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Canon 19 - "Jet" - octatonic

from Canon Previews by Rudi Seitz

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This dark and pensive canon employs the octatonic or diminished scale, which consists of alternating half and whole steps. While I've always been drawn another symmetric scale -- the whole tone scale -- I find the octatonic scale challenging to work with. I don't hear the same "built-in" character in the octatonic scale that I do in the whole tone scale; rather, it feels to me like a chameleon entity that can become many things depending on how it's used, and so the challenge in using this scale is to achieve a sense of consistency and coherence without becoming too repetitive. My aim in this piece was not to use the resources of the octatonic scale to create jagged, wild lines, but rather to see if I could preserve a sense of melodic continuity and tonal groundedness, even while invoking all eight pitches periodically. The sonorities here are mostly restricted to thirds, sixths, and tritones; notes outside the octatonic collection are used occasionally in an unaccented, passing capacity. The canon begins with the leader in the bass; later, the material is repeated a minor third higher with the voices swapped. Instead of cadencing on the octave, each section concludes with the sonority of the major third, which, although it's used throughout the piece, only reveals its brightness when brought into focus in those ending positions.

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from Canon Previews, released June 14, 2015

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Rudi Seitz Boston, Massachusetts

Rudi draws upon his passion for the counterpoint of Bach and Renaissance masters, his delight in the expressive poignancy of Schubert and Chopin, and his fascination with jazz and the musics of North and South India to craft compact works in which every note counts. Along with composing, he sings and plays guitar. Rudi lives in Boston, MA. ... more

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