Index of Lutheran Chorale Settings

2016, rev. 2018. new version for organ 2022–23
variable instrumentation. variable dur.

Index is a rulebook containing a small number of operations to be applied to preexisting chorales. Not all of the rules must be used and the selection of chorales is left to players’ discretion; one rule is applied at a time. The rules are: (1) change individual notes of a chorale; (2) add a new voice to two preexisting voices (subtitled “with regards to Jürg Frey” for its similarity to that composer’s 60 Pieces of Sound, though here the situation is more restrictive); and (3a-d) play individual voices faster or slower than others. In their algorithmic design the pieces draw on the concern for process characteristic of early conceptual art; in referring to archetypal musical materials out of a particular tradition they draw on my personal history.

(note December 1, 2022)