Wind Chimes - solo piano - plus analytical notes

Cover art photo by Oliver Hihn on Unsplash

Program Note

Wind Chimes was constructed around a rigid structure of number combinations and explores the effect of combining irregular (less commonly used) note lengths with regular bar lengths. In the original manuscript, the note lengths comprising 1, 3, 5 or 7 quaver beats, were used in varying number sequences, each sequence adding up to a regular bar length containing 16 quavers (or 8 pulses in a bar). Once this strict structure was established, it was modified, to bring a more personalised and less robotic feel to the rhythm and harmony. Notes in the structure that landed together as chords were often staggered by turning some of the notes into grace notes or by allowing the notes of the chord to flow one after the other. Additional notes were occasionally added between those that occurred in the pre-determined structure in order to impose a greater sense of melody, direction, and harmonic interest.

The first edition of the piece (titled “Chime”) was written in 16/8 with all the notes occurring on one line and the choice of which hand to use for each note was left up to the performer. Because of the rhythmic difficulty of the piece and to improve readability, in 2014 the piece was revised. In the 2014 edition, the length of each note was doubled (so that each note was twice as long as it was originally) and the tempo was altered to be twice as fast, so that when it was performed, it would sound like the original 2006 edition. The original 16/8 time signature was changed to 4/4, and the notes were distributed into the left and right hand staves. For added interest, the pitch of a small number of notes were altered or doubled at an octave. The 2014 edition was again revised in 2024. By reducing the spacing of the notes in the score it was able to be condensed down from 7 pages to 4. As the piece requires the sustain pedal to be held down continuously, the rhythmic difficulty of the piece was simplified further by shortening the length of any notes that were being held down unnecessarily (as striking a note with the sustain pedal down does not require the note to be held, in order for it to ring on, and changing these note lengths did not diminish the desired sound of the piece). The piece was renamed “Wind Chimes” for the 2024 edition.

Performance Information/Awards

Wind Chimes was written for the concert tour entitled Lucid Dreaming, a concert of works by Katherine Rawlings and first performed by Lindsay Gilroy, on the 10th February 2006 in the Music Workshop at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. The piece later received 3rd place in the intermediate division at the KEYS National Composition Competition (2006 performed by Darren Saady).

Analytical Notes

Analytical notes for the original 2006 edition of the piece are included in this PDF download.