Ab minor - Research on Harmony - Variation 2

Ten notes from Ab0 to B7 — sub-bass to extreme treble, seven full octaves, the widest span in the series. Ab0 is felt more than heard, its color black so deep it precedes darkness. The articulation is natural rather than legato, each note left to speak with its own decay. Played Animé, mp, in four. Three accents from outside the chord — red at C3, yellow-orange at A3, orange at D4 — crowd the middle register.

In a key as cool as Ab minor, those warm visitors stand out sharply against the surrounding blues and yellow-greens. The middle of the canvas holds a knot of fire color among the cool chord tones, the accents concentrated in a narrow register band.

The densest variation in the series and the one most full of outside color. The valley dips to Ab0 before returning, the phrase reaching into infrasound before climbing back through the accented middle.