Dear Readers,
Happy Friday! A word puzzle for you today; what we call "word ladders." We will start with an easy one: How do you get from the word "DOG" to the word "CAT," changing just one letter at a time? How many ladder "rungs" do you need? An easy one - just three. Now a complicated one, which seems like it should be easier than it turned out to be (thanks, John Murton, for the solution!): How many rungs does it take to get from "SCOUT" to "TRAIL"? While you ponder that one, here is the point…
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…which revolves around Rachmaninoff 2nd Symphony. While one might think that Rachmaninoff just sucked that ravishing tune in the 3rd movement (the clarinet tune, not the dozen other ravishing tunes) out of thin air, I can easily make the case that the tune was derived, if not constructed, from other material in the symphony. So here is a note puzzle, based on the same concept as the word ladder: How does Rachmaninoff get from bar 1 of the 1st movement to bar 6 of the 3rd? How many musical/note "rungs" does he employ? How many does he need? Does this teach us anything about how he composed in general? Are there other works in which he uses a similar approach to melodic generation through motivic expansion?
…
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…ok, here's a hint about SCOUT to TRAIL - 14 rungs.
Have a great weekend, and keep a score nearby! - MG
Happy Friday! A word puzzle for you today; what we call "word ladders." We will start with an easy one: How do you get from the word "DOG" to the word "CAT," changing just one letter at a time? How many ladder "rungs" do you need? An easy one - just three. Now a complicated one, which seems like it should be easier than it turned out to be (thanks, John Murton, for the solution!): How many rungs does it take to get from "SCOUT" to "TRAIL"? While you ponder that one, here is the point…
…
…
…which revolves around Rachmaninoff 2nd Symphony. While one might think that Rachmaninoff just sucked that ravishing tune in the 3rd movement (the clarinet tune, not the dozen other ravishing tunes) out of thin air, I can easily make the case that the tune was derived, if not constructed, from other material in the symphony. So here is a note puzzle, based on the same concept as the word ladder: How does Rachmaninoff get from bar 1 of the 1st movement to bar 6 of the 3rd? How many musical/note "rungs" does he employ? How many does he need? Does this teach us anything about how he composed in general? Are there other works in which he uses a similar approach to melodic generation through motivic expansion?
…
…
…ok, here's a hint about SCOUT to TRAIL - 14 rungs.
Have a great weekend, and keep a score nearby! - MG
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