Constraints Assignment	Music Composition Assignments   William Wieland
Composition Component Igor Stravinsky said "The more art is controlled, limited, worked over, the more it is free." and "The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one's self of the chains that shackle the spirit." (The quotes are from Poetics of Music, pages 63 and 65 respectively.) I wish to constrain you. Compose 3 short pieces which we can listen to in class. Use only 1 pitch class* in the first piece, 2 in the second and 3 in the third. Since your melodic and harmonic options are limited, carefully consider other Elements of Music. (I believe this handout is from a music appreciation course.) * C is a pitch class. The piano keyboard includes 8 different Cs. If you choose C as the pitch class for your first piece, you may use any Cs, high or low. (Any B sharp or D double flat also belongs to this pitch class.) Middle C, however, is a pitch. Only one middle C exists. A is another example of a pitch class while A440 is a pitch.
Listening/Reading/Analysis Component Listen to and write a brief comment about at least the first 3 movements of György Ligeti - Musica Ricercata ( [1/11], [2/11] and [3/11] ). (The subsequent movements appear in the right margin.) Note the interesting features in the score. Read about Musica ricercata at Wikipedia.
If time, Listen to and read about subsequent movements of György Ligeti's Musica Ricercata. Listen to Ein Ton by Peter Cornelius.