Movement 1

In my piece I begin with the Timpani sketch as a basis but have more or less written a pastiche of it as the basis of further elaboration. The 2^nd Percussionist and Prepared Piano are used to suggest something of Nancarrow’s original conception . I felt that the entry of the Study 49a theme did not work here – all the energy was dissipated. Instead I have taken a fragment of the end of Study 49a and telescoped the whole movement out of it, generating about thirty different versions which gradually accelerate over the course of the movement. Over this I wrote a complex Pianola canon using the 3-3-4-2-4 rhythmic motif as a basis. Approximately half way through the movement there is a pause and there begins a canon on the strings based on one of the sketches – (while this canon gets under way the Pianolist must change the roll and then re-coordinate with the ensemble – the noise of the roll winding back is also part of the piece – an extra bit of percussion!) - this canon is extended and dove-tails with the ‘telescope’ process leading to the super-human chaos of the movements close.

Movement 2

One of the sketches based on the 13^th chord tempi was an ostinato based on a repeating series of 3-3-4-2-4 along with a little minor 3^rd motive. I noticed that this sketch had almost exactly the same number of bars as Study 49b and that the key scheme closely matched the Study, following a cycle of fifths. The second half was not such a close match which may be explained by the fact that the second half of the Study exists in at least three different versions – the final score as written by Nancarrow does not match the punching score (and therefore the recording). I edited the second half and completed the ending (about three bars). This movement is the closest to what Nancarrow may have written – in fact I have only edited it and composed about 3 additional bars.

Movement 3

This movement is completely original although inspired by a procedure found in Study 33 and which I also use in my Second String Quartet. This is where canonic voices begin simultaneously but are swapped over at a specific point in order that they can converge. I have added my own twist to this in that there is continuity in the music at the switch-over point, meaning that there are seemingly random interjections earlier or later in the canonic process. If the 1^st movement sees the Pianola as a super-human note making machine and the second is a more or less neo-classical interpretation, then the 3^rd is where I feel the true potential of the Pianola begins to be felt. This is because the Pianolist can follow the conductor in one tempo but what comes out of the piano is entirely different – so very complex tempo relationships can be precisely played. (The possibilities for the use of the Pianola in ensemble contexts, (not just as a soloist), is of great interest and seems to have been very little exploited).

So here the Pianola plays a series of three ‘switch-over’ canons in metres designed to closely approximate irrational tempo relations (ΦF/2 - √v3/2 - √v5/2). At each convergence point a little ‘ritornello’ is played by the brass. Across these canons the Ensemble plays the music of the first canon at different tempi – the piano ghosts the Pianola at first, then after the first convergence point a percussion version is played and finally starting with the third canon the woodwind play their version, converging at the end, - the movement finishes with the brass ritornello alone.

Movement 4

Nancarrow’s introduction survives almost intact, though re-orchestrated for the smaller ensemble. What follows is a completely original three voice canon on the Pianola written in conjunction with an elaboration of all remaining sketches played by the ensemble, (similar to the third movement in using approximations to irrational tempo relationships (√v13 - ∏? - √v7)) and precisely co-ordinated. Of the ensemble part, only the climax of the movement is newly written, the rest being pieced together from the sketches, voices being discretely completed/extended/edited where necessary. The piece ends with a brief coda – almost an anti-cadenza where the Pianola plays simply and quietly.