Retrograde Inversion
The development technique means “upside down and backwards”.
Think of turning a piece of sheet music upside down and playing it from the end to the beginning. That’s retrograde inversion.
Two steps are involved to employ retrograde inversion. First the motive or phrase is written backwards. Second this intermediate phrase is then inverted.
The technique of retrograde development is very tedious. However, the payoff is that the technique is often very useful in creating a “B” part or “chorus” based upon a motive or phrase that defines the “A” part or “Verse” of a composition. Often this technique shifts the piece from major to minor or into a different mode. Retrograde development of a motive can deliver great contrast.
Think of turning a piece of sheet music upside down and playing it from the end to the beginning. That’s retrograde inversion.
Two steps are involved to employ retrograde inversion. First the motive or phrase is written backwards. Second this intermediate phrase is then inverted.
The technique of retrograde development is very tedious. However, the payoff is that the technique is often very useful in creating a “B” part or “chorus” based upon a motive or phrase that defines the “A” part or “Verse” of a composition. Often this technique shifts the piece from major to minor or into a different mode. Retrograde development of a motive can deliver great contrast.
Here's a complete phrase that was provided to me. Nothing has been changed in this phrase.
|
X:1
T: Original DNA phrase
K: C
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
c3 Bce|B4 c2|FA e2 f2|g e2 A2 G|D2 C4|
T: Original DNA phrase
K: C
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
c3 Bce|B4 c2|FA e2 f2|g e2 A2 G|D2 C4|
This phrase was generated by mapping the names of the four bases in DNA onto characteristics of music. There are four bases A, C, T, G. These are the first letters in the name of the molecules they represent. There are four (and more) characteristics of music: pitch, duration, meter, tempo for example. So, small segments of DNA can be used to generate motives and phrases. That was done for me by software.
I explored this phrase using many developmental techniques. In the end I decided to use simple repetition in different voices for Part A. For part B I worked with retrograde techniques. This forced the melody into a minor key. That provided the strong contrast I wanted between part A and part B. Here are some of the explorations of the original phrase.
After working with these development techniques and creating some transitional phrases to tie everything together I completed the composition. Along the way I decided to end the piece with a false cadence. That means there is no resolution at the end. The final chord is a V chord. That, of course begs for return to the I Chord. But in this piece there is no resolution. Finally the work was orchestrated for a full symphony orchestra.
The final composition is called Marianne & Mr. Jones. It's track 12 on my CD 12 Degrees of Separation. |
