Forms in Waves

“FORMS IN WAVES” is a Sinquefield Student Commission, performed by the Kaizen Piano Trio (Ryan Kee on Piano, Alexandre da Silva Negrão on Violin, and Dean Wibe on Cello).

This piece is inspired by the Theory of Generalized Periodicity by Belgian composer and musicologist Henri Pousseur. As described in his text Pour une Periodicité Généralisée (For a Generalized Periodicity), this theory provides a framework for analyzing music of any kind or genre from any era, from the Middle Ages to contemporary music. It approaches musical analysis through waveforms such as sine, square, triangle, and sawtooth. For instance, an arpeggio could be analyzed as a sine wave, while repeated notes could be likened to a square waveform. This analytical method also allows for the interpretation of musical forms.

The title “FORMS IN WAVES” pays homage to Pousseur’s text and invites

the audience to listen with an open mind, aware that this piece is aimed

at the audience of the present and the future. Countless sound movements throughout the piece evoke the patterns of these waveforms, offering a new sonic universe for exploration.

The composer’s philosophy centers on the fusion of harmonicity (defined

pitches) and inharmonicity (undefined pitches), shaped by his experience with electroacoustic music. His compositions often transform acoustic sources to sound electronic, even in instrumental works. His electronic pieces particularly emphasize inharmonic sounds, gestures, and textural variations.

“FORMS IN WAVES”combines traditional Western notation with digital audio through fixed media and live electronics (quadriphonic), cohesively and innovatively bridging the acoustic and electronic realms.