The Tenebrous Glosses

The Tenebrous Glosses is a form of music used to commemorate important events originally devised by the elf Avafi Beardmountain. The rules of the form are applied by composers to produce individual pieces of music which can be performed. The music is played on a mevena. The melody has long phrases throughout the form. Only one pitch is ever played at a time. It is performed without preference for a scale and in free rhythm. Throughout, when possible, composers and performers are to make trills and alternate tension and repose.

• The mevena always does the main melody and should feel mysterious.
• The Tenebrous Glosses has a well-defined multi-passage structure: a passage and an additional passage, a bridge-passage and a finale.
• The first simple passage is very fast, and it is to be soft. The mevena covers its entire range from the strident low register to the nasal high register.
• The second simple passage is very slow, and it is to be in whispered undertones. The mevena stays in the nasal high register.
• The bridge-passage is at a hurried pace, and it is to be very soft. The mevena covers its entire range from the strident low register to the nasal high register.
• The finale is consistently slowing, and it is to fade into silence. The mevena stays in the strident low register.

Events

• In early summer of 189, The Tenebrous Glosses was created by the elf Avafi Beardmountain in Oaktongue