Tjan Yi Xuan - fallacies of the flesh (2025)

"fallacies of the flesh" is an exploration of harmonies derived from pitch-class set operations projected through different gestures, evoking the primitive and dark side of human nature. Start 0:00 i - overlaps: strivings 0:06 ii - series: orations 0:48 iii - mirrors: narcissus 3:21 iv - transformations: fights 5:00 "DUM DUM DUM DUUUUM" 6:04 "overlaps: strivings" (tp1, tp2, hn, tba) is an exploration of "dynamic colour melody" (an extension of klangfarbenmelodie), where dynamic curves, reminescent of mangled audio in electronic music, create rhythmic motion. To create static harmony evoking the futility of strivings, supersets and subsets of (0246) overlapping with one another were used exclusively. "series: orations" (trb) is a collage of speech-like gestures built from a tone row derived from Berg's Lyric Suite. Rows were chosen such that no tones are established as pitch centres, and octave displacements were exploited to distort the sense of pitch-based motivicism. "mirrors: narcissus" (tp2, trb, tba) is a contrapuntal exploration of materials derived from mirrors, such as inversions, non-retrogradable rhythms canons and new harmonies. The mirror note, G, is sounded prominently while the developments in material are going on, only falling apart towards the end of the movement where the mirror moves and harmony changes. "transformations: fights" (all) is a rondo where harmonies change from the (026) harmonic world to the (012) harmonic world subtly. The music alternates between tutti and duo passages; tutti sections strongly establish harmonies through supersets projected in a large registral range, and duo sections introduce subtle changes to the base pitch set one by one. Composed: Jan - April 2025 #experimentalmusic #composer