Daniel Tacke - aria mit veränderungen

Notes:

"aria mit veränderungen" is a reimagining of the organizational and developmental potential of a theme and variations model, with the historical resonances of this concept acting as both a point of departure and a set of filters for exploration. Developmental trajectories play out across a number of structural layers, including traditional arenas such as theme, harmony, and texture, as well as more experimental domains such as intonation, playing technique, and instrumental identity. In regards to the unequal temperament, the piece begins with an opposition between the tempered fifths of the tuning system and the violin's pure harmonics. Over the course of the piece, developmental exploration eventually leads to greater unity between the two instruments, leading to a harmonic domain in which all fifths are pure.

Tuning information:

The piece is in a historical temperament: Werckmeister III (1/4 PC tempering between C-G, G-D, D-A, and B-F#, fifths are otherwise pure producing a varied kaleidoscope of triadic intonations).

Composer bio:

The music of Daniel Tacke has focused on vocabularies of sound and structure growing from explorations of instrumental idiom, the poetics of notation, human embodiment and memory in the experience of listening, and intersections between contemporary and historical practices of composition and performance. He studied composition at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he was awarded the Robert E. Aschaffenburg Grand Prize in Composition, and then at the University of California at San Diego. He has held professorships at Oberlin Conservatory and Arkansas State University. Since 2016 he is Associate Professor of Music at Hillsdale College, teaching theory, musicianship, composition, and harpsichord.