2022 . . . collection of more advanced etudes for Piano
Mapping the Music Universeproduced several small etudes to illustrate the compositional potential of musical patterns explained in the ebook. The inspiration to collect them into a series came from many years of fascination with Bartók’s wonderful Mikrokosmos series of 153 piano pieces in modern styles. Book I contains 7 short etudes, each titled with an astronomical entity named for a mythological character and ranging in difficulty for the pianist.
Book II presents more extended compositional explorations, each suitable as a stand-alone recital piece. Beyond Mikrokosmos, Book IIpays homage to Debussy’s revered books of Preludes. The pieces in Book II embrace the Impressionist approach to texture and form, while evolving beyond Debussy’s tonal language.
2021 . . . Etudes for Piano . . . Total duration: 10 minutes . . . COMPLETE SCORE
Mapping the Music Universe produced several small etudes to illustrate the compositional potential of musical patterns explained in the ebook. The inspiration to collect them into a series came from many years of fascination with Bartók’s wonderful Mikrokosmos series of 153 piano pieces in modern styles. Some of the Mapping etudes were originally sketched for piano, others adapted from more complex textures. They range in difficulty for the pianist from the simpler 1. Pisces to the more challenging 6. Scorpius.
The first seven are simpler, with each etude titled with an astronomical entity named for a mythological character.
Though the whole set is 10 minutes in length, the pianist wishing to perform some of them is welcome to select a suite of three or four. Each etude is titled with an astronical entity named for a mythological character:
Pisces – The Fish; 12th constellation of the Zodiac
3. Milky Way – Way of the White Cow in Irish myth; the galaxy containing our Solar System
4. Pleiades – Seven Daughters of sea-nymph Pleione; an open star cluster
5. Laniakea – Immense Heaven in Hawaiian; supercluster of galaxies that includes the Milky Way
6. Scorpius – The Scorpion; 8th constellation of the Zodiac
7. Andromeda – Cassiopeia’s daughter, saved from the sea monster Cetus by Perseus; a spiral nebula and nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way
Experience all seven in synthesized-sound color video on YouTube or audio only:
BOOK II
The last five Mapping the Cosmos etudes are each suitable as short stand-alone recital pieces or as a set. Beyond Mikrokosmos, they pay homage to Debussy’s revered books of Preludes. These pieces embrace the Impressionist approach to texture and form, while evolving beyond Debussy’s tonal language. Stonehenge and Lunar Litany both draw material from the 1975 four-movement piano work Geography of the Chronosphere.
8. Moonlight – an arpeggio homage to Beethoven’s famous Sonata
9. Deep Sky – profound mysteries glimpsed by telescopes
10. Stonehenge – ancient site of human worship in the cosmos
11. Lunar Litany – moon cycles governing human activity
12. Star Map – celebrating early star catalog project Carte du Ciel
Thomas Clark - composer / digital artist 