Fantasy Variations: Twelve Bells
Michael Wittgraf
About this work:
Fantasy Variations: Twelve Bells
by Michael Wittgraf
Program Notes
Fantasy Variations: Twelve Bells, completed in March of 2004, was
commissioned by and composed for Susan Flaskerud. It is approximately nine minutes in
length.
The work is informed by two primary sources. The first is a collection of pitches
that make up the partials of some large bells. In other words, these individual pitches are
the distinct parts of the whole sound of some bells. Specifically, for a bell whose
fundamental pitch is c1 (middle C), its twelve individual partials in ascending order are c,
c1, e-flat1, g1, c2, e-natural2, g2, c3, f3, a-flat3, c4, and e-flat4.
The second source comes from the English tradition of change-ringing. Change-
ringing typically takes place in churches that have six, eight, ten, or twelve bells in the
bell tower, although anywhere from three to sixteen bells can be used. Each bell is
suspended in such a way that, with the pull of a rope, it can be turned upside down to rest
on a wooden board. With another tug, the bell can be sent swinging to ring at a specific
time, eventually swinging full circle and coming to rest upside down again. Skilled
ringers maintain consistent accuracy with the timing of their bells. The tradition of
change-ringing involves the systematic permutation of the ringing order of the bells in a
tower, with one ringer per bell. Ringing begins with “rounds”, which is a descending
sequence from the highest to the lowest bell. Subsequent sequences involve permutations
that abide by the rule that two bells may change position only if they were adjacent to
each other in the preceding sequence. Each sequence may be repeated several times in a
row, and no sequence, once it is completed, may appear again, except rounds, which
makes a second appearance as the final sequence. For example, with five bells,
numbered 1 through 5 from highest to lowest, a possible composition could be 12345,
13245, 13425, 31452, 13542, 13524, 13254, 12354, 12345. A complete presentation of
beginning and ending with rounds is called a “peal”. Fantasy Variations: Twelve Bells is
based, as the title suggest, on the process for twelve bells.
The term “variations” in the title is used loosely. It refers less to the traditional
“Theme and Variations” form than it does to the inherent variational nature of the
permutations that occur in change-ringing. The work opens with several versions of
rounds, punctuated with presentations of the partials of a bell in C. Immediately
following, in a quiet atmosphere, are multiple ascending and descending presentations of
bell partials in various keys. The next section, which makes up the bulk of the music, is a
presentation of a peal where the “bells” are intermittently transposed as the music
proceeds. This situation, of course, is impossible with actual multi-ton bells, but on a
piano it is not only possible, it is desirable. The peal serves as a kind of accompaniment
to intertwining presentations of bell partials in various keys. The work concludes with
several versions of rounds, followed by a ringing of partials in C.
Year composed: 2003
Duration: 00:09:00
Ensemble type: Keyboard:Piano
Instrumentation: 1 Piano
Instrumentation notes: solo piano