Score: 37 pp.

Format: PDF

Duration: 11 min.

Catalogue No.: 055

Program note for Four Bachtatonic/Rocktatonic Inventions for Two Pianos, February 14, 2020

In the Fall of 2018, I embarked on a project that grew out of my long-term fascination with the inherent capabilities of the octatonic scale to represent quasi-tonal effects in music. All I needed was a bad pun to get started, and that was the title: Bachtatonic etc.. As a pianist, I am very fond, of course, of J.S. Bach’s great two part inventions. My first thought was to re-write some of those inventions using the three transpositions of the octatonic scale in which each of the Tonic, Dominant and Subdominant functions would be expressed through its own respective octatonic scale. Other, more remote tonal roots could also be represented by one of the three octatonic transpositions since each scale contains four potentially “quasi-tonal” root tones. Once I had completed the re-writing of four of the inventions in this manner, I realized that something was missing, and that was the element of surprise! For this, I borrowed on my similarly long-term admiration for the music of a certain British rock group from the 1960’s. The second half of each of my inventions superimposes a famous (but for obvious reasons un- named) tune by this rock group on top of the Bach piece. I had to make some adjustments to make these diverse pieces work together, but in the end it was surprisingly easy to do, thanks to the universally adaptable octatonic scales involved. I have also arranged these same four pieces for clarinet, marimba and piano and also for oboe, clarinet and piano. I hope that everyone will recognize some of their favorite classic rock tunes in this music. If not, perhaps you can get by with a little help from your friends, or you could simply ask Dan Beller-McKenna. He doesn’t just know “Something”, he knows everything.

The Four Inventions are dedicated to the memory of Paul Verrette and John E. Rogers. ----C. Kies, February 2020