for solo piano
This piece emerges from an research focused on synthetic modes and temporal perception in contemporary composition. The work is built upon a single newly constructed mode, which generates multiple internal variants, temporal behaviors, and harmonic possibilities. Instead of treating the mode as a fixed structure, the composition approaches it as a flexible environment in which several related identities can unfold. The five-episode form, the thematic materials, and the harmonic language all arise from this long process of modal experimentation, temporal studies, and single-note etudes.
also visit: Electronic Variation on Modal Sketch No.1: Episode V
Modal Basis and Initial Concept
The foundation of the work is a synthetic seven-note mode built from the following scale:
F# – G# – A# – B# – C# – D – Eb
This mode serves as the source of all melodic, harmonic, and textural elements in the piece. By shifting the emphasized degrees in different musical environments, the mode generates three internal variants. Each of these variants has its own distinct color and intervallic focus while remaining intrinsically tied to the parent mode. These variants are not fixed “scales” but contextual modal states emerging through emphasis, register, and rhythmic treatment.
Research Background and Analytical Studies
The conceptual background of the piece developed along two parallel lines:
- Study of synthetic modes in contemporary music.
- Exploration of modal thinking in both Iranian and Western traditions.
This dual research path led to a series of etudes and analytical studies that aimed to rethink the notion of “mode” in relation to time, texture, and harmony.
The studies were organized into three major categories:
– Temporal Studies
A set of etudes examining how modal identity changes under different temporal conditions.
Model 1 – Metric:
Model 2 – Non-metric:
Removal of meter and use of fluid, free-time motion.
Model 3 – Approaching Timelessness Through Long Metric Repetitions:
– Harmonic Studies Within the Synthetic Mode
Here, tertian, quartal, and secundal harmonies were constructed strictly from the pitch material of the mode. Their functional tendencies were tested to understand how non-tonal harmonic “functions” might emerge within a synthetic modal space.
(all the audio files here contain an improvisation on chord progressions)
Chord Progression 1
Chord Progression 2
Chord Progression 3
– Single-Note Etudes
Three etudes were written on only one pitch each: F#, C#, and G#.
These etudes avoid any melodic motion and instead explore: register shifts, rhythmic variety, resonance behavior, and timbral modification of a single pitch.
F# Etude
G# Etude
C# Etude
These single-note studies became essential to the temporal and perceptual logic of the final episode of the piece.
Formal Structure – Five Episodes
The composition follows a five-episode structure.
– Episode 1 – Introduction of the First Theme (Mode 1.1) mm. 1–25
The first thematic material is presented through emphasis on F# and A# of the synthetic mode.
This establishes the identity of Mode 1.1, marking the listener’s first encounter with the modal environment.
– Episode 2 – Introduction of the Second Theme (Mode 1.2) mm. 29–49
A new thematic layer emerges with different modal emphasis (G# and C#) and altered timbre.
Mode 1.2 is shaped here.
Compared to Episode 1, its temporal behavior is more regular, with clearer metric–rhythmic grounding.
– Episode 3 – Introduction of the Third Theme (Mode 1.3) mm. 50–73
Episode 3 stabilizes Mode 1.3, with different modal emphasis on G# and the atmosphere distinct from the previous episodes.
Contrasts appear through: changes in tempo, register and color, and increased presence of chromatism.
– Episode 4 – Contrapuntal Episode mm. 83–115
Unlike the first three episodes, Episode 4 does not aim to establish a new modal variant. Instead, it introduces: fresh motivic gestures, contrapuntal textures, interwoven lines, and reflections of materials from Episodes 1–3.
Although it carries echoes of earlier themes, the episode presents its own internal identity through counterpoint and dense movement.
It acts as the turning point of the composition, mediating between “presentation” and “transformation.”
– Episode 5 – Transformative Episode mm. 119–140
The final episode is not built on any new theme or motif.
All musical activity arises from: reordering, compressing, expanding, and transforming material from the earlier episodes.
A stable rhythmic layer acts as a temporal line, creating an illusion of “timelessness within time,” a concept drawn directly from the single-note etudes.
This episode forms the concluding space where the modal material is reimagined rather than replaced.
Harmonic and Textural Considerations
At every point in the piece, the harmonic vocabulary is derived solely from the synthetic mode.
Tertian and quartal sonorities appear together not to imitate tonal functions but to demonstrate how tension, color, and vertical depth can arise organically from a modal source.
Stable rhythmic surfaces often create a kind of temporal drone, allowing modal changes to be perceived not primarily horizontally (melodically) but vertically, through shifts in texture, density, and color.
Modal Sketch No. 1 is the result of a process in which the boundaries between etude, analysis, and composition dissolve.
The work proposes a view of “mode” not merely as a fixed collection of intervals, but as a dynamic environment for the exploration of time, resonance, repetition, color, and transformation.