Point 33 Recurring
[0.333333]
Instrumentation:
Solo for 4 timpani and mounted castanets
Duration: 7’
World Premiered by Sébastien Salque January 2025 at the International Timpani Composition Competition of Lyon, France
The title is a reference to the seemingly overly precise tempo markings, which arise as a byproduct of the metric modulations. It pokes fun at the question of whether a difference of 0.33 in a tempo is distinguishable; in practice, due to the context of these metric modulations, to round the number up/down and remove the 0.33 from the tempo would actually create much greater challenges for the performer. Assuming the metric modulations are executed correctly, the written tempo markings are actually reflecting the performer's accuracy - rather than the performer having to conform to (unnecessarily) virtuosically precise tempos.
Program notes:
