Download these notes as a Word document

Program Listing
Design School (1994/5)
Michael Gandolfi (b. 1956)
I. Fibonacci’s Fanfare
II. Photoelectric Effect
III. Reptiles
IV. Matrix Mechanics
Program Notes
Design School is an exploration of music structured on patterns and concepts found in mathematics,
physics, the lithographs of M.C. Escher (particularly the works that he completed in the 1950’s and 60’s
that feature his predilection for interwoven, planar patterns), and the ambiguity of words when read in a
context other than that for which they were intended (in this case a quantum physics catch-phrase as
read by a 12-tone composer). I sought to achieve a musical edifice driven by the patterns and designs of
these topics rather than one governed by more typical musical/subjective considerations or conceptions.
In short, the varied forms of each movement of Design School are meant to align with their
mathematical, scientific, lithographical and grammatical models.
The first movement, Fibonacci’s Fanfare, is based on a segment of the Fibonacci series:
1:1:2:3:5:8:13. Fibonacci, a fifteenth century Italian mathematician, discovered that as this additive
integer series continues, it yields greater accuracy in defining an irrational ratio known as ‘the golden
proportion.’ This proportion, which is found in the ratio of any two consecutive numbers in the series,
has been employed by architects, artists, composers, etc. for several centuries, as a means of informing
the design of their works. I composed a hybrid canon in which all of the durational values, phrase
beginnings, internal phrase structure and density of activity are based strictly on the Fibonacci series.
The photoelectric effect is the emission of electrons from certain metals when light falls on their
surfaces. The incident energy causes an excitation of the electrons; boosting them to a higher valence or
energy level. Eventually the electrons return to their original state and the stored energy is released as a
photon. Photoelectric Effect depicts this energetic electron journey, through a series of sequences
designed to move the ensemble to a heightened state, expressed in extremes of register and dynamics.
The third movement, Reptiles, is a musical representation of M.C. Escher’s lithograph by the same
name. In this lithograph, an opened book on a desk reveals a two-dimensional plane built of
interlocking reptiles. As one reads the lithograph, one observes the reptiles gradually disengaging from
the two-dimensional plane of the book as they enter into the three-dimensional world. Once free, they
circle around the desk as unfettered, three-dimensional beings before ultimately returning to the book’s
two-dimensional reptilian grid. A transformation from homophonic stasis to dense, polyphonic activity
and back to homophonic stasis, characterizes this movement’s design. The harmonic sequence defining
this musical journey is cyclical, hence the final harmony returns precisely to the point of the
movement’s beginning, as do the reptiles in their intersecting, planar world.
The final movement, Matrix Mechanics, takes the form of a rondo in which the main theme is
systematically transposed to all possible keys through the use of a pitch matrix. The title, borrowed
from quantum physics, aptly describes the musical process of this mechanically structured scheme.
Michael Gandolfi