The Amethyst Sparkle
The Amethyst Sparkle is a form of music used for entertainment originally devised by the elf Nithe Trenchlace. The rules of the form are applied by composers to produce individual pieces of music which can be performed. A singer recites the words of It Must Have Been Frame while the music is played on two thilama. The music is melody and rhythm without harmony. The entire performance is moderately paced, and it is to be moderately loud. The melody has long phrases throughout the form. It is performed using the atho scale and in free rhythm. Throughout, when possible, composers and performers are to modulate frequently and play arpeggios.
- The singer always provides the rhythm and should be merry.
- Each thilama always does the main melody and should evoke tears.
- The Amethyst Sparkle has the following structure: an introduction and three to five lengthy unrelated passages.
- In the introduction, the singer's voice covers its entire range. This passage is richly layered with full chords making use of the available range.
- In each of the simple passages, the singer's voice ranges from the middle register to the high register. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals.
- Scales are constructed from twelve notes spaced evenly throughout the octave. The tonic note is fixed only at the time of performance.
- The atho heptatonic scale is thought of as two disjoint chords spanning a tritone and a perfect fourth. These chords are named warere and fela.
- The warere tetrachord is the 1st, the 3rd, the 4th and the 7th degrees of the semitone octave scale.
- The fela tetrachord is the 8th, the 10th, the 12th and the 13th (completing the octave) degrees of the semitone octave scale.
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