Interlude

For alphorn, two violins, and viola
Op. 4
2020

This short piece was composed for the Sensations project. It was meant to fit between two major pieces (thus the name "Interlude"). I have a long-standing fantasy of composing microtonal pieces that do not sound bad (to my uneducated ears). So, for this one, I (supposedly) had an alphorn available, which is an instrument that can only play notes taken from a single harmonic series. Some of the notes of this series do not fit well the 12 tones mainstream listeners are used to. Specifically, the 7^th harmonic is a bit flat, and the 11^th one, which I also used briefly, is a tad sharp. Accompanying string instruments are asked to adapt their tuning to create consonant chords with the alphorn.

For the premiere, we never actually got to play with an alphorn... So I asked a cellist to tune down his G string to a G flat, the same fundamental as the alphorn (albeit one octave too high), and play natural harmonics. In the end, it sounded much like a wind whistling instrument with some out of tune notes.

Recording

Quick and dirty recording, with a magnificent virtual alphorn:

Score

Download score (pdf)