[Smt-talk] Hexachords

[matralab]

Dear Collective Wisdom

Thank you all for your helpful and erudite comments and insights.
So as far as I can gather from your comments,
Scriabin named one of the two hexachords,
both can be classified in the Forte nomenclature
but they were not in common use anywhere except
in Western post-tonal composition (admittedly a stretched use of the
word "common").

They are now used in two of my compositions:
Stele I for prepared piano (2004), performed many times since then,
and jaali (2010) for sextet and background ensemble
The latter will be premiered on Nov 18 at the Neue Staatsgalerie
Stuttgart (Germany) -
and I will gladly offer a ticket to this concert to any of my
thoughtful respondents, should you be in the area then.
Just reply off-list...

Best cordially
Sandeep

2010/9/21 matralab <matralab at gmail.com>:
> Dear collective wisdom
>
> in a new composition I am using two complementary hexachords
>
> C D E F Ab Bb [C] (in semitones: 2 2 1 3 2 2)
> and
> C# D# F# G A B [C#] (or: 2 3 1 2 2 2).
>
> I just made them up by trial and error without any reference to historical
> or cultural music theories.
> But now that the piece is written I wonder if they might be scales/modes
> that were in common use at any time or anywhere -
> it seems most likely that they are. But my intercultural scales/modes
> knowledge is limited.
> In the piece they are used as a pitch reservoir without fixed central pitch,
> so any rotation would work, too.
> Do they ring a bell, any of you ?
>
> Thank you for all insights
>
> Best
> Sandeep Bhagwati
> Composer
> Canada Research Chair for Inter-X Art
> Concordia University Montréal
>