Tone-Semitone Scale – Modal System, Emblematic for Paul Constantinescu’s Creation

Abstract

This emblematic mode is a three-stage process: I. anticipations of the mode constitution; II. stage of the constituted mode; III. mode decomposition in subunits. The modal anticipations in the first stage rely on two procedures: modal amplification applied to archetypes that reveal the semitone-tone periodicity (1, 2) and the filling of the minor-third interval within defective systems. With reference to the second stage, note the formative system role (with limited transposition) of the tetrachord. In the third stage, the phenomenon occurs on smaller surfaces and is characterized by premodal-system intertwining, which determines the emphasis on the chromatic aspect of the musical discourse.