Polyphony, as sumptuous as a rich brocade,
shines vivid crimson with its careful mastery.
A layer through a layer in a tapestry,
inverted motives in the fabric interplay.
One sees the colours, recognising themes like days,
arranged in curlicues of phoenixes and seas
of countersubjects, slit like ruby string,
between the lines of subjects, woven in a braid.
The balanced harmonies, which satisfy each voice
cohere so gingerly, a stitch by stitch with poise,
familiar majesty, a souvenir of old,
a tad bit tarnished from disuse, still grandly frail,
courageous in its use, a kingly conquest sailed –
surmised as luxury, subdued as precious gold.
Please tell me more about this one! It's beautiful. Is it about a particular musical piece?
ReplyDeleteWell, this one's about polyphony, which is an intricate style of musical writing of the Baroque era (1600-1750). It takes one musical "theme", introduced by itself in one "voice" and then reproduces it in the other "voices" in succession. Throughout the piece, the theme will be merged with fractions of the original theme and with other musical devices to create a densely interwoven piece. I love it!
ReplyDeleteYou can hear a good example here: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=yj1WtoWdyGo