The Lyric of Lilacs

The Lyric of Lilacs is a form of music used to commemorate important events originating in The Hale Field. The form guides musicians during improvised performances. A speaker recites any composition of The Lessons of Amethyst while the music is played on a iye. The musical voices are joined in melody. The melody has short phrases throughout the form. It is performed using the adi scale.

• The speaker always should feel mysterious.
• The iye always does the main melody and should perform sweetly.
• The Lyric of Lilacs has a well-defined multi-passage structure: an introduction, a passage and an additional brief passage possibly all repeated and a coda.
• The introduction is at a free tempo, and it is to be in whispered undertones. The iye stays in the muddy low register. This passage features only melodic tones and intervals. The passage is performed in the emu rhythm.
• The first simple passage is consistently slowing, and it is to start loud then be immediately soft. The iye covers its entire range. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage. The passage is performed in the aweme rhythm. The passage should be performed using locally improvisation. The passage should sometimes include a falling-rising melody pattern with flattened second degree on the fall as well as arpeggios.
• The second simple passage slows and broadens, and it is to become softer and softer. The iye covers its entire range. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage. The passage is performed in the datome rhythm.
• The coda is half the tempo of the last passage, and it is to be moderately loud. The iye stays in the muddy high register. Only one pitch is ever played at a time in this passage. The passage is performed in the dinade rhythm.
• Scales are constructed from seventeen notes dividing the octave. In quartertones, their spacing is roughly 1-xxxx-x-x-x-xxx-xxxx-xxO, where 1 is the tonic, O marks the octave and x marks other notes. The tonic note is fixed only at the time of performance.
• The adi pentatonic scale is constructed by selection of degrees from the fundamental scale. The degrees selected are the 1st, the 6th, the 9th, the 12th and the 17th.
• The rhythm system is fundamentally polyrhythmic. There are always multiple rhythm lines, and each of their bars is played over the same period of time, regardless of the number of beats. The rhythm lines are thought of as one, without a primary-subordinate relationship, though individual lines can be named.
• The rhythm system is fundamentally polymetric. There are always multiple rhythm lines, and the beats are always played together, even if one rhythm line completes (and then repeats) before the other is finished. The rhythm lines are thought of as one, without a primary-subordinate relationship, though individual lines can be named.
• The emu rhythm is made from two patterns: the aweme (considered the primary) and the otoga. As stated above, they are to be played in polyrhythm.
• The aweme rhythm is a single line with four beats. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x X x x |
• where X marks an accented beat, x is a beat and | indicates a bar.
• The otoga rhythm is a single line with thirty-two beats divided into eight bars in a 4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4 pattern. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | - x - - | - x - - | x x - - | x x X - | - - - x | - x - x | - - - x | x x X x |
• where X marks an accented beat, x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
• The datome rhythm is a single line with eight beats. The beats are named lari (spoken la), aratha (ar), imeri (im), thuna (thu), fidale (fi), tarathe (ta), cuthefi (cu) and cede (ce). The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x x x X x x - x |
• where X marks an accented beat, x is a beat, - is silent and | indicates a bar.
• The dinade rhythm is a single line with two beats. The beat is stressed as follows:
• | x x |
• where x is a beat and | indicates a bar.

Events