David A. Powers: Snowflakes [Video]

Mon, Jul 17, 2023 2:40 PM

One night, I dreamed that I was composing with a Square of Saturn: a 3x3 grid made up of the digits 1 through 9, positioned in such a way that they add up to 15 in every direction. I knew that the Square of Saturn was associated with alchemy and ceremonial magic. A few days later, I was browsing in a used bookstore, and came across the same square in a different context; I learned that in ancient Daoism, it was an important cosmological symbol known as the Luosho Square. Years later, I encountered a contemplative practice that made use of the same symbol, this time in the context of kabbalistic meditation.

The piece Snowflakes is based on harmonies derived from a Square of Saturn. First, I mapped a nine-note set, a sequence of fifths built from the note F, to the numbers 1 through 9. On this basis, I placed the nine notes within a Square of Saturn. From this “Melodic Grid,” I derived the piece's "color."

I proceeded to create a set of eight three-note chords based on adjacent notes in the Melodic Grid; to these, I added a ninth chord consisting of the three tones that were missing from the Melodic Grid. I assigned these chords to the numbers 1 through 9, and again mapped them onto a Square of Saturn. From this "Harmonic Grid,"" I derived the piece’s "canon."