Circles and Waves XX

My sonic realization, or 'sculpture', of Circles and Waves XX by Hans van de Bovenkamp, was inspired primarily by the physical structure of the sculpture. As I purveyed the sculpture, I noticed two primary motifs—a circle and a wavy line—interacting and blending with each other and forming uniquely angular arrays of shapes. In my piece, I decided to emulate the waves collide with the circles by using similar musical motifs to reflect the ones in the sculpture. The piece begins with two waves murmuring next to each other, meant to represent the base wave of the structure. Then, as a circle (the melody played by the piano and later the cello) glides over it, splashing up and around, the piece grows in intensity, rising up through the statue to the more intertwined, intense parts. Throughout the piece, the round, open purity of the circle is emulated by harmonics in the cello, while the rushing ripples of 'water' in the piano drive the piece forward. The constant shifts in meter and the use of the whole-tone scale also add to the feeling of bubbling, shifting waters. Finally, we arrive at the very height of the work, where—in the center of the sculpture—the three waves move in unison as a single circle hovers within them. The piano plays block chords, static and together for the first time in the piece, as the cello slowly reprises the original melody in the high harmonic register. The entire piece rises and falls naturally, fading in and out, a macrocosm of the gesture of a wave rising and falling. It's just like the circles and waves which appear in nature - those that Bovenkamp hoped to emulate in the original sculpture.