keys + knives

12 tone chord long duration action

for 1 - 11 players of instruments, capable of producing sustained notes
and a reed organ
hans w. koch 2014

hans w. koch
keys + knives
12 tone chord long duration action
for 1 - 11 players of instruments, capable of producing sustained notes and a
reed organ
duration minimum 21 minutes
general remarks:
around 1915 the russian composer nicolai obukhow (1892-1954) invented a
compositional strategy using chords containing all 12 notes, which he called
"absolute harmony".
for this he also devised a special notation, doing away with flats and sharps.
he never made any attempt to explore his invention in a systematic or
conceptual way, instead using it as one "tool" together with residues of more
conventional musical language. this also becomes evident from the title of his
tractatus "trait dharmonie tonale, atonale et totale", published in paris 1945
and the examples therein, drawn from his own works.
since my first contact with his work in 1983, i started doing research on him
and one by one emerged the idea of a music more systematically exploring the
possibilities of a music entirely constructed from chords containing all 12 notes
without doubling.
since 2014 this body of works, compositions, installations and musical
applications for portable devices are grouped under the title "the o. theorem"
prerequisites:
an (acoustical) keyboard instrument, capable of producing sustained sounds
and with a range of at least 4 1/2 octaves. this can be a reed organ (for the
premiere, a hohner organa 354 was used) or any other suitable instrument.
a set of 12 plastic knives
a set of 12 papercards, each containing the name of one chromatic pitch
1-11 musicians with instruments capable of producing sustained sounds.
stage setup
the reed organ is placed in the middle of the stage, slightly to the back, the
keys facing the audience. the musicians are seated left and right from it,
forming a half-circle. depending on the size of the venue, discrete amplification
for both the keyboard and the musicians may be advisable.
the 12 papercards are placed on the note stand of the keyboard.

keys + knives unfolds like an indian raga from a 12 tone chord, set up
beforehand by fixating the respective keys of the keyboard with plastic knives.
the 12 tone chord may be choosen by the musicians or selected from the
examples given at the end of the score.
the piece begins with one musician switching on the organ.
after the prepared chord has fully established itself, the musicians one by one
slowly walk to the organ and select one or more pitches, they want to play
with.
the number of pitches a musician can select, depends on the number of
paticipants. if 11 musicians are involved, each can select only one pitch,
leaving at least one pitch continuously sounding on the organ. if only two
musicians are participating, each can choose up to 5 or 6 pitches, again
leaving at least one pitch continuously sounding. (but its also possible to
choose one pitch only).
when a musicians has made his choice he
a) loosenes the corresponding key(s) from the chord on the reed organ by
taking the corresponding knife away
b) selects the corresponding pitchcard(s) from the organs music stand and
takes them to his place. this is to ensure, that no pitch is shared between the
instrumental performers.
arrived at his place, he is free to sound the pitch in any octave, duration and
volume fitting the context.
at the beginning, preference is given to soft and sparse playing as if walking on
unsecure ground.
later on, the dynamic register can be expanded, more and more variations in
tone colour introduced.
the choice of octave can be guided by either seeking octaves with little
neighbouring pitches or, to the contrary, trying to create beatings and clusters.
for this, also microtonal fluctuations may be used.
playing of melodic or rhythmic motives should generally be avoided, the main
focus is to produce a stream of sound, swelling and ebbing.
pausing and listening are integral parts of this process.
towards the end of the agreed time, the instrumental performers one by one
start returning their cards back to the reed organ and fix the pitches on the
keyboard in the octave they were last sounding it. (depending on the range of
the organ, this may require some premeditation). they then sit quietly until the
process has completed for all players.
the piece ends, when the last player has returned his card and the organ has
been sounding the final 12 tone chord for some time. the organ is then
switched off.

examples for 12 tone chords:

the selection of the chord depends on the qualities of the reed organ at hand.
(e.g. some pitches may sound stronger or weaker in one or another octave)
n.b.: the notation follows obukhows notation. black dots indicate sharps (#)

ex. 1

ex. 2

ex. 3

ex. 4