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Anagoge
The Greek word anagoge has two meanings- a rise or mount, or the path thereto, and also a spiritual interpretation of a passage or scripture, that goes beyond the mere literal meaning. The subtitle of this piece, anabathmos, means a terrace or stairway.
The words both describe important aspects of the piece. Most apparent is the stair stepping, hand-over-hand gesture in the strings in the opening passage, which is taken up and developed as harmonic device in other settings throughout the work. The opening hexachordal melodic idea, given in the English Horn, rises through several steps, and then settles back one tone. These two gestural elements are the motifs from which the musical material is developed.
The work also progresses psychologically from a melancholic mood, through several iterations, to a triumphal peroration, and ends with a mystical, nostalgic detachment.
There are two main modes (scales) used in this work. The first is an octatonic 'diminished' scale, which uses two tetrachords which encompass a major third. This mode lends itself well to stairstep progressions in thirds, obviously. Another advantage is that the triads built on tones of the diminished chord (shown as open notes) can be major or minor, without affecting their function.
The second mode is a nonatonic scale built on B, which eschews the octave. This mode is less stable, and the third degree of the scale serves as the 'hypo' version of the mode (D). D# gives an enharmonic d# minor triad, which serves as a 'hinge' (common chord) between the two modes (along with the triad based on C).
The work is in mode 1 until the central Allegro section, which is in mode 2, returning to mode 1 at the apex of the arch peroration (the return of the opening theme).
The rythmic structure of Anagoge is also ordered, the entire piece is in 11 beat meter, regrouped as bars of 5/4 and 6/4, 3+3+3+2/4, and 4+4+3/4 in the central Allegro section. The total number of beats in the work is therefore precisely divisible by 11 (I'll count just how many later!)
This piece is dedicated to the late Alan Hovhaness, and I borrow some of his sound palettes in this piece, especially his use of a 'chaos of bells' , canonic solo passages, and his characteristic divided string writing.
I am undertaking a revision of this piece to clarify some of the orchestrations and voicings. The revised score will be used for future performances.
Recorded October, 2005 by the Kiev Philharmonic, Robert Ian Winstin, conductor
Recorded by ERM Media for Masterworks of the New Era, Vol. 5
If you would like to perform this piece, please contact me.