Saint-Sulpice Station, Line 4

Starting point. A train arriving at Saint-Sulpice station, line 4. Eleven seconds taken at the opening of the take.

First codex. The Pitch Codex for Field Material, version 1.0, assigns this fragment a fundamental of G3 and twelve weighted pitch classes, with a spread of 2.07. The four leading classes are G, B♭, D and G♭.

The chord read. G minor-major seventh. Its four notes are exactly the four classes the rule ranks highest, in that order; the chord is read within the ranking rather than beside it. Voicing: G3, G4, B♭4, D5, F♯5 — the chord starts from the fundamental itself, in its own octave.

One thing the record carries. The octave of the fundamental is a near-tie — the margin between the first and second candidate is 1.007. The class is not: G leads at 12.6% against 10.0% for the next. What is decided here is the class, not the register.

Second codex. That harmonic structure is the input of the chromatic codex, which assigns each pitch its colour under a stipulated correspondence. The canvas executes this second rule without exception.

What the work is. Two rules instituted between domains that nothing brings together, executed to the end. The gap between what was prescribed and what was painted belongs to the work.