I’ve been a fan of M.C. Escher for a long time. One of the things that fascinates me about his art is how he meticulously worked out his tesselations on graph paper before incorporating them into a finished print. These “proof of concept” sketches were a necessary step in creating his mind-boggling works of art.
In the same way, I’ve had a number of Escheresque musical ideas that have been simmering on the back burner for some time. Yesterday, I was able to record a quick demo–a draft that would allow me to figure out some of the logistics for a later piece. In the end, it didn’t work. So be it. That’s how one learns.
Can anyone guess the musical concept I was trying to implement?
Melodic inversion?
Nope. It’s actually a canon with an ever-decreasing tempo until the theme returns at the original tempo (twice as fast as it ended).