Voids of Inequality

Commissioned by the Mozartgesellschaft Schwetzingen for the Schwetzinger Mozartfest 2024, the piece is based on the Bell inequality theorem from which the principle of quantum entanglement arises, i.e. the instantaneous interaction of a pair of particles even if spatially separated (quantum non-locality). If one takes two correlated particles and separates them even at enormous distances, what happens to one is immediately "transmitted" to the other.

Similarly, physical-acoustic phenomena are isolated in the piece, which occur only between local musical intervals, positioned in specific portions of the global frequency range. This, together with the abolition of the clear boundary between musical parameters, determines a sound flow that implies the concept of non-locality, whereby whenever an element enters the musical discourse, all the other elements immediately undergo a modification.

Complex physical-acoustic phenomena are realized through the use of 8 different tuning systems variously superimposed throughout the piece: 12-Equal Temperament, 24-Equal Temperament, Pythagorean tuning, Meantone temperament (quarter comma), Just intonation, and Werckmeister I, II, and IV.

I have named this compositional technique, which I have been employing for 20 years now, Polysystemism.

The piece is dedicated to Nikolaus Friedrich and the Chaos String Quartet.