Product Description
"Passacaglia"
(2000-2012) for Organ - 6 minutes
This piece
exists in versions for organ (this one - the original version in 2000) and orchestra
(performed by Bristol University Symphony Orchestra under the baton of John
Pickard in 2001), and finally a piano duet version completed in
2012.
The theme is
based on the ground bass from Bachs stonking Passacaglia in C minor
for organ. However, the implied harmonies of Bachs original ground bass are
treated to some "twisted harmonies" where each chord is altered
using a system of harmonic substitution - swapping each chord implication
for a newly chosen one (Cm=C, Fm=F#, G=A, Dm=A¨, Eb=F and on it goes around the 12
chromatic notes).
Each key
therefore has a dominant and subdominant that are not the actual chords V
and IV in that key, so the traditional cadences and chord relationships are
supplanted by 12 individual 3-chord relationships one set of three chords for
each of the 12 (now almost exclusively major) keys. In an attempt to
recreate the pulls of the traditional tonic-dominant-subdominant relationships,
each key then also has a particular mode/scale with particular added notes that
are designed to recreate the sense of moving away from and back towards the
home chord of that key. This results in a lot of rich added harmonies and
some idiomatic voice-leading.
Bachs original theme in Cm is:
C G - E¨ F - G A¨ - F
G - D E¨ - B C - F G - C,
and in the opening statement of the ground bass this has become:
C A - E F#
- A B¨ - F# A - D# E - C# C - F# A - C.
There are then 21 variations which modulate through a range of keys, during
which the ground bass is constantly re-adjusted to fit the new harmonic
areas. It starts in C major, then goes through closely related keys (eg
A major and A¨ major), and then back to C in variations 6, 9 and 11. This kind
of arch then happens again but going through more distant keys before returning
to C in variations 18, 19 and the final climactic variation 21.
Leaving aside the structural and tonal nuts and bolts, my aim was to compose a
piece that attempts to recapture some of the nobility and beauty of Bach's Passacaglia, with rich added note
harmonies, and exuding an exuberant joy.
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.