Kyle Gann: Two Creatures (2015)

for quarter-tone accordion

1. Reticent Behemoth:
2. Affable Denizen:
Veli Kujala

In 2015 Finnish accordionist Veli Kujala asked me to write a piece for his quarter-tone accordion, which I was surprised to learn existed. I had been composing in unequally-spaced just-intonation microtonal scales for decades, but had never written anything in quarter-tones. I enjoy quarter-tone music, but consider it a rather inherently atonal scale, and I am more comfortable in tonality, especially when using microtones. In any case, I consulted the essay "Some Quarter-Tone Impressions" (1925) by my hero Charles Ives for advice. Ives thought the way to begin was by combining perfect fifths from each of the quarter-tone scales. So I took him very literally, and, in "Reticent Behemoth," moved slowly in perfect fifths in each hand, getting a feel for every possible combination, and then added a quarter-tone tune at the end over a droning accompaniment. I started a second movement, "Affable Denizen," but didn't finish it until a couple of years later. For this I wanted a folksong-like feel. I had never heard any Finnish folk music, but I imagined what I hoped it would be like, and wrote in that rhythmic style. Later I got curious, and listened to some Finnish folk music. I was nowhere close. In any case, my sense that this is quarter-tone music for people who don't like quarter-tones has been borne out by audience comments.

Selected Performances:
World premiere of "Reticent Behemoth": Sept. 24, 2015, by accordionist Veli Kujala at the International Conference for Minimalist Music
World premiere of "Two Creatures": Sept. 30, 2018, by Veli Kujala in Oulu, Finland

PDF score here

- Kyle Gann

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