Patterns from the Game of LifePart II: Rondo Infernalefor piano 4 hands[3:00]This volume is a second of three evolving music from Game of Life start- graph configurations. It differs from Vol. I mainly in comprising a single relatively extended movement rather than multiple tiny ones, and in having keyboard texture wide/dense enough to need four hands for performance.
Its Game of Life graph sources, one for each of the Rondo's letter-named section groups, are as follows. (For full information on any, access site ConwayLife.com and search on its name.)
Section GOL Pattern Name Discoverer Year
A: P61 Herschel Loop 2 Paul Callahan 1997
B: Period-50 Glider Gun Dean Hickerson 1996
C: Mirage (?) (?)
D: P48 Toad Hassler Bill Gosper 1994
I will note here that, aside from the various applications of horizontal &/or vertical reflection, a technique of parameter swapping (X values become Ys and vice versa, i.e., exchanging pitch and time) has figured strongly. Section C', for example, is almost purely C itself rotated ninety degrees.
Re articulation: Notes within a slur are to be connected. Notes outside a slur either before or after are to be audibly detached from it and from each other. Where, as often occurs, a slur contains immediate note-repetition, connection must be effected via the damper pedal (without "smooth-over" between slurs). There are no ties.
Re clusters: Where chords are stretch- &/or density-wise unmanageable, players are invited to hollow them out, so to avoid undue rolling - discretely, preserving dissonance as far as possible.
by many authors are accessible online at ConwayLife.