# A mixed septet



## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

Once a year, in the summer, a group of seven musicians has a call for scores. I have sent them something for less than the entire ensemble for a few years now and they always say that my submissions just missed the final cut. So late last year I wrote this work to use all seven. Maybe this one will make it all the way through (if and when they advertise this summer)...or maybe not 

The design: The first minute is an explosion of ideas from all. The majority of the remaining piece is a parsing out of the ideas and exploring a few of them at a time until the last minute where there is an attempt to put them all back together, but because they have transformed themselves in the intervening time, it's just not the same as the start.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jcbeuui0gi806p1/Mixed Septet.mp3?dl=0


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Sounds interesting. You building around the tritone and major seventh?


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

Phil, I do use for many of my scale passages the octatonic, but years back I realized I was letting it and its diminished chords (the tritone you're hearing) dominate too much of the works harmony, so nowadays I consciously seek other harmonic choices. I believe the major 7ths you're hearing here emanates from a favorite triad of mine (root, minor third above root and a major seventh above root).


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