, Tuned gongs, Tingklik, Sansa, Ghanaian marimba, and Mbira. This style of extroverted motoric minimalism reflects my pleasure in the works of Steve Reich as well as the timbres of mallet/tuned percussion instruments from Mother Africa as well as the European tradition.

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released July 22, 2023

Made in Ableton Live 11.3.4 using Native Instruments Factory Library virtual instruments.

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Tom Bickley Berkeley, California

tigergarage.org
Tom Bickley grew up in the semitropical soundscape of Houston, sojourned in Washington, DC (studying music, religion, and library and information science). He performs using recorder, voice and electronics, and teaches music. He is on the faculty of the Center for Deep Listening at RPI. See his website for more details. ... more

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