For all you fans of the circle of 5ths (and heavenly music)

viz

Was at a concert yesterday where the choir sang Franssens’ Harmony of the Spheres - the 5th movement. 

It’s an amazing experience, hearing the slowly-shifting layers of vocal lines bleeding into one another and it brings to mind the ever-revolving planets as they circle through space. I’m sure if space made a sound it would sound like this. It was heavenly. 

The piece starts in E major, and key-by-key slowly modulates through the cycle of 5ths backwards, to A, to D, to G and so on all the way to B where it concludes. Every time the new key is heralded in, you hear the major 7th of the previous key giving way to a minor 7th which takes its role as the perfect 4th of the new key. The transitions are so smooth you hardly notice them. 

This is the first piece I’ve ever heard that makes its way through the entire circle of 5ths. 

The 5th movement starts at 49:20, and the first modulation is at 49:57 when E major’s D# gives way to A major’s D natural. Can you identify each key change?!

https://youtu.be/wLkmMEEiNBk

Megii

That's gorgeous stuff, thanks @viz ; had not heard of this composer or music, so grateful to be made aware.

viz

Megii said:

That's gorgeous stuff, thanks @viz ; had not heard of this composer or music, so grateful to be made aware.

Great isn’t it? they also did this - it’s absolutely amazing. Eric Whitacre. Totally sublime. I’m sure Depeche Mode are happy with it!

https://youtu.be/HlzhYa9aG_k

Megii

viz said:

Megii said:

That's gorgeous stuff, thanks @viz ; had not heard of this composer or music, so grateful to be made aware.

Great isn’t it? they also did this - it’s absolutely amazing. Eric Whitacre. Totally sublime. I’m sure Depeche Mode are happy with it!

https://youtu.be/HlzhYa9aG_k

Awesome! I can't imagine Depeche Mode would be anything other than delighted and amazed at that.

Branshen

This is very clever, and does sound heavenly. To me, I feel that you never get a firm grasp of where the key center is but everything is supported nonetheless, giving you that floating feeling. 

drofluf

@viz thanks for sharing. The modulations went way over my head but a beautiful piece of music

axisus

Well I'm intrigued enough to give this a spin at work a bit later. 

EDIT: Well I was quite enjoying it until the first advert kicked in. I gave up at that point, I don't do adverts and I certainly don't do them at intervals through a piece of music! How utterly crass. But yeah, it was rather nice otherwise.