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Select from the following versions of this work to view more detailed information:

- Duos: 2 Vibraphones

- Solo Other Keyboard

- Solo toy piano

Products featuring this work

Format	Title	Version	AMC Library	Price
Parts	Pi (Obstruction) : for two vibraphones / Andrián Pertout. 1 set of 2 performance parts (14p. -- A4 (portrait)) Published by Australian Music Centre — 2019	Duos: 2 Vibraphones	Not for loan	$35.45	Add to cart
Score	Pi (Obstruction) : for two vibraphones / Andrián Pertout. 1 facsimile score (28p. -- A4 (landscape)) Published by Australian Music Centre — 2019 Library shelf no. 785.6812/PER 2	Duos: 2 Vibraphones	Available for loan	$44.55	Add to cart
Score [ePDF]	Pi (Obstruction) : for Yamaha Disklavier [eScore] / Andrián Pertout. 1 digital (PDF) facsimile score (28p. -- A4 (landscape)) Published by Australian Music Centre — 2019	Solo Other Keyboard	Not for loan	$30.91	Add to cart
Score	Pi (Obstruction) : for Yamaha Disklavier / Andrián Pertout. 1 facsimile score (28p. -- A4 (landscape)) Published by Australian Music Centre — 2019 Library shelf no. 786.2/PER 12	Solo Other Keyboard	Available for loan	$44.55	Add to cart
Score	Pi (Obstruction) : for toy piano / Andrián Pertout 1 facsimile score (28p. -- B4 (landscape)) Published by Australian Music Centre — 2010 Library shelf no. Q 786.2/PER 1	Solo toy piano	Available for loan	$50.91	Add to cart
CD	A borboleta / music composed by Andrián Pertout. 1 CD (78 min.) Library shelf no. CD 2341	Solo toy piano	Available for loan	Non-Commercial

Work Overview

Pi (Obstruction) for Schoenhut Concert Grand (Model 379, 37-key) was commissioned by American pianist Phyllis Chen and represents a Hommage à Conlon Nancarrow (1912-1997). The title is in reference to the I Ching, or 'Book of Changes' - originating in the Western Zhou Dynasty (1122-771 BC) - and highlights hexagram 12 (incorporating the trigrams of energy and space) from the 64 hexagrams of the oracle. In the tradition of American composer, pianist and theorist Henry Cowell (1897-1965) and his monumental publication of New Musical Resources (1930), the work explores a variety of compositional techniques developed during the twentieth century by American experimentalist composer Conlon Nancarrow and documented by Kyle Gann in The Music of Conlon Nancarrow (1995). The two possible transpositions of the whole-tone scale are adopted in juxtaposition as the basic pitch material, while the simple seven-limit frequencies ratios associated with this hexatonic scale form the basis for rhythmic development: unison (1/1), just major tone (9/8), just major third (5/4), septimal subdiminished fifth (7/5), just minor sixth (8/5), septimal subminor seventh (7/4), and octave (2/1). The compositional structure features tempo canons (or diminution canons, expressed as polyrhythmic ratios), as well as an isorhythm constructed from a talea (rhythmic series) of 16 notes (3+4+5+4=16, 4+5+6+5=20, 5+6+7+6=24, and 6+7+8+7=28) and a color (pitch series) of 12 notes (F4, B4, G4, C sharp 5, F4, B3, G3, C sharp 4, F3, B4, G4, and D sharp 4) - the form requiring four repeats of the melodic pattern and three repeats of the rhythmic pattern for a completion of the cycle (48 notes).

Work Details

Year: 2008

Duration: 6 min.

The composer cites as influences on this work: Henry Cowell (1897-1965) and his monumental publication of New Musical Resources (1930) ; Kyle Gann's The Music of Conlon Nancarrow (1995) ; I Ching, or ‘Book of Changes’ ; Tempo canons ; Isorhythm.