Theriot-Cyclus (SP)-B/2V/C/Cro./X/4M/3T/P

Cyclus is a product of my long-standing interest in musical canons, puzzles, fractals, and mathematical patterns. I'm fascinated with musical ideas that seem to go somewhere only to begin again where they started, and I admire music that grows organically out of a single, small idea into something larger than itself.

Cyclus comprises five sections played without pause, each centered around a portion of a single musical canon. This canon, which I wrote beforehand, is never explicitly state in the piece, but each movement explores a section of its melody. The melody itself has some interesting characteristics: when played backwards and upside-down, it harmonizes itself. Additionally, as the melody progresses, it gradually cycles through every key before ending back where it started, like a musical Möbius strip. This canon is the seed from which the rest of the piece grows.

I hope that the interested musician will look for the numerous musical "games" and canonic constructions in the piece, but I trust that the music stands quite strongly in its own right – no audience should need to know its logic to perceive its heart.

– Austin Theriot

• Player 1: Glockenspiel
• Player 2: Crotales (2 octaves)
• Player 3: Xylophone, splash cymbal, 3 toms
• Player 4: Vibraphone 1, shared tam-tam
• Player 5: Vibraphone 2, shared tam-tam
• Player 6: Marimba 1 (5 octave)
• Player 7: Marimba 2 (5 octave)
• Player 8: Marimba 3 (5 octave)
• Player 9: Marimba 4 (5 octave)
• Player 10: Chimes, bass drum
• Player 11: Percussion 1: Claves, bell tree
• Player 12: Percussion 2: Suspended cymbal
• Player 13: Percussion 3: Mark tree, egg shaker, suspended cymbal
• Player 14: Percussion 4: Triangle, suspended cymbal, 3 timpani