Works » By Title » S » Spiral (18:00 / 1983)

This piece evolves from the drifting patterns of a simple melody played against itself with constantly varying time delays between voices. The melody is so constructed that certain nodal points exist which produce distinctive contrapuntal and textural events. These points have been emphasized in the work through “orchestrational” means involving sudden contrasts of timbre and a recurring timbral event - the filtered noise out of which the rhythmic structure of the primary phrase emerges at the beginning. The unfolding of these textures and patterns is circular; ultimately the three melodies recombine. The piece ends with a coda derived from a contrapuntal “analysis” of the melody - that is, the melody is broken down into its elementary structures until only a residue remains. BD