An Exercise in Algorithms

Two interlocutors discuss the construction of a piece which emerges in real time, changing in accordance with their decisions. They are aware of their own involvement, but are incapable of escaping from it (and from the trajectory of time), creating tension between their metafictional power and the inevitable consequences of their compositional decisions, which begin to affect their speech as well, circling back to manipulate every part of the soundscape. Various reordering algorithms are employed to manipulate musical material originating from simple impulses, experimenting with structure and arrangement. In the end, the interlocutors struggle to find accordance, because their piece is at cross-purposes with itself. What is most interesting for the composition is the maximum deployment of ordering algorithms. What is most interesting for the listener is the development of beautiful material. The matter of what constitutes a productive operation versus an arbitrarily complex operation remains an open question.