What would life be without Youtube ! I stumbled on this set of 5 quarter-tone preludes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5sI-s4E9js

Fascinating stuff although perhaps not to everybody's taste. I'll be interesteed what you think of it. I think these are great.

Wow - that is interesting - in weird sort of way. I liked his no. 3 Prelude a lot. Though I don't know if I could listen to this kind of sound for a long time. Afraid it would do some kind of brain damage - or more like some kind of 'hearing' damage. I already hear too many overtones in regular pianos and organs and listening to this kind of sound for long may cause something to go haywire.

You can see that the piano has three keyboards, but I don't understand how it actually works. Too bad he didn't show himself actually playing the music.

what the....

These Preludes are fantastic! I love the first two... Isn't it ironic that quarter tone music originated in the Middle East, centuries before the well tempered scale, and it still sounds new to us.

In all seriousness, I am convinced that my previous fascination (a couple years ago) with this sort of music caused me terrible insomnia for many months. I don't know how...it alters my brain waves or something. Ironically, I love the sound effect; it just stays stuck in my head for a VERY long time after listening.

I could listen to the youtube clip for about 3 seconds.

Interesting sound, but I wouldn't want to hear this every day.

I really like these in an LSD-ish sort of way. Like listening to two kaleidoscopes whizzing round very fast in opposite directions!

Oh my goodness, those are so... bizzare. Microtonal music is intriguing in its own nonconformist sort of way, although I'd rather not bother myself with learning any of it. For all I know it might torment the poor audience with nightmares or something.

The only quarter tone music I've ever heard was something Ives wrote for two pianos tuned a quarter tone apart, and that was about 10 years ago, in a music history class. I remember thinking it was really interesting (in a nice way), but I haven't really had any desire to seek it out since.

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

First of all I WANT one of those pianos!!! Where can I get one? Who manufactures them? Are they available commercially? or are they customized only, and exorbitantly expensive?

Now that I've gotten that out of the way. I listened to his first Prelude and found it a bit trite and repetitive. The most difficult part for most people is to get used to hearing things in a different tonality. Once you get used to the "strangeness", you can begin to analyze the composition as a composition, and not as a "freakshow piece". In the first Prelude, he merely repeats the same pattern over and over and over, and the development of his themes is totally lacking. Where's the melody? Harmonic lines? Phrasing? Dynamics? Touch? Tone? Expression? Recapitulation? Counterpoint? Thematic Development? Xi-manipulation? etc? I think that this particular composer might benefit from studying musical composition more thoroughly until he can begin to incorporate the elements of good musical composition into his pieces. "Just because it's novel" is no reason to neglect the other elements of music.

Scriabin didn't neglect them!

Love is the law, love under will.
Aryobrand

Well, y'know... without wanting to argue with you....
I think you should be posting your assessment as a reply on YouTube. I'm sure the composer will take this to good heart and change his ways the way you tell him to. Go teach this guy how to compose ! Somebody has to do it, and it had better be you. In grateful return maybe he'll tell you where to buy one of these pianos so that some good music can be written for it.

Oops - was I being a bit sarcastic here ? Didn't mean to !

I think that's a highly interesting field.
When I was at university a spent a considerable amount of time (as a composer) delving into the subtleties of it.
I listened to the pieces, which certainly have some thought provoking bits. With quarter tones, I think it's a matter of how they're applied; in the right hands they can really open some new doors.

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.



... ... but I thought your question for this thread was ...



So I was telling you what I thought of it ...

... at least the first Prelude, instead I spent the time I would have listened to the rest of his preludes listening to pianolady's Scriabin preludes ...

... I'm sooo sorry that I told you what I thought of them after you said in this thread "I'll be interesteed what you think of it." ... soooo soooo sorry.
( Who's being sarcastic now!!! )
You know I'm kidding, right, Chris?

I'll try to listen to the rest later ...

Love is the law, love under will.
Aryobrand
(who's going to be very very quiet now...)

I was kidding too