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O Holy Night

from Carol Colors by Rudi Seitz

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One of the challenges of arranging in only two parts is that the bass line must support the tune harmonically, while maintaining enough independence to be recognizable as a melody of its own. If the bass line were to simply announce the harmony at the beginning of each measure and do nothing more, we might find the texture "incomplete." However, when the bass line is developed into a true counter-melody, one that provides harmonic support and melodic interest of its own, it's possible to create a satisfying texture with only two voices. In a similar sense, a charcoal sketch might seem to be lacking something in the eyes of a viewer who expects to see a fully developed oil painting, and yet there are some sketches that manage to stand on their own as self-contained pieces, with a minimum of resources employed. In the case of tunes, there are some that just call out for counterpoint to be written against them, while others seem to resist it. O Holy Night is such a long, flowing, beautiful melody that a bass line with too much independence might only seem to be getting in its way; though, if the bass has too little independence, the two-voice texture becomes exceedingly sparse and we might long for third voice to bring flesh to the harmonies. Why not simply add a third voice? Because it changes the game -- it changes the kind of piece one is writing. Those were the considerations in my mind as I worked on this.


Instrument: piano
Style: two-voice counterpoint

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from Carol Colors, released December 15, 2014

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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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